With each passing year, the situation grows increasingly dire as phishing attacks grow in number, complexity, and cost. Sadly, 2022 was no different. With the new year just ahead, now is the perfect time to consider the impact cybercrime has had on businesses this year and the potential ways phishing will extend its reach in 2023. For these insights and more, we turned to the industry experts at INKY. We’d like to share some highlights of their Email Security Annual Report.
Top 4 Disturbing Numbers
From data breaches to hardest-hit industries, the escalating state of phishing can be looked at from several different angles. But no matter how you look at it, the numbers continue to climb. During a 12-month period, INKY observed a number of alarming phishing increases, including these top four:
- 269% increase in total dangerous emails
- 263% increase in emails with malicious HTML attachments
- 175% increase in cryptocurrency scams
- 141% increase in CEO Impersonation attempts
What’s Hot And What’s Not
The two primary reasons phishing threats grow in complexity are simply because either people stop falling them or they are easily detected by email security systems. As a result, black hats rethink their strategies and new phishing trends emerge.
With a birds-eye view of billions of emails, INKY scoped out the following:
- On the rise: phishing phone scams and advance fee threats
- Falling off: malicious URLs and executable codes
Tricky Catches And Trends
Certainly, a highlight of the INKY Email Security Annual Report for 2022 is their list of trending tactics in email security and phenomenal phish catches. These slippery phishes are exactly the kind that swim by most legacy solutions undetected…and with good reason. When you understand the elaborate nature of their design, it’s easy to see why most platforms don’t have the level of technology to catch them. Below is a list of some top tricky catches and trends, but you would do well to explore the details of all finds in the INKY report.
- Indirect and multi-step methods lure in the end-user, making the experience feel more real.
- Use of HTML and PDF attachments that SEGs do not block.
- Fake email alerts that you have a voicemail.
- Personalized phish using social media and a Google-hosted redirect
- No text phishing emails that utilize image attachments
- Leveraging legitimate cloud services for brand impersonation and credential harvesting
These are just some of the interesting finds you’ll read about in INKY’s Email Security Report for 2022. It’s also important to note that INKY is constantly learning, changing, and improving in order to stay ahead of growing threats. In fact, in 2022, INKY expanded its technologies to include Outbound Email Protection, Email Encryption, and Advanced Attachment Analysis.
Prepare For 2023 With INKY
Now that you have a better idea of the threats that could be facing your employees, it’s time to think about your own company’s safety. INKY provides the most comprehensive malware and email phishing protection available. It scans every sent and delivered email automatically and flags malicious emails, protecting your organization and your clients from even the most complex threats. INKY’s intelligent machine learning algorithms identify email abnormalities, even if the threat has never been seen before. The Email Assistant warns employees of threats through dynamic warning banners while protecting and training them at the same time. Most customers are up and running in under an hour – even with remote employees. Schedule a demo or inquire today.
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INKY is an award-winning, behavioral email security platform that blocks phishing threats, prevents data leaks, and coaches users to make smart decisions. Like a cybersecurity coach, INKY signals suspicious behaviors with interactive email banners that guide users to take safe action on any device or email client. IT teams don’t face the burden of filtering every email themselves or maintaining multiple systems. Through powerful technology and intuitive user engagement, INKY keeps phishers out for good. Learn why so many companies trust the security of their email to INKY. Request an online demonstration today.