- The number of fake support accounts targeting Proofpoint’s global customer base rose 37% from Q1 to Q2 2018.
- More than 65% of the companies that were targeted by email fraud in Q1 had the identities of more than five employees spoofed.
- The number of email fraud attacks per targeted company was 25% higher in Q2 than in Q1, with the government and retail sectors experiencing the largest increase in email fraud attempts.
- Malicious phishing message volume increased 36% between Q1 and Q2 2018.
- Ransomware was back on the scene in Q2 but is still lagging from a volume perspective, accounting for just a little more than 11% of total malicious messages during the measurement period.
- Proofpoint researchers also detected a 30% increase in phishing links on social media.
https://www.wombatsecurity.com/blog/the-latest-in-phishing-october-2018
Hi Haitao,
This are great statistics in respect to phishing. This puts things into perspective. We know now as the technology evolves the threat evolves.
Hi Haitao,
Thank you for sharing these statistics. It is good to know recent phishing attacks and to improve security awareness.
I think phishing is going to trend up even more. In fact I saw this other article in usatoday that says it’s increased by 297% over last year! That’s crazy. The good thing is that people are more aware about phishing and know what “phishing” means. I couldn’t say that a year or two ago. The problem though is these phishing emails are getting better and better into tricking people to click on links and submit info.
Thanks for the share…feel free to check out this article too!
https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2018/10/24/investigation-online-phishing-attacks-up-297-percent/1741033002/
Hi Haitao, it’s interesting to know that popular security researcher Brian Krebs declared 2018 to be “The Year Targeted Phishing Went mainstream” in a blog post that profiles sextortion-based phishing scams and automated global attacks. Proofpoint researchers identified early adopters of malicious code embedded into PDF email attachments. The attack is significant due to the actor, who is known as TA505. Read the details about how this scam works on Proofpoint’s blog.