Attacks

Phishing

What is phishing?

Phishing is an attempt to obtain credentials or money through faked messages. The message poses as a known sender and creates time pressure.

In spear phishing the message targets one specific person and uses real details from their working life. In CEO fraud the sender poses as management and orders an urgent transfer, often while travelling or just before the end of the day.

Technical filters catch part of the traffic. The rest comes down to two things: two-factor login, which largely devalues a stolen password, and a fixed process that ties every payment approval to a second person and a second channel.

Phishing simulation as an add-on

Related terms

Social engineering Social engineering is the deliberate manipulation of people in order to obtain credentials, information or money. The attacker po… CEO fraud and invoice fraud CEO fraud is a scam in which criminals pose as company management and order an urgent transfer. In the related invoice fraud, a g… Security awareness training Security awareness training is a short, regularly repeated briefing for staff that makes common attacks on people recognisable, s… SPF, DKIM and DMARC SPF, DKIM and DMARC are three records in the management of your internet domain. Together they stop outsiders from sending email …

All terms in the knowledge base

Note: This entry reflects the state of knowledge to the best of our understanding and serves as general orientation. It is not legal advice. What counts is always the version currently in force at the responsible body, for example dsb.gv.at, nis.gv.at or enisa.europa.eu.

From the term to practice

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