Abstract

One of the most common cyberattacks is phishing, which preys on unsuspecting users to click hyperlinks to activate malicious software (called ‘malware’). A phishing attack is designed for the purpose of either damaging the victim’s computer or more commonly, hijacking that person’s computer to steadily relay personal information to a host. However, it is less understood what the various attributes and characteristics of a specific phishing attack are leading to successful execution of a malware attack. Rather, it is even less understood what types of human behaviors are leading to the initial allowance of this attack. The objectives of this study are to observe and identify the behavior of a participant (victim) during and after a phishing attack, and to understand the various behavioral characteristics of a phishing attack’s victim. This study conducted an experiment to identify the various behavioral characteristics of a phishing attack’s victim both during and after a successful phishing attack has been executed.

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