Phishing attacks have become quite a common threat to the security of internet users. Millions of people click on malicious links present in the emails every day, as per Google. Spotting a phishing email can prove to be a great security defense to protect your accounts as well as passwords online. But how do you go about doing this? Well, thankfully Google has come up with a new phishing quiz to help people spot such emails. The quiz, which is developed by Google’s technology incubator, Jigsaw, is an attempt to prevent you from being a victim of phishing.
Gmail has increasingly been able to detect such malicious emails even before they reach your inbox. However, hackers have also sharpened and become more sophisticated over the years. This is why internet users need to be alert and careful when they tap on a link within an email.
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Why these malwares?
The basic intent of hackers in sending phishing emails is to steal the user’s account login and password details. Or, they may also do so to lure users in providing their sensitive or personal information to them. Such phishing messages can ask users for their information right within the mail body or lure them to click on malicious links. Clicking on the link results in the download of malware on your PC to track your input while you type.
This is why; make sure you take Google’s eight-question phishing quiz. You simply need to log-on using your email address to take part in the test. Besides, the best part about the quiz is that it’s free and will take only a few minutes. The quiz will not just help you learn if you can recognize a phishing message from a legitimate email but also educate you on how to differentiate.
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Let’s take a look at the quiz!
At the beginning of the quiz, you need to enter your name as well as email address. You can also enter your Google email address if you want. After signing up, you will be shown a set of phishing examples. For every slide, you will have to decide and tap on either of the two options- ‘Legitimate’ or ‘Phishing.’ Next, Google will inform you whether the selection you made is right or wrong. The test will also tell you why the choice you made was legitimate or malicious with the help of pop-ups.
You will be able to tell if the email was malicious by checking the email address of the sender properly. For instance, in one question, in the test tells the user that they have got a new fax message. The email address used was ‘efacks.com’ rather than ‘efax.com.’ This shows that it’s a phishing email address.
Besides, Jigsaw also suggests that internet users should enable two-factor authentication. Here, the users need to enter the password as well as security verification code every time they log-in.
It does not matter how well you performed on the quiz; it is indeed worth it to take the quiz once. You will be able to learn how to identify at least a few kinds of scams in the long run.
