Almost every second phishing e-mail with Microsoft logo
Users currently have to be particularly wary when opening mails from well-known and large companies. Such phishing attempts are not an unknown phenomenon. However, a threat report from Checkpoint indicates a new trend since the increasing home office obligation.
Amazon, Microsoft and DHL: cybercriminals usually exploit the brands and logos of particularly large companies for phishing attempts. This is nothing new per se. However, since more and more companies are retreating to the home office, a new trend in this direction seems to be emerging, as the Israeli security researchers from Check Point have shown in their "Brand Phishing Report. for the fourth quarter of 2020. As in the third quarter of 2020, the most frequently abused brand was Microsoft. 43 percent of the phishing attempts investigated related to the tech giant. DHL ranked second with 18 percent.
Old phenomenon with increasing tendency
"Users need to be wary of entering personal data and credentials for business applications, and should think twice before opening email attachments or links. This is especially true right now when emails appear to come from large companies such as Microsoft, DHL or Amazon," said Maya Horowitz, Director, Threat Intelligence and Research, Products at Check Point.
Software Technologies.
In the case of brand phishing, cyber crooks usually use a similar-sounding domain and make their website look deceptively real. This often redirects users to a scam website via a different-sounding link. The victims then usually land on a fake website that contains a form asking for login data, payment data or other personal information.
Top Phishing Brands in Q4 2020:
1. Microsoft (in 43 percent of all brand phishing attempts worldwide).
2. DHL (18 percent)
3. LinkedIn (6 percent)
4. Amazon (5 percent)
5. rakuten (4 percent)
6. IKEA (3 percent)
7. google (2 percent)
8. PayPal (2 percent)
9. chase (2 percent)
10. yahoo (1 percent)
View the full report on brand phishing attempts in the fourth quarter of 2020
Source: Check Point
