Phishing
spear phishing · whaling · smishing · vishing · quishing · QR code phishing · hameçonnage
A scam that impersonates a trusted sender (a bank, a supplier, a colleague) by email, text message, phone call or QR code to trick the victim into clicking, handing over credentials or paying.
In practice
Phishing plays on urgency, authority and curiosity. Its variants include spear phishing (targeted, personalised messages), whaling (aimed at senior executives), smishing (text messages), vishing (voice calls) and quishing (QR codes). Some kits even relay the victim’s multi-factor code in real time, which is why phishing-resistant passkeys matter. Phishing is the entry point for a great deal of fraud and many ransomware attacks.
According to France’s national victim support service, Cybermalveillance.gouv.fr, phishing remained the top threat across all audiences in 2025, up 70% in a year.
How to protect yourself
- Check any unusual request through another channel, using a number you already know, never the one in the message.
- Turn on phishing-resistant multi-factor authentication (passkeys, FIDO2 keys) for key accounts.
- Run regular, realistic awareness exercises without humiliating anyone.
- Report it: in France, 33700 for text messages, Signal Spam for emails and Phishing Initiative for websites.
- Set up SPF, DKIM and DMARC so criminals cannot spoof your own domain.
