Most of us must have heard about phishing frauds, but there are many who would not have hurt the word whaling. Whaling is related to phishing fraud, but it involves powerful officials or people in higher positions. This kind of fraud is targeted at individuals who have greater power in an organization and hold certain confidential data. This kind of fraud is carried out to attack a particular official so that confidential data or information is drained from their system. This kind of fraud can be very damaging not only to the individual but also to the organization for which the individual is working. 

It can be set when the phishing attack is highly targeted with the aim of Picking senior officials and executives to carry out the attack disguised under an email that looks legitimate. These attackers send an email masquerading as legitimate so that, for instance, anyone can get deceived. The attacker’s skills in making an email that is so close to the original is the key to carrying out such a targeted fraud. This is a digital fraud carried out via social engineering. It is designed in a way to encourage and compel the victim to carry out a secondary action. This action can be anything from sharing confidential details to transferring funds to a certain account.

There is no need for a high level of technical knowledge to carry out this fraud, yet it is common and has high returns. Big firms that deal with payment services and well-known Financial Institutions are some of the target companies where important officials are Cheated. They Want to get the needed data transfer. But as the attackers are getting more technologically strong, they are targeting hosting sites, E-Commerce sites, cloud storage, and online services as well. It is a bit of a shock, but these sides are also at the receiving end of most of these attacks. 

The generic fishing emails are similar to the wheeling emails, where the letter is just a more sophisticated form of the former with a targeted individual who is in a position of power. Usually, It is seen that the sea level executives are a Priority for these. It is often seen that the target individuals are officials who have a certain authority in the organization. These officials are lured into clicking on the phishing email by providing them with a false need to open a fraudulent website that often looks legitimate. Some of the reasons generated by the attackers are Often similar in most cases. 

• They will first gather information, most importantly some personalized information about the targeted official or individual, before sending them an email. Once they have this information, they will use it for their benefit and somehow convince the individual to click on a certain link based on the personal information gained. It is difficult for the individual to understand how it can be a phishing email, and if the individual does not take proper precautions and Clicks on the link, his or her system’s information can be leaked, and a lot of damage can occur.

• It is also seen that these attackers will generate a sense of urgency and would convince the individual that it is important for them to click on the link as soon as possible. This way, the individual will not have the time to check whether the email sent or the link received is a fraud, and the moment he or she clicks on the link, the damage is done.

•  The tone of the mail and the words utilized are well-studied and business-friendly. This way, it would be very difficult to understand the nature of the mail sent. The tone and delivery of the email will convince the individual that the email sent is from a genuine website and from a legitimate sender, which will influence the individual to trust the mail and click on the link sent.
  
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Consequences of whaling

Financial damage

One of the most common damages faced by an individual or organization is a lot of financial losses. Most attackers target a financial institution targeting financial outcomes from the attack. If an individual is lured into the trap, the individual, as well as the organization, can suffer a great amount of financial losses.

Information leak

There is a lot of confidential information that is saved in an organization’s system. Access to this information is limited to certain higher officials and executives only. Executive, the attackers find a way of accessing the system and get all the confidential data for their gains. This can be very damaging for the organization as a lot of activities to be carried out depend on the data kept confidential. A lot of negative consequences like financial loss, loss of reputation, and many other related losses will be faced by the company and its employees.

Loss of Reputation

The market is huge; hence the companies work hard to create a reputation so the customers have trust in the company. When data theft happens at such a level, it hampers the worth and reputation of the organization. Reputation loss can be the most dangerous of them all because other losses can somehow be corrected, but building a reputation can take years, and sometimes this loss can be so damaging that it can destroy the company’s future too.

The crux-

Cyber security is very important, and any company should invest significantly in its betterment. Whaling is one such cyber threat that should be taken care of beforehand. This is a targeted phishing scam set by attackers to trap executives in positions of power in an organization. This threat can be damaging for the individual and the company; hence it must be handled carefully.