The average company is the target of over 700 social engineering attacks annually. Barracuda publishes sixth spear phishing report. The 2021 report shows the evolution of email attacks and who is most affected
How are spear phishing attacks evolving, what new tricks are cybercriminals using, and who are they specifically targeting? Barracuda's sixth, current report "Spear Phishing: Top Threats and Trends Vol. 6" provides answers to these questions and provides information on the latest spear phishing trends and what companies can do in a practical way with the help of which technologies in terms of email security not to be left behind in principle.
Between May 2020 and June 2021, Barracuda's analysts examined more than 12 million spear phishing and social engineering attacks that affected more than three million mailboxes in over 17.000 companies.
These attack methods were trendy in 2021
- One in ten social engineering attacks involves compromising business email
- 43 percent of phishing attacks pose as Microsoft
- The average company is targeted by over 700 social engineering attacks each year
- 77 percent of BEC (Business Email Compromise) attacks target employees outside the financial and management level
- The average CEO receives 57 targeted phishing attacks annually
- One in five BEC attacks affects employees in sales functions
- IT staff receive an average of 40 targeted phishing attacks per year
“Cyber criminals are becoming more and more sophisticated about who they target with their attacks. Often times, they target people outside of the finance and leadership team looking for a vulnerability in the organization, ”said Don MacLennan, senior vice president of Engineering & Product Management, Email Protection, Barracuda. “Targeting lower-level employees gives them the entrance to work their way towards more rewarding, higher targets. It must therefore be ensured that all employees are protected and trained. It is not enough just to focus on those who are believed to be most likely to be attacked. "
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Via Barracuda Networks Striving to make the world a safer place, Barracuda believes that every business should have access to cloud-enabled, enterprise-wide security solutions that are easy to purchase, implement and use. Barracuda protects email, networks, data and applications with innovative solutions that grow and adapt as the customer journey progresses. More than 150.000 companies worldwide trust Barracuda to help them focus on growing their business. For more information, visit www.barracuda.com.