ActiSoft Technology - Blog #SpoofingActiSoft Technology - Blog #Spoofinghttps://www.actisofttechnology.com/blogs/tag/spoofingThu, 23 Apr 2026 21:16:33 +0200http://zoho.com/sites/<![CDATA[Phishing Remains the Most Common Form of Attack]]>https://www.actisofttechnology.com/blogs/post/phishing-remains-the-most-common-form-of-attackBlog courtesy of KnowBe4 Written by Stu Sjouwerman Phishing attacks are “by far” the most common vector for data breaches, according to a new survey by ]]>
Blog courtesy of KnowBe4
Written by Stu Sjouwerman
Phishing attacks are “by far” the most common vector for data breaches, according to a new survey by the UK’s Department for Digital, Culture, Media, and Sport (DCMS).


“Among those that have identified breaches or attacks, around a quarter (27% of these businesses and 23% of these charities) experience them at least once a week,” the report states. “The most common by far are phishing attacks (for 83% and 79% respectively), followed by impersonation (for 27% and 23%). Broadly, these patterns around frequency and threat vectors are in line with the 2020 and 2019 results.”

The DCMS says most of the respondents observed a noticeable increase in phishing attacks since the beginning of the pandemic.

“Among the organisations saying cyber security had become a higher priority under the pandemic, there were those that said that, in their case, the frequency of attacks had increased since March 2020 – especially phishing attacks,” the report says. “Others giving this response felt their organisations were more exposed to cyber risks now that their staff were working from home, because there were more endpoints to deal with and because they had less oversight of staff outside the office. In some cases where organisations had moved online to a greater extent following the lockdown, management boards had started paying more attention to cyber security as a business risk.”
The report found that only 20% of businesses said they conducted simulated phishing exercises for their employees, although respondents had a favourable view of risk assessments.

“In addition to their core purpose of identifying key risks, risk assessments were often viewed as a good way to produce evidence for management boards, which could be used to justify proposed cyber security actions or investment, or to show trends over time and whether things had improved,” the report says. “For example, one medium business carried out a mock phishing exercise as part of their risk assessment – they found that 15 per cent of staff responded to the mock phishing email, and presented these findings to the management board. This led to new user training on phishing emails, as well as other technical rule changes.”

New-school security awareness training with simulated phishing tests can help your employees thwart social engineering attacks.

The DCMS has the story.

Free Phishing Security Test

Would your users fall for convincing phishing attacks? Take the first step now and find out before the bad guys do. Plus, see how you stack up against your peers with phishing Industry Benchmarks. The Phish-prone percentage is usually higher than you expect and is great ammo to get budget.

Here's how it works:

    • Immediately start your test for up to 100 users (no need to talk to anyone)
    • Select from 20+ languages and customise the phishing test template based on your environment
    • Choose the landing page your users see after they click
    • Show users which red flags they missed, or a 404 page
    • Get a PDF emailed to you in 24 hours with your Phish-prone % and charts to share with management
    • See how your organisation compares to others in your industry
Go Phishing Now!
]]>Mon, 29 Mar 2021 13:33:05 +0000<![CDATA[The Most Commonly Spoofed Business-Related Applications in a Phishing Campaign]]>https://www.actisofttechnology.com/blogs/post/the-most-commonly-spoofed-business-related-applications-in-a-phishing-campaignBlog courtesy of KnowBe4 Written by Stu Sjouwerman Business-related applications like Zoom, Microsoft, and DocuSign are the most commonly spoofed servic ]]>
Blog courtesy of KnowBe4
Written by Stu Sjouwerman

Business-related applications like Zoom, Microsoft, and DocuSign are the most commonly spoofed services in phishing attacks, according to a new report from GreatHorn. Business apps made up 45% of all impersonation phishing attacks. Social media-related phishing attacks accounted for 34% of attacks, while consumer services like Amazon and PayPal made up 20%.


The researchers also found that while the total volume of daily phishing attempts has decreased compared to last year, the number of successful phishing attacks has increased. The researchers attribute this to attackers getting better at the social engineering aspect, as well as getting their emails past security filters.

“Though daily occurrences of phishing attacks have decreased from 36% to 25% between 2020 and 2021, weekly and monthly phishing attacks have increased from 28% to 42% and 11% to 17%, respectively,” GreatHorn says. “These attacks are increasingly difficult to detect as cybercriminals become more sophisticated and targeted in their attacks – advancing beyond the ‘batch and blast’ methodology to social engineering phishing campaigns. As a result of this, the quantity of phishing attempts being experienced by organisations may have decreased daily, but the impact of those campaigns that bypass traditional email security is increasing. As a result of increasing attacks, email security has risen to one of the top 3 IT security projects for 2021 among the organisations surveyed.
The researchers note that a primary concern of most respondents regarding email security products was that the product would miss phishing attacks.

“Missing phishing attacks remains the top issue in current email security solutions with 39% of respondents noting this as a top concern in both 2020 and 2021,” the researchers write. They add, “Fewer organisations report being ‘satisfied’ with their current email security solution, decreasing from 76% in 2020 to 53% in 2021. On the other hand, organisations reporting their email security solution was ‘good enough’ increased from 19% in 2020 to 36% in 2021.”

New-school security awareness training can provide your organisation with an essential layer of defence by teaching your employees how to recognise phishing attacks.

GreatHorn has the full story. 

Free Phishing Security Test

Would your users fall for convincing phishing attacks? Take the first step now and find out before the bad guys do. Plus, see how you stack up against your peers with phishing Industry Benchmarks. The Phish-prone percentage is usually higher than you expect and is great ammo to get budget.

Here's how it works:

    • Immediately start your test for up to 100 users (no need to talk to anyone)
    • Select from 20+ languages and customise the phishing test template based on your environment
    • Choose the landing page your users see after they click
    • Show users which red flags they missed, or a 404 page
    • Get a PDF emailed to you in 24 hours with your Phish-prone % and charts to share with management
    • See how your organisation compares to others in your industry
Go Phishing Now!
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