Spear phishing
Spear phishing is a targeted phishing attack that uses personalized information or messages to deceive a specific individual or small group.
Grokking Web Application Security
Spear phishing is targeted phishing that uses background information to deceive a specifically identified person or group.
- How it is used
- Frames targeted credential theft as a social-engineering risk alongside attacks on software vulnerabilities.
- How deep it goes
- Defines targeted phishing and explains its research-based targeting, without detailing defensive controls or technical internals.
- Examples
- Uses named accounting-department employees as targets and identifies messaging apps and social media as parallel channels.
- What you can do after
- Evaluate/understand how attacker research makes a deceptive request more convincing to a selected target.
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Acing the CCNA Exam: Volume 2 Advanced Networking and Security
Spear phishing is targeted phishing directed at a specific person or group, such as employees of a particular organization.
- How it is used
- Targets specific people or organizational groups through human-focused phishing rather than software exploitation.
- How deep it goes
- Defines the targeting distinction and related attack types but does not detail message construction or technical execution.
- Examples
- Uses deceptive emails, malicious links, malware downloads, and requests for sensitive information as phishing examples.
- What you can do after
- Evaluate suspicious targeted messages and support awareness or formal training to reduce successful social-engineering attacks.
Read how Acing the CCNA Exam: Volume 2 Advanced Networking and Security explains spear phishing →
Related concepts
- phishingkind of · Phishing is a social-engineering attack that uses deceptive communications or content to impersonate a trusted source and induce disclosure of information or another unsafe action.
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