Spear Phishing
A targeted phishing attack tailored to a specific individual or organization using personal details, making it far more convincing than generic phishing emails.
Spear phishing is a highly targeted form of phishing where attackers research their victim and craft personalized messages using real details: the victim’s name, job title, recent projects, colleagues’ names, or company events. This personalization dramatically increases the attack’s success rate.
While generic phishing casts a wide net, spear phishing is a precision weapon. Attackers may spend days researching a target using LinkedIn, company websites, and social media before crafting their message.
Defenses include security awareness training that covers spear phishing scenarios, email authentication (DMARC, DKIM, SPF), and verification procedures for any request involving credentials or money. A password manager protects against the final step: even if a victim clicks a spear phishing link, the manager won’t autofill credentials on a fake domain.
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