Question 1

How is spear phishing different from regular phishing?

Accepted Answer

Regular phishing casts a wide net. Attackers send thousands of generic emails hoping someone clicks. Spear phishing is targeted. The attacker researches a specific person, pulls details from LinkedIn, company websites, conference talks, or social media, and crafts a message that feels personal and credible.This is why spear phishing is so effective. Barracuda found that spear phishing emails have a 53% open rate, compared to roughly 3% for generic phishing campaigns. The personalization bypasses both technical filters and human skepticism. When an email references your actual project name or your colleague by their first name, your guard drops.

Question 2

What kind of information do attackers harvest from social media for spear phishing?

Accepted Answer

Attackers look for anything that makes a phishing email feel legitimate. Conference talks, job titles, project names, team members, recent promotions, office locations, even the tools and platforms you use. A single LinkedIn post about a conference appearance can reveal your employer, role, talk title, co-presenters, and areas of expertise.This is not theoretical. The 2020 Twitter breach started with phone-based spear phishing that used employee details gathered from LinkedIn and other public sources. Attackers then used that access to compromise high-profile accounts including Barack Obama and Elon Musk. Treating your professional social media as an intelligence source, not just a networking tool, is the first step in reducing your attack surface.

Spear Phishing

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