The premier AI-based cloud-native email security platform, Abnormal Security, today published its H2 2022 Email Threat Report. The study examines the state of the email threat landscape. It provides data on the most recent events in email attack methods, such as the emergence of brand impersonation in credential phishing and the expansion of business email compromise.
According to the report, email attacks have increased by 48% in the last six months, and 68.5% of them have links that steal credentials. In 15% of phishing emails, fraudsters impersonated well-known companies in addition to internal staff and executives, relying on the familiarity and goodwill of the brands to persuade employees to divulge their login information. Microsoft items and social networks were the two 265 brands that were most frequently impersonated in these attacks.
"Most cybercrime nowadays is successful because it preys on the individuals using the computer. By compromising individuals rather than networks, attackers may more easily get beyond standard security precautions" stated Crane Hassold, head of threat intelligence at Abnormal Security.
LinkedIn was perhaps the most frequently impersonated brand, although 20% of all attacks also included Outlook, OneDrive, and Microsoft 365. Since employee email accounts are frequently hacked through phishing emails, these attacks are hazardous. By gaining Microsoft login information, fraudsters can gain access to the entire range of linked goods, access sensitive information, and use the account to launch business email compromise attacks.
Findings from the report entail:
- The target of more than a third of brand-impersonation-based credential phishing attacks was a school or a place of worship.
- BEC attacks rose by 150% year over year, proving the growing risk of these truly severe threats to financial stability.
- BEC attacks target every area, but advertising and marketing organizations continue to be the most vulnerable, with an 83% weekly chance of being the target.
- Nearly every level of business is being targeted by financial supply chain hacks, with 89% of major enterprises experiencing at least one vendor assault each week.
"We generally understand that email attacks target businesses of all sizes and in all sectors, but these findings just serve to confirm our suspicions. Since the most sophisticated attacks are very difficult to distinguish from a genuine email from that brand, brand impersonation is particularly concerning for cybersecurity leaders," according to Mike Britton, a chief information security officer at Abnormal Security.
Abnormal Security has also introduced Abnormal Intelligence, a research and data hub devoted to offering insight into emerging new threats across the threat landscape, in support of its objective to shield enterprises from cybercrime.
This portal, which showcases some of the most inventive assaults targeting Abnormal consumers, is made to assist firms in staying informed of new trends and attacks. The website offers threat intelligence content in the form of blog entries, downloadable materials, and webinars in addition to the daily feed of actual attacks.
