Which of the following best describes a "phishing attack"?

A phishing attack is best described as an unsolicited email designed to trick recipients into divulging personal information. The primary goal of a phishing attack is to deceive the individual into providing sensitive data such as usernames, passwords, financial information, or other personal details. This is often accomplished through social engineering techniques, where the attacker poses as a trustworthy entity, such as a bank or a popular service, to lure the victim into clicking on a malicious link or downloading an infected attachment.

In this context, the nature of phishing attacks relies heavily on manipulation and psychological tactics to exploit human behavior, leading individuals to act against their best interests by providing confidential information. This characteristic distinguishes it from other activities that may be more focused on testing or improving cybersecurity measures, such as employee training or spam filtering, which do not inherently involve deceptive practices aimed at exploiting the user.