From Familiarity to Vulnerability: The Role of Social Distance and Information Processing in Spear Phishing

As technology advances, spear phishing has emerged as a major threat to online users' information and financial security. Unlike traditional phishing attacks, spear phishing is a more sophisticated form of cyber deception in which scammers impersonate familiar or trusted entities to manipulate recipients into clicking malicious links or opening malware-laden attachments. Prior research has established that familiarity with an information source can increase an individual's susceptibility to phishing attacks. Social distance, as a theoretical construct that encapsulates familiarity, provides a more structured framework for understanding its impact. While information processing theory has been widely used to examine phishing vulnerability, the role of social distance in shaping information processing pathways and influencing phishing susceptibility remains unexplored. To address this gap, this study employs a survey-based approach to investigate the impact of social distance on individuals' information processing routes and their susceptibility to phishing attacks.