Cybercriminals target CEOs, millennials in 2024
The latest report by Egress shows the top phishing attack trends for 2024.
Phishing attacks have risen in 2024 and data compiled by the software technologies company Egress reveals who is in the crosshairs.
Phishing emails exploded between Jan. 1 and March 31, skyrocketing 36% higher from the previous three month period beginning on Oct. 1, 2023 and ending on Dec. 31, 2023, according to the report.
The data showed phishing attacks target CEOs more than any other job roles, while millennials lead by age demographic at 37.4% of the targeted scams. Meanwhile, Gen X received 30.2% of the focus from cyber crooks, with Gen Z and Baby Boomers coming in at 25.5% and 6.9% respectively.
James Dyer, threat intelligence lead at Egress, said in a webinar that attackers no longer use normal hyperlinks within an email, and their primary payload is an image or scannable QR code with embedded links.
“Attackers either picked a perfect moment by accident, or they had this planned all along,” he added. “QR codes are now in our daily lives. We use them at the bar, we use them to order a meal, or maybe to book car parking… There’s legitimate reasons why you’d use a QR code within an email.”
The report also showed accounting, marketing, finance and HR as the most targeted business teams, while legal, and health care made up the top three among the industries most besieged by cybercriminals and scammers.
Brands such as DocuSign and Microsoft take the two top spots for companies being impersonated most by scammers, while dpd, DHL, and EVRi round out the top three most impersonated carriers.
Cybercriminals used technical measurers to avoid detection by Microsoft and other secure email gateways on 20.2% of phishing attacks by targeting mobile users 9.6% of the time, relying solely on social engineering tactics 18.6% of the time, and utilizing impersonation attacks 18.1% of the time, according to the report.
Dyer said the attack strategies of cybercriminals are constantly changing. “Attachments, definitely HTML and RRTF attachments, those are the two where we are seeing massive booms,” he said.
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