At National Online Safety, we provide multi-award-winning online safety education for the whole school community. It’s our mission to make the internet a safer place for children. We believe that when children go online to learn, communicate or play, they should be able to do so safely. That’s why we provide schools all over the world with the knowledge they need in order to tackle new and evolving online risks.
Phishing
Part of our Online Privacy & Security Series 2020-21

What is phishing?
Phishing is a form of cyber-attack where victims are targeted in the form of spoof emails, phone calls or texts.
These are commonly carried out by an attacker posing as someone else to influence individuals into giving out sensitive data such as payment details and passwords.
Phishing usually takes place via email, where the attacker manipulates a message to make it appear to be from someone else, therefore deceiving the victim into doing as they say.
Hackers try to deceive you into downloading malicious code and will aim to extract small pieces of information at a time.
For more information on the associated risks and online safety tips for parents and carers, watch our explainer video, available to those with a National Online Safety membership.