The New Threat That Lies In ‘Vishing’
Defined by Wikipedia as the criminal practice of using social engineering and Voice over IP (VoIP) to gain access to private personal and financial information from the public for the purpose of financial reward, vishing (a combination of “voice” and phishing), is the latest threat to hit the mobile phone users, and India, adding almost 8 million cellphone subscribers per month, would be among the prime hunting grounds. The fact that mobile phone databases are easily available, does not make the job any easier.
“Five years from now, the mobile will be used like we use PC and laptops today. So, the attacks will be using the data on the handheld. The problem is that while solutions are available people are not using it,” Howard Schmidt, president and CEO, R&H Security Consulting told Business Standard.
As an example, phishing-related losses have been estimated at $2.8 billion with a single victim losing $1,244 in 2006, compared with $257 in 2005, according to Gartner. Given the number of mobile phone subscribers vis-a-vis internet subscribers the stakes here are considerably higher.
So the next time you get an SMS congratulating you on winning the Nigerian Lottery, you might want to give it a second thought.
Filed under: Digital culture, News