What Is Phishing?
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What Is Phishing?
Phishing is a type of cyberattack where criminals impersonate a trusted person or organisation — a bank, a courier service, a colleague, even your own IT department — to trick you into revealing passwords, banking details or other sensitive information, or into clicking a malicious link that installs malware. It remains one of the most common ways businesses and individuals get hacked because it targets people rather than technology.
Common Types of Phishing Attacks
Email phishing is the most familiar form: a fake invoice, delivery notice, or "your account has been suspended" email designed to make you click a link and enter your credentials on a fake login page. Spear phishing is more targeted, using specific details about you or your company to appear more convincing. Smishing uses SMS text messages, while vishing uses phone calls, often impersonating a bank or government agency. Business Email Compromise (BEC) involves impersonating an executive to trick an employee into transferring money or sensitive files.
Warning Signs of a Phishing Attempt
- Urgent or threatening language pressuring you to act immediately
- Sender addresses that look almost right but not quite (e.g. a misspelled domain)
- Unexpected attachments or links, especially asking you to "verify" or "reset" a password
- Requests for payment, gift cards, or wire transfers that bypass normal approval processes
- Generic greetings like "Dear Customer" from a service that normally uses your name
How to Protect Your Business
No single tool stops all phishing — protection works best as layers: spam filtering and email security gateways to catch obvious attempts, multi-factor authentication so a stolen password alone isn't enough to break in, regular staff awareness training so employees recognise red flags, and a clear internal process for verifying unusual payment or data requests before acting on them. Managed IT support providers can set up and monitor these layers so a single mistaken click doesn't turn into a full breach.