What Is Phishing? A Complete Guide to Avoiding Manipulative Attacks

In today’s corporate digital industry landscape, security threats do not always come in the form of hacking using complex code. The biggest threats often come from simple psychological manipulations targeting your employees.

For enterprise and medium-sized businesses, the impact of phishing is not just about data loss. These attacks can damage reputation, cause massive financial losses, and violate applicable data protection regulations.

What Is Phishing?

Phishing is a form of cybercrime where perpetrators masquerade as trustworthy entities to deceive victims into voluntarily providing sensitive data. This data can include login credentials, credit card numbers, or confidential company information.

Etymologically, the term “phishing” comes from the word fishing. Perpetrators cast “bait” to thousands of users (sending thousands of fake invitations via email) in hopes that a handful of victims will bite.

Unlike brute force attacks that try to forcibly breach systems, phishing uses social engineering techniques. These techniques manipulate human weaknesses such as fear, curiosity, or the desire to help, so they voluntarily hand over access.

In the context of information security, phishing is the most common initial attack vector. The success of a single phishing email can become an entry point for more destructive and massive attacks, such as ransomware or intellectual property theft.

How Does a Phishing Attack Work?

Sophisticated phishing attacks do not happen spontaneously. Cybercriminals follow a structured attack cycle to ensure successful penetration into corporate networks.

Here are the four main stages in a phishing attack cycle:

1. Planning & Spoofing

Attackers first conduct deep research on the target. They identify who is most likely to be attacked, usually individuals with influence or access to financial assets. Next, attackers find out what platforms the target uses at the company (e.g., Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace), as well as the authorities they can impersonate.

Perpetrators then set up the spoofing infrastructure. They create email addresses that look similar to the original domain or design fake login pages identical to the company’s internal portal.

2. Delivery

This stage involves distributing malicious messages to predetermined targets. The most common medium used is email, but modern attacks also utilize SMS, WhatsApp messages, or social media.

The message is designed with a convincing narrative. The goal is to bypass standard spam filters and land directly in your employee’s priority inbox.

3. Execution

The attack is considered successful when the user interacts with the message. This interaction could be clicking a malicious link or downloading a malware-infected attachment.

At this point, technical defenses have often been bypassed. Security now depends entirely on the vigilance and awareness of the individual user in recognizing danger signs.

4. Data Harvesting/Exfiltration

After the victim enters data into the fake page or installs malware, the attacker will “harvest” that information. Stolen credentials are then used to take over the employee’s account.

In a worst-case scenario, this access is used for privilege escalation. Attackers move laterally within the network to steal sensitive data in large quantities or hold systems hostage.

Phishing Characteristics to Watch Out For

Recognizing phishing requires high scrutiny as spoofing techniques become more sophisticated. However, there are technical and psychological indicators that almost always appear in every fraud attempt.

Here are the main signs every employee should watch out for:

• Mismatched Sender Address
  Carefully check the sender’s domain name. Attackers often use typosquatting techniques (e.g., support@micorsoft.com instead of microsoft.com) or use free public domains for official business matters.
• Manipulated Links (Hyperlink Spoofing)
  Link text might readwww.your-bank.com/login, but when hovered over, the actual destination points to a suspicious foreign site.
• Creating an Artificial Sense of Urgency
  Messages often demand immediate action with threats, such as “Your account will be blocked in 1 hour” or “Pay this bill immediately to avoid fines”. The goal is to make the victim panic and act without thinking critically.
• Suspicious Attachments
  Be wary of unexpected emails attaching files with extensions like .exe, .scr, .zip, or Office documents asking you to enable macros.
• Generic Greetings
  Professional organizations usually address customers or employees by specific names. Generic greetings like “Dear Customer” or “Dear User” are often indications that the email was sent in bulk (blast).

To understand more deeply about these psychological manipulation techniques, you can study the concept of Social Engineering, which is the foundation of phishing attacks.

Types of Phishing Attacks

Phishing has evolved into various variants targeting different segments. Understanding this classification helps companies devise more specific defense strategies.

Here is a comparison table of common phishing attack types:

Why Are Phishing Attacks Dangerous for Business?

The impact of phishing extends far beyond operational inconvenience. For modern organizations, a successful phishing attack can be a strategic disaster threatening business continuity.

1. Direct Financial Loss

Attacks like Business Email Compromise (BEC) can cause billions of rupiah in losses within minutes. Fraudsters often direct finance teams to transfer vendor payments to hacker-controlled accounts.

2. Ransomware Entry Point

Statistical data from DeepStrike shows that approximately 54% of ransomware attacks start with phishing emails as the first access point. Once employees download malicious attachments, malware encrypts company data and demands ransom for the decryption key. This triggers costly operational downtime.

3. Intellectual Property Theft

Through Whaling or Spear Phishing techniques, hackers target confidential company data such as product designs, client lists, or merger strategies. This information leakage can permanently eliminate a company’s competitive advantage.

