August 10, 2022
Common types of Phishing attacks
Introduction
As we already mentioned in a previous article, phishing attacks are a top threat on cybersecurity trends of 2022. These cyber-attacks are one of the most frequent and widespread in cyberspace. Unfortunately, cybercriminals are constantly discovering new types of attacks. In this article we will analyze how phishing attacks work and the types of these attacks.
What is Phishing
Phishing is one of the types of attacks that dominate cyberspace. In these attacks hackers try to trick users by pretending to be a trustworthy person or company. Many phishing attacks, for example, have used fake Microsoft and Amazon websites to deceive users. In addition, hackers monitor and collect personal information from their victims to create emails or messages with them and thus become more believable. Most of these are hard to spot as fakes as they are written carefully enough to look authentic. Succeeding in gaining the trust of users, cybercriminals manipulate them with the aim of unwittingly installing some malicious software or file. Hackers using phishing attacks send malicious links to their victims usually via email, messages on social media etc. But what are the common types of phishing attacks? Let’s find out.
Types of Phishing attacks
Email Phishing
Email phishing is the most common and most used type of phishing attacks. As we already mentioned above, phishing attacks that use emails trying to trick their victim by impersonating a real company or a colleague. They try to slightly change the original company email, for example by adding an extra character or symbol. Moreover, many of these emails are presented in the form of urgency to distract the attention of the recipient more easily. So, hackers send hundreds or thousands of fake emails to trap employees. Consequently, these emails aim to mislead the user into downloading an infected file or installing some malicious software. Also, by using this method the hacker can intercept personal data or manipulate the user to submit it to a fake website.
Smishing
Smishing attacks work like Email Phishing attacks, but instead of sending emails, cybercriminals send fake SMS messages using a phone.
Whaling
Whaling’s main target is the senior executives of organizations. This type use a different technique than previous types of phishing as they do not send links but personalized messages. These messages are based on the executive’s published information.
Spear Phishing
In these attacks, the hackers have managed to collect all the necessary personal data provided by employees such as their names and their family status. Additionally, they find information about the employees’ work such as their position and responsibilities in the company or about their colleagues. Thus, with spear phishing the attacks become more targeted and effective.
Vishing
Vishing attacks also work in an equivalent way to the above. In these attacks, however, there is no written communication. Instead, these attacks are carried out with the help of automated and non- automated phone calls. In these phone calls, threat actors ask their victims for information such as credit card numbers. When hackers make automated calls, they try to convince the employees to enter their personal data into their phones, thinking they are communicating with a trusted source.
Angler Phishing
This type of phishing creates fake accounts on social media that pretend to be accounts of well-known companies with the aim of gaining the trust of users. As a result important personal data of users are being compromised . Angler phishing uses identical images and writing style to the original account of the company and thus convinces the audience.
Conclusion
In conclusion, phishing attacks are top trends in cybersecurity and cybercriminals develop and apply new types increasingly. Every company should be aware of them to take the appropriate actions to protect against them.
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