Malicious emails have reached a crescendo in 2023 according
to the latest report from cybersecurity software and services provider Fortra.
Email impersonation threats such as BEC currently make up nearly 99% of
threats, and of those 99% of threats observed in corporate inboxes are
response-based or credential theft attacks.
Email impersonation threats are proving to be the most
difficult to block as social engineering helps cybercriminals successfully
deceive both end users and the security tools designed to protect them.
Some of the key findings from the research compiled by Fortra's
email security group, which includes Agari, Clearswift and PhishLabs, reveal:
- More than 60% of email
threats impersonated a well-known brand name such as Microsoft or Google.
- 36% of email display
names are altered to a more granular level and pose as specific
individuals.
- Google is the most
abused email platform (67.5% of recorded attacks in 2023), with Microsoft
following close behind (18.3%).
- BEC actors are moving
toward intercepting payments. Instead of asking for an explicit amount,
attackers ask for an unspecified sum owed
- Office 365 phishing
attack volumes have doubled since Q4 2022
- The fundamentals of BEC
attacks remain largely the same, but optimized
tactics are improving success rates
- Generative AI is
trending among cybercriminals. ChatGPT, and other such language models,
are giving criminals the tools to craft well-written messages at scale and
avoid the poor spelling and grammar that frequently mark phishing attacks.
John Wilson, Senior Fellow, Threat Research at Fortra
states, "It isn't hard to find someone who has fallen victim to email
impersonation attacks. Social engineering combined with advancing technology
such as generative AI has made attacks more advanced and harder to spot.
Organizations must rethink how to defend against such threats. For instance,
consider if your security awareness training explores enough of current
impersonation techniques, as well as how applying algorithms through machine
learning can help to detect anomalies and patterns in
order to accurately detect signatureless email threats at scale."
Grab a copy of the report.