Which type of attack is a form of social engineering in which an attacker attempts to steal personal or confidential information by sending e-mail that lures unsuspecting victims to log in to an…

Question

Options

• AReplay
• BPhishing
• CSpoofing
• DPharming

• A
  5% (1)
• B
  91% (20)
• D
  5% (1)

Explanation

Phishing (B) is correct because it describes the exact technique of crafting deceptive emails that direct victims to fake but convincing websites to harvest credentials or sensitive data - the defining characteristic is the email-as-lure combined with an impersonated site.

• Replay (A) is wrong - a replay attack intercepts and retransmits valid network communications to impersonate a user, with no fake website or email involved.
• Spoofing (C) is wrong - spoofing involves forging an identity (IP, email sender, DNS), which is a component of phishing infrastructure but not the full attack described.
• Pharming (D) is close but wrong - pharming also redirects users to fake sites, but does so by corrupting DNS or hosts files, without requiring the victim to click an email link.

Memory tip: Think "phishing = fishing with email bait" - the attacker casts a deceptive email hoping a victim takes the hook and swims to a fake site.

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