Some phishing emails can be quickly recognised as such: "Not everyone is chosen - but you are." This is followed by the promise of five million euros a month and membership of the Illuminati. But you have to click on a link first. Other cyber traps are more subtle. A professor asks his colleague to quickly transfer the money for the Christmas cards to an account. He can't do it now because he's in a long meeting. Phishing is one of the most widespread types of risk that employees and students come into contact with on a daily basis.

The term "phishing" is made up of the words "password" and "fishing", i.e. "fishing for passwords". In an attack, cyber criminals access users' personal data via fake websites, emails or messages. This data is used at the victim's expense. A special variant of phishing is the so-called CEO fraud or CEO scam. Here, employees are supposedly contacted by superiors and asked to transfer a sum of money.

But how can internet users be protected from this danger? Marcus Wiens, Professor of General Business Administration, in particular Innovation and Risk Management at TUBAF, explains: "To avoid becoming a victim of a phishing attack, you need to be aware of and have a basic knowledge of this danger as well as a healthy distrust of emails that appear conspicuous and strange. Security is also needed when dealing with passwords." Dr Felix Eckhofer, Information Security Officer at the university, advises: "Trust your gut feeling! If you are unsure or need help and support with cyber security, contact us!" The TUBAF Awareness Day is being organised in collaboration with the SECUSO working group and the KASTEL Security Research Labs at KIT (Karlsruhe Institute of Technology).