Threats & attacks

Phishing attacks aim to trick users into revealing sensitive information, typically through deceptive emails or websites that appear legitimate. By capturing login credentials, attackers can gain unauthorized access to systems and data. The other options describe different attack types such as DDoS, ransomware, and sabotage, which are not the focus of phishing.

Ransomware is a type of malware designed to deny access to a computer system or data, typically by encrypting files, until the victim pays a ransom to obtain the decryption key. While attackers might steal administrator credentials (Option C) during the initial intrusion, the defining characteristic and primary demand of ransomware itself is financial payment.

Phishing attacks are broadcast widely to a broad group of people indiscriminately, hoping that some recipients will fall for the scam. A diagram for this topic isn't available yet — the worked example below walks the same reasoning step by step.

• !Option A is incorrect because spear phishing, rather than general phishing, is the technique that is highly targeted at specific individuals or organizations.
• !The other options describe different attack types such as DDoS, ransomware, and sabotage, which are not the focus of phishing.
• !Port scanning, ARP spoofing, and DNS amplification are unrelated techniques that do not directly increase ransomware pressure.
• !Unlike viruses, worms do not require human interaction to spread.

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