B 08 08 22 H2 Threat Report AI

Threat Reports

From January-June 2022, Abnormal Security found a 48% increase in email attacks over the previous six months, and 68.5% of those attacks included a credential phishing link.﻿

H2 2022: Threat Actors Impersonate 265 Different Brands in Credential Phishing Attacks

Email Security

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From July-December 2021, Abnormal Security discovered that nearly all types of advanced email attacks grew in frequency, with a new trend of phone fraud using email as the first contact.

H1 2022: Fraudsters Use Email in Phone Scams, Targeting 89% of Organizations

Business Email Compromise

Supply Chain Compromise

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<p>New BEC Insights from Chris Krebs, Former Director of CISA</p>

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Abnormal’s latest report on business email compromise trends and statistics found that the median open rate for text-based BEC attacks was nearly 28%.

H1 2023: “Read” Alert: Data Shows 28% of BEC Attacks Opened by Employees

What’s in a Name? How the Abnormal Intelligence Team Names BEC Threat Groups

The Double-Edged Sword of ChatGPT: How Threat Actors Could Use It for Evil

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For years, executives were the go-to impersonated party in business email compromise attacks. Now, threat actors are opting to impersonate vendors and suppliers instead.

From CEO Fraud to Vendor Fraud: The Shift to Financial Supply Chain Compromise

Phishing Attacks Pose as Updated 2023 HR Policy Announcements

Abnormal Intelligence Research

<p><strong>Your employees are your greatest asset. They also pose the greatest risk to your organization’s security. </strong></p>
<p dir="ltr">Our latest research shows that the median open rate for text-based business email compromise (BEC) attacks is nearly 28%. And of the malicious emails that are read, an average of 15% are replied to.<br /></p>

Attack Engagement Rate by Organization Size

<p dir="ltr"><strong>The H1 2023 Email Threat Report covers data from July-December 2022. Findings include:</strong></p>
<ul><li dir="ltr"><p dir="ltr">81% increase in BEC attacks between the first and second half of 2022</p></li><li dir="ltr"><p dir="ltr">63% likelihood of large enterprises experiencing a supply chain compromise attack</p></li><li dir="ltr"><p dir="ltr">Only 2.1% of known attacks are reported to the security team by employees</p></li></ul><div>Fill out the form to receive your copy.</div><div><br /></div><div><em>After reading this report, you are eligible for .5 CPE credits through (ISC)².</em><br /></div>

<p><strong>Thanks for your interest in <em>“Read” Alert: Data Shows 28% of BEC Attacks Opened by Employees</em>! You can <a href="https://cdn2.assets-servd.host/gifted-zorilla/production/files/Read-Alert-Data-Shows-28-of-BEC-Attacks-Opened-by-Employees.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">download the report here</a> or read the Executive Summary below.</strong></p>
<p><em>To claim your (ISC)² CPE credit, please fill out <a href="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeXpNB-pZ-mhmRUQCxme-d5JCj_4lDYyxVyRHiDBb2ypV5xfQ/viewform" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">this form</a>.</em><br /></p>

<p dir="ltr">Since business email compromise attacks first started in the mid-2010s, they’ve created challenges for organizations worldwide. These text-based emails often bypass traditional security tools, and attackers have found increasingly savvy ways to take advantage.</p>
<p dir="ltr">With $43 billion in exposed losses over five years, this financially devastating cybercrime must be taken seriously. Why? Because these attacks are increasing in volume at a significant rate and perhaps even worse—your employees aren’t reporting them.</p>
<h2><strong>Employees Are Your Greatest Asset—and Your Biggest Cybersecurity Liability</strong></h2>
<p dir="ltr">When it comes to email attacks, the odds are stacked against your workforce. While employees must be right 100% of the time, threat actors need to be right only once—and they know this.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Between July-December 2022, the median open rate for text-based business email compromise (BEC) attacks was nearly 28%. And of the malicious emails that were read, an average of 15% were replied to. Additionally, if your organization relies on employee reporting for visibility into attack frequency, we have bad news: on average, only 2.1% of all known attacks are reported.</p>
<h2><strong>Business Email Compromise (BEC) Maintains Consistent Growth</strong></h2>
<p dir="ltr">Making matters worse, the threats targeting organizations are increasing, meaning that employees have <strong>more</strong> emails to watch for—and more sophisticated ones at that.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Just as organizations utilize business intelligence to more effectively target customers, modern threat actors conduct extensive research to determine how best to execute BEC attacks. By leveraging information on LinkedIn, SEC disclosures, and even the target organization’s website, cybercriminals can create convincing emails that are more likely to trick employees, and at increasing volumes. Over the past two halves, BEC attacks grew by more than 81%, and over the past two years, BEC attack volume increased by 175%.<br /></p><h3><strong><a href="https://cdn2.assets-servd.host/gifted-zorilla/production/files/Read-Alert-Data-Shows-28-of-BEC-Attacks-Opened-by-Employees.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">View the report</a> for more statistics on attack engagement rates as well as other trends across the email threat landscape.</strong></h3>

Read Alert Data Shows 28 of BEC Attacks Opened by Employees

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Data Shows 28% of BEC Attacks Opened by Employees

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H1 2023: “Read” Alert: Data Shows 28% of BEC Attacks Opened by Employees

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