Writing in CNN Opinion, Professor Arun Vishwanath of the University at Buffalo discusses the ease with which hackers can invade networks using spearphishing. He writes:
Hackers often enter networks through simple phishing attacks, attacks that these days are actually simpler but more insidious than the infamous Nigerian phishing scams.
Now, instead of trying to persuade you to part with your money in exchange for a nonexistent financial windfall, emails from trusted sources ask you to check out a photograph, click on a hyperlink to an interesting story or enter your login on an official-looking webpage. Complying with any of these requests provides varying degrees of access to your devices and accounts, and it is these simple ruses that have been responsible for launching malware and “backdoors” that have ultimately compromised major networks.
The apparent simplicity of these attacks conceals a sophisticated understanding of people’s online behavior that is surprising even to the many academics who have spent years studying human behavior.
This is an article that everyone should read.