Phishing scams are among the most common and dangerous type of attack that organisations face.3 reasons why we keep taking the bait
1. Users are the weakest link
Even if most of us think we would be able to spot a phishing scam when we receive one, it only takes a momentary lapse in judgement for us to fall victim.
The panic one experience when they receive a message claiming that, for example, there has been suspicious activity on the recipient’s account will in many cases cause people to overlook signs that the message is malicious.
But by that point it’s too late, with the victim already clicking links, opening attachments and handing over their username and password.
The good news is this is a weakness that organisations and individuals have the power to address. All they have to do learn about the way phishing works and the clues to look out for.
Unfortunately, most users don’t receive the necessary training. Indeed, researchers have found that 52% of users receive training no more than twice per year, and 6% of users have never received security awareness training.
2. Cyber criminals are shifting their focus
The availability of stolen data on the dark web has decreased its commercial value.
Scammers can now buy payment card data so cheaply that there’s less profit to be had for those stealing and selling this information.
In response, cyber criminals have changed tactics, looking to make money through organisations directly thanks to ransomware attacks.
These types of attack are no more complicated for a cyber criminal to pull off, but the rewards can be much greater.
Although experts warn organisations not to pay ransoms, it’s certainly tempting to wire transfer a lump sum in the hopes that you’ll get your systems back online rather than face the headaches that come with incident response.
3. Phishing tools are low-cost and widespread
There are an increasing number of tools that are designed to help amateurs with little IT knowledge get into the cyber crime industry.
The availability of phishing kits and the rise of ransomware-as-a-service has resulted in an explosion of ransomware and other exploits coming from an ever growing network of amateur cyber criminals.
