Research by security firm KnowBe4 shows that phishing continues to top the cybercrime rankings.
BKA's current , phishing is once again identified as the primary threat.
The field is completed by massive malspam campaigns, DDoS attacks and ransomware, the latter of which was used primarily against hospitals and other medical facilities in the reporting period. Overall, computer fraud cases increased by 5.8 percent compared to 2019.
Phishing is still one of the easiest methods in cybercriminals' repertoire to copy and thereby steal data. To do this, they rent servers and send the phishing emails via fake or taken over email accounts.
Phishing emails related to current events
Cybercriminals have adapted to the new circumstances in the last year and adapted their phishing subject lines accordingly. These contained alleged information about the COVID-19 pandemic and the “new normal” situation.
KnowBe4 examined tens of thousands of email subject lines from phishing tests. The company also checked phishing emails from practice. These came from emails that users had received and reported as suspicious.
Among the top 10 subject lines tracked, two were COVID-19 related, namely “COVID-19 Remote Work Guidelines Update” and “COVID-19 Vaccination Interest Survey.” Both lines are worded in a targeted manner and show how cybercriminals are exploiting current developments for their goals.
Protection against cybercrime
Last but not least, the BKA also finds that “increased cyber security awareness is essential when protecting IT infrastructures and company networks”.
“We recommend a New School Security Awareness Training with varied content such as posters, explanatory videos and also humorous sayings or comics.
Every year we examine the effectiveness of the training materials in the benchmarking report. The results show that after 90 days of computer-based training and simulated phishing tests, the average PPP is reduced by over 60 percent, falling from 38 to 14 percent. After a year of monthly simulated phishing tests and regular training, the PPP even drops to just 5 percent. Across all industries, an average increase rate of 87 percent was achieved from the first test to the end of a 12-month training period.”
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Source: Press portal – KnowBe4
Notes:
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