Phishing is a type of social engineering attack. Attackers impersonate trusted entities, typically via fake emails or websites, to deceive users into divulging sensitive information like passwords, credit card details, or personal data. Other attack types include:
DoS attack: Overwhelms systems with traffic to disrupt services.
Man in the Middle attack: Intercepts communications between two parties.
Malware: Malicious software designed for system harm or exploitation.
Phishing's core mechanism is leveraging human trust for data theft.