Phishing Tactics: 2023 Trends
Knowbe4 Post Image

Phishing Tactics: 2023 Trends

The results of KnowBe4’s 2023 Phishing By Industry Benchmarking Report are in!

Highlights from the comprehensive report:

  • In North America, ransomware continues to threaten organizations of all sizes and industries.
  • Given the success of ransomware over the last few years, cybercriminals have not needed to make major changes to their tactics, which continue to create a lucrative and profitable business model for them. The ransomware-as-a-service (RaaS) model comprises many successful attacks in North America.
  • Because most organizations have become reasonably good at restoring their data, in 2019, ransomware groups began to focus on getting access to and transferring data to use it as additional leverage. Cybercriminals know that information is power, and they use the threat of the public release of information as a significant source of leverage to get paid. This damages an organization’s reputation and can also be crippling from the potential fines from regulatory agencies.
  • Less publicly visible but just as devastating, another type of cybercrime, business email compromise (BEC), continues to surface as a prolific attack type.
  •  One key differentiator of BEC compared to other types of cybercrime is that BEC typically does not include any attachment or link in the email, indicators that many people have become suspicious of and that technical controls have a chance at spotting. Instead, BEC relies purely on social engineering and emotional manipulation to drive victims to take the attacker’s intended action. BEC attacks are very effective because they prey on employees’ trust in their colleagues. In many cases, the victim will not even think to question the email’s authenticity and will simply follow the instructions.
  • Vendor email compromise (VEC) is a growing threat to businesses. In a VEC attack, the attacker gains access to the email account of a trusted vendor and then uses that account to send fraudulent emails to the vendor’s customers.

Train your employees to spot these tactics and keep your network safe! Citynet partners with security awareness training leader, KnowBe4 and offers a free trial of this vital security platform. Contact us today!

Download Full Report

Like this article?

Share on Facebook
Share on Twitter
Share on Linkdin
Share on Pinterest

More Posts

Hacked Emails Phishing Cyber Image
The Latest Scams

Beware of Dropbox Phishing Scams

Protect Your Microsoft Credentials Dropbox is a widely used file-sharing service that many rely on to share photos, files, and documents. Unfortunately, cybercriminals are leveraging

Hologram Airplane Image
Cybersecurity

Beware of Fake TSA PreCheck Emails

Travelers rely on TSA PreCheck to breeze through airport security. This U.S. airport screening program streamlines the security process, allowing members to avoid long lines

Man Face Digital Disasters Image
Cybersecurity Awareness Month 2024

Prepare for Digital Disasters

Why Digitize Your Important Documents and Photos?Losing treasured family photos, tax records, or legal documents in a flood or fire is heartbreaking. Luckily, we live

SuperPod with WiFi 6E

Plume SuperPod WiFi 6E Specs

SuperPod with WiFi 6

Plume SuperPod WiFi 6 Specs

SuperPod

Plume SuperPod Secs