CHARLESTON, S.C.– Phishing remains the dominant attack vector for bad actors, having grown 31.5% over 2020 and during September of 2021 were more than twice as high as the previous year, according to a new report from PhishLabs.
The data was released as part of the company’s Quarterly Threat Trends and Intelligence Report.
“While we saw a drop early this summer in phishing volume, threat actors didn’t take the whole summer off. Attacks have been on the rise since July and surged in September. If these trends continue, many IT security teams will find themselves dealing with a deluge of threats over the holidays,” said John LaCour, founder and CTO of PhishLabs.
Among the key findings in the report:
- Social Media Attacks Skyrocket in 2021. Since January, the average number of Social Media attacks per target climbed steadily, up 82% year-to-date.
- Vishing is Increasing. Vishing incidents more than doubled in number for the second consecutive quarter, “suggesting a shift in tactics as threat actors seek to evade email security controls.”
- O365 Users Beware: In Q3, 51.6% of credential theft phishing attacks reported by corporate users targeted O365 logins.
- PII Grows on the Dark Web, Leveraging Chat Services. The sale of Personally Identifiable Information accounted for 12% of dark web threats and was primarily made up of threat actors marketing employee email addresses to black market buyers. In 56% of PII sales, chat-based services were used to market the data, PhishLabs reported.
An ‘Imperative’
“The continued climb in social media threats makes it imperative that businesses prioritize visibility across platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and more. As seasonal hiring ramps up for the holidays, the staffing industry in particular needs to be prepared to deal with online impersonation and other scams,” said LaCour.