钓鱼式攻击（Phishing，源自Phone + Fishing，与英语fishing发音一样；又名网钓法或网络网钓，以下简称网钓）是一种企图从电子通信中，透过伪装成信誉卓着的法人媒体以获得如用户名、密码和信用卡明细等个人敏感信息的犯罪诈骗过程。这些通信都声称（自己）来自于风行的社交网站（YouTube、Facebook、MySpace）、拍卖网站（eBay）、网络银行、电子支付网站（PayPal）、或网络管理者（雅虎、互联网服务供应商、公司机关），以此来诱骗受害人的轻信。网钓通常是透过e-mail或者即时通信进行。它常常导引用户到URL与接口外观与真正网站几无二致的假冒网站输入个人数据。就算使用强式加密的SSL服务器认证，要侦测网站是否仿冒实际上仍很困难。网钓是一种利用社会工程技术来愚弄用户的实例。它凭恃的是现行网络安全技术的低亲和度。种种对抗日渐增多网钓案例的尝试涵盖立法层面、用户培训层面、宣传层面、与技术保全措施层面。

Phishing is the attempt to acquire sensitive information such as usernames, passwords, and credit card details (and sometimes, indirectly, money), often for malicious reasons, by masquerading as a trustworthy entity in an electronic communication. The word is a neologism created as a homophone of fishing due to the similarity of using a bait in an attempt to catch a victim. Communications purporting to be from popular social web sites, auction sites, banks, online payment processors or IT administrators are commonly used to lure unsuspecting victims. Phishing emails may contain links to websites that are infected with malware. Phishing is typically carried out by email spoofing or instant messaging, and it often directs users to enter details at a fake website whose look and feel are almost identical to the legitimate one. Phishing is an example of social engineering techniques used to deceive users, and exploits the poor usability of current web security technologies. Attempts to deal with the growing number of reported phishing incidents include legislation, user training, public awareness, and technical security measures. Many websites have now created secondary tools for applications, like maps for games, but they should be clearly marked as to who wrote them, and users should not use the same passwords anywhere on the internet.