This definition explains the meaning of Whaling Phishing. Whaling targets high-level or senior management targets. A whaling attack is an attempt to steal sensitive information, often with “bait’ tailored to enable that individual to seek out insider information.

Whaling emails are a lot more sophisticated and much harder to spot than regular phishing emails as they often contain personalised information about the target or organisation.  They use more sophisticated language and sound more corporate in tone. A lot more effort and thought goes into crafting of these emails due to the high level of return for the cybercriminals.