Spam vs Phishing: What You Need to Know to Protect Your Employees

Phishing and spam emails can often look similar...

Both spam and phishing messages are unsolicited and intrusive that aim to get you to take some kind of action.

But there are a few key distinctions that set them apart.

In the guide below we'll look at what the differences are, how to recognize them and all of the practical measures you can take to keep your organization safe and secure.

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What is phishing?

📚 Quick definition: Phishing is a type of cyber attack (e.g., email, voice, text, instant message) that tries to get you to provide sensitive information, click a link, or open an attachment.

The goal of phishing is to gain access to a system, gain monetary benefits, steal information or cause harm to you or your organization.

These attacks will often include emotional triggers and attempt to create  urgency to persuade you to take action without assessing the legitimacy of the message.

How does phishing work?

Impersonation: Attackers create fake emails or messages that mimic trusted entities such as banks, social media platforms, or colleagues.

Urgency: Messages often contain urgent language, prompting you to take immediate action.

Links and attachments: Phishing messages typically contain malicious links or attachments that, when clicked or opened, can lead to malicious websites or install malware on your device.

Data collection: You may also be directed to a fake website or form where you'll be asked to enter sensitive information. This data is then captured by the attackers for fraudulent use.

Types of phishing scams

• Email Phishing: The most common form of attack, where attackers send emails that appear to come from legitimate sources.
• Spear phishing: This is a more targeted form of phishing, where attackers tailor their messages to a specific individual or organization, often using personal information to appear more convincing.
• Whaling: Whaling phishing is a type of spear phishing that targets high-profile individuals such as executives or important stakeholders within an organization.
• Smishing: These are phishing attacks conducted via SMS messages.

Quick history of phishing

The general concept of Phishing can be traced back to AOL in the 90s...

A group of hackers known as the 'warez community' pretended to be AOL employees and gathered user credentials and personal information.

They used the stolen information to generate random credit card numbers.

By the early 2000s, hackers had registered multiple new domains, pretending to be websites like eBay and PayPal.

These domains were used to send fraudulent emails to eBay and PayPal consumers using illegal worm software.

Those who fell for these phishing emails were duped into supplying credit card information and other personal information.

By 2004, phishing had become a lucrative business.

Hackers were now targeting banks, businesses, and their customers.

At this time, popup windows were one of the main types of phishing attack being used.

But bad actors soon began to develop their arsenal - like spear phishing, vishing, smishing, keylogging etc.

In today's threat landscape, phishing tactics have grown pretty sophisticated (QR code phishing, invoice fraud, MFA fatigue attacks etc).

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What is spam?

📚 Quick definition: Spam refers to unsolicited and often irrelevant or inappropriate messages, typically sent to a large number of users.

Spam messages are usually considered unwanted, noisy and annoying...

But they're not sent with malicious intent.

Spam is could be things like event invitations, user list marketing, and unwanted marketing.

How does spam work?

Mass distribution: Spam is sent in bulk to a large number of recipients, often using automated tools and botnets.

Unsolicited consent: These messages are sent without the consent of the recipient.

Deceptive practices: Spam often uses deceptive tactics to bypass filters and trick recipients into opening the messages.

Variety of channels: Spam can be delivered through various channels, including email, social media, messaging apps, and even comments on blogs and forums.

Types of spam

• Email spam: Unwanted emails sent in bulk, often advertising products or services.
• Social media spam: Unwanted posts or messages on social media platforms, often promoting scams or misleading content.
• Messaging Spam: Unsolicited messages sent through SMS, messaging apps, or chat services.
• Comment spam: Irrelevant or promotional comments posted on blogs, forums, or social media posts.

Quick history of spam

One of the earliest examples of spam can be traced back to 1864.

A telegram was sent to a large number of British politicians, advertising teeth whitening. 

The first example of an unsolicited email date came in 1978 on ARPANET, the precursor to the Internet.

This early Internet spam was a promotion for a new model of computer...

And since spam was still a novelty at the time, this approach actually worked.

By the 1980s, people had formed regional online communities known as bulletin boards.

In these communities, users would repeatedly write the word "spam" to drown out each other during online debates - a reference to a Monty Python sketch.

So - much to the dismay of the canned pork and ham brand by the same name - the term "spam" was used to refer to noisy, obnoxious messages.

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Spam vs phishing: what's the difference?

What are the goals of these messages?

Spam emails, for the most part, aim to promote products or services.

They usually contain advertisements, promotions, or bulk marketing messages.

Although they can be annoying and clutter your inbox, they don't typically pose a serious threat.

Phishing emails, on the other hand, are designed to steal sensitive information.

Phishing attempts tend to contain fraudulent messages that appear to come from legitimate sources, to trick recipients into giving away personal data.

