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Phishing

FISH-ing /ˈfɪʃɪŋ/

nounB2TOEFLIELTS

technicalgeneral

The fraudulent practice of sending emails or making phone calls purporting to be from reputable companies in order to induce individuals to reveal personal information, such as passwords and credit card numbers.

A social engineering technique that relies on deception and impersonation to trick victims into divulging sensitive information.

The story behind the word. The term 'phishing' is a homophone of 'fishing,' and the analogy is quite clear: attackers are 'fishing' for sensitive information (like passwords) from a 'school' of internet users. The 'ph' instead of 'f' is thought to be influenced by 'phreaking,' a term from the 1970s for hacking telephone systems, or simply a common hacker's substitution for 'f' (like 'warez' for 'wares').

Word relationships

Spoofing: Impersonating a legitimate source, often part of a phishing attack.
Social engineering: A broader category of psychological manipulation, of which phishing is a common tactic.

Commonly confused with

Spam: Spam is unsolicited bulk email; phishing is a type of spam that specifically aims to trick recipients into giving up information.

Word family

phisher (noun): A person who engages in phishing.

Collocations

phishing attack
phishing email
phishing scam
prevent phishing

Example sentences

"Employees received training on how to identify phishing attempts, which often mimic legitimate emails from banks or IT departments." A cybersecurity awareness campaign.
"The latest wave of phishing scams targeted elderly citizens, tricking them into revealing their banking details." A news report on online fraud.

Memory hook

Think of 'PH' as 'fraudulent' and 'FISHING' for your personal data. Fishing for data

When not to use

Do not use for general spam or unsolicited advertisements; phishing specifically involves deceptive attempts to steal information.

Fun facts

The earliest known use of the term 'phishing' dates back to the mid-1990s, appearing in hacker communities.