Phishing
WiktionaryText

Etymology


Respelling of . In the UseNet News Groups (alt.net…), 2600 cracker and pirate groups used variant spellings of phish and warez to be evade scans and filters by mainstream servers policing the ARPAnet/internet.

Noun


  1. The act of sending email that falsely claims to be from a legitimate organization. This is usually combined with a threat or request for information: for example, that an account will close, a balance is due, or information is missing from an account. The email will ask the recipient to supply confidential information, such as bank account details, PINs or passwords; these details are then used by the owners of the website to conduct fraud.
  2. Can also mean to circumvent security with an alias.
 
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