Spear phishing is a highly targeted cyberattack in which criminals research a victim and send convincing phishing emails. It's effective and can have potentially devastating effects.
Phishing remains the world’s most common cyberattack, and the problem keeps growing. The FBI recorded over 193,000 complaints related to phishing in 2024, and reported phishing costs to be at $70 million.
Spear phishing is a more targeted form of a phishing attack. In this guide, we explore what spear phishing attacks are and how to defend against them.
Spear phishing is a targeted email attack aimed at a specific individual or organization. Attackers use personal or organizational details to craft convincing messages that trick recipients into revealing sensitive information, transferring funds, or downloading and installing malware.
The primary goals of spear phishing are financial theft and data exfiltration. That said, global security experts are increasingly finding that attackers are looking to compromise API and session tokens.
These highly effective scams are usually carried out by sophisticated attackers and can be incredibly difficult to stop. Spear phishing emails impersonate trusted contacts and reference real details to fool traditional spam filters and vigilant employees.
Phishing campaigns seek out low-level targets in large numbers. They are generic in nature and can be easily created by someone with little to no technical experience.
On the other hand, spear phishing is designed to attack a specific individual or entity. It is highly detailed and requires extensive research to successfully impersonate a known individual and win the target’s trust. For instance, spear phishers can research their victims on social media, company websites, and the dark web before sending a convincing message.
In short, the difference is that spear phishing is designed for a specific target, whereas conventional phishing campaigns look to cast a wide net.
Whale phishing, also known as whaling, is spear phishing aimed at senior leaders such as C-suite executives. Because these executives have access to financial information, sensitive data, and other high-level items, they are considered big fish or whales.
By impersonating or compromising the “big fish” accounts, attackers can pressure staff to wire money, share intellectual property, or approve bogus invoices without question.
Spear phishing succeeds through in-depth reconnaissance of the chosen target, followed by email spoofing:
Reconnaissance: Attackers crawl social media, scrape company sites, and buy breach data to learn job titles, vendor relationships, or current projects.
Impersonation: Using flaws in Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP), criminals forge sender addresses or register look-alike domains.
Social engineering: Emails create urgency, authority, or fear to push the target to click a link, open an attachment, or authorize a payment.
Attackers use a combination of digital platforms and social engineering to achieve a successful attack. However, the scary fact is that spear phishing requires nothing more than a basic email account.
The dark web increasingly sells out-of-the-box phishing kits to automate the process. Criminal services may even offer to carry out research through social media scraping on the attacker’s behalf.
Once the attacker has taken the time to research the chosen target, only two basic tools are required to execute the attack:
SMTP Server: These can be purchased at an extremely low cost through well-known web hosting companies. An attacker may install an SMTP server by utilizing port 25.
Mailing Software: Phishing emails are sent using messaging software. While the open-source PHP Mailer is highly favored, well-known software options like Microsoft Outlook can also be used.
This accessibility lowers the barrier for would-be attackers, making spear phishing a widespread threat rather than a niche concern. As the tools and services needed to launch these campaigns become easier to obtain, individuals and organizations need to remain alert and proactive in defending against these evolving tactics.
Traditional shotgun phishing campaigns are relatively easy to spot because they lack personalization. A spear phishing email, on the other hand, will always look different.
However, several commonalities give attackers away, including:
Display name mismatch with the sender’s actual address.
The message appears to come from a known colleague or vendor.
Embedded links or attachments (the payload).
Urgent language urging immediate action.
Common scenarios of spear phishing:
Gift Card Scams: This attack asks employees to buy gift cards for a peer or an event. After purchase, the attacker asks the victims to send the gift card numbers to them.
Bank Account Breach: An email appears to come from a bank and claims the company’s bank account has been breached. Sophisticated spoofs may include a phone number, where the recipient may unwittingly give away an organization’s financial details.
Invoice Payment: While impersonating the CEO or other decision maker, the scammer asks an employee to pay an overdue invoice to a new or existing vendor. Naturally, the money ends up in an untraceable foreign bank account.
Recognizing these telltale signs and scenarios can make all the difference when it comes to stopping a spear phishing attack before any damage is done.
The impacts of falling victim to spear phishing attacks are wide-ranging and could take years to recover from.
The consequences of these campaigns include:
Loss of revenue
Loss of consumer confidence and reputational damage
Severe business disruption
Lawsuits and other legal issues
Dark web leaks
Regardless of the organization’s size, employees at every level must be aware of phishing and how to prevent it. Attackers may target many levels of an organization rather than simply the prominent decision-makers.
Spotting spear phishing attempts is becoming increasingly complex, but if you know what to look for, they can be relatively simple to find. If you’re ever in doubt, helpful questions to ask yourself include:
Is the sender’s address spelled correctly?
Does the email demand fast action?
Are there unexpected links or attachments?
Does the tone sound unusual for this sender?
Is the request outside normal business processes?
Everyone can fall victim to spear phishing attacks, but there are some actions you can take to minimize the risk. These include:
Double-Check Everything: Ensure the email address is accurate and check the request to ensure it’s legitimate.
Verify with the Sender: Call the sender or another member of the department to verify any requests made.
Retype the Link: Never click a link inside an email. Type the domain instead and access your accounts independently.
Copy and Paste Email Text: Enter the body of the email into Google. Many spear phishing email examples utilize off-the-shelf spoofing kits.
Scan Attachments: Make sure your email provider automatically scans attachments for potential malware or ransomware. The best email security software will also find and block spear phishing attacks via a behavioral data science-based approach.
Spread Awareness: Ensure employees are aware of spoofing and train them to spot and react to suspicious communications.
Because spear phishing targets individuals rather than technical vulnerabilities, employee training is a critical defense. Security awareness training should additionally cover:
Methods to identify suspicious emails.
Guidance on limiting personal information shared on social media platforms.
Clear organizational policies to prevent scams.
Spear
and penetration tests to reinforce training.Spear phishing is cheap to launch and costly to endure. Even a single targeted email can trigger financial loss, data breaches, and years of reputational fallout.
Thousands of organizations worldwide trust Abnormal to stop targeted phishing, business email compromise, and whaling attacks before they reach the inbox. Investing in our state-of-the-art email security platform can bolster your defenses and decrease your chances of becoming a statistic.
Learn more about how Abnormal protects against spear phishing by requesting a demo today.
