220-1002 · Question #355
The Chief Executive Offer (CEO) of a company receives an email from a local bank. It states the company's account has several suspicious transactions and instructs the CEO to log in immediately to…
The correct answer is D. Whaling. Whaling is a highly targeted form of phishing that specifically attacks high-profile, senior executives such as CEOs, CFOs, or board members - the 'big fish' of an organization. The attacker crafts a convincing, urgent message (in this case impersonating a bank) designed to…
Question
The Chief Executive Offer (CEO) of a company receives an email from a local bank. It states the company's account has several suspicious transactions and instructs the CEO to log in immediately to validate the transactions; otherwise, the account will be frozen. Which of the following BEST describes this email?
Options
- ASpear phishing
- BImpersonation
- CDumpster diving
- DWhaling
How the community answered
(38 responses)- B3% (1)
- C3% (1)
- D95% (36)
Explanation
Whaling is a highly targeted form of phishing that specifically attacks high-profile, senior executives such as CEOs, CFOs, or board members - the 'big fish' of an organization. The attacker crafts a convincing, urgent message (in this case impersonating a bank) designed to pressure the executive into acting quickly without scrutiny. While spear phishing also targets specific individuals, whaling is the precise term reserved for executive-level targets. Impersonation is a tactic used within this attack, not the attack type itself. Dumpster diving is physical, not email-based.
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