Whaling is a specific kind of phishing targeted at high-ranking bankers, executives or others in powerful positions or job titles. This highly targeted phishing attacks (masquerading as legitimate emails) that are aimed at senior executives.
Those who are engaged in whaling may, for example, hack into specific networks where these powerful individuals work or store sensitive data.
How to Protect Yourself and Your Organization
- Your company and other reputable organizations will never use e-mail to request that you reply with your passphrase, Social Security number, or confidential personal information.
- Be suspicious of any e-mail message that asks you to enter or verify personal information, through a website or by replying to the message itself.
- Never reply to or click the links in a message.
- When you recognize a phishing message, delete the e-mail message from your Inbox, and then empty it from the deleted items folder to avoid accidentally accessing the websites it points to.