Spear phishing is a form of phishing that involves sophisticated attacks on specific people or companies. Spear phishing differs from conventional phishing in that attackers have a specific goal, and they carefully study their victims beforehand in order to increase the probability of success.
The principle of operation of Spear Phishing
Spear phishing begins with collecting information about the target. Attackers use social networks, corporate websites and other open sources to find out about the victim’s life.
The criminals use the information they find to create an email that the victim finds convincing and sent from a reliable source, for example, from a colleague or a well-known organization.
The email usually contains a malicious link or attachment. The victim is persuaded to click on it, which leads to identity theft or compromise of the entire organization’s system.
The Consequences of Spear Phishing
For individuals, Spear Phishing can lead to identity theft, financial loss and invasion of privacy. For businesses, the consequences can range from financial damage, loss of confidential data, damage to reputation and penalties from regulators in the event of a data leak.
Protection against Spear Phishing
Education and awareness. Regular training and awareness campaigns can help people recognize and report spear-phishing attempts.
Regular system updates. Updating systems can protect against known vulnerabilities exploited by hackers.
Email security measures. Implement robust email security measures, such as spam filters, and configure settings that mark emails sent from non-corporate addresses.