Nursing Professional Development Certification (NPD-BC) Practice Exam

If a hacker sends an email using the name of a person in the IT department requesting information, this is an example of:

1. phishing

2. spoofing

3. RAT

4. cloaking

The correct answer is: phishing

The scenario describes a situation in which a hacker impersonates a member of the IT department to request sensitive information through an email. This practice is specifically referred to as phishing. Phishing is a form of cyber attack that aims to trick individuals into divulging personal or confidential information by posing as a trustworthy entity. In this case, the hacker is leveraging the name of someone presumably trusted within the organization to gain the victim's confidence. Phishing often involves sending emails that appear legitimate, making it likely for recipients to fall for the scam and respond with sensitive data. The heart of phishing lies in creating a deceptive communication that aims to exploit the trust of the intended victim. While spoofing might seem relevant as it involves falsifying the sender's address to appear as someone else, the context of the email being a request for sensitive information firmly categorizes this scenario as phishing. This distinction is important because phishing encompasses a broader range of deceptive practices specifically targeting personal data acquisition, while spoofing is more focused on the act of forging identity in digital communications without necessarily soliciting information.