{"id":25434,"date":"2025-06-16T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-06-16T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/easydmarc.com\/blog\/?p=25434"},"modified":"2025-06-16T18:56:37","modified_gmt":"2025-06-16T18:56:37","slug":"what-is-baiting-in-cybersecurity-techniques-examples-protection","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/easydmarc.com\/blog\/what-is-baiting-in-cybersecurity-techniques-examples-protection\/","title":{"rendered":"What is Baiting in Cybersecurity? Techniques, Examples, and Preventive Measures"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Social engineering is a typical attack vector in today\u2019s cyber threat catalogue, and baiting is one of the most common types of attacks. If you\u2019ve ever had an email address, you\u2019ve likely encountered an email that offers cash prizes or rewards for contests you never entered. These messages make promises of the latest smartphone or heavy discounts on popular software accompanied with a link where you can put in your information to claim your prize, only for the link to install malware or collect your information. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is called baiting, and it’s a type of cyber threat that can be difficult to spot unless you know what to look for. In this article, EasyDMARC covers what baiting in cybersecurity looks like, how to detect it, and how you can stop it before it causes damage. <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

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What is Baiting in Cybersecurity?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Unlike other types of social engineering, baiting promises an item, commodity, or reward to attract victims, infect their systems with malware, and steal sensitive information.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This social engineering technique relies on manipulation, usually offering tempting offers to prompt quick clicks before the victim has time to think about what this message is or where it came from. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Baiting attacks have been around for centuries, but largely live in the digital realm today. The most standard attack route is email, where baiting is so common that the standard spam folder is almost exclusively these types of messages. The most famous of the early baiting attacks via email was the Nigerian Prince scam<\/a>, a type of advance-fee scam which offered a fortune in exchange for bank account information. Estimates from the FBI put the total amount of monetary damage from this scam in the billions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Besides email, one of the most common attack methods is via storage media like flash drives. Attackers will leave these devices in a public space where a curious passerby will pick them up. Once they plug it into their device, software on the drive goes to work, extracting and sending sensitive data to the attacker. In a controlled experiment, the University of Michigan, the University of Illinois, and Google found that 45% to 98% of people plug in USB drives<\/a> they find lying around in public. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00a0Baiting Attack Techniques<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Baiting feeds on human curiosity, and cybercriminals usually entice their victims in two major ways: tempting offers and alluring \u2018discarded\u2019 devices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tempting Offers<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Cybercriminals have a lot of success using tempting offers to lure victims into clicking on sinister links. They send targets enticing offers via ads, social media, email, or free downloadable content. Some of these offers are very obvious to anyone who grew up online, but this is by design: scammers are interested in targeting people who are less discerning because they are \u2018easy marks\u2019. While most of these types of offers get caught by email service providers, the ones that get through can be difficult to identify, even for users who are aware of what to look for.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Malware-Infected Devices<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Another way cybercriminals execute a baiting attack is through malware-infected USB devices and flash drives. The common play is this: leave a device in the open, such as the company lobby, cafe, or reception office. A passerby spots the device, and if they choose to discover what\u2019s on it, they take it to their personal or work computer. Once the unsuspecting victim inserts the flash drive, malicious software automatically installs malware on the computer. This can be limited to a personal computer or can affect entire professional networks, depending on who takes the drive.\u00a0
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Why is Baiting Efficient?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Baiting is efficient because it exploits fundamental human needs: the need to understand the unknown or get something they would otherwise not be able to afford. People get excited about free stuff, discounts, and special offers, which are often too good to be true, and this same principle is what makes baiting in cybersecurity effective. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

While this can be potentially devastating for individuals (often, the targets of online baiting are elderly and living off their savings or pension), for an employee, being tricked by a baiting attack can cause massive problems for the entire organization. Typical organizational best practices highlight not clicking on links from unknown emails for this very reason.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Baiting Attack Examples<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The single best way to prevent a baiting attack is to know what they look like. You may get an email or receive a text from an unknown source claiming you\u2019ve won a lottery, and all you need to do is send back some personal information. This could be as simple as your phone number or address, or something more secure, like your bank account number or social security number.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s important to note that the requested information has no bearing on whether a message is a baiting attack or not. Bad actors today harvest pieces of your personal information from multiple sources until they have enough to either steal your identity or access your personal systems. Something as harmless as your first pet\u2019s name or your vehicle make and model can be used to bypass security questions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In some more modern examples, a cybercriminal contacts their victims about a missed package delivery, asking them to confirm their address. This is a case of digital dumpster diving used to derive information about your home address. The attacker then visits your home to hang a missed delivery tag on your door with a local phone number. Once the victim calls this number, the bad actor has another avenue for collecting information, all without the victim ever suspecting anything.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The single best piece of advice when trying to detect phishing baiting attacks is to be extremely suspicious of any message, text, email, call, or offer you receive if you do not recognize the sender. This is especially true with email; check the contact information of the sender to verify they are who they say they are.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How to Spot Baiting<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Healthy skepticism and mindfulness can help prevent or simply stop baiting attacks. Here are some tips to prevent it:<\/p>\n\n\n\n