Organisations should not assume a younger workforce has an innate awareness of cybersecurity threats, according to the fifth annual State of the Phish Report, by the US-based cyber product company Proofpoint.
The survey covers phishing cyberattack trends across 15 industries and details the cybersecurity knowledge of more than 7,000 working adults in the United States, Australia, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and the UK. Data from tens of millions of simulated phishing attacks sent over a one-year period were analysed, with nearly 15,000 cybersecurity professional survey responses, from both Proofpoint customers and outside organisations.
Overall, 83 percent of global infosecurity respondents experienced phishing attacks in 2018, up from 76 percent in 2017, and nearly 60 percent saw an increase in employee detection following security awareness training. According to the study, more organisations were affected by all types of social engineering attacks (phishing, spear phishing, sms phishing, voice phishing, and USB drops) year over year. For the first time, compromised accounts bypassed malware infections as the most commonly identified impact of successful phishing attacks.
Email is the top cyberattack vector. Cybercriminals are persistently targeting high-value individuals who have privileged access or handle sensitive data within an organisation, said Joe Ferrara, general manager of Security Awareness Training for Proofpoint. He said: “As these threats grow in scope and sophistication, it is critical that organisations prioritise security awareness training to educate employees about cybersecurity best practices and establish a people-centric strategy to defend against threat actors’ unwavering focus on compromising end users.”
This year’s findings include:
Infosecurity professionals reported a higher frequency of all types of social engineering attacks year over year. Phishing increased to 83 percent vs. 76 percent. Spear phishing increased to 64 percent from 53 percent. Vishing and/or smishing increased to 49 percent vs. 45 percent, and USB attacks increased to 4 percent vs. 3 percent.
Credential compromise has increased 70 percent since 2017 and 280 percent since 2016, surpassing malware infections to become the most common phishing attack impact in 2018. Respondents reporting phishing attacks, that resulted in data loss, more than tripled between 2016 and 2018, underscoring the growing phishing threat and impact from such attacks.
83 percent of global respondents experienced phishing attacks in 2018, demonstrating a 9 percent year-over-year increase. Only 10 percent of respondents reported experiencing a ransomware attack, confirming that ransomware took a back seat to other types of attacks last year.
59 percent of suspicious emails reported by end users were classified as potential phishing, indicating that employees are being more diligent and thoughtful about the emails they receive.
Educating employees about cyber threats is essential, the firm suggests. In a global survey, working adults identified the following terms correctly: phishing (66 percent correct), ransomware (45 percent correct), smishing (23 percent correct), and vishing (18 percent correct). These findings spotlight a knowledge gap when it comes to the language security teams are using when communicating to end users.
To download the report, and see a full list of global comparisons visit: https://www.proofpoint.com/us/resources/threat-reports/state-of-phish.
