The word "phishing" plays on the fact that scammers use attractive "lures" to trick their victims, much the same way that fishers use bait to hook actual fish. In phishing, the lures are fraudulent messages that appear credible and evoke strong emotions like fear, greed and curiosity. The ...
email communications from a bank, credit card company, payment service, or the IRS do not contain spelling errors and always use proper, business English. If you are used to the word choice and tone of voice of such emails and this one seems different, it's most likely a phishing attempt...
Phishing Definition (Computer) When someone Google’swhat is phishing– the general answer they get, more or less defines Phishing as a type of cybercrime in which criminals use email, mobile, or social channels to send out communications that are designed to steal sensitive information such as ...
A phishing attack is a social engineering tactic commonly used to steal confidential data or deliverransomwareor some other form ofmalware. The term is a play on the word fishing, meaning the attacker throws out a baited hook and waits for the victim to bite. ...
Origin of the term phishing The concept was first described in a 1987 conference paper by Jerry Felix and Chris Hauck called “System Security: A Hacker’s Perspective” (1987 Interex Proceedings 1:6). It discussed the technique of an attacker imitating a reputable entity or service. The word...
Discover more about PayPal phishing and how it can be avoided. Read our extensive guide on online security and learn how to report phishing.
While phishing attacks can involve sophisticated software, they usually require human interaction. To fall victim to a phishing attack, you often need to open an email, download a file, pick up the phone, or all of the above. The social engineering behind phishing scams makes them successful,...
The term “phishing” is a play on the word “fishing” since in both cases someone throws out bait and waits for users or fish to “bite”. Most often hackers do this via malicious emails that appear to be from trusted senders by including a link that will seem to take you to the ...
Smishing is essentially phishing ported to mobile devices—and typically arrives in the form of a text message suggesting the user has signed up for a service, and will be charged until they cancel using a web site. The site then prompts the user to click on a link, which actually trigger...
Spear Phishing vs. Whaling A spear-phishing attack targets specific people, but “whaling”, also known asCEO fraud, refers to an attacker targeting one or several C-level executives. The term “whaling” is a play on the word “phishing” and is meant to imply the “big fish” nature ...