Phishing, spear phishing, vishing, and smishing are all examples of social engineering attacks.
Social engineering attacks manipulate people’s emotions and trust to trick them into giving away secrets or letting attackers into their computers. Instead of finding technical weaknesses, these attacks target how people think and feel.
Breakdown of These Methods:
- Phishing
- General fraudulent attempts through fake emails or websites to trick individuals into sharing sensitive information.
- Example: A fake bank email asking you to “verify your account” by entering your credentials.
- Spear Phishing
- A more targeted version of phishing that focuses on specific individuals or organizations.
- Example: An email pretending to be from your boss, asking you to transfer funds.
- Vishing
- Voice phishing via phone calls or voicemail to extract sensitive information.
- Example: A scammer calling, claiming to be from tech support, and asking for remote access to your computer.
- Smishing
- Phishing is conducted via SMS (text messages).
- Example: A text claiming your bank account is locked, with a link to “fix” the issue.
Read More
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