Phishing exploits human psychology to bypass technical security controls, making it one of the most effective attack vectors.
Common phishing techniques
- Email phishing: Mass campaigns impersonating trusted brands (banks, IT support, delivery services).
- Spear phishing: Targeted attacks using researched information about specific individuals or organizations.
- Whaling: High-value attacks targeting executives and decision-makers.
- Smishing: Phishing via SMS text messages with malicious links.
- Vishing: Voice phishing using phone calls to extract information or credentials.
- Clone phishing: Duplicating legitimate emails with malicious links or attachments swapped in.
Red flags to watch for
- Urgent language pressuring immediate action.
- Requests for credentials, payment, or sensitive data.
- Suspicious sender addresses that mimic legitimate domains.
- Unexpected attachments or unfamiliar link destinations.
- Generic greetings instead of personalized names.
- Poor grammar, spelling errors, or awkward phrasing.
How to prevent phishing
- Implement email authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC) to block spoofed senders.
- Deploy advanced email filtering with link and attachment sandboxing.
- Train employees regularly with simulated phishing campaigns.
- Require multi-factor authentication (MFA) to limit credential theft impact.
- Use password managers to prevent credential entry on fake sites.
- Establish out-of-band verification for sensitive requests (call back using known numbers).
- Report and analyze phishing attempts to improve defenses.
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