PayPal just couldn’t seem to catch a break. The latest phishing attack took it by surprise and bypassed even standard phishing attempts. Hackers exploited just one feature and made the attack appear genuine. Instead of using their old tactics, fake emails or links, scammers took advantage of sending money requests directly through the platform.
The app sent victims a genuine payment request that redirected them to compromised micro-data. The transaction looked official, so victims didn’t suspect it. The worst part? Attackers sent requests for amounts small enough to avoid suspicion. They didn’t question such minor inconsistencies, which skyrocketed the attack’s success rate. So, what does this say about our security landscape? Nobody is safe. And this was just with phishing.
Smishing involves text scams. Disinformation is another territory not restricted to any communication medium or modus operandi. In this guide, we will discuss phishing vs smishing vs disinformation. Here’s what you need to know.
What is Phishing?
Phishing is a form of social engineering that uses deception to trick recipients into taking the attacker’s desired action. It can reveal financial information, system login credentials, and other sensitive data. Threat actors may pretend to be official entities from reputable organizations, which can mislead users.
Phishing used to primarily involve emails, but adversaries are getting creative these days because they are aware that their victims are becoming more vigilant. This is a key difference between phishing vs smishing. In the mid-1990s, phishing referred to the “fishing” of victims—attackers would lure unsuspecting users in.
However, phishing has become very sophisticated in modern times and has diversified into different types. We now have email phishing, spear phishing, smishing, vishing, and whaling. Each type of phishing attack is distinct and characterized by different channels and execution modes. Still, the underlying intent is to trick the victim into providing what the attacker wants.
Impact of Phishing
Phishing is a serious nuisance. If you ignore it, attackers will keep launching new attacks or changing targets. You must address it from the roots; otherwise, you will never stop falling victim to it. A phishing attack can send your clients and employees running for the hills. The scale of the damage will depend on how much information the attacker has collected.
Remember the TalkTalk incident? In that incident, 157,000 customer records were compromised, costing the company 60 million euros. As the years went by, fewer than 5,000 customers were unaffected by the breach. The fallout didn’t just extend—it lasted throughout the years.
Phishing attacks can disrupt your operations and create new vulnerabilities you aren’t aware of. If an attacker installs hidden malware, which you overlook, you could be at risk of system outages. You may not even realize where you’re losing productivity, but phishing attacks can be devastating. The worst attacks can paralyze your organization. Your customers will be unable to use online services, and in some cases, your business may be down for more than 24 hours.
This can lead to people losing trust in your business, reducing your organization’s values. You never know what could happen.
What is Smishing?
Smishing is very clever. Attackers can just send you texts that prompt you to click on links. But considering the user’s perspective, we know that texts today can appear spammy. Attackers know this, which is why they personalize SMS texts. Well-crafted SMS texts may look like messages from your friend, with unsuspecting links attached to them. You might not even get a link in your SMS, and the attacker might lure you by sending a chain or trail of texts.
For example, let’s say you receive a text from a friend who is not your friend but the attacker. He convinces you to converse with him, and you respond. As a result, he might send you two or three more texts. In the fourth text, he might ask you to check something out, and then you unsuspectingly click on that link. That is how it works.
Your real friend might not be available these days—maybe he was in the hospital or doing something else. But you wouldn’t know that because the attacker spoofed his caller ID and masked his phone number. So, his texts were passed on to you. That’s how scary smishing has evolved into these days. So don’t fall for the premise that smishing is an essential text scam. It’s not.
Coupon code offers, special discounts, and tempting links that promise you freebies can be shared, but attackers know these are not the only ways to bait victims. That’s why they are getting more innovative with their smishing schemes.
Impact of Smishing
The impact of smishing doesn’t just stop at giving away your details or bank information. Banks will never ask for your ATM PIN or send you password reset links via SMS, but some customers who are not very tech-savvy fall for these basic tricks. The impact of smishing can extend to others. If your details involve family members or friends, the attacker can start conducting reconnaissance on them. They can collect more intelligence just by responding to their texts.
