Detection and prevention of spear phishing attacks: A comprehensive survey

Abstract

The spear phishing is yet a great cybersecurity problem, and hackers use more sophisticated methods in their attacks. This study gives a holistic analysis of detection and prevention methods that are supported by examples in real time. The research has analyzed various spear phishing techniques which include email spoofing, social engineering, malware, whaling attacks. Detection techniques including signature-based, anomaly-based machine learning and hybrid approaches are examined herein with an emphasis on their strengths and weaknesses. User awareness training, email authentication, filtering, incident response planning and multifactor authentication were identified as important strategies to try out. A structured overview of the field is provided through systematic taxonomy for classification of these methods. The survey also considers legal frameworks and institutional policies that often go unnoticed regarding spear phishing prevention by incorporating perspectives from penal jurisprudence and criminology to bridge technical and legal approaches. Other critical challenges that have been identified include changing nature of spear phishing tactics; detection evasion; integration of artificial intelligence (AI) into cyber security defenses among others. Henceforth it offers insights into these challenges while proposing open research questions aimed at guiding future research initiatives coupled with encouraging collaborations between academia industry policy makers. Such contributions will help develop more effective adaptive strategies against this persistent threat.