In Q2 2022, the average ransom payment increased by 8% from Q1 to $228,125. 14 phishing red flags to watch for in 2022. The operation has been ongoing since at least March 2022 and has ensnared several high-profile targets. Below, we've detailed 13 of the most malicious cyber-attacks globally from August 2022. A period which ranks as the worst quarter for phishing ever seen, with APWG observing over one million total attacks (1,025,968). . A recent Threat Report from ESET found that, in Q3 of 2020, the most common types of malicious files attached to phishing emails were as follows: Windows executables (74%). Nation-state threat actors are the most dangerous cyber criminals on the Web. Phishing Attacks: Biggest Menace for Organizations Globally. In May 2021, Colonial Pipeline was effectively shut down by a ransomware attack that affected around 50 million customers. 12th May 2022 News Alarming Phishing Attack Trends to Beware of in 2022. However, the median ransom payment fell by 51% from Q1 to $36,360. These harmful emails were broken down into the following. These attacks account for 34.7% of phishing attempts. The 2022 ThreatLabz Phishing Report found that phishing attacks lure victims by posing as top brands or promoting topical events. HacWare's phishing intelligence team has reviewed the worst phishing attacks from November 2021 and put them into 8 categories. Please share this information with your end-users to empower them to do their part to fight against phishing attacks. Part of the reason for this is that students will typically have their own login credentials for the institution's IT system, and may not take the security of these accounts . Facebook and Google Between 2013 and 2015, Facebook and Google were tricked out of $100 million due to an extended phishing campaign. IBM's Cost of Data Breaches Report 2022 quotes an average total cost of $4.5m (this figure was basically the same whether ransomware was involved or not). HTML attachments were the most common files deployed by phishing attackers in Q1 2022. There is good evidence to suggest that universities, colleges and other institutions of higher learning are at major risk of phishing attacks in 2022. Pandemic-Related Phishing Isn't Going Away. One phishing email can be responsible for a company succumbing to ransomware and . To add insult to injury, the stolen data was then leaked on a site operated by the Clop ransomware gang. Colonial Pipeline. The biggest category of phishing is targeted toward webmail and SaaS users. In Q2 of 2022, in Nigeria, a total of 61,344 financial phishing attacks aimed at organizations were detected, an increase of 79% compared to Q1. Phishing remains one of the biggest dangers to your business's health and wellbeing because it's the main delivery method for all types of cyberattacks. Records Exposed: Employment, medical, and personal data. The same month, Barracuda Sentinel researchers recorded 9,116 spear-phishing . Top Attack Vectors in Q2 2022: Link - Phishing Hyperlink in the Email. Spoofs Domain - Appears to Come From the User's Domain. In 2022, an additional six billion attacks are expected to occur. Interpol presented its . October 18 Vinomofo Data Breach: Australian wine dealer Vinomofo has confirmed it has . Phishing remains one of the biggest dangers to your business's health and wellbeing because it's the main delivery method for all types of cyberattacks. Interpol highlighted in a recent report that ransomware, phishing, and online scams are among the top concerns of global law enforcement across its 195 member countries. In 2021, The U.S. was still the top phishing target, but attempts only rose by 7% while there were steeper increases . Brand impersonation continued to lure victims through phishing pages, and Microsoft and LinkedIn were the topmost impersonated brands. Key . Yikes! 1. This year, innovations in preventative policy have evolved. According to the report, below are the top 10 phishing brands in Q1'22: LinkedIn (relating to 52% of all phishing attacks globally) DHL (14%) Google (7%) Microsoft (6%) FedEx (6%) WhatsApp (4%) Amazon (2%) Maersk (1%) AliExpress (0.8%) Apple (0.8%) The Best Defense "These phishing attempts are attacks of opportunity, plain and simple. Such attacks are increasingly popular because they're easy to conduct and . When COVID-19 was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization in March 2020, phishers instantly recognized the opportunity created by global fear and uncertainty. Phishing is one of the greatest cyber security threats that organisations face. In addition to Twilio, the criminals also compromised MailChimp and Klaviyo, and their attacks led to supply-chain breaches at customers that used those services, such as Signal and Digital Ocean. Attacks most strongly come in the form of Windows executables (74%), and Microsoft is the most impersonated brand globally in phishing attacks (43%). Phishing attacks against social media sets rose from 8.5% of all