One topic that I can definitely say I learned more about, and that is useful to me on a regular basis, is the formal way in which we define different types of malicious emails (this is discussed in the Online Safety and Security section). Up until this point, I assumed that the terms phishing / spearphishing / Nigerian scam were basically interchangeable; in actuality, this isn't the case. The section went on to show how these formal definitions can be used to identify and classify malicious content in a more precise way.
While it's oftentimes fairly easy to identify spam, the "Concept Questions" assessment at the section's end brought up an interesting situation wherein I might've made a mistake. There's an email response from a coworker whom you asked to get lunch, featuring an attachment. Without thinking, and just seeing who it appeared to be from, and the chain it was a part of, I might have gone and just opened the attachment.
However, the test points out that the title of the attachment appears to have nothing to do with the original query, indicating that something may be amiss. That particular case was more subtle than the others, and serves as a good general reminder that you should inspect an attachment outwardly as much as possible before opening it, even if it's from a recognized sender or source.
This is something that I can always remember to practice.
Not all scams are the same, one of the slides on my presentation this Saturday will touch on some of them :-)
ReplyDeleteBest defense against falling for a scam is being diligent and not greedy!
Same here, I know I'll be double checking attachments from coworkers moving forward lol
ReplyDeleteMy grandma was just in a scam. She had a pop-up on her computer saying that there was a virus, but this pop-up was from Microsoft. My grandma instantly called the number on the computer instead of asking her granddaughter about it and as soon as they were allowed on her computer, it was too late. They tried to charge her $600 for a virus protector and they almost had the money until I got home and figured out what was happening. I stopped it and had to clean out her computer for her.
ReplyDeleteThat was an eye opener for me as well. I am now aware of all the different scams and viruses that can attack your devices.
ReplyDeleteI agree, I used to think the phishing and Nigerian scams were the same basically. I have also failed a phishing email test from my previous job. I have learned from that to inspect my emails before opening them.
ReplyDeleteI almost believed a scam, but I called my bestfriend at 3 AM and asked her what I should do. When I explained the situation, the first thing she said was that I was a grandma for believing it. LOL
ReplyDeleteDon't believe anything all of it is scams if you don't know the source
ReplyDeleteIt is crazy how much malicious software and people are out there trying to steal your information and scam you.
ReplyDeleteThose people who scam others are so relentless. I almost fell for one of those scams.
ReplyDeleteI also did not understand the different types of malicious emails a lot of them pretended to be a my google account or that they pretended to be a email telling me about a virus I have ironically enough. I used to think only unintelligent people fall for these scams but I realize now how easy it is to be tricked my malicious emails.
ReplyDeleteI remember that my first time to deal with scams was when I was a kid, there was a person that would try to trick my dad to get them money faking to be a family member that was in Mexico. Of course it would be weird, since sometimes they didn't know how to spell correctly and would type things in a way that our family members would never type.
ReplyDeleteSince that chapter, I have been double checking my emails I get. If I get something I do not recognize or looks funny looking I am just deleting it.
ReplyDeleteYes, it's very important to be careful for scams and malicious attachments.
ReplyDeleteIt can be very scary with how intricate these malicious acts are getting. It is also sad to think about the targeting they utilize to maximize their profits.
ReplyDeleteAt work I am glad that Outlook will immediately tell me if an email was sent to me by an external site. That way I can be more careful with attachments.
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