If there’s anything apart from food, water, and air that humankind absolutely cannot live without these days, it’s definitely got to be the Internet! Thanks to the powers of this digital boon, there’s practically nothing that a few clicks of a button cannot help you accomplish. But all its benefits aside, have you ever taken a moment to think about how risky all this virtual exposure can be for you? Because although it is a bitter pill to swallow, everyone’s beloved Internet is also a dark, dark place that’s haunted by countless cyber threats. At Raghnall, we help you stay one step ahead of cyber fraudsters by equipping you with all the knowledge you need to have about such cyber risks.
Decoding Identity Theft - The Cyber Crime That Every Individual Needs To Be Wary Of
Speaking of cyber risks, were you aware that ‘Identity Theft’ happens to be one of the most rampant cyber crimes to exist in the virtual world? The horrors of having your identity stolen and misused for nefarious purposes on the Internet can not only rob you of your hard-earned finances but also give you sleepless nights! What’s even more horrifying about Identity Theft is that it can come in numerous shapes and forms.
Below are some unique types of ‘Identity Theft’ that you need to know about!
1) Spoofing
Spoofing is a cunning cyber scam that can fool even the wisest of us, making us fall into its traps by disguising itself sneakily as a communication from some trusted source. Cyber fraudsters use this trick to get you to divulge your precious personal information or to get you to download something by asking you to click on certain links. Once you are deceived into obeying their commands, they can install malware on your system, steal your identity and also your money in a single click!
2) Skimming
Learning about this cyber crime will surely make you think twice before you swipe your cards next time! In skimming, identity thieves steal payment and personal information from your credit card with the help of a tiny device known as a skimmer, which reads the data from the card’s microchip or magnetic strip. These skimmers can be secretly installed in ATM machines or at Point of Sale counters in brick-and-mortar stores, and the stolen information obtained from it can be misused by the cyber criminals for fraudulent transactions.
3)Account Takeover
Most of you are guilty of being lazy to update your account passwords regularly, and even more guilty of using the same password for all your accounts, aren’t you? But the consequences of this laziness can be rather brutal for your cybersecurity! Account Takeover is a major type of identity theft wherein cyber criminals steal your passwords and login details to take complete ownership of your accounts. This access gives them free rein to commit fraud, thereby making you incur significant financial losses!
4) Smishing
Even though the majority of the world has moved on to WhatsApp, SMS has not yet become obsolete and it is still very much used by cyber criminals to lure netizens. They achieve this via smishing, i.e. drafting and sending an individual a believable text message, asking them to click on the attached link. If you are gullible enough to do that, then it can download malicious softwares into your device or leak private information to the cyber attacker!
5) Vishing
Becoming the victim of ‘vishing’ is something no one would wish for! In this type of identity theft, the cyber attacker tries to deceive individuals over the phone by convincing them to reveal their sensitive personal information. Any such data that you accidentally provide to the fraudster can rob you of your life’s savings in a single moment!
6) Man in the middle
Sometimes, a cyber criminal positions himself in between a user and an application, with the goal of intercepting communication between them. They do this to sabotage communication, steal personal information, spy on victims, or corrupt data. This type of identity theft is called a ‘man in the middle’ attack. Trust us when we say that you don’t ever want to be the woman or man in the middle of such a cyber attack!
7) Credential stuffing
We’ve pointed out before how there’s no bigger blunder of cybersecurity that you can commit than keeping the same passwords and login credentials for all of your accounts. Credential stuffing is a type of identity theft wherein cyber fraudsters use the stolen passwords and login details from one organisation to hack into all your other accounts. This allows the attackers to kill multiple birds with one stone - the birds being your accounts in this case!
8) Synthetic Identity Theft
Synthetic identity theft is when cyber criminals blend your real information with some fake information and create a whole new identity that’s not you! This fake identity can be used to open fraudulent accounts and commit financial frauds in your name, allowing the cyber attacker to steal not only your identity but also your precious money.
9) Password Spraying
If an application has default passwords set for all their users, there’s a high chance of there occuring a password spraying attack. A type of brute force cyber attack, password spraying is when the cyber fraudster tries to access multiple accounts that have a common password. This is surely one of the worst kinds of data breaches and identity thefts!
Just like Identity Theft, there are a lot more cyber crimes and related terms that we’ll be enlightening you on in the coming months, so stay tuned for the same. Raghnall’s Individual Cyber Insurance is India’s first integrated platform that allows you to detect data breaches and buy insurance from top insurance companies all from a single destination. Be it for purchasing either a personal or corporate cyber risk insurance, trust none other than Raghnall!
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