How does a phishing scam work? Former ethical hacker Jason Hart explains

Phishing scams are designed to trick you into revealing your usernames and passwords. The most common way this data is obtained is by:

  • you clicking a link you believe to be genuine that ends up downloading malware on your computer—which then reads your keystrokes revealing your details
  • you entering your details on a site or service that you think is real, but is actually a fake created by a hacker
  • inadvertently sharing your login details with someone
  • sharing your details over an unsecure and unencrypted network—see why you should be very careful about using public Wi-Fi here

In this video Jason Hart, a former ethical hacker who now works for Gemalto, shows you how sophisticated attacks have become. Attackers can now mimic contacts you have saved in your phone to send you links. These links then take you to a malicious site, where you login and your details are stolen. The example in the video is someone receiving an SMS from an IT department. In real life, you might receive a message from what appears to be your bank, but is actually an attacker. That’s why it is so important not to click links from sources that you cannot verify.

How does a phishing scam work with Jason Hart


Phishing scams are one of the most common ways that personal details are stolen. If you’d like to find out more on this subject, we have created a comic book about a social network that suffers a massive attack thanks to a phishing scam. Visit the website here to read it for free!

Jason has also created two more videos on cyber security. Be sure to watch them to understand how to protect yourself:

How does a karma work

How does a man in the middle attack work