Dave, I think I finally figured out what phishing is, and who the phish are, but I just bumped into another term, pharming, and was hoping you could explain it so I could figure out how they differ?

Nicely asked question! The “phish” in phishing, are us. (is this related to the famous line “we have seen the enemy, and he is us?”). Phishing is when a scam artist sends out a fake email message purporting to be from a legitimate financial organization like Paypal, eBay, Citibank, Wells Fargo, etc. They can be 99% legitimate messages, with the right logos, right paragraphs of information, and even what appears to be a completely legitimate URL for you to click so you can update your financial information before your account is closed (or similar).

Look at it more closely, though, and you’ll find that…

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