N10-005 Question #536: Real Exam Question with Answer & Explanation

The correct answer is A: Whaling. Whaling is a highly targeted phishing attack aimed at senior executives or individuals with significant authority within an organization. Attackers first research and map out the staff hierarchy to identify high-value targets (e.g., CEOs, CFOs), then craft convincing, personalize

Question

Which of the following is characterized by an attacker attempting to map out an organization's staff hierarchy in order to send targeted emails?

Options

AWhaling
BImpersonation
CPrivilege escalation
DSpear phishing

Explanation

Whaling is a highly targeted phishing attack aimed at senior executives or individuals with significant authority within an organization. Attackers first research and map out the staff hierarchy to identify high-value targets (e.g., CEOs, CFOs), then craft convincing, personalized emails. Spear phishing is targeted at specific individuals generally, but whaling specifically involves targeting based on organizational rank and hierarchy. Impersonation involves pretending to be someone else, privilege escalation is about gaining higher system access, and neither describes the reconnaissance-then-email attack model described.

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