INTERNET SECURITY THREATS

You are encouraged to continue educating
yourself on emerging Internet frauds from
sources such as the online advisories of your banking institution’s website and from industry groups’
websites dedicated to eliminate online frauds.
You should stay vigilant for new threats, including phishing,
pharming and man-in-the middle attack.
Phishing is the act of sending spoofed e-mail messages falsely
claiming to be from your banking institution to lure you into
divulging personal information such as PIN or password for the
purpose of identity theft. It often contains a link to a website
that contains logos, formatting, graphics and wordings that are
convincing replicas of the banking institution’s original site.

Pharming is the act of exploiting the
vulnerability of the Domain Name
System (DNS) server software that allows
a hacker to acquire the domain name
of banking institution’s original site
and redirect traffic from the banking
institution’s site to a fraudulent site.
Man-in-the-middle attack is an attack in
which fraudsters are able to read, insert
and modify messages between you and
your banking institution without either
party knowing that the link has been
compromised.
You may minimise the risk of being
a victim of these Internet frauds if you
undertake the measures listed in “Actions
You Should Take to Ensure Security”.
You should also be suspicious of any
e-mail with contents or urgent request
for your financial information as phishers
typically include upsetting or exciting
(but false) statements in their e-mails
to get you to react immediately.