Keeping the digital world in mind, one of the most important concerns for individuals and organizations using digital media is Cybersecurity. When we talk about the dangerous threats to digital privacy, Spear Phishing is considered one of the most vulnerable threats a user may experience while being directly or indirectly linked with the digital world. Spear Phishing definition is generally considered a form of attack that is highlighted targeted or focused that dodges a person’s digital security system to steal personal or private data.
Mostly, people are aware of the general phishing attack while when we talk about a spear phishing attack, this is considered something more risky due to its refined nature, resulting in harder detection and ultimately harder defense against this phishing attack.
This post is about the Spear phishing mechanism, differentiating phishing and spear phishing, and showing some common ways of phishing along with the possible remedies to avoid a spear phishing attack. Let’s have a look at the breakdown of our content below:
Table of Contents
What Is Spear Phishing?
Spear phishing is a very targeted form of cyber attack that is focused on deceiving an individual or a group of individuals by acting as the one whom they trust or believe. It’s normal when someone from our friends or family asks us something we generally do not react as much while on the other hand when an unknown person asks for any personal information, it gets a suspected act. Similarly, in this type of cyber attack, the way chosen by the attackers is usually based on human psychology that we do not react or investigate much when someone from our near or dear ones is asking us something.
This type of phishing attack is generally more focused on comparing them to other cyber threats because, in spear type of phishing, in-depth research is done on a person or group of people. So, it is a more narrow and personal attack as compared to other cyber threats that focus on a wide range of audiences. Mostly, the attackers gather much information regarding jobs, personal lives, relationship status, and other details and craft an email that appears to be 100% legitimate and authentic.
The main reason behind this type of attack is to steal financial details, login credentials, property details, or bank details. This attack is not only limited to such purposes but also can be carried out to spread useless malware via malicious links or attachments and just shift the user to other unsafe platforms.
Phishing vs. Spear Phishing: What’s the Difference?
Mostly readers are confused when it comes to differentiating between Phishing and Spear Phishing. They are always curious about getting the main center of difference between the spearing phishing definition and just a random definition of phishing. Let’s make it easy for the readers to understand the difference between these two terms.
Phishing:
A broad niche focuses on targeting a larger population at a single time and scamming them in different ways. It is not individual-focused and can be considered successful if anyone from the targeted audience gets scammed by it. This usually has a much higher chance of being successful as compared to targeted phishing.
Spear Phishing:
A more individual-oriented type of phishing is spear phishing. It is considered a personalized attack aimed at a single individual or group of individuals. Attackers usually spend more time researching a single person and going into in-depth details of that person rather than just reaching random persons with the hope that anyone can get trapped.
This more targeted nature of spear phishing makes it more dangerous and vulnerable. The attacker’s main purpose is to disturb the relationship between the victim and the impersonated party, making the attack look more realistic.
How Spear Phishing Attacks Are Launched
The spear Phishing attack launch process is a stepwise process that takes place in three different phases and without working on each phase the attack can’t be successful. That’s why it is more keen to attack comparatively. The three main steps involved in spear phishing are:
- Information Gathering
- Crafting the Message/ Email based on gathered information
- Exploitation of the victim.
Let’s have a more detailed look at these 3 steps.
Information Gathering
Information gathering is the first step in the spear phishing attack to get as much information about the person who is the target. This search involves having a deep review of that person’s social media profiles, public records, and even data on company websites. The information that is of main focus for the attacker is:
- Person’s present job title and responsibilities.
- Person’s previous job titles and responsibilities.
- Recent activities like business or personal activities.
- Relationship with family, colleagues, and clients.
- Issues with someone
By gathering such information about the victim, attackers mostly craft a message that seems to be real and there are many chances that the gathered data from this information about the victim can help to trap someone.
Crafting the Message
After getting a detailed view and information of the person’s dealings and relationships, the attackers mostly look to create a message on behalf of the victim to reach his people in contact. Mostly, they,
- Pretend to be a colleague or supervisor.
