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One in every 99 emails is a phishing attack, according to Avanan's
phishing statistics. is amounts to 4.8 emails per employee in a five-day
work week. Considering close to 30% of phishing emails make it past
default security, the threat is very much present.
e success rate of these attacks has
emboldened scammers to launch more of
them. Avanan reports an increase of 65% in
phishing attacks from 2016 to 2017. is is
a global phenomenon affecting every region
and economy.
In 2018, 83% of people received
phishing attacks worldwide, resulting in
a range of disruptions and damages. is
includes decreased productivity (67%), loss
of proprietary data (54%), and damage to
reputation (50%). When it comes to the
attacks, two in three phishing attempts use
a malicious link and more than half contain
malware.
Malware—or malicious software—
describes any program or code that is harmful
to systems. Malware seeks to invade, damage,
or disable computers, computer systems,
networks, tablets, and mobile devices, often
by taking partial control over a device's
operations. Once infected with malware,
scammers gain access to a wide variety
of functions, including taking computer
screenshots, sending, downloading and
deleting files, and stealing passwords.
Phishing occurs when a scammer uses
fraudulent emails, texts, or copycat websites
to get someone to share valuable personal
information such as account numbers, Social
Security numbers, login IDs, or passwords.
Scammers use this information to steal
someone's money or identity—or both. In
real estate transactions, this is a precursor
to what the FBI refers to as business email
compromise (BEC), often resulting in wire
transfer fraud. e FBI reported 11,300
people suffered losses of nearly $150 million
due to wire fraud in 2018.
CASTING
A NET FOR
CYBERSECURITY
Protecting your organization against phishing attacks is critical. Here
are some tips for ensuring nothing slips through your defenses.
Feature By: Jeremy Yohe
