Phishing

 

Phishing is the fraudulent attempt to obtain sensitive information or data, such as usernames, passwords and credit card details or other sensitive details, by impersonating oneself as a trustworthy entity in a digital communication.^[1][2] Typically carried out by email spoofing,^[3] instant messaging,^[4] and text messaging, phishing often directs users to enter personal information at a fake website which matches the look and feel of the legitimate site.^[5]

Phishing is an example of social engineering techniques used to deceive users. Users are lured by communications purporting to be from trusted parties such as social networking websites, auction sites, banks, mails/messages from friends or colleagues/executives, online payment systems or IT administrators.^[6]

Attempts to deal with phishing incidents include legislation, user training, public awareness, and technical security measures (the latter being due to phishing attacks frequently exploiting weaknesses in current web security).^[7]

The word is created as a homophone and a sensational spelling of fishing, influenced by phreaking.^[8][9]