How to Protect Against Pharming Attacks

Person at their computerPharming (in this case) is a type of cyberattack that is used to reroute the user’s traffic to a different, fake site. The name “pharming” comes from a combination of farming and “phishing”. Essentially, it is the same as browser highjacking. However, there is one major difference with this type of attack. This one affects the whole computer, no matter which browser you use. It does this by poisoning the host file of a computer and making it go to the desired location. While you may not think it can happen to you, it certainly can.

How Do Pharming Attacks Happen?

The reason why these sorts of attacks happen is quite simple. To work, the programs need unprotected access to your computer. If you are one of the people that does not have a password on your computer, you are at risk of attack. Consider it like wearing a seat belt. While it may be inconvenient at first, but you can prevent injury if you are wearing one. Now that you see why they happen, let’s talk about how to protect yourself against them.

How to Protect Against Pharming Attacks

  1. If you do not have a password, set one. There are many websites or tools you can use to generate a good password.
  2. If your password is weak, change it. As far as keeping it safe after that point, you may wish to write it down and keep it in a safe place.

And there you have the best way to protect yourself against the pharming attacks that you may encounter from time to time. Just remember that it is definitely important to set a password on your computer for your own safety. Please share this post with your friends, so they too can protect themselves from pharming attacks. Be sure to follow us @VPNFan for the latest deals and guides.

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