An attacker emails a malicious URL links to 50,000 email addresses. The email states that users can click the link to view the latest celebrity news, but the link also secretly infects the user's…

Question

Options

• Awhaling
• Bphishing
• Cdrive-by download
• Dpharming

• B
  90% (27)
• C
  3% (1)
• D
  7% (2)

Explanation

Phishing fits because the attacker sends mass emails disguising a malicious link as legitimate content (celebrity news) to deceive users into clicking - deception via email at scale is the textbook definition of phishing.

Whaling (A) is wrong because whaling is a targeted phishing attack aimed at high-value individuals (executives, CEOs), not a mass 50,000-recipient campaign.

Drive-by download (C) is wrong because that attack infects users simply by visiting a compromised website - no email or social engineering is required. Here, the email-based deception is central to the attack.

Pharming (D) is wrong because pharming redirects users from legitimate URLs to fraudulent ones by poisoning DNS or modifying hosts files - the user doesn't need to be tricked into clicking anything.

Memory tip: Think "phishing = fishing with bait" - the attacker casts a wide net (mass email) with enticing bait (celebrity news) hoping victims will bite (click the link).

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