Phishing is fundamental to cyber attacks. This research determined the effect of Internet user age and email content such as weapons of influence (persuasive techniques that attackers can use to lure individuals to fall for an attack) and life domains (a specific topic or aspect of an individual's life that attackers can focus an email on) on spear-phishing (targeted phishing) susceptibility. In total, 100 young and 58 older users received, without their knowledge, daily simulated phishing emails over 21 days. A browser plugin recorded their clicking on links in the emails as an indicator of their susceptibility. Forty-three percent of users fell for the simulated phishing emails, with older women showing the highest susceptibility. While susceptibility in young users declined across the study, susceptibility in older users remained stable. The relative effectiveness of the attacks differed by weapons of influence and life domains with age-group variability. In addition, older compared to young users reported lower susceptibility awareness. These findings support effects of Internet user demographics and email content on susceptibility to phishing and emphasize the need for personalization of the next generation of security solutions.

中文翻译：

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鱼叉式网络钓鱼电子邮件的易感性

网络钓鱼是网络攻击的基础。这项研究确定了互联网用户年龄和电子邮件内容的影响，例如影响力武器（攻击者可以用来引诱个人遭受攻击的说服技术）和生活领域（攻击者可以关注的个人生活的特定主题或方面）关于鱼叉式网络钓鱼（有针对性的网络钓鱼）易感性的电子邮件。总共有 100 名年轻用户和 58 名年长用户在 21 天内每天在他们不知情的情况下收到模拟网络钓鱼电子邮件。浏览器插件记录了他们对电子邮件中链接的点击情况，以此作为他们易感性的指标。43% 的用户因模拟网络钓鱼电子邮件而堕落，其中年长女性表现出最高的易感性。虽然年轻用户的易感性在整个研究中有所下降，但老年用户的易感性保持稳定。攻击的相对有效性因影响武器和具有年龄组差异的生活领域而异。此外，与年轻用户相比，年长用户报告的易感性意识较低。这些发现支持互联网用户人口统计和电子邮件内容对网络钓鱼易感性的影响，并强调了下一代安全解决方案个性化的必要性。