Glossary · Security

Phishing

Phishing is a social engineering attack that uses fake emails, messages or websites to trick people into giving up credentials, money or access.

Updated October 6, 2026

Phishing is a fraud technique in which attackers impersonate a trusted organization through email, text, phone or a fake website to trick victims into handing over passwords, financial data or running malicious files.

Why it matters

Phishing is the most common way accounts and networks get compromised, because it targets people rather than software. Technical defenses help: SPF, DKIM and DMARC make it harder to spoof your domain, and passkeys do not work on fake sites. Awareness still matters, as no filter catches everything.

Example

An email says your account will be suspended and links to paypa1-secure-login.example. The link uses a digit 1 instead of the letter l and a newly registered domain. A WHOIS lookup showing it was registered yesterday is a strong warning sign.

Common mistakes

  • Trusting the displayed sender name instead of checking the actual address and link target.
  • Entering credentials after following an urgent message instead of going to the site directly.
  • Assuming a padlock icon means the site is legitimate. It only means the connection is encrypted.

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