Research carried out by Check Point Research (CPR) has revealed that LinkedIn is the most impersonated brand for phishing attacks.
In its 2022 Q1 Brand Phishing Report, CPR revealed that phishing attacks impersonating LinkedIn made up 52% of all attempts globally in the first quarter of 2022. This is a 44% increase when compared to Q4 2021, during which LinkedIn was the fifth most impersonated brand.
ollowing LinkedIn, the most frequently impersonated brands in phishing attacks were DHL (14%), Google (7%), Microsoft (6%), FedEx (6%), WhatsApp (4%), Amazon (2%), Maersk (1%), AliExpress (0.8%) and Apple (0.8%).
CPR has said that the findings reflect a trend in social engineering threats shifting away from shipping companies and tech giants toward social media networls.
LinkedIn has become by far the most impersonated brand for phishing attacks, according to new research by Check Point Research (CPR).
The cybersecurity vendor’s 2022 Q1 Brand Phishing Report revealed that phishing attacks impersonating the professional social networking site made up over half (52%) of all attempts globally in the first quarter of 2022. This represents a 44% increase compared to the previous quarter, Q4 2021, when LinkedIn was the fifth most impersonated brand.
CPR said the findings reflected an emerging trend of social engineering scams shifting away from shipping companies and tech giants toward social media networks. In Q1 2022, social networks were the most targeted category, followed by shipping.
Omer Dembinsky, data research group manager at Check Point Software, said: “These phishing attempts are attacks of opportunity, plain and simple. Criminal groups orchestrate these phishing attempts on a grand scale, with a view to getting as many people to part with their personal data as possible. Some attacks will attempt to gain leverage over individuals or steal their information, such as those we’re seeing with LinkedIn. Others will be attempts to deploy malware on company networks, such as the fake emails containing spoof carrier documents that we’re seeing with the likes of Maersk.
