The CEO of Crucial Technologies contacts the help desk to inquire about emails he has been receiving. He says that the emails look like they are from the IT department and they are telling him to click a link in the email to reset his password due to a recent compromise. The emails address him directly by name and title but he noticed that there are grammar and spelling errors within it. No one else in the company has complained about such emails. What kind of social engineering attempt is this email?
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Answer Description
The answer is whaling. Whaling is a type of social engineering where the target is someone in a high position within the company like a CEO. Vishing, tailgating and evil twin are other types of social engineering. Ransomware is a type of malware.
Wikipedia
Phishing is a form of social engineering and scam where attackers deceive people into revealing sensitive information or installing malware such as ransomware. Phishing attacks have become increasingly sophisticated and often transparently mirror the site being targeted, allowing the attacker to observe everything while the victim is navigating the site, and transverse any additional security boundaries with the victim. As of 2020, it is the most common type of cybercrime, with the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center reporting more incidents of phishing than any other type of computer crime.The term "phishing" was first recorded in 1995 in the cracking toolkit AOHell, but may have been used earlier in the hacker magazine 2600. It is a variation of fishing and refers to the use of lures to "fish" for sensitive information.Measures to prevent or reduce the impact of phishing attacks include legislation, user education, public awareness, and technical security measures. The importance of phishing awareness has increased in both personal and professional settings, with phishing attacks among businesses rising from 72% to 86% from 2017 to 2020.
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