Unlike spam, the impact of phishing can be severe, leading to identity theft, financial loss and unauthorized access to sensitive data.

🎯 Goals of phishing

• Primary goal: Steal sensitive information.
• Typical content: Fraudulent messages pretending to be from legitimate sources.
• Impact: Can lead to identity theft, financial loss, and unauthorized access to sensitive data.

🎯 Goals of spam

• Primary goal: Promote products or services.
• Typical content: Advertisements, promotions, bulk marketing emails.
• Impact: Generally a nuisance, may slow down email systems, and reduce productivity.

What do they have in common?

Both spam and phishing messages are unsolicited and are sent without consent.

They're usually both distributed in large volumes to numerous recipients and can disrupt normal email communication by clogging inboxes.

However, modern phishing tactics are becoming increasingly more targeted and sophisticated.

Differences between spam and phishing

The primary difference between spam and phishing lies in their content and threat levels.

Spam emails are commercial in nature...

They aim to promote products or services.

But while they're generally low in threat level, they can sometimes carry malware in attachments.

Spam can also be much easier to detect using basic filters due to its repetitive and recognizable patterns.

Phishing emails are deceptive. Their objective is to trick recipients into providing sensitive information.

Phishing poses a high threat level and usually involves more advanced tactics.

Detecting phishing emails is more challenging than spam.

This often required advanced filtering and investing in phishing training for your employees.

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How to spot phishing and spam emails

How to recognize phishing emails

Can you verify the sender?

• Check the display name: Ensure the sender's display name matches other identifying features in the email, such as the email address or signature.
• Familiarity: Have received emails from this sender before? If not, it might be a phishing red flag.
• Email address: Verify that the email address is one you regularly receive emails from.
• Typosquatting: Look out for slight misspellings in the domain name (e.g., "microsoft.com" vs. "rnicrosoft.com")..
• Business relationship: Consider if you have a business relationship with the sender and if it makes sense for them to contact you about the topic.
• Verification: If in doubt, contact the sender through another medium like phone to confirm the legitimacy of the email.

Is the subject line suspicious?

• Urgent or threatening language: Be cautious of subject lines that create a sense of urgency or fear, urging immediate action.
• Previous contact: Check if the email is a reply to a previous conversation you had. If not, it could be a tactic to gain your trust.

Are there other recipients?

• Multiple recipients: Has the email has been sent to multiple recipients? This can be a sign of a phishing attempt, especially if they are undisclosed.
• Known contacts: Verify if the other recipients are known to you and if it makes sense for them to be included in the email.

Is the date and time unusual?

• Odd timing: If the email was sent at an unusual time or during non-working hours this could be cause for suspicion. Cross-check the sender's time zone to see if the timing makes sense (note: this doesn’t mean all emails sent during working hours are necessarily safe).

Does the body of the email look legitimate?

• Tone and language: Be wary of threatening, urging, or overly emotional language designed to provoke quick action.
• Greeting: Legitimate contacts will usually greet you in a familiar manner. Generic greetings can be a red flag.
• Request validity: Is the sender's request reasonable given your role and the context?
• Signature: Check if the email signature contains complete contact details and matches previous emails from the same sender.
• Attachments: Be cautious of attachments, especially if they are unusual or unexpected. Office and PDF files can carry malicious payloads.

Are there suspicious hyperlinks?

• Hover and check: Hover over links to see the actual URL. Verify if they lead to legitimate domains.
• Typosquatting and misspellings: Check for slight misspellings in the URLs.
• Link shorteners: Avoid clicking on shortened URLs like Bitly or TinyURL.

How to recognize spam emails

Does the sender and subject line look like spam?

• Unfamiliar senders: Spam emails are usually from unknown senders offering unsolicited services or products.
• Generic subject lines: Look for generic, attention-grabbing subject lines designed to entice you to open the email.

Is the content promotional?

• Promotional content: Most spam emails are promotional, advertising events, services, products, or miracle cures.
• Avoid clicking links: Do not click on any links or provide personal information. Even clicking “unsubscribe” can confirm your email address to spammers.

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How to protect your organization from phishing and spam

Step 1: Technical measures

Use advanced spam filters

First off, you'll need to use a spam filtering solution to detect and block spam emails before they reach the inbox.

These solutions use a combination of techniques to identify spam and phishing attempts.

They analyze email content for common spam characteristics, identify known spam sources and trusted senders, and use filtering to spot suspicious patterns.

Blacklist malicious domains

Found a malicious domain? Regularly update and maintain blacklists of these known  domains to prevent phishing emails from reaching employees.

Implement MFA

Require multi-factor authentication for accessing sensitive systems and data to add an extra layer of security beyond just passwords.

