Did you know?

A phishing attack on an unsuspecting victim
  • Between January and February 2020, phishing attacks rose by 510%
  • Approximately 1 in 10 malicious sites is hosted on a benign domain
  • 1.4million URLs host cryptojacking scripts
  • New industries are being targeted and reporting higher-than-average virus infection rates.

These stats are according to a new 2021 Threat Report issued by Webroot Brightcloud.  The report also claims the likes of eBay, Facebook, Apple and Google were amongst some of the top names targeted by phishers.  Why?  The pandemic has played a huge role in the rise of cybercrime - with the necessity to work remotely and online shopping becoming the norm.  

Cybercriminals follow the trends of their victims and target companies based on how people are shopping and interacting online.    

Phishing attacks are not just limited to online web activity, victims can also be attacked via telephone, postal mail and email. Email is by far one of the easiest ways to attack through sending attachments and suspicious links. Telephone is another common approach with the criminals posing as an official from a reputable company or sending a text message requesting personal information which sometimes is a little easier to detect. While attacks through postal mail are not as popular, it does target the vulnerable and so the rewards for criminals can sometimes be greater. 

However, whatever the approach, it is easy to be caught off guard, even for the savviest of people!