According to the CISSP For Dummies4, the best method to reduce the effectiveness of phishing attacks is user awareness. This means that the users should be educated and trained on how to recognize and avoid phishing emails and websites, which are fraudulent attempts to obtain sensitive information or credentials from the users by impersonating legitimate entities or persons. User awareness can help users to identify the common signs and indicators of phishing, such as spoofed sender addresses, misleading links, spelling and grammar errors, urgent or threatening messages, and requests for personal or financial information. User awareness can also help users to follow the best practices and preventive measures to protect themselves from phishing, such as verifying the source and content of the messages, using strong and unique passwords, enabling two-factor authentication, reporting and deleting suspicious messages, and using anti-phishing software and tools. Two-factor authentication is not the best method to reduce the effectiveness of phishing attacks, as it may not prevent the users from falling for phishing in the first place. Two-factor authentication is a security mechanism that requires the users to provide two pieces of evidence to prove their identity, such as a password and a one-time code. However, some phishing attacks may be able to bypass or compromise two-factor authentication, such as by using man-in-the-middle techniques, intercepting the codes, or tricking the users into entering the codes on fake websites. Anti-phishing software is not the best method to reduce the effectiveness of phishing attacks, as it may not detect or block all phishing attempts. Anti-phishing software is a software application that helps the users to identify and avoid phishing emails and websites, by using various methods such as blacklists, whitelists, heuristics, and machine learning. However, anti-phishing software may not be able to keep up with the evolving and sophisticated techniques of phishing, such as using encryption, obfuscation, or personalization. Anti-phishing software may also generate false positives or negatives, which may confuse or mislead the users. Periodic vulnerability scan is not the best method to reduce the effectiveness of phishing attacks, as it may not address the human factor of phishing. Periodic vulnerability scan is a process that scans and tests the network, systems, and applications for potential weaknesses and exposures that may be exploited by attackers. However, phishing attacks mainly target the users, not the technical vulnerabilities, by exploiting their emotions, curiosity, or trust. Periodic vulnerability scan may not be able to prevent or detect phishing attacks, unless they are combined with user awareness and education. References: 4