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Just recently, research was conducted to discover the top pick of impersonators for phishing attacks. Ido Fishman, who is known for gathering up-to-date information surrounding information security has shared the findings of the research.
According to Ido Fishman, the data and findings from the research have been shared through the “Brand Phishing Report” for the first quarter of 2022.
The research has shown that LinkedIn has become the most adopted and preferred pick for the impersonators in the first quarter of 2022. The research data has revealed that in Q1 2022, 52% of the phishing attacks were carried out by fraudsters/scammers impersonating LinkedIn.
The data is not concentrated on a single country or region but worldwide. Therefore, the data collected is surrounding the phishing impersonations that have been carried out using LinkedIn.
The same research carried out for the fourth quarter of 2021 revealed that LinkedIn was the fifth pick for the impersonators. At that time, LinkedIn was the 5th most impersonated brand, with a 36.6% attempt rate. This means that since the fourth quarter of 2021, a 44% impersonation increase has been recorded for LinkedIn.
Ido Fishman revealed that the research also suggests that the interest of the impersonators has shifted from tech giants and shipping companies to social media platforms.
The data from the research has established that the majority of the platforms used for impersonation attacks were social media platforms. The previous research had revealed that the shipping companies and the tech giants were the first and second picks of the impersonators.
Now, the top pick for the impersonators are social media platforms, followed by shipping companies, and then tech giants.
The report has provided the utility rate of the impersonators for the major companies. These include DHL, Google, FedEx, Microsoft, WhatsApp, Amazon, Maersk, Apple, and AliExpress. Their impersonation rates as per the latest research are 14%, 7%, 6%, 6%, 4%, 2%, 1%, 0.8%, and 0.08% respectively.
Egress also carried out research surrounding phishing attacks at the beginning of 2022. The firm revealed that right from the beginning of the “Great Resignation” period, the phishing attacks impersonating LinkedIn have surged by 232%.
If you wish to keep getting more information surrounding information security from Ido Fishman, then feel free to come back for more.