The whaling email or website may come in the form of a false subpoena, a fake message from the FBI, or some sort of critical legal complaint. With that in mind, what is whaling? In those cases, the phishing email/site looks pretty standard, whereas, in whaling, the page design addresses the manager/executive under attack explicitly. Paul Gil, a former Lifewire writer who is also known for his dynamic internet and database courses and has been active in technology fields for over two decades. In contrast to bulk phishing, spear phishing attackers often gather and use personal information about their target to increase their probability of success. … or Most people are used to seeing deceptivephishing emails. Whaling is a form of spear phishing aimed at “whales” at the top of the food chain. If they call, an automated recording prompts them to provide detailed information to verify their account such as credit card number, expiration date, birthdate, and so on.The biggest protection is education and up-to-date antivirus software. At this point, you have no idea that the page was fake and that someone just stole your password. The attacker sends emails on issues of critical business importance, masquerading as an individual or organization with legitimate authority. You just entered your password incorrectly — that's the scam, though! Spear Phishing: It is the type of phishing which targets specific person or organization. Phishing, spear phishing, business email compromise, whaling – a definition As we mention in our Cybersecurity Glossary , phishing refers to “ a malicious technique used by cybercriminals to gather sensitive information (credit card data, usernames and passwords, etc.) Take the 2008 FBI subpoena whaling scam as an example. Phishing is the least personalized, whaling is the most, and spear-phishing lies between. The difference between whaling and spear phishing is that whaling exclusively targets high-ranking individuals within an organization, while spear phishing usually goes after a category of individuals with a lower profile. Instead of a link, the phishing scam might have you download a program to view a document or image. Whaling and spear phishing scams differ from ordinary phishing scams in that they target businesses using information specific to the business that has been obtained elsewhere. Whaling attacks always personally address targeted individuals, often using their title, position and phone number, which are obtained using company websites, social media or the press. 1. 2FA helps secure login to sensitive applications by requiring users to have two things: something they know, such as a password and user name, and something they have, such as a smartphone or cryptographic token. Training materials can feature real-life examples of spear phishing, with questions designed to test employee knowledge. Spear phishing and whaling. They are common and sent to many different people at once. The user may receive an email, a phone message, or even a text encouraging them to call a phone number due to some discrepancy. Phishing emails are impersonal, sent in bulk and often contain spelling errors or other mistakes that reveal their malicious intent. However, several risk prevention measures can help, including two-factor authentication (2FA), password management policies and educational campaigns. Cyber-criminals send personalized emails to particular individuals or groups of people with something in common, such as employees working in the same department. For example, theInternal Revenue Service (IRS)is currently warning people against falling for a new deceptive phishing attack during this tax season. Whaling attacks may take weeks or months to prepare, and as a result the emails used in the attacks can be very convincing. The program, whether real or not, has a malicious undertone to track everything you type or delete things from your computer. This confidential information might include login credentials, credit & debit card details, and other sensitive data. It's that simple. Learn how Perception Point prevents phishing, spear-phishing, whaling, and any other impersonation attacks from getting to your employees’ mailboxes. Like spear phishing, this type of attack includes research on the attacker’s part. “Imperva prevented 10,000 attacks in the first 4 hours of Black Friday weekend with no latency to our online customers.”. In a regular phishing scam, the web page/email might be a faked warning from your bank or PayPal. Even law firms have fallen victim to such attempted “spear phishing” and “whaling” attacks. Share. "Whaling" is used when a high-ranking manager is taken into sight. Contact Us. Trusted logos and links to known destinations are enough to trick many people into sharing their details. Whaling is a type of spear phishing. Do Executives and Managers Really Fall for These Whaling Emails? Sometimes, you get a new email from someone that you've never emailed before, and they might send you something that seems entirely legitimate. It's different from ordinary phishing in that with whaling, the emails or web pages serving the scam take on a more severe or formal look and are usually targeting someone in particular. The problem is that not everyone notices these subtle hints. A type of spear phishing, generally oriented for bigger professionals than low-level employees, like CEO’s or CTO’s of any organizations. However, the attacker now has your username and password to the website to which you thought you logged in. In truth, the linked software was a keylogger that secretly recorded the CEOs passwords and forwarded those passwords to the con men. Phishing: What It Is and How to Protect Yourself Against It, The Netflix Scam: What It Is and How to Protect Yourself From It, AT&T Scams: What They Are and How to Protect Yourself From Them, How to Report a Phishing Email in Outlook.com, The Cash App Scam: What It Is and How to Protect Yourself, Twitter Scams: How to Identify Them And Protect Yourself, The Walmart Text Scam: What It Is and How to Protect Yourself From It. Phishing attempts directed at specific individuals or companies is known as spear phishing. Whale phishing is aimed at wealthy, powerful, or influential individuals. In the case of whaling, the masquerading web page/email will take a more serious executive-level form. The key difference between whaling and spear-phishing is that whaling attacks target specific, high ranking victims within a company, whereas a spear-phishing attacks can be used to target any individual. You try your password again, and it works out just fine. Whaling, like any phishing con game, involves a web page or email that masquerades as one that's legitimate and urgent. These are more planned and sophisticated attacks. However, if you're not careful, what happens next is the problem. What is Whaling? A legitimate website won’t accept a false password, but a phishing site will. Could a Cyber Attack Knock Out Your Computer? In this video, you will know what spear phishing is, and its difference from phishing and whaling. The attacker disguises as a trusted party and deceives the victim into opening an email or a text message. The targeted nature of spear phishing attacks makes them difficult to detect. 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