You will likely respond eventually, especially if the text is enticing or appears to have a genuine reason for your reply. Chances are, you won’t ignore it, but the problem is that you can’t vet it. What happens if you respond to a text and fall for a phishing scheme? The first thing that will happen is that your phone number is leaked. The attacker can then use your personal information and phone number to look you up on other platforms online.
They can use the data collected through your text message responses to approach services that you use. The attacker can hijack those services and escalate the damages even further. The consequences of falling prey to smishing schemes don’t just stop there. These are just the tip of the iceberg.
What is Disinformation?
Disinformation is tricky because it can be hard to discern whether the falsified information is accurate or temporarily false. Attackers are crafty and can read people’s emotions. They may exploit your weaknesses or vulnerabilities, triggering you to act differently. They might not directly falsify and spread disinformation but could probe you in a way that makes you fall victim to their taunts and indulge in their schemes. You won’t even realize it, and that’s how emotional manipulation works.
Another way disinformation happens is when attackers deliberately falsify information. For example, if news about an incident comes out, the attacker may spread a false version of it and back it up with genuine facts, making it appear very convincing. Since the news is recent and the attacker talks a lot, people are likely to believe them. They assume nothing else needs to be verified when they see the data.
Because the incident is so recent, additional information about it is unavailable online or anywhere else. Disinformation can be scary, depending on how it’s caused. A significant difference between smishing vs disinformation is that disinformation is not limited to text channels. It’s not something to think lightly of.
Impact of Disinformation
The impact of disinformation doesn’t just affect the people around you. It can impact democracies, governments, banks, travel agencies, and private or public entities. Fear, anger, and distrust are common feelings people experience when they fall prey to disinformation. People waste time and energy dissecting what’s true and false.
Disinformation can cause fatigue as you deal with multiple information sources. It gets worse when you’re working in today’s digitally connected world. With the advent of AI tools like ChatGPT and Grok AI, threat actors can launch more sophisticated attacks, collect ideas, gain information, and combine those insights with real-life experiences.
Many stories of coordinated disinformation campaigns orchestrated by state and non-state actors. The influence of disinformation may extend beyond individual beliefs to impact society. Falsified data can be used in sectors such as healthcare and pharmaceuticals, which can be very dangerous and have profound implications for civil work.
When uncertainty is bred, the environments around you become unsafe. The emotional damage stemming from being a victim of disinformation can last for years. You may never fully recover because of how you were tricked or reacted to the situation.
2 Critical Differences Between Phishing Vs Smishing Vs Disinformation
Here are some critical differences you need to be aware of regarding phishing vs smishing vs disinformation:
1. Mode of Attack
Phishing can occur through emails, but attackers are not limited to them. They might attempt to bait you by creating fake websites, login pages, online web forms, or engaging you on other mediums. Smishing typically involves SMS, but it is not always limited to that. You may also be approached via instant messaging or live chat.
Disinformation is not restricted to any specific medium. It can happen on social media platforms, through tweets, or even through misinformation spread by neighbors. Unlike phishing or smishing, there is no specific route for disinformation, which is essential to note.
2. Scale of Damage and Search
The damage from phishing can often be limited to the apps, websites, and platforms you interact with. If you accidentally give out your information, you can at least trace it back to the attacker, platform, or app and take steps to fix the situation. In the case of smishing, you at least have the sender’s details and can identify where the text messages originated. With a search warrant or deep investigation by law enforcement, it may be possible to trace the origins of these scams, even if threat actors use fake phone numbers. You can also backtrack smishing scams by examining the phone operators used by the attackers.
Disinformation, however, is much harder to detect and trace. Tracking someone spreading disinformation can be highly challenging if they disguise themselves. They might disappear after causing significant damage. From an offline perspective, they could spread falsehoods and vanish, while online, they can create fake accounts, spread misinformation, and delete the accounts afterward, leaving no trace. Once the accounts are gone, contacting them becomes nearly impossible.
