Phishing starts with a fraudulent email or other communication designed to lure a victim.

Phishing has evolved to become one of the largest cybercrimes on the internet that leads to BEC and ransomware. Read about the phishing history, evolution, and predictions for the future in The Evolution of Phishing. It has been a few decades since this type of scam was first referenced and the first primitive forms of phishing attacks started in chatrooms. Phishing is a type of cyber attack that everyone should learn about in order to protect themselves and ensure email security throughout an organization. In other cases, phishing emails are sent to gather employee login information or other details for use in more malicious attacks against a few individuals or a specific company. Sometimes hackers are satisfied with getting your personal data and credit card information for financial gain.

Phishing attacks are counterfeit communications that appear to come from a trustworthy source but which can compromise all types of data sources. Attacks can facilitate access to your online accounts and personal data, obtain permissions to modify and compromise connected systems-such as point of sale terminals and order processing systems-and in some cases hijack entire computer networks until a ransom fee is delivered.

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