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Spear Phishing

What is Spear Phishing?

A targeted phishing attack directed at a specific individual or organisation. Spear phishing emails are personalised using information gathered about the target to increase credibility and success rates.

Information Security

What the standards actually require on spear phishing

Requirements naming spear phishing across 4 standards, quoted from the control text.

Threats are untargeted (the ship or company is one of many victims or collateral damage, as with NotPetya, using tools freely available online) or targeted (the company or ship is chosen, often after reconnaissance, with tailored tools).

BIMCO-2.2 · Types of cyber threats →

Annual information security training covers incident response, current threats such as phishing, spear phishing, social engineering and mobile security, and emerging issues.

ffiec-cybersecurity-assessment-tool-cat::D1.TC.Tr.B.2 · D1.TC.Tr.B.2 Training (Baseline 2) →

Baseline control principles for staffing and training (required of every AI (minimum for a low inherent risk)). Cybersecurity roles and responsibilities are identified and defined;

hkma-cyber-resilience-assessment-framework-c-raf::1.5.B · 1.5 Staffing and training: baseline level →

The CCMP addresses detection, containment, response and recovery; the bank takes measures to prevent attacks and detect intrusions promptly, prepares for zero-day, remote access and targeted attacks, and addresses threats including denial of service and DDoS,...

rbi-cybersecurity-framework-for-banks::193 · Para 193: CCMP covers detection, containment, response and recovery for a wide threat set →

Questions people ask about spear phishing

What is Spear Phishing?
A targeted phishing attack directed at a specific individual or organisation. Spear phishing emails are personalised using information gathered about the target to increase credibility and success rates.
Why is Spear Phishing important for compliance?
Spear Phishing is a key concept in Information Security. Understanding spear phishing helps organizations meet regulatory requirements, reduce risk, and demonstrate due diligence during audits. Our compliance platform maps 1,016 frameworks with 316K cross-framework control mappings.
Which compliance frameworks address Spear Phishing?
Spear Phishing appears in the requirement text of BIMCO Cyber Security, FFIEC Cybersecurity Assessment Tool (CAT), HKMA Cyber Resilience Assessment Framework (C-RAF), RBI Cybersecurity Framework for Banks. Across these standards we have identified 4 controls that name it directly, each linked to the control text on the compliance platform.
Where can I learn more about Spear Phishing?
Explore our compliance framework pages to see how spear phishing applies across different standards and regulations. Our implementation guides provide step-by-step guidance, and the compliance platform offers AI-powered analysis of how this concept maps across 1,016 frameworks.

See how Spear Phishing applies across compliance frameworks

Our platform maps 1,016 frameworks with 316K cross-framework control mappings. Explore how this concept is addressed across standards.

Written and maintained by Gerard Blokdyk, The Art of Service.