BrandPost: What is spear phishing? How to keep yourself and your data above water
Whether you rely on email for business or simply use it on occasion for personal use, it is important to be wary of scams that cybercriminals use in attempts to steal something from you. Among the most popular scams is phishing, where thieves set what can be considered a virtual trap using email. As its homophonous name implies, the thieves bait victims like a fisherman might bait his fish.
Spear Phishing vs. Phishing
Phishing is the broader term for any sort of social engineering scam that attempts to trick victims into sharing whatever it is the perpetrators are after — passwords, usernames, identification numbers, etc. While there are a handful of classified phishing strategies, the most common type of phishing attack is what experts call spear phishing.