What is the ‘smishing’ technique and why should you be especially vigilant at Christmas?

The arrival of Christmas brings an increase in cyberattacks to companies and, especially, to individuals, through many channels and media, among which “smishing”, which is done through SMS messages, is on the rise. This has been explained by the director of Computer Science at the International University of La Rioja (UNIR), Juan José Nombela, who has worked in cybersecurity for decades.

In his experience, “for more than 15 years there have been attacks on the Internet in many forms” and “surely another thirty or more will follow” and “they are becoming more sophisticated.” However, in that sophistication, for a long time “it has been derived to use something that seemed to have little use, short text or SMS messagesThus, messages of this type arrive on mobile phones pretending to be a company or, especially, a bank with which a person works; the message asks for a series of data or, in most cases, click on of a link.

As the National Institute of Cybersecurity (INCIBE) explains, smishing is a technique that consists of “sending an SMS by a cybercriminal to a user pretending to be a legitimate entity -social network, bank, public institution, etc. -with the aim of stealing private information or making a financial charge. Generally, the message invites you to call a special rate number or access a link from a fake website under a pretext. “

“It is very well done, it seems legitimate, genuine, because they mimic very well what the real source would do“admits Nombela, who compares this method with the one used by email to carry out fraud through computers. In both cases” it does not seem suspicious “but” you have to be suspicious, because a legitimate source will never ask you for certain information ” and “sometimes, if you analyze it in detail, you see a small difference that can alert us.”

There are special dates, more conducive to those who make these frauds, but the increase every year is constant “

He acknowledges that “it is not easy” and that “there are situations that are more conducive to falling” for example “to be doing something else at the same time, like working or listening to something, and in that situation you act almost automatically with your mobile”. Also “in a time of shopping, in which it seems that we are more aware of other things, take advantage and It’s a boom time for smishing, like black friday was“Nombela has detailed.” There are special dates, more conducive to those who carry out these frauds, but the increase every year is constant, “acknowledges this expert.

Another of the “trends” in “online” fraud, he has detailed, is in the use of social networks “which is more complicated, but it is there” and that is why “You have to ignore unusual contacts”. But always “anyone can sting”, he acknowledges, and “it is not a Spanish problem, but it is global” and “against which a great effort is made, mainly by European, national and United States institutions”.

However “there are other countries that do not collaborate the same” and has pointed to Russia and others from the East “where they see this type of fraud as a way to earn income ” and “in a way, from there you turn a blind eye.” Furthermore, “it must be admitted that despite all the effort made, the bad guys always go ahead” and “there will never be one hundred percent security” especially once “artificial intelligence has already begun to be used for these frauds. “.

However, he concluded, “a clear message must be sent to the population, that If a link is not clicked or a suspicious SMS is answered, nothing will happenAnd “neither should we scare people, because despite everything, in percentage of those that are attempted, few attacks are successful,” said Nombela.