Smishing — or SMS (Short Message Service) phishing — is a social engineering tactic cybercriminals use to trick people into divulging sensitive information over text messages.
A type of phishing attack, smishing often involves sending bogus text messages that appear to come from a legitimate source, such as a bank or a social media site. Most messages have a sense of urgency and request the recipient click on a link or reply with personal information.
Smishing attacks can range in sophistication, making some of them harder to spot than others. These attacks can be delivered through both conventional text messaging and non-SMS messaging apps, such as WhatsApp, Viber or Snapchat.
Typically, smishing attacks work in the following way:
Scammers use smishing attacks as a reasonably quick and efficient way to obtain sensitive data or deploy malware.
The following are some common reasons why attackers use smishing attacks:
The following are some common types of smishing attacks:
Smishing and other mobile threats are on the rise as more people use mobile devices for online activities. Therefore, it’s important to exercise caution and verify the authenticity of any unusual messages.
The following measures can mitigate smishing and other types of cyber attacks:
Prevention is key when it comes to cybersecurity and smishing attacks. If a smishing attack happens even after implementing the above protections, a victim can take the following steps to mitigate the damage:
Smishing, or text-based phishing, is a growing concern for individuals and organizations. Discover the dangers of mobile phishing and explore ways to mitigate it.
At Ignite in New York, the vendor laid out plans to use AI and platformization to consolidate cybersecurity tools and data to …
Network administrators configure VLANs to enhance network security and performance. Learn how to set up a VLAN, from …
Networking services enhance multi-cloud network reliability by reducing configuration errors, adding redundancy and ensuring …
When tackling AI security issues, enterprises should minimize shadow IT risks, establish an AI governance council and train …
My sessions this year focus on different areas of governance and compliance.
The underlying issue before anyone can embrace agentic AI is trust, which has to be earned — both by customers and by the …
Startups at Innovation Sandbox 2024 brought clarity to artificial intelligence, protecting data from AI, and accomplishing novel …
Starting in 2025, the RSAC Innovation Sandbox Top 10 Finalists will each receive a $5 million investment to drive cybersecurity …
New technologies get all the headlines, but VPNs aren’t going away anytime soon. Speed and security are among the factors to …
All Rights Reserved, Copyright 2003 – 2025, TechTarget
Privacy Policy
Cookie Preferences
Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information