U.S. Military Cyber Test (CT) Practice

Whaling describes phishing aimed at executives or other high-profile targets. The idea uses the whale metaphor to denote going after the big catch—the people who hold power, access, or large financial impact. These attacks are still a form of targeted phishing, but they focus on individuals like CEOs, CFOs, or board members because compromising them can yield significant rewards for the attacker. The messages are crafted to look legitimate and may reference real business events to seem trustworthy, which is why this category stands out from other phishing types. General spear phishing targets a specific person but not necessarily someone high-profile; clone phishing imitates a legitimate email with a malicious link or attachment; smishing uses text messages. So the term for this targeted, executive-focused phishing is whaling.