The threat landscape online has often been focused on emails due to the lack of security features that they have on offer, and phishing attacks have been a major component of that trend with all things having been considered and taken into account. Researchers at Abnormal Security have just put out some data that reveals concerning trends in phishing attacks, with a huge upsurge in brand impersonation being mentioned in this report.
With all of that having been said and now out of the way, it is important to note that phishing attacks now comprise around 68.47% of total advanced attacks over the previous six months. Scams come in at a distant second with 8.35%, followed by malware at number three with just over 7% or 7.01% to be precise. This suggests a 48% uptick in email threats that use some type of phishing, and about a third of all phishing attacks attempted to use the credentials of major brands, religious organizations or institutions with similar levels of renown.
These business email compromise attacks, or BEC for short, have increased by as much as 150% year over year. Additionally, these attacks are targeting virtually every single industry. Advertising agencies are the highest risk targets, with them facing an 83% chance of suffering such an attack on a weekly basis. Additionally, larger organizations working in the supply chain sector have an 89% chance of getting a phishing attack that uses brand credentials every single week.
The number of brands that are being impersonated in these attacks has risen to 265, so there is a definite existential risk to numerous industries that cyber attacks pose. Since the majority of industries are being faced with high chances of weekly phishing attacks, more work needs to be done to educate potential victims about what is currently at stake.
However, the increasing sophistication of these attacks is making it harder for victims to differentiate between phishing emails and legitimate ones. Technological solutions must be invented, since the importance of cybersecurity will be paramount as we move forward through the financial year.
Read next: 70 Percent of Malicious Browser Extensions Have Adware According to This Report
With all of that having been said and now out of the way, it is important to note that phishing attacks now comprise around 68.47% of total advanced attacks over the previous six months. Scams come in at a distant second with 8.35%, followed by malware at number three with just over 7% or 7.01% to be precise. This suggests a 48% uptick in email threats that use some type of phishing, and about a third of all phishing attacks attempted to use the credentials of major brands, religious organizations or institutions with similar levels of renown.
These business email compromise attacks, or BEC for short, have increased by as much as 150% year over year. Additionally, these attacks are targeting virtually every single industry. Advertising agencies are the highest risk targets, with them facing an 83% chance of suffering such an attack on a weekly basis. Additionally, larger organizations working in the supply chain sector have an 89% chance of getting a phishing attack that uses brand credentials every single week.
The number of brands that are being impersonated in these attacks has risen to 265, so there is a definite existential risk to numerous industries that cyber attacks pose. Since the majority of industries are being faced with high chances of weekly phishing attacks, more work needs to be done to educate potential victims about what is currently at stake.
However, the increasing sophistication of these attacks is making it harder for victims to differentiate between phishing emails and legitimate ones. Technological solutions must be invented, since the importance of cybersecurity will be paramount as we move forward through the financial year.
Read next: 70 Percent of Malicious Browser Extensions Have Adware According to This Report
