The most common form of cyber-attack here in the UK is phishing; a tactic which
involves the mass-sending of fraudulent messages, with the intention of tricking
recipients into volunteering personal information, such as passwords, account
credentials or other personal data. Once the scammer has this information, they
can access your important accounts such as your online banking, email or social
media.
To get hold of your valuable information via a phishing attack, cybercriminals
usually will attempt to mimic a trusted or reputable person or organisation. This
could be a bank, an online payment platform like PayPal, a postal courier, mobile
phone providers, a social networking website, widely-used shops like Amazon, or
even one of your colleagues or your employer!
These phishing messages can be rather smartly created, often either highly
tailored to your habits and interests, or so generic as to be applicable to any kind
of recipient. They...