If someone genuinely appears to be spreading disinformation, there’s a higher chance of tracking or confronting them. However, this is rare because threat actors are brilliant and tend to cover their tracks effectively. In some cases, instead of spreading fake information themselves, they may influence others to spread it for them. These cases are much more complex to track or investigate, making disinformation a particularly insidious attack.
Phishing Vs Smishing Vs Disinformation: Key Differences
Here are some key differences between phishing vs smishing vs disinformation:
| Area of Differentiation | Phishing | Smishing | Disinformation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Manipulation Technique | You may be targeted via fear, urgency, or curiosity to trick you into revealing sensitive information. | Psychological hooks are tailored to prompt immediate action via mobile devices, such as urgent alerts about your bank account or package deliveries. | Disinformation campaigns manipulate people’s beliefs and perceptions over time. They often use emotionally charged or polarizing content to influence people’s opinions and behaviors without immediate awareness. |
| Medium of Exploitation | Phishers can send malicious attachments or exploit vulnerabilities on any app, service, or medium just to steal and hijack your data. | Smishing takes advantage of SMS protocols and mobile network vulnerabilities, embedding malicious links or prompts directly into text messages to compromise your smartphone’s security. | Disinformation may use advanced algorithms and botnets on social media platforms to amplify false narratives, using data analytics to target and influence your specific interests and biases. |
| Impact and Perception | Falling victim to phishing can erode one’s trust in digital communication channels, making one more cautious but potentially hampering one’s online interactions. | Smishing may cause you to distrust SMS communications, causing you to ignore legitimate messages or hesitate to engage with unknown numbers. This can impact your mobile communication habits. | Disinformation has a profound long-term effect on your perception of reality and trust in information sources, potentially altering your worldview and societal beliefs based on manipulated truths. |
| Prevention Measures and How to Build Resilience | To protect against phishing, you should implement strong email filtering, use multi-factor authentication, and stay informed about common phishing tactics to recognize and avoid suspicious emails. | Guarding against smishing involves being wary of unsolicited text messages, avoiding clicking on unknown links, and verifying the sender’s authenticity before responding to or acting on SMS requests. | Combating disinformation requires critical thinking, cross-referencing information with credible sources, understanding media literacy, and fostering a habit of questioning and verifying the authenticity of your content. |
Conclusion
Discerning the difference between phishing vs smishing vs disinformation is key to keeping your personal and professional life safe. With such knowledge, you will be adequately informed and highly alert to effectively detect and repel these newly evolving threats. Never underestimate digital security—prevention starts with understanding. Ensure strong security measures are implemented, keep updated on the latest attack vectors, and build a culture of awareness across your organization.
Prepare proactively to not only protect your data but also to protect how you are trusted and perceived online.
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Learn MoreFAQs
Phishing uses deceptive emails to steal sensitive information, smishing employs SMS messages for similar scams via text, and disinformation spreads false information to manipulate beliefs and perceptions. While phishing and smishing are direct cyberattacks targeting personal data, disinformation often aims at influencing public opinion or societal views over time.
Yes, disinformation is a type of cyberattack. Unlike phishing and smishing, which target individuals for data theft, disinformation seeks to mislead and manipulate public perception, often on a larger scale. It works against trust and can affect society’s opinions, so it is very powerful in the hands of cyber manipulation.
In a broad sense, everybody and every organization in any field is at risk; however, vulnerable groups include older people, less tech-savvy users, and organizations or individuals with access to sensitive information. Businesses, particularly those handling financial or personal data, are prime targets. Even the general public becomes susceptible to disinformation campaigns during large-scale events or crises.
While it is tough to eradicate these threats, they can be prevented by awareness and adequate security measures. Educate yourself and your team on recognizing malicious emails and texts; put strong authentication protocols in place; implement security tools to detect and block threats; and check the source of information to decrease the risks from disinformation.
Finance, healthcare, government, and technology are more targeted industries because they have valuable data. Disinformation campaigns also target media and public relations. Sectors with high customer interaction, like retail and telecommunications, are frequent targets for phishing and smishing attacks.