220-1102 Practice Question: Vishing uses phone calls to deceive victims.

Answer choices

Why each option matters

Good practice is not just finding the correct option. The wrong answers often show the exact trap the exam wants you to fall into.

Answer analysis

Why the other options are wrong

Understanding why incorrect options are tempting is as important as knowing the correct answer.

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  Phishing

  Incorrect. Phishing is typically carried out via email, not a phone call.

• ✗

  Smishing

  Incorrect. Smishing uses SMS text messages, not voice calls.

• ✗

  Tailgating

  Incorrect. Tailgating involves an unauthorized person following an authorized person into a restricted area.

Technical deep dive

How to think about this question

Vishing, a portmanteau of 'voice' and 'phishing,' is a social engineering technique that leverages telephone calls to manipulate individuals into divulging sensitive information or performing actions that compromise security. In this specific scenario, the attacker used a phone call to impersonate an IT department representative and solicit login credentials, which is the hallmark of a vishing attack. The attacker's goal is to exploit trust and urgency, often by creating a false sense of immediate need for a security update, to bypass normal security protocols and directly obtain user credentials. This method relies on the victim's inability to visually verify the caller's identity, making it a potent tool for credential harvesting. The critical distinction from other social engineering types lies in the communication medium. While the underlying goal of obtaining sensitive information is similar across many social engineering attacks, vishing is uniquely defined by its use of voice communication. This contrasts sharply with phishing, which primarily uses email, and smishing, which exclusively uses SMS text messages. Tailgating, on the other hand, is a physical security breach, involving unauthorized access to restricted areas by following an authorized person, and does not involve any form of digital communication or credential solicitation in this manner. Therefore, the phone call aspect of the attack is the definitive characteristic that points to vishing as the correct classification.

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