- Used to give reference about any collaborated work or project.
- Ask for personal financial details including bank details and login for some sensitive accounts.
The attackers mostly contact the victim’s near and dear ones in a way that the response from them is urgent and the demand from them is of utmost importance. This is a psychological way to not allow the other person to think and decide, resulting in immediate decisions.
Unlike other phishing messages, spearing phishing is followed by messages or emails that are more precisely crafted and have more chances of being considered authentic.
Exploitation of the Victim
It is quite natural that the dominant always tries to exploit the situation and when it comes to an attacker, exploitation is more aggressive as it is further focused on gaining access to sensitive data that may be linked with the victim.
If the victim falls for the spear phishing attack, the attacker will exploit the situation. This might involve:
- Gaining access to sensitive data or systems that a victim holds.
- Installing malware software to compromise the victim’s system or data usually in the form of viruses.
- Installing ransomware to encrypt a file or look them out of the system. The attacker mostly demands money in return before allowing the user(victim) to access the file.
- Using stolen details to disturb or steal the other account details. Like, many people use the same passwords for multiple accounts, so getting access to each account can also endanger another account with similar passwords.
So, an attacker can either steal the data or install software that results in keeping the victim exploited.
Common Spear Phishing Techniques
The success of spear phishing attacks relies totally on the personalization and gathering of information about the victim. The more information, the more the chances of success for a spear attack to be successful. While mostly attackers use common attacking techniques that result in enhancing the effectiveness of their attack. Let’s have a look at the common tricks used by the attackers.
Email Impersonation
Impersonation is acting as someone in front of someone who is known by him. So, impersonation is the most common and effective trick to be used in a spear phishing attack. Attackers mostly pretend to be someone from near and dear ones of the victim like a friend, boss, colleague, or customer. By mimicking the email address or copying the writing style of a familiar person, the attackers can easily trick the victim and force him to believe in the email legitimacy and authentication of the message.
Malicious Links and Attachments
The other form of attack uses malicious or harmful links that look to be normal and safe to open. An attacker uses such files or links along with their message, asking the victim to download or click the attachment. This click or download will result in installing malware on the victim’s system and can easily steal the main information from the victim’s system. So, because of this, you have seen that Gmail and other email service providers display a message of spam over emails you mostly receive from unknown senders or unknown accounts that are not verified or linked with any organization.
Credential Harvesting (Fake Login Pages)
Mostly, phishing attackers make fake login pages that are similar in appearance to more authentic sites. Such pages ask for login details by urging the victim to fill in the details. As soon, as the victim fills in the details the person’s details are sent to the attacker, and their accounts get compromised.
Creating Urgency (Social Engineering)
Social engineering is defined as simply a psychological technique forcing the victim to do a specific task that is immediate for their safety. This mostly uses the trick of giving less time to think about the authenticity of the message that is being displayed to the user.
Mostly messages displayed are your system is under great threat, there is a security issue with your account or a quick approval of a payment is required for the safety. These tricks have more chances of being successful as they can force the user to react impulsively.
Invoice Scams
If an attacker has gathered much information about a victim’s business and partners, he can trick the victim by sending fake invoices similar to the one that is mostly carried out between the victim’s business and partners. Such invoices seem to be legitimate and requesting approval for the transaction can also be used to steal the money or details.
Leveraging Social Media for Information Gathering
Mostly, attackers believe that social media is used by most businessmen and companies to keep the audience updated about their recent career or business changes. Attackers mostly use the victim’s LinkedIn, Facebook, or Twitter data to add a reference in the message like a recent project start or job switch. This reference may be used to make the scam more successful and authentic.
How to Recognize a Spear Phishing Attack
Now, after getting to know about the spear attacking techniques, the next question that appears in a reader’s mind is finding a way to recognize such attacks instantly and effectively. Although, these attacks are quite personalized and detection is quite hard. Several careful considerations can help in differentiating a regular activity or a phishing activity.
