Phishing deceptive online practice – UGC NET Question

Phishing typically involves sending deceptive emails or messages that appear to come from legitimate organisations to trick users into revealing confidential information. It relies on social engineering rather than purely technical attacks. Because it exploits human trust, it is a major ICT security concern. The practice described is accurately termed phishing.

Option A:
Option A is correct because phishing is the established name for fraudulent communication that attempts to lure users into providing sensitive data under false pretences.

Option B:
Option B, hacking, is a broader term covering unauthorised access to systems and may involve technical exploitation, not necessarily deceptive messages as in the question.

Option C:
Option C, debugging, involves finding and correcting errors in software and is a legitimate development activity.

Option D:
Option D, compiling, translates source code into machine code and has nothing to do with fraudulent acquisition of credentials.