What is Spear Phishing? Definition and Examples

Phishing is a form of cyberattack in which malicious actors strive to get sensitive information or accept malicious links or attachments. But spear phishing is a refined form of phishing that all too many people fall for. 

A workable spear phishing definition must therefore include the fact that attackers carefully research their targets. Once they know what might prompt a specific person to click on a malicious link or open an attachment, they use this information to spread malware infections or steal credentials. Either way, an outsider with criminal intent can now obtain privileged information, hacking your organisation’s confidential information with potentially disastrous results. 

Spear phishing is a threat that must be taken very seriously. Tech Digest reports that 2023 was the worst year for cyberattacks yet with over 720,000 attacks occurring in the UK alone. According to a report 90 percent of corporate data breaches were the direct result of a phishing attack – and the UK is being targeted, with 96 percent of organisations confronting phishing in one form or another in 2023 alone. 

Spear Phishing Examples

Spear phishing can affect more than the security of your business and its clients. It can even impact a country’s national security. In 2023, the UK government called Russia out after detecting spear phishing attacks on high-profile politicians and civil servants. A UK government insider said that the attacks had compromised hundreds, if not thousands of officials. The purpose of what was termed a “highly targeted” cyberattack is as yet unknown, but insiders fear that it may be an attempt to manipulate the results of upcoming elections. 

From the private enterprise perspective, spear phishing poses a frightening threat. It allows fraudsters to steal account credentials, and can even allow them to pose as CEOs instructing employees to make payments. The very believability of the emails sent by spear phishers makes them all the more dangerous. After all, if the “boss” is giving your people legitimate-seeming and very urgent instructions, who can blame them if they follow through? 

As an example of spear phishing targeting private enterprises, we can look at the OPERA1ER group. It’s a shadowy organisation that used spear phishing to steal over $11 million from African banks and telecoms businesses over a four-year period. 

Needless to say, spear phishing places your clients at risk too. Once they have employee logins, the people behind a spear phishing attack can access information about your clients – and they can impersonate your business. Swedish bank Nordea discovered this to their cost when spearfishing scammers were able to persuade clients that their spear phishing emails were legitimate. Over 7 million Kronor was stolen. 

Identifying a Spear Phishing Scam

There are “tells” that might allow you to identify a spear phishing scam. Chief among these, the scammer’s attempts to create a sense of urgency – even panic. A spear-phishing email invariably calls for urgent action. The scammers don’t want to give you time to think, and they certainly don’t want to give you time to verify the instructions they’re giving. 

Their emails will include a link or an attachment and you may spot oddities if you’re alert. For example, a domain name and format may seem similar to one you usually use – but it isn’t quite the same. Attachments may seem odd too – for example, they aren’t sent in a file format you’d usually use. 

Then, if they’re careless, a mail from a spear phishing fraudster may seem odd. For example, there may be errors you wouldn’t ordinarily expect – but don’t count on this. The rise of AI means that almost anyone can use style examples and use AI to craft a very believable and completely correct-seeming mail. And spear phishing is effective precisely because it allows bad actors to impersonate people you’d ordinarily trust. Some of them deliver very convincing impersonations indeed. 

Spear Phishing Prevention Tips

Just knowing that spear phishing is something to look out for can empower your staff to protect your organisation. Teach them to be suspicious when they receive an unusual email and give them a go-to source to confirm its authenticity. Have policies that don’t allow employees to undertake sensitive transactions without following a verification procedure. 

But, despite taking these steps, your organisation might still be vulnerable unless you take additional steps. For example, your email filters can look for domain spoofing and can flag questionable email content. At the same time, you should require your employees to update their security software regularly. Outdated software presents a loophole that scammers are bound to exploit. 

Encrypting sensitive information can stop spear phishing attackers in their tracks. Without access to the key, they can’t interpret encrypted data, and multi-factor authentication can boost your security efforts. It still isn’t foolproof, but it makes things a whole lot more difficult for people with bad intentions. 

Cloud based firewalls that protect users both on-premises and whilst working remotely by utilising DNS-layer security will work as an essential first line of protection. Should a user unwittingly click on a link or attempt to open a file, the DNS lookup (in most cases except zero day attacks) will stop the communication with the remote server that hosts the malware or ransomware, therefore thwarting the attack.

Using an e-mail security product that leverages Domain-based Message Authentication Reporting and Conformance (DMARC) technology is an excellent way to defend your organisation against spear phishing. It evaluates incoming mail against a database and automatically notifies your security administrators when an incoming mail doesn’t align with the stored sender information. From the 1st of February 2024, organisations that send more than 5,000 email messages per day to email domains hosted or managed by Google, must have DMARC email authentication set up for their domain.

Finally, there’s the matter of malware infections from spear phishing attacks. If your organisation’s systems are affected, you’ll need a backed-up, clean version that you can run safely and implement quickly. 

Whether Your Organisation is Large or Small, Professional Help Keeps You Safe

With governments and powerful organisations like banks grabbing headlines after spear phishing attacks, smaller businesses may make the mistake of thinking they’re not targets. The real truth is that smaller organisations are particularly vulnerable – often for the simple reason that they don’t see themselves as likely to attract cyberattacks and are less vigilant. 

With new threats regularly surfacing, it will be important for organisations of every size to implement strong cyber security technologies, train employees, and be ready to restore operations if systems are compromised. Specialist help keeps you on track and equips you to combat the latest cyber security threats. Advance your cyber security with Advantex  – a company that not only offers you advanced cyber security technologies, but also offers your staff the information they need to make safer decisions. With both technology and knowledge at your fingertips, attempts at spear phishing are sure to fail – and that translates to peace of mind for decision-makers, employees, and clients alike. Contact us today to find out more about our cyber security services.

Read about other types of Phishing: Clone Phishing, Whale Phishing, Vishing, Smishing.