Definitions

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun Internet phishing against a small group of selected targets who are more likely to be attracted

Etymologies

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Examples

  • Zero-day attacks enabled by the vulnerability could be used for "spearphishing" -- phishing targeted at a select pool of victims, according to antivirus vendor Symantec, which discovered the threat.

    InternetNews Realtime News for IT Managers 2009

  • "spearphishing" -- a tactic in which criminals profile specific users and often design customized e-mails to steal corporate or government secrets.

    unknown title 2009

  • Even seemingly innocuous information about companies is swiped for "spearphishing" attacks in which hackers dupe influential employees into downloading malicious computer codes into company networks.

    PhysOrg.com - latest science and technology news stories PhysOrg Team 2010

  • By all reports, the attack appeared to be administrator "spearphishing", so proper authentication/authorization is probably how this breach could have been stopped.

    Forbes.com: News Christian Wolan 2011

  • A recent report from the SANS Institute concluded that spearphishing and malicious code embedded in trusted Web sites are the fastest-growing risks for commercial and governmental organizations.

    unknown title 2009

  • That’s not so very different from her convincing Mr Big that she was a journalist who wished to interview him about his wonderful charity work, though that was more targeted – “spearphishing” is the term used for a targeted cyber-attack, rather than indiscriminate trawling.

    ‘I’m not Snow White. I have to think like a criminal’: how I became a burglar for hire Sam Wollaston 2023

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