Q1 Phishing Surpasses Malware Attacks by 20x
Groff NetWorks has noticed a massive uptick in phishing attacks against users, and the rest of the industry has seen the same. Last year, the number of malwares exceeded the number of phishing emails that were being sent. In the first quarter of this year, that has not been the case. A recent study showed that phishing attacks are currently outpacing malware 21:1, 20 times more than the normal amount. It is also estimated that about 550 million users have been targeted by a phishing campaign this year so far. These attacks are highly sophisticated, are likely done by professional criminals with a massive budget. They are using URL bundling/shorteners to better hide the URL destinations, making the old “hover over and check” technique less affective than it ever has been before. This is the first time phishing attacks have outpaced malware, which makes users the biggest attack target…by far.
That being the case, it’s more important than ever to have your staff well trained on how to avoid clicking a malicious email. It’s vital to have a technology partner/department that actively engages in users around phishing, phishing education, and keep users aware of these quickly changing attacks. Groff NetWorks offers phishing user engagement and testing on an ongoing basis, and we do it in a specialized manner that keeps users on their toes, and providers managers/owners reassurance that the largest attack target—their employees—are actively aware of safe behavior.
Safe email practices (don’t open attachments right away, check for known user, double check sender’s domain, hover-over links, when in doubt call us to check) are the basics, but active education around phishing has become vital to small and medium size businesses. Contact Groff NetWorks on our website or give us a call at (518) 320-8906 if you’re ready to defend yourself against these phishing attacks.