Remember that every security incident must be managed with proper procedures. Learn how Incident Management works to minimize attack impact.

Real-World Phishing Case Studies

Studying real cases provides a picture of how vulnerable even large companies are to social manipulation tactics.

1. Facebook & Google (The Evaldas Rimasauskas Case)

According to a report from CNBC, phishing attacks have even hit tech giants like Facebook and Google. A Lithuanian man named Evaldas Rimasauskas set up a fake company mimicking the name of an official vendor, Quanta Computer—a legitimate partner of Facebook and Google—then sent convincing emails, invoices, and contracts to employees in the finance departments of both companies.

Because the documents and email addresses looked valid and matched standard business procedures, employees in vendor management and accounting did not perform sufficient double verification, so they processed payments to bank accounts controlled by Rimasauskas.

From 2013 to 2015, millions of dollars were sent from Google and Facebook to these fake accounts, resulting in total losses of over US$100 million before the scheme was finally uncovered, the perpetrator arrested, and subsequently pleaded guilty. This example shows how effective convincing email-based attacks (phishing) are even against major technology companies.

2. Ubiquiti Networks (CEO Fraud)

A report from Fortune also noted a phishing case that occurred in 2015. Ubiquiti Networks, a US-based network technology company, suffered a huge loss of approximately US$46.7 million due to a Business Email Compromise (BEC) attack, which is an advanced form of phishing.

In this attack, attackers posed as internal parties or trusted business partners and sent seemingly legitimate emails to staff in the finance department, asking them to process fund transfer requests that were supposedly confidential and urgent.

Finance staff, without additional verification, transferred funds to overseas accounts controlled by the perpetrators. This incident demonstrates how effective phishing and social engineering techniques are at deceiving even large companies operating globally.

How to Avoid and Prevent Phishing

Defense against phishing must be layered (Defense in Depth). This strategy combines human vigilance with strict technical controls.

For Users (Employees/Individuals)

Employees are the first line of defense as well as the primary target. Individual discipline is crucial in preventing attack execution.

• Verify URLs and Certificates
  Ensure sites use the HTTPS protocol, but remember that HTTPS alone does not guarantee a site is safe from phishing, only that the connection is encrypted. Always check domain spelling carefully.
• Hover Before Clicking
  Get in the habit of hovering your mouse cursor over links without clicking them to see the actual destination address in the bottom left corner of the browser.
• Do Not Provide OTP/Passwords
  Remember that IT teams or official banks will never ask for passwords or OTP codes via email, phone, or short message.

For Companies (Technical Protection)

Relying on humans alone is not enough. Companies must implement technical controls to filter threats before they reach users.

• Implement Email Protocols
  IT teams must enable SPF (Sender Policy Framework), DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail), and DMARC. These three protocols work together to verify that received emails truly come from legitimate domains, preventing email spoofing.
• Email Filtering & Sandboxing
  Use Secure Email Gateway solutions equipped with sandboxing capabilities. This feature will isolate and inspect suspicious attachments in a safe environment before forwarding them to users’ inboxes.
• Strong IAM Implementation
  Phishing often aims to steal credentials. By implementing Adaptist Prime, companies can enforce Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA), which forces additional verification. Even if an employee’s password is stolen via phishing, attackers still cannot enter without the second authentication factor.
• Routine Phishing Simulations
  Conduct periodic phishing tests on employees to train their security “instincts”. Education must go hand-in-hand with technology.

Additionally, ensure your corporate risk governance runs effectively. Many organizations fail because they ignore fundamental aspects of GRC (Governance, Risk, and Compliance).

Conclusion

Phishing is a dynamic threat that continues to evolve with technological developments. There is no “silver bullet” that can stop phishing 100%, but a combination of employee education and identity security technology can drastically reduce risk.

The key to modern defense lies in the assumption that humans can make mistakes. Therefore, systems like Adaptist Prime (Identity Access Management) become vital to limit damage impact when human error occurs.

With the support of Adaptist Prime, your company can build a digital ecosystem that is secure, time-efficient, and ready to grow without sacrificing data protection or user convenience.

FAQ

What is the difference between phishing and spam?

Spam is bulk electronic junk mail, usually containing annoying advertisements but not always malicious. Phishing is a fraudulent message specifically designed to steal sensitive data or spread malware by masquerading as a trusted party.

What should I do if I already clicked a phishing link?

Immediately disconnect the device from the internet to prevent malware from communicating with attacker servers. Change the password of the related account from another secure device, enable MFA immediately, and report the incident to the IT Security team or your supervisor.

Does HTTPS guarantee a website is safe from phishing?

No. HTTPS (padlock icon) only indicates that data communication between the browser and server is encrypted. Phishing attackers today can easily obtain free SSL certificates for their fake sites to look legitimate and “safe” to lay users.

How do I report a phishing email in the company?

Use the built-in reporting feature in your email application (such as “Report Phishing” in Google/Outlook) or forward the email as an attachment to the IT Security team. Do not reply to or forward the email to other colleagues.