Suspicious or Unusual Sender Address
A careful look at the email address can give you an idea that the sender is authentic or not. Mostly, similar emails are used by attackers, so even if the message or email looks authentic a careful look can help you to avoid massive loss. Mostly, there are differences in the alphabet or numbers and a slight change can trick anyone easily.
Too Personal or Too Good to Be True
Mostly, we are aware of the tone and context of our colleagues and dear ones. So, if you are receiving an email very identical and personal to be true, this can be a phishing attack if the tone of the email is not the same as the sender is claiming or pretending to be. Any personal information request from anyone can be a way of stealing. So, must consider such tips to avoid getting trapped in such malicious threats.
Urgent Requests
Any urgent request from any email message or call can trigger you to answer instantly but think well before answering. Mostly, money requests and sensitive personal details requests are made on an urgent basis but you must be in your senses to confirm the authenticity before disclosing anything to anyone who is asking for it. Try to make a confirmation through another communication channel before proceeding with the request.
Suspicious Attachments or Links
Email attachments and links nowadays come with an option of displaying a preview by hovering your mouse on the link. So, before clicking just place the mouse on the link and do not click. You will have a preview of the website that is linked with the message. If the link is different and does not match the legitimate website, report this as spam and do not click on the link.
How to Protect Yourself From Spear Phishing
Although these are very well-oriented attacks, prevention is almost difficult. Several tips can help you to further protect yourself.
Use Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)
Multi-factor authentication adds a protective layer to your system or mobile by requesting confirmation of any unknown act via text message or calls on the number linked with your accounts. Even if the hacker has your passwords, MFA will not allow him to bypass without getting it confirmed from your registered mail or number. So, this is the most common and easy way of protecting yourself from phishing attacks but unfortunately, most people ignore such simple methods.
Educate Yourself and Your Team
Basic cybersecurity training for your team and yourself is necessary to be aware of the modern ways of phishing and other cyber attacks. Such training and practice can also test the ability of the team to identify the emails that are authentic and other spam emails that might contain a link that can cause complete disturbance in the company’s digital privacy or data.
Update Your Security Software
Computer systems must have updated operating systems using the most recent versions of antivirus software and other security tools. Cybercriminals mostly exploit security vulnerabilities and updating regularly can help you counter such attacks.
Use a Secure Email Gateway
Email filters can help you to block suspicious emails before coming to your inbox. You can limit the emails from unknown users to the spam folder and can detect any suspicious attachments if it is in the mail.
Verify Suspicious Requests
Verification from other means can also help get information about the authenticity of the message or email you receive from one mode of communication. Please go for a direct call or video chat to verify that the person demanding a specific detail or approval is authentic and behind the request he just made.
Be Cautious with Personal Information
Just limit the personal information spread on your social accounts. As more the attacker knows about you, more are the chances of getting a phishing attack successful.
What to Do if You Fall Victim to a Spear Phishing Attack
Unfortunately, if anyone gets trapped in any way of phishing, there are some essential steps to follow:
- Disconnect from the Internet: Disconnect your system from the Internet connection if you suspect a malware installation on your computer or mobile device. This will stop the working of the malware instantly, as it requires internet access to proceed.
- Change Your Passwords: Immediately change the login details if any of your accounts are under a phishing attack.
- Notify IT or a Security Expert: Most countries have cybercrime departments and immediate reporting is required to get an IT expert to control the situation as early as possible.
- Monitor Accounts and Financial Statements: Have your monthly bank statements monitored and carefully look at your recent balance and transaction history.
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Conclusion
We can conclude this appear phishing is a major and rising threat to a person’s digital presence and privacy. Instant and pre-steps are essentials to keep your accounts and details protected from such attacks. Our post has been oriented in a way that is easily understandable by all persons, whether they are linked to the IT sector or not.
Staying vigilant, educating yourself, and making regular cybersecurity updates are always crucial to avoid spear phishing threats.
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