The standard-issue phishing attack relies on sheer numbers as the key to its success; by sending tens of millions of emails, the chances of hooking a few thousand victims is pretty good, regardless of how sophisticated the message itself is.

But there is another type of phishing attack, known as spear phishing, which exchanges quantity for quality, by using insider information to target businesses. Spear phishing attacks are smaller in scale but arguably more effective than their poorly-spelled, randomly-selected cousins.

In a spear phishing attack, you might get a message at your job that appears to come from someone you work with, often a member of management or from another department. This message may request information about financial accounts, login and password information, ask you to open a file or link, or ask that you authorize a wire transfer from your employer’s account. If you comply with these directions, you will make your company vulnerable to financial or data loss.

Most established businesses have a website that reveals the names of management, the board of directors, and people from various departments, which gives would-be cybercriminals the information they need to impersonate an insider.

Communication is the key to preventing spear phishing attacks. Think about any request received via email – is this how the head of the IT department or the CEO really talks? Why are they sending you a file out of the blue? Is it your job to initiate wire transfers? The best defense is to simply confirm with the apparent sender if the message is legitimate or not. Spear phishing attacks use some of the same techniques as regular phishing emails, such as disguised links or infected file attachments. It pays to double-check before you take any action.