Experimental Case Studies for Investigating E-Banking Phishing Techniques and Attack Strategies

Phishing is a form of electronic identity theft in which a combination of social engineering and web site spoofing techniques are used to trick a user into revealing confidential information with economic value. The problem of social engineering attack is that there is no single solution to eliminate it completely, since it deals largely with the human factor. This is why implementing empirical experiments is very crucial in order to study and to analyze all malicious and deceiving phishing website attack techniques and strategies. In this paper, three different kinds of phishing experiment case studies have been conducted to shed some light into social engineering attacks, such as phone phishing and phishing website attacks for designing effective countermeasures and analyzing the efficiency of performing security awareness about phishing threats. Results and reactions to our experiments show the importance of conducting phishing training awareness for all users and doubling our efforts in developing phishing prevention techniques. Results also suggest that traditional standard security phishing factor indicators are not always effective for detecting phishing websites, and alternative intelligent phishing detection approaches are needed

The Phishing Master Anti-Phishing Game

Games are one type of measure developed to raise security awareness. We present the design of a anti-phishing game for public events or for public spaces. We collected feedback on the game and got an impression of individuals\u27 interaction with the game, through a small user study with a convenience sample at a public event. Participants left overall positive feedback on the game. Our anti-phishing game seems to be a good alternative to classical anti-phishing measures -- in particular for public security awareness events. However, further work is required to integrate the received feedback and then evaluate the game in a controlled study

Anti-Phishing Models: Main Challenges

Phishing is a form of online identity theft in which the attacker attempts to fraudulently retrieve a legitimate user\u27s account information, logon credentials or identity information in general. The compromised information is then used for withdrawing money online, taking out cash advances, or making purchases of goods and services on the accounts. Various solutions have been proposed and developed in response to phishing. As phishing is a business problem, the solutions target both non-technical and technical areas. This paper investigates the current anti-phishing solutions and critically reviews their usage, security weaknesses and their effectiveness. The analysis of these models points to a conclusion that technology alone will not completely stop phishing. What is necessary is a multi-tiered, organised approach: user awareness, technical and non-technical solutions should work together

Anti-Phishing Models: Main Challenges

Phishing is a form of online identity theft in which the attacker attempts to fraudulently retrieve a legitimate user\u27s account information, logon credentials or identity information in general. The compromised information is then used for withdrawing money online, taking out cash advances, or making purchases of goods and services on the accounts. Various solutions have been proposed and developed in response to phishing. As phishing is a business problem, the solutions target both non-technical and technical areas. This paper investigates the current anti-phishing solutions and critically reviews their usage, security weaknesses and their effectiveness. The analysis of these models points to a conclusion that technology alone will not completely stop phishing. What is necessary is a multi-tiered, organised approach: user awareness, technical and non-technical solutions should work together

Assessing the Presence of Mindfulness within Cyber and Non-Cybersecurity groups

Corporations and individuals continue to be under Phishing attack. Researchers categorizes methods corporations and individuals can employ to reduce the impact of being caught in a Phishing scheme. Corporation enable technical mechanisms such as automated filtering, URL blacklisting, and manipulation of browser warning messages to reduce phishing susceptibility costing billions of dollars annually. However, even with robust efforts to educate employees about phishing techniques through security awareness training the abundance of attacks continues to plague organizations. This study aims to identify whether a correlation exists between mindfulness and phishing susceptibility. The goal of this research is to determine if mindful individuals are less susceptible to phishing. By showing individuals with increased awareness are significantly able to identify areas that phishing attempts exploit. Based on a review of the literature a misconception exists between end-users, corporation and Internet Service Providers (ISP) regarding ownership of Phishing identification. Specifically, individuals blame ISPs and corporate information technology departments for failing to protect them from Phishing attacks. Still, the truth of the matter is that the end-user is ultimately the weakest link in the phishing identification chain. The methodology of this study polled participants through initial screening focusing on whether the individuals were mindful using the Mindful Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS) survey. Conclusions seen in this study in contrast with other studies saw no significant correlation between Mindfulness and phishing susceptibility, increase in cogitative ability or increase in Phishing identification. Thus, continued use of MAAS survey questionnaire is necessary to screen other groups for phishing awareness prior to focusing on other phishing cues