attacks in Q4 of 2021 to 12.5% in Q1 of 2022. Batch files (2%). The abovementioned attacks are just the biggest phishing attacks in the history of phishing attacks. Amongst the 550 companies that IBM contacted that had experienced a data breach, a disappointing 83% had experienced more than one in the same period. PDF Attachment - Email Contains a PDF Attachment. ESET's 2021 research found a 7.3% increase in email-based attacks between May and August 2021, the majority of which were part of phishing campaigns. Some phishing operations, such as the Facebook phishing attack, affected millions of people at once. Here is a roundup of six of the most sophisticated and unique phishing attacks of 2020. The top phishing themes in 2021 included categories. In 2020, 75% of companies around the world experienced a phishing attack. According to Zscaler's 2022 ThreatLabz Phishing Report, . Here are some of the latest phishing trends that you need to watch out for in 2022. Out of all ransomware victims, 32 percent pay the ransom, but they only get 65 percent of their data back . 4. Accounting for 23.6% of all phishing instances, the financial services industry saw an increase of 35% in the number of attacks during the first three months of 2022. Phishing is the main delivery method for all types of cyberattacks and remains one of the biggest dangers to your business's health and wellbeing. The Ukranian Power Grid Attack. Phishing attacks are one of the most pervasive cyberthreats, showing a 29% global rise over the past year. The hacker can then use that information to send targeted attacks to customers. Posted by admin On May 11th, 2022. According to the study, emails that were deemed potentially harmful received by employees rose to a rate of 18.3% from 2021 to 2022. The December 2015 Ukrainian power grid attack was a history-making event for a number of reasons. " SlashNext analyzed billions of link-based URLs, attachments and natural language messages in email, mobile and browser channels over six months in 2022 and found more than 255 million attacks a 61% increase in the rate of phishing . Phishing Enabled Ransomware Keeps Growing Western Australian Parliament Data Breach UpGuard Helps Australian Businesses Prevent Data Breaches. And according to IBM and the Ponemon Institute, the average cost of a . Recovering from a ransomware attack cost businesses $1.85 million on average in 2021. PDF documents (2%). There were 384,291 attacks in March 2022, which was a record monthly total. Script files (11%). Phishing is a broad term and it is a type of social engineering attack that often encompasses a range of different strategies to steal user data, including login credentials and credit card numbers. One phishing email can be responsible for a company succumbing to ransomware and having to face costly . However, we also have CEO-fraud, Whale-phishing, smishing and vishing and a lot more that ends with -ishing. Here are the Top 8 Worst Phishing scams from November 2021: Android executables (>1%). Shortcuts (2%). The United States has long been the most targeted country. Type of Attack: Phishing, possible ransomware. We have mentioned regular phishing and spear-phishing; these are the most popular phishing attacks. 9. Northern Territory Government Data Breach. The largest share of attacks was directed at e-commerce websites (52%), with payment systems (42%) and banks (6%) following. 350 0 "It takes 20 years to build a reputation and a few minutes of cyber-incident to ruin it" . In the first quarter of 2022, OpSec Security reported that phishing attacks against the financial sector, which. Tasmanian Ambulance Data Breach. The Department for DCMS' Cyber Security Breaches Survey 2021 revealed that phishing is still the most common cause of cybersecurity breaches, accounting for 83% of all successful attacks. In Q2 2022, we examined 'in-the-wild' email subject lines that show actual emails users received and reported to their IT departments as suspicious. Phishing attacks against bitcoin exchanges and wallet providers climbed from 6.7% in the previous quarter to 7% this quarter. Typically, they do so to launch a much larger attack. 1. This, according to records, is the largest known ransom to date. Cryptocurrency financial service company Blockchain.com was the most spoofed crypto brand, with 662 phishing websites in the last 90 days (till June 22, 2022). We also reviewed tens of thousands of email subject lines and categories from simulated phishing tests, and top attack vector types in both categories. from third party login pages or WPA/WPA2 Pre-Shared Keys) or infect the victim stations with malware. The organizations need to buckle up their security with awareness. The biggest cybercrime threats for individuals and businesses in 2022 are phishing attacks and email scams. Office documents (5%). Studies show that in 2020, 75% of companies around the world experienced a phishing attack. Crypto investing app Luno is the second on the list