How certain are you that you would recognize a phishing expedition? Do you even know what phishing is? Here’s my very quick/short explanation. Phishing is an attempt to get you to divulge information such as credit card numbers, bank account numbers, usernames/passwords, Social Security Numbers, and other valuable information about you by making you believe you’re giving that information to a legitimate entity. For example, when you use your bank’s online banking service, you have to give them your username and password in order to gain access to your banking account information. But do you know for certain that the site isn’t a fraudulent site masquerading as your bank’s website? You could be giving someone else access to your bank account.
So then, can you tell the difference between a legitimate website and one that’s phishing for valuable information from you? Can you detect an Internet scammer? Perhaps you should see just how good you are at recognizing an online phishing scam. The good folks at OpenDNS have created a Phishing Quiz. I highly recommend you take the quiz. It takes about 5 minutes and you just might learn a few things that benefit you greatly!
Even better, consider using OpenDNS’s DNS servers. By default, you’re probably using DNS servers from your ISP. I highly recommend using the servers from OpenDNS. You can use them for free! Absolutely free! If you’re not sure what this means, find someone who can help you.
Why is this a good idea? Phishing protection. OpenDNS actively tracks phishing websites and prevents you from accidentally navigating to one. You can learn more by reading about OpenDNS’s Premium DNS Service. I have been using this service for years and wouldn’t think of setting up a network without it.