Reducing the risk of e-mail phishing in the state of Qatar through an effective awareness framework

In recent years, cyber crime has focused intensely on people to bypass existing sophisticated security controls; phishing is one of the most common forms of such attack. This research highlights the problem of e-mail phishing. A lot of previous research demonstrated the danger of phishing and its considerable consequences. Since users behaviour is unpredictable, there is no reliable technological protective solution (e.g. spam filters, anti-viruses) to diminish the risk arising from inappropriate user decisions. Therefore, this research attempts to reduce the risk of e-mail phishing through awareness and education. It underlines the problem of e-mail phishing in the State of Qatar, one of world s fastest developing countries and seeks to provide a solution to enhance people s awareness of e-mail phishing by developing an effective awareness and educational framework. The framework consists of valuable recommendations for the Qatar government, citizens and organisations responsible for ensuring information security along with an educational agenda to train them how to identify and avoid phishing attempts. The educational agenda supports users in making better trust decisions to avoid phishing that could complement any technical solutions. It comprises a collection of training methods: conceptual, embedded, e-learning and learning programmes which include a television show and a learning session with a variety of teaching components such as a game, quizzes, posters, cartoons and a presentation. The components were tested by trial in two Qatari schools and evaluated by experts and a representative sample of Qatari citizens. Furthermore, the research proves the existence and extent of the e-mail phishing problem in Qatar in comparison with the UK where people were found to be less vulnerable and more aware. It was discovered that Qatar is an attractive place for phishers and that a lack of awareness and e-law made Qatar more vulnerable to the phishing. The research identifies the factors which make Qatari citizens susceptible to e-mail phishing attacks such as cultural, country-specific factors, interests and beliefs, religion effect and personal characteristics and this identified the need for enhancing Qatari s level of awareness on phishing threat. Since literature on phishing in Qatar is sparse, empirical and non-empirical studies involved a variety of surveys, interviews and experiments. The research successfully achieved its aim and objectives and is now being considered by the Qatari Government

Phish Phinder: A Game Design Approach to Enhance User Confidence in Mitigating Phishing Attacks

Phishing is an especially challenging cyber security threat as it does not attack computer systems, but targets the user who works on that system by relying on the vulnerability of their decision-making ability. Phishing attacks can be used to gather sensitive information from victims and can have devastating impact if they are successful in deceiving the user. Several anti-phishing tools have been designed and implemented but they have been unable to solve the problem adequately. This failure is often due to security experts overlooking the human element and ignoring their fallibility in making trust decisions online. In this paper, we present Phish Phinder, a serious game designed to enhance the user's confidence in mitigating phishing attacks by providing them with both conceptual and procedural knowledge about phishing. The user is trained through a series of gamified challenges, designed to educate them about important phishing related concepts, through an interactive user interface. Key elements of the game interface were identified through an empirical study with the aim of enhancing user interaction with the game. We also adopted several persuasive design principles while designing Phish Phinder to enhance phishing avoidance behaviour among users.Comment: 1

Developing and evaluating a five minute phishing awareness video

Confidence tricksters have always defrauded the unwary. The computer era has merely extended their range and made it possible for them to target anyone in the world who has an email address. Nowadays, they send phishing messages that are specially crafted to deceive. Improving user awareness has the potential to reduce their effectiveness. We have previously developed and empirically-validated phishing awareness programmes. Our programmes are specifically designed to neutralize common phish-related misconceptions and teach people how to detect phishes. Many companies and individuals are already using our programmes, but a persistent niggle has been the amount of time required to complete the awareness programme. This paper reports on how we responded by developing and evaluating a condensed phishing awareness video that delivered phishing awareness more efficiently. Having watched our video, participants in our evaluation were able to detect phishing messages significantly more reliably right after watching the video (compared to before watching the video). This ability was also demonstrated after a retention period of eight weeks after first watching the video