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I'm not convinced that every Internet user knows exactly what Phishing is. Everyone has heard the term and they have heard the warnings. Don't type usernames and passwords on websites they receive through email - but the reasons and the full understanding of phishing is not as universal as we may want to believe - and that is why it still works!

Phishing is the criminally fraudulent process of attempting to acquire sensitive information such as usernames, passwords and credit card details, by masquerading as a trustworthy entity in an electronic communication.

As a common example, there are many phishing attempts surrounding PayPal, since paypal is quite popular by a wide range of internet users. To summarize, a user will get an email that looks very official and by simply viewing it, it will look like it came directly from paypal. It will usually have a scare-tactic involved (like someone is trying to break into your paypal account) and a link for the user to check the account or disallow a fraudulent transaction.

When the user clicks on the link, they are not taken to the Paypal website, but another look alike site, where they input thier username and password. The rest is history, that information is then used to withdraw funds from thier Paypal account or use in other malicious and fraudelent activities.

Norton 360 has been proven to eliminate many forms of phishing that are prevalent these days:

Identity Safe included in Norton 360 protects your personal information and your identity when you buy, bank, and browse online:

1. It blocks fraudulent Web sites and verifies trusted ones
   
2. It conveniently and securely manages user names and passwords for you
   
3. It provides Phishing Protection which guards online attempts to steal your personal information by blocking fraudlent websites and verifies trusted ones.

Although Paypal is a common phishing target, there are many others including banks, Google Accounts, travel websites and basically anywhere that your information is supposed to be secure and could be used to somehow be of financial gain to the phisher.

Be careful and get protection!