Home › Technology › Cybersecurity & Privacy › phishing

phishing

FISH-ing /ˈfɪʃɪŋ/

nounB2TOEFLIELTS

technicalgeneral

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

Phishing relies on social engineering, tricking users into believing a fake communication is legitimate. It often creates a sense of urgency or fear to prompt immediate action.

The story behind the word. The word 'phishing' is a playful, yet dangerous, twist on the word 'fishing.' Just as a fisherman casts a line to catch fish, a 'phisher' casts out deceptive emails or messages, hoping to 'hook' unsuspecting victims into revealing their sensitive information. The 'ph' instead of 'f' is thought to be an homage to 'phreaking,' an early form of phone hacking, adding a touch of hacker slang to its origin.

Word relationships

spoofing: Impersonating a legitimate source, often part of a phishing attack.
social engineering: A broader term for manipulating people to divulge confidential information, which phishing is a type of.

legitimate communication: Genuine and trustworthy messages.

Commonly confused with

smishing: Smishing is phishing conducted via SMS (text messages). Vishing is phishing conducted via voice calls.

Word family

phish (verb): To attempt to obtain sensitive information from someone by disguising oneself as a trustworthy entity in an electronic communication.
phisher (noun): A person who engages in phishing.

Collocations

phishing attack
phishing email
phishing scam
detect phishing
prevent phishing

Example sentences

"Always be wary of emails asking for your password; it could be a phishing attempt." A cybersecurity training session.
"The recent wave of phishing attacks targeted bank customers, leading to several cases of identity theft." A news report on online scams.
"Many companies implement advanced filters to block phishing emails before they reach employee inboxes." An article about email security.

Memory hook

Think of 'PHISHING' as 'FISHING' for personal information with a fake bait email. Fishing for Info

When not to use

Do not use 'phishing' for general scams that don't involve impersonating a trusted entity to trick someone into revealing information. It's specific to the digital 'fishing' for credentials.

Fun facts

The term 'phishing' is believed to have been coined in the mid-1990s by hackers who used 'ph' as a leet (hacker speak) substitute for 'f'.
The first recorded use of the term 'phishing' was in 1996 in a Usenet newsgroup.