A Phishing IQ Test that Could Save You $1,200
Having been fully phished into giving away my online banking identity (and having suffered the follow-up banking hassles), I was curious – had I learned from my phishing experience?
How phish savvy am I?
SonicWall, Inc., based in Sunnyvale, CA, offers network security, secure remote access, and web and e-mail security, backup, and recovery products and services. Savvy marketing on SonicWall’s part to help educate we phishing innocents with a clever little quiz, I thought.
According to SonicWall, some 755,000 other curious, security-concerned people have taken the Phishing IQ Test and only 6.2% rate a 100% A+ 10 out of 10 score. I completed the Phishing IQ test in less than 10 minutes and earned an impressive (if I do say so myself) 70% (7 out of 10 correct) score. Somehow, I managed to identify all of the sneaky, phishy e-mails. My already-been-phished status did leave me overly cautious: I rated several perfectly legitimate e-mail items as phishy.
I brag only to show that one can learn from being phished – better late than never, right? According to SonicWall, some 755,000 other curious, security-concerned people have taken the Phishing IQ Test and only 6.2% rate a 100% A+ 10 out of 10 score. Test results include the correct answers and an explanation of why the communication was phishy or not. Hints: Was your name personalized in the email (Apparently, it should be)? Does the Sender’s From address match the url at the bottom of the e-mail link (Make sure it does!)? Does the e-mail send you to a formal Update url link (Always more secure) or instead include step-by-step instructions on information required (Definitely a red flag)?
Reportedly some 6.1 billion phishing e-mails are sent world-wide each month, with an average loss of $1,200 per person successfully phished (per the Federal Trade Commission and SonicWall). According to APWG reports, as of May, the United States continued to hold the top spot for hosting of phishing web sites, with 32.41%. China follows in second place with 13% and Russia in third place with 7.41%.
Not surprisingly, financial services takes the lead as most targeted industry, with 96.9% of all attacks reported by APWG in May. APWG’s May Phishing Attack Trends Report (how eerie is that name!) confirms that the IRS and one tax preparation company were phished in May, along with many smaller brokerage firms.
How phish savvy are YOU? Take the SonicWall Phishing IQ Test https://iqexams.net/iq_test_gratis.php and see for yourself. It could save you $1,200 and it’s free!