with 277 phishing pages, followed by proof-of-stake blockchain platform Cardano with 191. To obtain domain credibility, attackers host their malware on Azure so that firewalls and DNS servers see the source IP as an Azure domain - instead of a . And for people who use email (that would be an astounding four billion of us every day), the most pernicious attack is phishing.Indeed, 86% of organizations had at least one employee clicking a phishing link last year according to a CISCO's 2021 cybersecurity threat trends report.On top of this, the stakes are getting higher: 2021 saw . The next phishing email could look authentic to an employee of your organisation and that can be the beginning of ultimate chaos - compromise sensitive data, encrypted files, offline systems and more. Tweet. A phishing attack usually happens when an attacker dupes a victim into opening an email, text message. Supply Chain Attacks 6. Date of Attack: March 2022 (revealed in May 2022) Location: Mission, British Columbia and Elgin County, Ontario. Better threat protection: Organizations have . The banking industry landed on top of the attacks, accounting for 25.7% of all recorded attempts, however webmail and SaaS companies were also popular targets. In the first quarter of 2022, OpSec Security found that phishing attacks against the financial sector, which includes banks, remained the largest set of attacks, accounting for 27.6 percent of all . (Source: ESET and Check Point) So many businesses use Microsoft products globally. The attack caused Medibank's stock price to slide 14%, the biggest one-day dip since the company was listed. 23rd October 2022 10th April 2020 by JavaRockstar. 5. The group posted a screenshot on Telegram to. While the name sounds light-hearted, phishing is a serious attempt to steal information; passwords, account credentials, social security numbers, bank details and more. 1) Email Phishing Attack Classic thing that is considered one of the most widespread ones these days. Meanwhile, Verizon's 2021 Data Breach Investigations Report found that 25% of all data breaches involve phishing. Credential reuse attack One of the more notable credential reuse attacks is the 2019 Dunkin Donuts breach which, unluckily for the east coast chain, happened to be their second hack in two. Grace Macej 11 May 2022 Be aware of dangerous phishing scams, including sugar daddy scams, sextortion emails, and more. Top 10 Phishing Tools. Turkish Navy Targeted by a Phishing Attack In early August, a phishing attack, with the goal of espionage, was carried out against the Turkish Naval Forces Command and The Turkish Scientific and Technological Research Institution (TUBITAK). And, the latest phishing scams in 2022 have been quick to adapt. 26 Apr. Phishing exploits human . . According to VMware, the first half of 2020 saw a 238% increase in cyberattacks targeting financial institutions. Phishing remains one of the biggest dangers to your business's health and wellbeing because it's the main delivery method for all types of cyberattacks. . Higher education. Jul 4, 2022 7:00 AM The Worst Hacks and Breaches of 2022 So Far From cryptocurrency thefts to intrusions into telecom giants, state-backed attackers have had a field day in the year's first. There are several reasons for thinking so. Azure's new App Service enables organizations to quickly create and deploy web-based apps on the Azure platform. Branded - Phishing Test Link Has User's Organizational Logo and Name. Australian Parliament House Data Breach. The Five Most Costly Phishing Attacks to Date The five attacks described here required little sophistication on behalf of the attackers but enabled them to steal tens of millions of dollars from an organization. 5 Phishing Themes to Be On the Lookout For. Breaking that down even further, the average ransom paid by mid-sized organizations was $170,404 while the average cost of resolving a ransomware attack was $1.85 million. Wifiphisher can be further used to mount victim-customized web phishing attacks against the connected clients in order to capture credentials (e.g. Phishing scams rely on email, text messaging or phone calls to coerce people into divulging these sensitive details. Security Magazine wrote this week about the recent eye opening SlashNext State of Phishing report. New Mexico: This was one of the first big attacks in 2022. The link may lead you to the counterfeited site (online banking page, social network, etc), or to the downloading of something you don't really want to see on your computer. #1. Some industries were hit particularly hard, with retail workers receiving an average of 49. In 2021, 83% of organizations reported experiencing phishing attacks. In the first quarter of 2022, APWG founding member OpSec Security found that phishing attacks against the financial sector, which includes banks, remained the largest set of attacks, accounting . Java files (2%). Compressed archives (4%). Computing giant Microsoft is no stranger to cyberattacks, and on March 20th 2022 the firm was targeted by a hacking collective called Lapsus$. 