Phishing, trust and human wellbeing

Abstract

The more time we spend online, the more our global connections grow and frighteningly, the more we are susceptible to cyberattacks. In particular, 2020/ 2021 has seen a significant increase in successful phishing attacks mainly due to the rise in human vulnerabilities caused by the global COVID-19 situation. In this paper, we consider the human factors of the phishing attack. We explore the evolution of the phishing attack with particular reference to its many different guises. Following that, the paper discusses the concept of trust and the human trust issues resulting from a phishing attack; it will focus on human vulnerability and the idea of phishing awareness. The findings from the study show that people feel that they can confidently recognize a phishing attack but it also highlights how personal attitudes and situational influences can make certain online users more susceptible than others. The findings also clearly detail how the phishing attack makes them and others feel and they assertively suggest ways to counter the attack. After portraying this picture, the question lies around the degree to which the everyday person is adequately equipped to psychologically deal with the sophisticated and contemporary phishing attack, and whether their thinking and methods of detection/ coping are so outdated that this (in itself) is creating an even greater risk.