Phishing is a term most Internet users have a familiarity about. Whaling is a far newer term which applies, as noted below, to specific accounts. The recent Sony breech is a classic example. This, will probably begin a new trend.
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Whaling attacks: Taking phishing attacks to the next level
Nick Lewis Techtarget.com
Whaling attacks take phishing to the
next level with much bigger targets. Enterprise threats expert Nick Lewis
explains how to mitigate the risk.
I've heard of a phishing
attack and understand its implications, but lately I've been hearing more and
more about whaling attacks. What is a whaling attack and are there specific
actions an enterprise should take to defend against it?
Whaling attacks are a sub-type of phishing attacks.
According to the official WhatIs.com
definition, "whaling
is a type of fraud that targets high-profile end users such as C-level
corporate executives, politicians and celebrities." Think of it like spear
phishing against high-value, high-profile targets. Famous individuals including
Paris Hilton
were whaling victims before the term came to fruition. "Whales" are
at increased risk due to the public nature of their personalities and
lifestyles. Because there are additional risks to going after these targets,
their service providers might also be targeted to get access to their clients'
personal information.
If someone were to use pretexting
to socially engineer a password reset for Paris Hilton's smartphone, the
phisher could easily gain access again to whatever sensitive data she had saved
on the device. Companies targeting whales as customers may want to keep these
types of attacks in mind so they are not used to attack the whale itself.
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