Skip to main content

Malicious links are dominating emails all over the world

Malicious web links are dominating emails all over the world, being used to deliver harmful malware in order to wreak havoc or extort money.

A new research paper by cybersecurity experts Hornetsecurity found that besides malicious web links, hackers are still super interested in phishing. With an increase of almost 4% year-on-year (39.6% - 43.3%), it is still the most common email attack technique. 

Hackers are also constantly evolving their tactics by changing email formats and attachments to best sneak around spam filters.

Reader Offer: $50 Amazon gift card with demo
 Perimeter 81's Malware Protection intercepts threats at the delivery stage to prevent known malware, polymorphic attacks, zero-day exploits, and more. Let your people use the web freely without risking data and network security.

Preferred partner (What does this mean?) 

Impersonating major brands

According to its Cyber Security Report 2024, based on an analysis of 45 billion emails sent last year, Hornetsecurity found the percentage of emails containing harmful web links rose by 144%, rising from 12.5% of all threats last year, to 30.5% this year.

Last year, when Microsoft disabled macros by default in Office, hackers quickly pivoted from Word and Excel files (down 9.5% and 6.7% respectively), to HTML files (37.1% of files analyzed), PDFs (23.3%), and Archive files (20.8%). Of all the new additions, HTML files seem to be the most popular, rising by 76.6% in the last year alone.

When sending malicious emails, hackers are usually impersonating popular brands. DHL takes up 26.1% of all impersonations, Amazon 7.7%, and FedEx 2.3%. Other notable mentions include LinkedIn, Microsoft (both 2.4%), and Netflix (2.2%).

Threat actors also don’t seem to be particularly interested in a specific vertical, or business. While some endpoints may be attacked more frequently, there isn’t a single industry that’s safe from email-borne attacks. 

“If an organization can pay a ransom, it’s a target to cybercriminals,” the researchers said. Notable mentions include the research industry, entertainment companies, and the manufacturing sector.

“Many organizations are too reactive, only responding to specific threats or acting after they have fallen victim," commented Daniel Hofmann, Hornetsecurity CEO.

"This approach leaves them vulnerable to attack. Businesses need a zero-trust mindset to protect themselves and should adopt all-encompassing security services to set their minds at rest.

"Our research highlights the adaptability of cybercriminals, and the rapid shifts that have taken place in the last year.”

More from TechRadar Pro



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

TechRadar's Year in Review: AI revolution, smartphone evolution, and visions of the future

If I had to sum up 2023 in one word it would be AI. Okay, technically that’s two initials, but let’s not quibble – because there’s no doubt that it provided the year in tech with its main story arc. Artificial intelligence was everywhere this year, as every company in the world gawped at the massive impact of ChatGPT, and decided they wanted to jump aboard that bandwagon. You could barely move for new chatbots, new image generators, and new AI-enhanced features in every device released in 2023. And there’s no sign of that changing in 2024; in fact, we expect it to be an even bigger deal. Elsewhere, phones and laptops did much the same as they had the previous year – well, except where they had new AI-enhanced features – so it was in the virtual reality space where bigger changes were afoot. If the Meta Quest 3 was impressive then the Apple Vision Pro looks to be genuinely game-changing, and we can’t wait to see what impact it has in the next 12 months. Of course we also saw plenty ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Microsoft and Sony enter "binding agreement" to keep Call of Duty on PlayStation

Microsoft has announced that it has reached a "binding agreement" with Sony, pledging to keep Call of Duty on PlayStation following the acquisition of Activision Blizzard.  With Microsoft having won its anti-trust case with the US Federal Trade Commission , its planned acquisition of Call of Duty developers Activision Blizzard has taken a big step closer to becoming a reality. In order to alleviate the concerns of monopoly-building that got Microsoft in legal hot water to begin with, the head of Xbox, Phil Spencer, announced yesterday via Tweet that it has entered into an "agreement to keep Call of Duty on PlayStation."  This agreement will no doubt come as a relief to fans concerned that Microsoft's acquisition plans might result in Call of Duty becoming an Xbox exclusive, following in the footsteps of future Bethesda releases. Since Microsoft's acquisition of Bethesda caused the studio to break its tradition of offering titles cross-platform for upcomi...
Post a Comment
Read more

This Stardew Valley-like farming sim plays at the bottom of your screen so you work and play at the same time

Stardew Valley and Animal Crossing are among some of the best choices out there if you're looking for a game to get swept up in for hours at a time. But, if you're a fan of management sims and a multitasker as well, this upcoming farming sim will likely pique your interest.  Developed by Mister Morris Games, Rusty's Retirement is an idle-farming simulation game that runs at the bottom of your gaming monitor, allowing you to focus on other tasks like working while you tend to your crops. Set to release in Q1 2024 on Steam , the idle sim puts you in the shoes of a wholesome robot as you grow crops and use them to produce clean and energy-efficient biofuel. Having gathered this "vital robot power source," you'll then need to sell your harvest to the other machine inhabitants of your settlement. This, in turn, will let you reinvest the money into expanding your farm. If you're a terrible procrastinator (like me) this might not sound like your cup of tea...
Post a Comment
Read more