Phishing is a criminal activity which occurs when phishers attempt to fraudulently acquire sensitive personal information, such as credit card details, by masquerading as a trustworthy business in an electronic communication. In some cases, personal details are sought to be obtained for identity theft.

Most methods of phishing use technical deception designed to make a link in an email appear to belong to a legitimate business. Spam and misspelled domain names frequently play a part in such schemes.

Pharming occurs when a hacker attempts to redirect a website's traffic to a bogus website. Pharming has become a major concern to businesses involved in ecommerce and online banking. It too is used to steal identity information.

Malware, short for malicious software, is software designed to infiltrate or damage a computer system without the owner's informed consent. The term "computer virus" is sometimes used as a catch-all phrase to include all types of malware. Frequently, illicit software is used to steal usernames and passwords. Malware is frequently combined with phishing.

False affiliation occurs when reference is made to a legitimate business on the website of a questionable source, for example, an offer or promotional contest involving a gift card of a well-known business.

The increased use of the Internet and web-enabled infrastructure has resulted in increased risk of cyber theft, sabotage, and cyber attacks.

To deal with these threats the following steps should be considered by brand owners:

  • Developing an incident response plan, and designating a corporate officer responsible for cybersecurity and compliance with all laws and obligations,
  • Educating employees and customers to be alert to such dangers,
  • Developing customer communication channels and handling procedures that allow for timely response,
  • Implementing preventive strategies such as monitoring domain name registrations and defensively registering domain names,
  • Monitoring the phishing emails and the potential for attack.

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.