Spear Phishing Explained: How to Spot and Prevent Targeted Attacks

In the digital world, cyber-attacks are quite common and the threat is ever present. One of the attacks that has become a growing concern for both individuals and organizations is phishing. It is basically an attempt by cyber attackers to gain access to sensitive information like credit card numbers, passwords, bank information, etc. Generally, it works by tricking victims into entering fake websites where they reveal these details. It can be carried out either via text messages or email.

So, spear phishing is basically a type of phishing attack. Also called targeted phishing, it is essentially a customized scam where a specific person or group is targeted. In this blog, let us understand all about this particular type of phishing in a user-friendly way. We will start our discussion with a phishing definition.

What is Targeted Phishing?

In simple terms, targeted phishing is nothing but a customized cyberattack that focuses on particular companies or individuals. These attacks are implemented through personalized emails created for phishing purposes. The emails sometimes look so genuine that they compel victims into believing them. They then encourage victims to share personal information which is then accessed by the attackers.

The main purpose of spear phishing is to steal data such as credit card details, sensitive login credentials, financial information, etc. Some of these targeted phishing are also created to infect the system with malware. Cyberattackers execute these attacks for financial fraud or identity theft, espionage, or modify stock prices. Sometimes attacks gain access to these details and then resell it to third parties for financial gains.

How Do They Work?

The modus operandi of these attacks is to create a sense of familiarity with the user so that they become compelled to trust the attacker. To be successful, it involves 4 steps:

Choosing the Goal of the Attack:

As stated earlier, the purpose of spear phishing can be different but it mostly boils down to stealing data or money from organizations or individuals. Firstly, attackers set their objectives. The goal can be gaining access to confidential company data, stealing login information, or spreading malware in the system or network. When it comes to stealing sensitive data, it can be anything ranging from intellectual property, employee data, financial credentials, or trade secrets.

Selecting a Target-

Once the objective has been set, the next step is to identify a suitable target. The target is carefully selected so that the purpose of the attackers is fulfilled. The attackers want the target to help them directly or indirectly. They can either make the payment to a fraudulent vendor that looks genuine or download malicious links. Often, newcomers, mid-level, or low-level employees are targeted in the organization that has access to a vast network or extensive system privileges.

Researching the Target-

After the target has been identified, the attacker then carries out extensive research about the target. For this, cyber attackers find out who all are the colleagues, friends, reporting managers, etc. of the target. Thanks to social media, gaining personal details about people does not require too much effort. Some of these attacks do not even require more than a couple of hours of Google search.

Creating the Perfect Spear Phishing Message-

By this step, attackers know their targets and their personal details. Using their research, they easily craft compelling phishing messages that appear to be extremely genuine to the target. Their trick lies in including extremely sensitive details in the email so that the target becomes convinced that only a trusted source could share these details. Attackers also make sure that they add visual elements in the email that adds to the overall authenticity of the message.

How to Identify Targeted Phishing?

Recognizing the methods cyber attackers employ is one of the key ways of spotting targeted phishing. It is imperative to spot some red flags and become cautious while dealing with suspicious emails. These are the red flags-

Mostly, attackers want their target to make an emotional decision. Their emails aim to create a false panic or urgency. The email can seem as if it has come from your superior who needs login credentials to perform a time-sensitive action.
Finding an overly emotional language created to induce guilt or fear is one of the red flags you need to be cautious of.
Carefully check the email address of the sender. Most phishing emails do not have the right email address. Either the user name will be incorrect or the domain will be incorrect.
Unusual grammatical or spelling errors which you usually do not expect from a credible sender.
Most organizations now avoid gaining financial details in an insecure way such as email. So, if the sender is pressing you to share confidential or personal details, you need to be cautious.
In a suspicious message, you need to be very careful while clicking on any links. Most of these links are also not formatted correctly or are mostly misspelled. You can even hover your cursor over these links to be sure that they are directing to correct or genuine destinations.
If you are not expecting any attachments and you get them, especially those with unusual file names, then this is a red flag.
Use of pretexting is quite common in spear phishing. Cyber attackers create a scenario such as expiry of your login credentials and manipulate targets into sharing credentials.

Steps to Avoid Targeted Phishing

Well-executed targeted phishing sometimes bypass conventional cybersecurity measures. However, despite the prevalence and evolving sophistication of these attacks, it is quite possible to prevent them. You can follow these steps to protect yourself from these kind of advanced attacks-

Sometimes users ignore or delete suspicious emails and do not take any further action. It is important to verify phishing emails and especially those that ask you to click on a link or share details.
You can protect your network using VPN that not only helps you encrypt your online activity but also allows you to minimize external threats.
Protect your systems with cybersecurity platforms to recognize all malicious links, downloads, and attachments.
It is always important to verify the sender’s name, email address, and domain before responding to it.
Verify the links by hovering your cursor over the link without actually clicking on it.
Check the veracity of the claims made by the suspicious spear phishing email before taking any action.
Always keep your systems protected with necessary cybersecurity upgrades and security patches.
Limit how much you share on social media especially if you hold too many system privileges of your organization.
Be careful with your credentials and adopt intelligent password habits. Use a reliable password manager to generate robust and unique passwords for all your accounts.
It is a good habit to change your passwords regularly and enable biometric or multifactor authentication if possible.
If you know the sender personally and you have doubts that he or she has sent the email, then you can contact the sender directly to make sure whether the email is genuine or not.
Organizations can conduct cybersecurity seminars, workshops, training programs or phishing simulations to train their employees.

Conclusion

Almost all internet users know that the threat of cyber attacks is real. However, knowing what they are, how they work, how to identify one, and how you can prevent them is crucial. The blog focuses on one of these cyberattacks, i.e., spear phishing. It covers all introductory facets you need to know about targeted phishing. For more blogs on modern technology and the importance of centralizing customer data, check out our website

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