What are the steps to protect against phishing attacks?

The act of phishing scams has been used by hackers to trick people into sharing their personal and financial information. It is used by many illegitimate websites which are specially designed for online identity theft. There are many ways used by these malicious actors such as sending spam emails with infected files or unwanted pop-ups. If you are not careful enough, you might find these tricks harder to detect and put your private information at risk. Norton Setup can help you identify these phishing scams and learn how to defend against them.

Some of the measures that you should take to protect yourself and avoid these phishing scams are mentioned below.

• Watch out for spam – Always make sure that you check the sender of emails, especially when it comes to unrecognized senders. Be wary of emails which ask for your confidential information, particularly of a financial nature. Most hackers are found to send emails which tend to confirm your personal information over the Internet. Even if it reads like a threat or contains frightening information, you should disclose your private details. Norton.com/setup could automatically let you know about such emails and prevent you from opening it.

• Share information only to a trusted source – There are many unsecured websites on the Internet which make opens them for unauthorized access and spy. Hence, you should only communicate information and conduct online transactions with sites that are secure and use an HTTPS connection. There is also a growing trend of phishing calls which could ask for OTP or other sensitive information. In that case, you should share information only when you initiate calls from your end. Norton antivirus can help you browse online safely without worrying about unwanted attacks and other threats.

• Never email sensitive information – Most individuals find it easier to simply email their personal information including passwords. This may increase the risk of your personal details being accessed by the wrong person. As a solution, you should turn on the confidential mode offered by your email service provider whenever you send any private or financial information.

• Beware of links in emails – Hackers easily make a copy of a legitimate website, while also making it look authentic. If any particular email asks for your personal information, at first, verify if the email is from a known source. To be safe, you should try calling the person or company to check if they actually sent that email to you. Most businesses do not usually request for personal information to be sent via email and would instead contact you directly.

• Use a strong firewall – One of the effective measures to ensure maximum security for your device is to use antivirus software with a strong firewall. Furthermore, you should make sure that all of your programs are up-to-date which allow you to get regular security updates and new features. Norton.com/setup might help to protect your devices against new viruses, spyware, malware, and other online threats.