An employee at a company receives a message on their mobile device that appears to come from the company's IT department. The message urges the employee to click on a link to update their password due to a security issue. The employee is suspicious because the company usually communicates such matters via official channels. What type of social engineering attack is the employee likely being targeted with?
The correct answer is Smishing. Smishing is a form of phishing attack that uses SMS text messages to trick users into revealing personal information or clicking on malicious links. In this scenario, the employee received a deceptive message on their mobile device urging them to click a link, which is characteristic of a smishing attack. Vishing involves voice calls to deceive individuals, so it's not applicable here. Pretexting is a social engineering tactic where the attacker creates a fabricated scenario to obtain information, but it typically involves more elaborate interaction than a simple message. Pharming redirects users to fraudulent websites without their knowledge, which doesn't match the scenario described.
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