What Is Spear Phishing?
Spear phishing is a targeted form of phishing aimed at a specific person or small group, rather than a broad, generic audience. Where ordinary phishing casts a wide net with the same message sent to thousands of people, spear phishing is researched and personalized to make it far more convincing.
An attacker running a spear phishing campaign might reference a recipient's actual job title, a real colleague's name, a current project, or recent company news pulled from a website, social media, or a previous data breach. That personal detail is what makes spear phishing significantly more effective than generic phishing attempts.
Spear phishing is often used as the first step in a larger attack, such as gaining access to credentials that lead to a broader business email compromise scheme or a ransomware deployment. Because the messages are tailored and well researched, they can bypass the instinctive skepticism that more obvious phishing attempts trigger.
Recognizing spear phishing depends less on spotting technical red flags and more on questioning context: does this request make sense given who is asking, when, and why. Realistic phishing simulations that reflect this level of personalization are one of the most effective ways to prepare employees for what a genuine spear phishing attempt looks like.