Pharming

Pharming is a cyberattack that redirects users from legitimate websites to fraudulent websites without their knowledge, often to steal credentials or sensitive information.

ISTQB Official Glossary Definition

“A security attack intended to redirect a website's traffic to a fraudulent website without the user's knowledge or consent.”

(Definition reproduced from the ISTQB Glossary. Copyright belongs to ISTQB.)

View the complete ISTQB Glossary

What is Pharming?

Unlike phishing, which tricks users into clicking malicious links, pharming manipulates network or DNS settings to silently redirect traffic.

Redirection attack: Users are sent to fake websites automatically.

Credential theft: Attackers attempt to capture sensitive information.

Defense: DNS security and secure browsing reduce the risk.

Real World Example

A regulated product team is preparing a release where Pharming appears in reviews, test design conversations, or defect triage rather than as an isolated glossary word.

The risk is that the team treats Pharming as interchangeable with nearby ISTQB terms. That makes test scope blurry and can lead to weak evidence for the release decision.

The tester anchors the discussion in the official definition, asks where the concept appears in the product, and designs examples that show the difference between Pharming and similar ideas.

The page becomes useful in practice because Pharming is connected to a specific testing decision, not memorized as a detached definition.

Practice Questions

Question 1

Which statement BEST describes Pharming in the context of ISTQB terminology?

Question 2

A tester needs to explain Pharming to a non‑technical stakeholder. Which approach is MOST appropriate?

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