Phishing Attacks: Sites Gone Too Fast and Leaves Us Furious 

How would you feel if I told you that cyber criminals can get your information and disappear with it in the span of your coffee break*? Yes, you read that right and yes, these phishing attacks can happen to you.

Cyber criminals have always tried to be ahead of their game and are constantly finding ways to evade capture. All while maximizing damage and data collection. In recent reports, an astounding 60% of phishing websites are only online for 10 minutes and most of the rest do not survive for more than 94 hours.

What is even more surprising is that during these fleeting minutes of a phishing attack, these threat actors would push as much traffic as they can. Resulting in either a spread of malware or mining for information. Nonetheless, the idea is the same. Push people to go to their fake sites, scam them and then go dark to avoid getting caught.

Phishing attacks

Google to the rescue versus phishing attacks?

Currently, Google Chrome scans websites you visit and compares them against the bad URL’s that they identified. When they see a hit, they flag the site, letting you know that it is unsafe. You have probably encountered this more than just once. What you don’t realize is that Google’s naughty list of websites gets updated only every 30 to 60 minutes. While it can filter out some, those sites who come and go at a much quicker. Therefore, remain undetected. 

This is where Google’s added security tool comes into play, Google’s Enhanced Safe Browsing. It is the browser’s finer net that would capture those malicious sites that manage to get sifted through the regular scanning. Google’s Enhanced Safe Browsing will flag them and alert you, no matter how short their presence is.

This feature has been around for about three years now. However, as part of a recent update, Chrome has started putting notifications about it in emails and inboxes. This is to have more users browse in a safer space.

Once set up, it will now compare URLs you are browsing against a list of malicious domains in real time. When detected, these fake sites can then be neutralized and even reported. As a bonus, Google also affirmed that their Enhanced Safe Browsing would continue the features such as deep scans for files and documents against suspicious extensions.  

Trade-Off: Privacy or phishing attack?

As great as Google’s Enhanced Safe Browsing is, setting this up means that Google would now know every URL you visit. As it is, Google already knows so much about you. When you are logged into Gmail, Chrome, YouTube and other Google Apps and Services. While some won’t mind if it means they are safe from phishing attacks, others might not be so keen about the idea.

The company is aware of this though and promises that the information they consequently gather will not be used for other features like advertising.

For most of the users who have already set up this service, giving up some of their privacy is a small cost towards safety. Considering how fast the phishing attacks mutate, having an added layer of protection would be a necessity worth the sacrifice.

It is of utmost importance to ensure your business’ safety and secure its longevity. Get ahead of the cybercriminals by understanding and embracing technology available. Let us assist you. Get in touch with us today and we will help you protect your business!

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