Spear Phishing
According to a recent report, 53% of organizations studied in India were victims of spear phishing in 2022.
About Spear Phishing:
- It is an email or electronic communication scam targeted at a specific person, organization or business.
- This is often a targeted attempt to steal sensitive information such as account credentials or financial information from a specific victim for malicious reasons.
- This is done by obtaining information about the victim’s personal details such as their friends, hometown, employer, places they frequent, and what they have purchased online recently.
How does it work?
- Spear phishing emails use social engineering techniques to urge the victim to click on a malicious link or attachment.
- Additionally, the email will clearly ask the recipient to respond immediately, such as transferring a specific amount of money or sending personal data such as banking passwords.
- Such emails are written in an overly familiar tone, referring to personal information about the recipient.
- Thereby, victims mistakenly believe that they know the sender and respond to the request.
- This gives the attacker access to the victim’s network and attempts to steal sensitive information.
- It is the most successful method of obtaining confidential information on the Internet, accounting for 91% of attacks.
Source – The Hindu Business Line
