Gone Phishin'

08/10/09 posted by Liz Niland

In case you haven’t heard already, thousands of Yahoo, Gmail and Hotmail accounts have been hit this week by phishermen looking to spread your personal information and password to the scamming public.  

And in case you haven’t taken action already, it’s most definitely time to change your password.

This latest round of widespread phishing has returned the potential dangers of the online world into the daily media dialogue for now, but it’s important for both you and your company that your security is maintained at all times. There are a number of steps you can take to protect yourself from such scams.

Update passwords and antivirus software regularly

One of the hardest hit in this latest scamming round with their mail client Hotmail, Windows released a statement on their blog outlining the best security measures for internet users. They suggest renewing your passwords every 90 days and ensuring your antivirus software is kept up to date.

Think twice before giving out personal details

Phishing scams that steal your credit card information or other login details are easy to spot if you know what you’re looking for. A bank, for instance, will never send you an email requesting you respond with your credit card number. It’s also highly unlikely that a leading community member in South Africa has left you money in their will. Unless you have relatives living there, don’t hand over your account information and delete that message quick smart.  

Activate your junk mail filter

Most phishing scams that involve fake websites will be filtered into your junk mail folder if you have it set to a strong enough level. Check on this folder every now and then to ensure nothing you actually want to read is being marked incorrectly as spam but, other than that, just set and forget.