Phishing definition in Cybersecurity

Phishing is a cyber attack that uses disguised email as a weapon. The goal is to trick the email recipient into believing that the message is something they want or need — a request from their bank, for instance, or a note from someone in their company — and to click a link or download an attachment.

Notable Incidents

1. The 2013 Target breach, which began with a phishing email to a third-party vendor.
2. The 2016 Democratic National Committee email leak, initiated by phishing emails.

Solutions for Phishing

1. Educate users on recognizing phishing attempts and not clicking on unknown links in emails.
2. Implement email filtering solutions that can detect and block phishing emails.