What is Phishing? Types, Examples & Prevention Guide 2026

Note: You may have searched for "phising" but the correct spelling is "phishing" (with two h's). This article covers everything you need to know about phishing attacks.

Phishing represents the most prevalent and effective cyber attack method used by criminals worldwide, responsible for 90% of data breaches and billions in losses annually. By exploiting human psychology rather than technical vulnerabilities, phishing attacks trick users into revealing credentials, downloading malware, or transferring money through fraudulent communications impersonating trusted entities. Understanding how to spot phishing emails, recognizing different phishing types, and implementing comprehensive prevention strategies are essential for protecting your organization and personal accounts from these pervasive threats. This complete guide explains what phishing is, common attack types, real-world examples, detection methods, and proven prevention strategies including employee training and anti-phishing technology.

What is Phishing?

Phishing is a cyberattack that uses fraudulent communications, typically emails, text messages, or voice calls, to trick recipients into revealing sensitive information (passwords, financial data), clicking malicious links, downloading malware, or making unauthorized payments. Attackers impersonate trusted entities like banks, employers, government agencies, or familiar contacts to exploit human trust, urgency, fear, or curiosity.

Unlike technical exploits targeting system vulnerabilities, phishing attacks exploit human vulnerabilities through social engineering, making them effective even against organizations with robust technical defenses. Phishing is the initial attack vector for most data breaches, ransomware infections, and account takeover incidents.

8 Types of Phishing Attacks

1. Email Phishing (Generic Mass Campaigns)

Broad attacks sent to thousands or millions:

• Characteristics: Generic messaging, mass distribution, low sophistication
• Targets: Anyone, attackers play numbers game
• Common themes: "Account suspended," "Verify your account," "Package delivery failure"
• Success rate: 0.1-3% of recipients fall victim
• Example: Fake Netflix email claiming payment failure, linking to credential theft page

2. Spear Phishing (Targeted Attacks)

Personalized attacks targeting specific individuals or organizations:

• Characteristics: Researched, personalized, uses victim-specific information
• Research sources: LinkedIn, social media, company websites, dark web
• Higher success rate: 50-70% of targeted users fall victim
• Example: Email appearing from CFO asking finance team to process urgent wire transfer

3. Whaling (Executive Phishing)

Spear phishing targeting high-value executives:

• Targets: C-suite executives, board members, high-net-worth individuals
• Objectives: Large financial fraud, access to strategic information
• Sophistication: Highly customized, well-researched, professional appearance
• Example: Fake legal subpoena targeting CEO with malware attachment

4. Vishing (Voice Phishing)

Phone-based social engineering:

• Method: Attacker calls victim impersonating IT support, bank, government
• Requests: Credentials, verification codes, remote access permission
• Techniques: Caller ID spoofing, urgency tactics, authority impersonation
• Example: Fake "Microsoft support" calling about computer virus, requesting remote access

5. Smishing (SMS Phishing)

Text message-based phishing:

• Delivery: SMS or messaging apps
• Common themes: Package delivery, bank alerts, prize winnings
• Objective: Credential theft via fake links, malware download
• Example: Text claiming USPS package needs redelivery fee, linking to payment theft page

6. Clone Phishing

Duplicating legitimate emails:

• Attacker copies real email from trusted sender
• Replaces legitimate links/attachments with malicious ones
• Resends claiming "updated" or "corrected" information
• Highly effective, recipients trust familiar email

7. Pharming (DNS Hijacking)

Redirecting users to fake websites:

• Attackers compromise DNS to redirect legitimate URLs to fake sites
• Victims type correct URL but land on phishing page
• Extremely difficult for users to detect
• Requires technical DNS security measures to prevent

8. Angler Phishing

Social media impersonation:

• Fake customer support accounts on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn
• Attackers respond to customer complaints posing as support
• Request credentials or direct to fake support pages
• Growing threat as organizations use social media for support

How to Spot Phishing Emails

Red Flags to Watch For

• Sender address anomalies: Misspellings, unfamiliar domains, generic emails
• Urgent or threatening language: "Account will be closed," "Immediate action required"
• Generic greetings: "Dear customer" instead of your name
• Requests for sensitive info: Passwords, SSN, payment details
• Suspicious links: Hovering shows different URL than displayed text
• Unexpected attachments: Especially .exe, .zip, Office files with macros
• Grammar and spelling errors: Poor writing quality
• Too good to be true: Prizes, refunds, inheritances you didn't expect

