Every quarter, PhishLabs analyzes and mitigates hundreds of thousands of phishing and social media attacks targeting enterprises. In this post, we discuss the top threats reaching corporate inboxes based on incidents detected and mitigated with our Suspicious Email Analysis solution.Credential TheftCredential theft continues to represent the largest share of threats targeting corporate inboxes....

Brand threats account for 68% of fraud-related cyber-attacks and social media has become one of the most dangerous battlegrounds. According to the Global Anti-Scam Alliance, over $1.03 trillion was lost to scams in 2024, with a significant portion tied to social media fraud and brand impersonation.Unlike traditional cyberattacks that target internal infrastructure, brand threats live outside an...

Phishing volume in 2021 continues to outpace last year by 22%, according to PhishLabs Quarterly Threat Trends & Intelligence Report. The August 2021 report uses data from hundreds of thousands of attacks analyzed and mitigated by PhishLabs to identify the most recent top threats targeting brands and determine emerging trends throughout the threat landscape.Key Findings of the Quarterly Threat...

One piece of evidence that adds value to investigating social media threats is the threat actor’s chosen username. Usernames can hold meaning to the individual, and as a result provide useful information when expanding investigations to different social platforms. As we covered in our last OSINT post, connecting all known social media accounts to one user is a critical step in determining risk,...

Phishing attacks are becoming more elusive and more dangerous. To extend the life of their campaigns and increase success rates, threat actors employ evasion techniques designed to hide malicious content from security teams. By avoiding detection, attackers boost their chances of reaching more victims and profiting from compromised accounts or stolen data.One increasingly common approach is...

Cybercriminals use sophisticated evasion tactics to outsmart security scanners and human detection — prolonging the life of phishing campaigns. These techniques are often layered for maximum effect. In this post, we spotlight one such method: active evasion, where access is restricted based on device type to block non-targets and avoid exposure.Restricting by DeviceActive evasion refers to...

In Q2, ransomware made headlines with multiple high-profile attacks and tactics. The largest infrastructure shutdown in U.S. history brought the East Coast to a halt, operators doubled up on ransomware strains, and reported attacks are on track to beat 2020, with numbers already surpassing Q1 by 38%.As ransomware continues to drive data loss and fraud for enterprises and their brands, PhishLabs is...

Evasion techniques are methods attackers deploy to extend the life of phishing campaigns. The longer a threat is active, the more opportunity it has to claim victims.Attackers have two objectives when applying evasion techniques:Defeat automated scanning technologies designed to quickly shut down or prevent attacks from going live.Increase the time, cost, and complexity required for security...

Cybercriminals continue to heavily abuse domains to launch phishing attacks. PhishLabs’ analysis of Q1 phishing attacks has found that: 96% used Legacy Generic (gTLD) or Country Code (ccTLD) Top-level DomainsAlmost 83% abused HTTPSDomain Validated (DV) Certificates were used 94.5% of the time For this analysis, PhishLabs looked at three categories of TLDs: Legacy gTLDs, ccTLDs, and New gTLDs. In...

In Q1, PhishLabs analyzed hundreds of thousands of phishing attacks and found more than 62% abused legitimate no-cost tools or services. >> Access the Report In this post, we take a look at findings from our Q1 Threat Trends and Intelligence Report and review the free services that were most commonly abused to stage phishing sites. Methods of Staging Phishing Sites ...

In Q1, PhishLabs analyzed and mitigated hundreds of thousands of phishing attacks that targeted corporate users. In this post, we break down these attacks and shed light on the phishing emails that are making it into corporate inboxes. Threats Found in Corporate Inboxes Credential TheftCredential theft attacks continue to be the most prolific threats observed in corporate inboxes. In Q1, nearly...

Phishing is on the rise. PhishLabs identified 47% more phishing sites in Q1 of 2021 than there were in Q1 of 2020. This trend is continuing as Q2 attacks are also up significantly year-over-year. Last year, phishing spiked in late Q1 and Q2 as threat actors took advantage of pandemic-related fear and uncertainty. This year, we are seeing an even greater increase in attacks. Closer Look:Of the...

Phishing attacks in Q1 have increased 47% compared to last year, according to PhishLabs newly released Q1 2021 Threat Trends & Intelligence Report. The report uses data collected from hundreds of thousands of attacks analyzed and mitigated by PhishLabs in Q1 to identify top threats targeting enterprise brands, and determine emerging trends throughout the threat landscape. Key findings of the Q1...

Threat actors routinely impersonate brands as part of their attacks. Brand abuse can occur anywhere online, and impersonating a reputable company automatically gives credibility to a threat that might otherwise be instantly identified as suspicious. Because brand impersonation is so broadly used across the threat landscape, security teams need to have complete visibility into the top brand...

Digital brand protection involves proactively identifying and mitigating external threats that target your brand across digital channels. Because brand abuse can surface anywhere online, effective protection demands broad visibility and precise detection to prevent revenue loss and reputational damage.True protection goes beyond basic brand mention monitoring. Security teams must prioritize the...

In 2020, ransomware attacks in the U.S. increased 139% year-over-year. Attacks are more strategic, demands are higher, and new tactics have emerged that leave victims experiencing the pressure to pay. Organizations that are affected by ransomware believe they are left with one of two choices: Refuse to meet ransom demands and risk the loss of data or, pay the ransom and hazard it released anyway. ...

PhishLabs is monitoring the increasing number of mobile applications targeted by the relatively new Alien Mobile Banking Trojan. Alien, a fork of Cerberus, continues to evade Google's malware detection and is targeting a broad spectrum of both financial and non-financial apps. So far, Alien has been connected with 87 new brands previously not targeted by Cerberus. Cerberus versus Alien Brands...

Malicious payloads delivered via email phishing continue to drive access to sensitive infrastructures and result in data compromise for enterprises. In Q1 of 2021, attack methods including malware campaigns have contributed to a 564% increase in individuals affected by a data leak, as well as a 12% increase in publicly-reported compromise. As we continue to see leaks and widespread reports of...

Microsoft Office 365 phish are some of the most common threats that reach end users inboxes. Over the course of a two-year period, PhishLabs has observed that O365 phish have accounted for more than half of all reported phish by enterprises - by a significant margin. Today, we are highlighting a recent O365 campaign, and breaking down the techniques used to enhance the threat actor's odds of...

To stage a phishing site, cybercriminals have several options. They can use a legitimate domain that has been compromised, they can abuse free hosting services, or they can register their own domain. Understanding the prevalence of each scenario is fundamental to detecting and mitigating these threats as early in the attack process as possible (including before they've been launched). PhishLabs...