What is Smishing?

Smishing is a cyber-attack which involves sending the victim a misleading text message to deceive them.  The message will often arrive from a seemingly trusted source, usually with a fraudulent link for you to click with the purpose primarily to convince you to take action which would allow the attacker to gain access to your mobile device or gain exploitable information, such as login credentials or personally identifiable information.
 
Smishing is becoming increasingly popular amongst cyber criminals as people tend to be more inclined to trust a text message than an email (see phishing for details on similar cyber-attacks involving emails).  In recent years there have been an increasing number of attacks taking advantage of the changes in consumer behaviour and also targeting those that are more trusting and vulnerable.  Cyber criminals are tapping in to the consumer need for fast access to information around online order deliveries, courier updates, competition entries via SMS and an increase in healthcare providers using SMS to keep us up to date with appointments and services since the Covid-19 pandemic began and required a new way of communicating with patients.

If you need support in protecting your staff and organisation from smishing attacks get in touch with us today.