Phishing Prevention Strategies

1. Technical Controls

• Email security: Microsoft Defender for Office 365 anti-phishing protection
• Email authentication: SPF, DKIM, DMARC to prevent spoofing
• Link protection: URL rewriting and time-of-click scanning
• Attachment sandboxing: Detonate suspicious files in isolation
• Web filtering: Block known phishing sites
• Multi-factor authentication: Protect even if passwords stolen

2. Security Awareness Training

• Regular training: Quarterly or monthly education sessions
• Simulated phishing: Test employees with fake campaigns
• Reporting mechanisms: Easy "Report Phishing" button in email
• Real-world examples: Share recent phishing attempts
• Positive reinforcement: Reward good reporting behavior

3. Process and Policy

• Verification procedures: Callback policies for unusual requests
• Payment authorization: Multi-person approval for wire transfers
• Incident reporting: Clear escalation path for suspicious emails
• Response playbook: Standard procedures when phishing detected

Responding to Phishing Attacks

If You Clicked a Phishing Link

1. Don't panic: Act quickly but calmly
2. Disconnect: Disconnect device from network immediately
3. Report: Notify IT security team immediately
4. Change passwords: From separate device, change all account passwords
5. Enable MFA: Add multi-factor authentication if not already enabled
6. Monitor accounts: Watch for unauthorized activity
7. Scan device: Run full antivirus/EDR scan

If You Entered Credentials

1. Change password immediately: On actual legitimate site from trusted device
2. Enable MFA: Require additional verification
3. Check account activity: Review recent logins and actions
4. Alert related accounts: Change passwords on accounts with same password
5. Monitor for fraud: Watch financial accounts, credit reports
6. Report to organization: Notify SOC team for investigation

Frequently Asked Questions

What is phishing?

Phishing is a cyberattack using fraudulent communications, typically emails, to trick recipients into revealing sensitive information, clicking malicious links, downloading malware, or transferring money. Attackers impersonate trusted entities like banks, employers, service providers, or colleagues to exploit human trust through social engineering and urgency tactics. Phishing is the most common cyber attack vector, responsible for 90% of data breaches, targeting credentials for account takeover, financial information for fraud, and network access for ransomware deployment. Organizations combat phishing using email security platforms, security awareness training, and multi-factor authentication.

What are the types of phishing attacks?

Main phishing attack types include: Email phishing (mass campaigns to thousands of recipients), Spear phishing (targeted attacks using personal information researched from LinkedIn and social media), Whaling (targeting executives and high-value individuals), Vishing (voice phishing via phone calls impersonating IT support or banks), Smishing (SMS/text message phishing with malicious links), Clone phishing (duplicating legitimate emails with malicious replacements), Pharming (DNS hijacking redirecting to fake sites), and Angler phishing (fake social media support accounts). Each type exploits human psychology through urgency, authority, or trust manipulation combined with social engineering techniques.

How can I spot a phishing email?

Spot phishing emails by checking for: suspicious sender addresses with slight misspellings or unfamiliar domains, urgent or threatening language creating artificial pressure, generic greetings ("Dear customer") instead of your name, unusual requests for sensitive information or credentials, unexpected attachments or links, spelling and grammar errors inconsistent with legitimate communications, mismatched URLs when hovering over links (displayed text differs from actual destination), requests to "verify" account information you didn't request, offers that seem too good to be true, and legitimate-looking logos with subtle differences. Always verify unexpected requests through separate communication channels before clicking links or providing information. Learn more about spotting phishing emails.

Conclusion: Defending Against Phishing

Phishing attacks continue to evolve in sophistication, exploiting human psychology and trust to bypass technical security controls. Defending against phishing requires a multi-layered approach combining advanced email security technology like Microsoft Defender for Office 365, continuous security awareness training with simulated phishing campaigns, robust verification processes for sensitive requests, multi-factor authentication protecting even when credentials are stolen, and SOC monitoring detecting and responding to phishing incidents rapidly.

The most effective phishing defense recognizes that humans are both the weakest link and the strongest defense, properly trained employees who understand how to spot phishing and report suspicious emails protect the organization more effectively than any single technology. Combined with technical controls, verification procedures, and incident response capabilities, organizations can dramatically reduce phishing risk and prevent the credential theft, malware infections, and financial fraud that phishing attacks enable.

subrosa provides comprehensive anti-phishing solutions including Microsoft Defender for Office 365 deployment, security awareness training with simulated phishing campaigns, email security configuration, and 24/7 SOC monitoring for phishing detection and response. Our team helps organizations reduce phishing risk through technical controls and human-focused training programs. Contact us to strengthen your phishing defenses.