What is the term for phishing attacks targeted at a specific target or individual within an organization?

• A. Spear-Phishing
• B. Spam
• C. Spoofing
• D. Spyware

Answer: (A)

Targeted, personalized social engineering in phishing is called spear-phishing. The attacker studies the specific person or role within the organization and crafts a message that looks like it comes from a trusted source—such as a supervisor or IT staff—so it feels credible to the target. The goal is to get the victim to reveal credentials, click a malicious link, or transfer funds. This level of customization is what sets spear-phishing apart from general phishing, which is broad and sent to many people with generic content. While spoofing (forging the sender’s identity) can be used in spear-phishing, the defining aspect here is the targeted nature of the attack. Spyware, on the other hand, is malware installed to spy on the user, not a phishing attempt. So the term that fits a phishing attack aimed at a specific target or individual is spear-phishing.