11. With more people looking to cash in on hype surrounding the cryptocurrency market than ever before and an increasing digital workforce which may lack awareness of network security set-ups, cybercriminal activity remains rampant. 1. APWG recorded 1,025,968 phishing attacks in Q1 of 2022. In 2020, 75% of companies around the world experienced a phishing attack. Bank Drops How to Defend Against Financial Services Cyber Threats Protect your Financial Data from Breaches with UpGuard. Acer Computers Acer, known globally for its computers, suffered a ransomware attack in which it was asked to pay a ransom of $50 million. According to IBM's 2021 Cost of a Data Breach Report, the total average cost of a ransomware attack was $4.62 million. DDoS Attacks 5. In 2021 Tessian research found that employees receive an average of 14 malicious emails per year. These cybercrimes affect the most people and do so frequently. Fake virtual meetings As remote work took off in early 2020, hackers seized on the opportunity to create phishing campaigns targeting users leveraging popular virtual meeting technology. It was the second time that malicious firmware was developed specifically for the purpose of destroying physical machinery - the first being Stuxnet, used by the U.S. and Israel to shut down Iranian nuclear centrifuges in 2009. The results are below. 8. Phishing remained the top root cause of data breaches in the first quarter of 2022, according to an ITRC report. On January 5, the largest county in New Mexico discovered that it had become the . Not to be outdone, data breaches come in third . Industry: Municipal government. Let us list and describe the nastiest and most dangerous malware attacks in all areas likely to cause trouble in 2022. February 22, 2022 83% of survey respondents said their organization experienced at least one successful email-based phishing attack in 2021, a 46% increase over 2020; 78% of organizations saw an email-based ransomware attack in 2021 This suggests that attackers are focusing more on mid-market attacks, which are more consistent and less risky than high-profile attacks. Colonial Pipeline is a major U.S. company responsible for 45% of all fuel consumed on the east coast. Email-based phishing attacks are the leading cause of cyber attacks across the globe. According to the 2022 X-Force Threat Intelligence Index, phishing was the most common way that cyber criminals got inside an organization. Of course, some threats are more worrying than others. "Following LinkedIn, the most frequently impersonated brands in phishing attacks were DHL (14%), Google (7%), Microsoft (6%), FedEx (6%), WhatsApp (4%), Amazon (2%), Maersk (1%), AliExpress (0.8%) and Apple (0.8%)." CPR suggested, "Employees, in particular, should be trained to spot suspicious anomalies." 10. A new report analyzing billions of link-based URLs, attachments and natural language messages in email, mobile and browser channels over six months in 2022, finds more than 255 million phishing . According to Proofpoint's 2022 State of the Phish Report, 83% of organisations fell victim to a phishing attack last year. . Credentials Landing Page - Phishing Link Directs User to Data Entry or Login Landing Page. The hacking group, DarkSide, carried out the attack. Attacks by Nation-State Threat Actors. 1. Phishing can result in dramatic financial losses for your business, as well as reputational damage; Aon identified damage to reputation as one of the three biggest effects of a cyber-attack. In 2020, 75% of companies around the world experienced a phishing attack. Analyzing data from more than 200 billion daily transactions last year, the 2022 report found that: Phishing attacks rose 29% in 2021 compared to 2020, driven by multiple trends: COVID-19 and work-from-home: Consumers engaged in more activities online, giving attackers new ways to take advantage. Contains a link or an attachment with malicious contents. This quarter was the first time the three-month total has exceeded one million. Key takeaway: Gaining access to trusted institutions is a major win for cybercriminals, whether . Data breaches in Australia are on the rise, particularly in the financial and healthcare industries. June 9, 2022 The APWG's new Phishing Activity Trends Report reveals that in the first quarter of 2022, the APWG observed 1,025,968 total phishing attacks the worst quarter for phishing that APWG has observed to date. 1) PHISHING IS INCREASINGLY BEING SENT VIA TEXT MESSAGE Fewer people are suspicious of text messages than. Speaking on the report, the Head of Technical Experts at Kaspersky Emad . threatcop August 5, 2022. In March 2022, there were 384,291 attacks, a monthly record. Roughly 15 billion spam emails make their way across the internet everyday, which means that spam filters are "working overtime" and are liable to permit malicious phishing attack emails to slip through.