spear phishing
noun
variants
or less commonly spear-phishing
: a targeted attempt to trick a specific person into revealing personal or confidential information that can then be used illicitly
In spear phishing, hackers first identify a target. Unlike basic phishing, which casts a wide net, spear phishing focuses on a specific person or group.—
eMazzanti Technologies
eMazzanti TechnologiesThe hyper-personalized emails known as spear-phishing can use information from your LinkedIn profile, including your connections.—Leslie Collins
Leslie Collinsspear-phishing emails
Examples of spear phishing in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
With that information, the scammers can create more believable scenarios for spear phishing or vishing attacks.
—Vytautas Kaziukonis, Forbes, 30 Oct. 2024
The three hackers, all of whom have ties to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, allegedly gained access to the accounts of campaign officials using social engineering and spear phishing, a tactic that attempts to trick victims into disclosing sensitive information.
—Emma Roth, The Verge, 27 Sep. 2024
The hackers have used various tactics including spear phishing.
—Lora Kolodny,jonathan Vanian, CNBC, 18 Sep. 2024
Beyond fake news, Microsoft’s report says in June, a group run by the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps targeted an official on a presidential campaign with a spear phishing email and tried to login to a former candidate’s account.
—Matt Galka, Baltimore Sun, 9 Aug. 2024
Domains are also used for spear phishing or botnets.
—Ken Carnesi, Forbes, 27 Mar. 2024
British officials said the spear phishing campaign targeted multiple candidates for Parliament and included the stealing and releasing of British-U.S. trade documents before the 2019 election, in which trade was a key issue.
—Washington Post Staff, Washington Post, 7 Dec. 2023
An example of this is when a cybercriminal uses a spear phishing email to gain access to a single laptop and then can get into the entire server and gather sensitive credentials.
—Shane Buckley, Forbes, 13 Nov. 2023
Training staff on preventing phishing and spear phishing, in particular, is vital.
—Carlo Tortora Brayda, Forbes, 17 July 2023
Vytautas Kaziukonis, Forbes, 30 Oct. 2024
The three hackers, all of whom have ties to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, allegedly gained access to the accounts of campaign officials using social engineering and spear phishing, a tactic that attempts to trick victims into disclosing sensitive information.
—Emma Roth, The Verge, 27 Sep. 2024
The hackers have used various tactics including spear phishing.
—Lora Kolodny,jonathan Vanian, CNBC, 18 Sep. 2024
Beyond fake news, Microsoft’s report says in June, a group run by the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps targeted an official on a presidential campaign with a spear phishing email and tried to login to a former candidate’s account.
—Matt Galka, Baltimore Sun, 9 Aug. 2024
Domains are also used for spear phishing or botnets.
—Ken Carnesi, Forbes, 27 Mar. 2024
British officials said the spear phishing campaign targeted multiple candidates for Parliament and included the stealing and releasing of British-U.S. trade documents before the 2019 election, in which trade was a key issue.
—Washington Post Staff, Washington Post, 7 Dec. 2023
An example of this is when a cybercriminal uses a spear phishing email to gain access to a single laptop and then can get into the entire server and gather sensitive credentials.
—Shane Buckley, Forbes, 13 Nov. 2023
Training staff on preventing phishing and spear phishing, in particular, is vital.
—Carlo Tortora Brayda, Forbes, 17 July 2023
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'spear phishing.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near spear phishing
Cite this Entry
“Spear phishing.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/spear%20phishing. Accessed 5 Nov. 2024.
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