Whilst this won't necessarily prevent employees from receiving malicious content, it will help mitigate the potential damage of a successful phishing attempt.

It's worth noting that MFA is not bulletproof (thanks to adversary-in-the-middle tactics).

So, employees will need to stay vigilant so that they do not enter their credentials on fraudulent sites.

Use email authentication protocols

Implement Sender Policy Framework (SPF), DomainKeys Identified Mail (DKIM), and Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting & Conformance (DMARC) to verify the authenticity of email senders and prevent spoofing.

Consider using a threat detection and response tool

These solutions are designed to identify, analyze, and mitigate security threats within your organization's IT environment.

They provide real-time visibility into potential threats and allow you to contain threats that make it past your organization's defenses.

We'll break down exactly how we approach threat detection here Hoxhunt later below 👇

Step 2: Employee education

Invest in effective phishing training

Technical filters are very rarely enough to prevent phishing scams...

74% data breaches are due to human error.

The most effective way to reduce human risk is through frequent, adaptive training.

Some solutions will directly impact outcomes and some won't.

To reduce risk, you have to change behavior.

Here are the core components of training that actually works:

Frequent training: Want to have a measurable impact on behavior? Your training will need to be regular enough to build habits.

Realistic simulations: Awareness alone doesn't go far enough. You'll need to be running phishing simulations to test employees on the latest threats - and then ideally tailoring training to individual employees' performance.

Personalization: Ensure your training is being adapted to each employee's role, location and cyber knowledge level.

Digestible content: Your training should be short and (if possible) integrated into employees' workflow so that their day-to-day work isn't disrupted. We recommend keeping training between 5-7 mins each time to avoid losing attention.

Positive reinforcement and gamification: If you want your training to be both outcome-driven and enjoyable, rewarding employees for positive behavior is a must. When employees are rewarded for reporting simulated attacks, for example, they'll be far more likely to report real threats in the future.

Full transparency: this is how we do training here at Hoxhunt...

And how we're able to help organizations achieve:

• 20x lower failure rates
• 90%+engagement rates
• 75%+detect rates

Want to get a full breakdown of how to maximize training outcomes? Check out our Employee Cyber Security Training Guide.

Step 3: Security policies and incident reporting

Have clear policies in place

Make sure you have clear security policies, including guidelines on how to handle suspicious emails and the proper use of email.

You may also want to check these are clearly communicated with employees.

Make sure reporting is easy

If reporting is a long, painful process, employees just won't report threats.

So, be sure to provide an easy way for employees to report suspicious emails.

When Hoxhunt users come across a suspicious email in their inbox that fits the description of either phishing or spam, they can simply click the Hoxhunt button to report it.

This one-click process removes any friction from reporting so that no threats make it past your organization's human firewall.

A simple reporting process is one piece of the puzzle.

The other piece will be encouraging a culture where reporting potential threats is seen as a positive action.

Even when a threat is due to error, employees should never be criticized for reporting.

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Reduce noise and remove attacks from employee inboxes with Hoxhunt

Even with email filters in place, some threats will still make it to your employees' inboxes.

This is why Hoxhunt's security operations solution was purpose-built to defend against the phishing attacks that your email filters don't catch. 

Find and remove the phishing campaigns that have been reported by users around the world using our 2 million-strong global threat network.

Superhuman accuracy: Identify malicious emails instantly with our AI-powered threat classification model that catches what others miss.

Powerful prioritization: Focus on the highest-risk phishing campaigns and user groups by creating powerful incident orchestration rules.

Safe sender recognition: Flag allow-listed senders with feedback rules which, when triggered, give employees instant feedback that it's safe to respond to the email.

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Spam vs phishing FAQ

What are the key differences between spam and phishing?

The key distinctions between spam and phishing lie in their intent and content. Spam emails are primarily commercial emails aimed at advertising products or services and are generally more annoying than harmful.

Phishing emails, on the other hand, are malicious in nature, intending to deceive recipients into divulging sensitive information or installing malware.

While spam emails are sent in massive volumes for commercial purposes, phishing emails are often more targeted and personalized, employing sophisticated social engineering techniques.

What are common types of spam emails?

Common types of spam emails include:

• Advertisements for products and services
• Event invitations
• Unwanted marketing emails (including adult content)
• Chain emails and bulk mail sent to large mailing lists
• Offers of miracle pills or dubious products from Internet pharmacies

What are common types of phishing emails?

Common types of phishing emails include:

• Emails pretending to be from banks requesting banking credentials
• Fake notifications from social media platforms asking for login credentials
• Spear phishing attacks targeting specific individuals or organizations
• Clone phishing, where a legitimate email is duplicated and altered with malicious links or attachments
• Business email compromise (BEC) attempts, where attackers impersonate company executives to request financial transactions