![91 percent of cyber-attacks start with an email 91 percent of cyber-attacks start with an email](https://varindia.com/storage/news/uploads/2018/02/5e32cd5fef1b5.jpg)
It’s an interesting and challenging time to be working in the cyber security industry. By and large, research indicates that cybercrime is on the rise . 91% of cyberattacks start with spear-phishing email, the top reasons people are duped by phishing emails are curiosity (13.7%), fear (13.4%), and urgency (13.2%), followed by reward/recognition, social, entertainment, and opportunity.
While cybercriminals represent a significant threat to companies, organizations, and governments , it’s easy to see that they are not the only threats or even the biggest ones. In most cases, the critical threats to organizations are their own lack of adequate defenses and employees who are ignorant of cyber threats.
The majority of hackers still rely on human error as the main way to breach networks; however, with increased awareness of domain-squatting and phishing, the returns for such attack methods has decreased. Ransomware infection VIA email.
Cybercriminals have continued to test the resilience of organizations and governments by layering attacks, updating techniques and establishing new, intricate relationships to better disguise their identities. Some 91% of cyberattacks begin with a spear phishing email, as per Trend Micro report 94% of targeted emails use malicious file attachments as the payload or infection source. The remaining 6% use alternative methods such as installing malware through malicious links.
With attackers adopting and deploying increasingly advanced and sophisticated tools, and organisations struggling to address cybersecurity challenges - not least talent and skill shortages - ‘if, not when’ is probably true for most organisations today.
There are approximately 269 Billion emails sent every day, attacker motivations for spear phishing and ransomware. The most commonly used file types for spear phishing attacks accounted for 70% of them. The main file types were .RTF (38%), .XLS (15%) and .ZIP (13%). Executable (.EXE) files were not as popular among cybercriminals because emails with .EXE file attachments are usually detected and blocked by security systems, the report further said. they also said that 75% of email addresses for spear phishing targets are easily found through web searches or using common email address formats.
Fear and urgency are a normal part of everyday work for many users," says Aaron Higbee, co-founder and CTO of PhishMe. "Most employees are conscientious about losing their jobs due to poor performance and are often driven by deadlines, which leads them to be more susceptible to phishing.
Advances in technology such as artificial intelligence and fifth-generation cellular network technology (5G) communications could provide new opportunities for threat actors to achieve their objectives.
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