Live Phishing -- A New Shine on an Old Tactic

Be not alarmed.

This is not a new method by which hackers are trying to steal your personal information. It is essentially a new name for an age old tactic which predates current technologies. Live Phishing is the "phishing" for someone's personally identifiable information via the telephone.

Here is an example: You get a telephone call from someone purporting to be from your local bank. They convince you to start giving up some of your personal information such as date of birth, mother's maiden name, make of your first car, and maybe even your social security number if they feel they have earned your trust. The person that you have just given your info to now has whatever they need to call your bank and start draining your accounts.

Financial institutions have been making many strides in an attempt to protect you when you login to your accounts via their web site. However, passwords, two-factor authentication, and on-screen keyboards can only provide so much protection. Technology can only provide so much ability to protect users from themselves. More important is that user education and user diligence are also needed to backup the changes in technology.