The connection between phishing and cyberattacks

It was originally designed as a way for identity thieves to get personal information about people in order to gain access to their accounts and profiles. Today, phishing has graduated to become a weapon of choice in cyberterror. Will that connection stick?

As we mark the 10th annual National Cyber Security Awareness, the most common — and effective — cyberattack method is spear phishing.

Some 92 percent of targeted attacks in 2012 started with spear phishing, according to research by Trend Micro.

Attackers can simply e-mail a targeted victim and entice him or her to click on a malicious link.