A few websites today look popular and trusted and are used regularly. These sites could very well be called scamming websites because they are not the original but created to fake it by people who are not guided by conscience.
An Information Systems major, Mohammed Okorejior, has cautioned internet users to beware of phishing.
The AUN student was presenting at a seminar of Association for Information Systems held on November 15, 2019.
Phishing is a simple and effective way of tricking users into disclosing sensitive information such as usernames and passwords. He said it remains one of the most pervasive threats to businesses.
"Such sites use a link to redirect users to capture the user's credentials which are in turn used by attackers to achieve their goals."
His presentation was on "Advanced phishing: Bypassing two-way verification". He stressed that users should always verify the spellings and domains of websites before visiting them.
"To protect yourselves never respond to unknown emails or emails asking for your usernames or passwords."
Two-factor authentication (2FA) which was once a solution for this type of attack is now being easily bypassed using a variety of phishing frameworks.
"There is a need for defenders to understand how it works and push for standards that are resilient against such a bypass."
A Ph.D. student, Auwal Alhassan Tata, who attended the session, attests that phishing is not something meant for only techies. Rather, everyone needs to learn and understand what phishing is all about and how to prevent it.
IT Administrator, Assistant Director Andrew Abaye, also addressed the audience on the dangers of phishing.
"We all need to be extra careful on what we do online, and ensure that any link or site we are visiting is secure and trusted."
Reported by Rofiat Adekunle