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Cybercriminals use phishing attacks to impersonate some of the biggest names in tech, according to a report from Egress, a cloud security company.
The most common brands are Microsoft, Adobe and Meta, the data showed, with 45% of the emails containing hyperlink payloads; 23% including malicious attachments; 20% relying on social engineering; and 12% containing a QR code.
"Cybercriminals don't stop at impersonating employees within an organization; they also assume the celebrities' identities," Egress said in the report. "Like CEO fraud, this is designed to take advantage of the 'authority bias' heuristic, which can cause targets to act more quickly and without questioning instructions. The four famous people most frequently impersonated were: Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, Warren Buffett, and Mackenzie Scott."
Over a 31-day period, an organization with 2,000 employees will receive 7382 phishing emails, equating to 238 attacks per day and 31.75 during a seven-hour workday, according to Egress.
Other key insights from the study include:
- The most common phished day of 2024 was June 10.
- The most common time was at 12:37 p.m.
- Employees accurately report just 29% of phishing emails.
- Compromised accounts were responsible for 44% of phishing emails, helping them bypass authentication protocols.
- Twenty-eight percent increase in phishing emails sent between April 1, and June 30, when compared to Jan. 1, through March 31.
Already in 2024, more than half of U.S. companies filed a cyber-claim, with 62% filing a claim during the last 12 months and more than 27% filing multiple claims.
Half of U.S. companies now leverage AI-supported threat detection and monitoring solutions, while 95% reported the necessity of investing in identity security solutions before obtaining cyber insurance.
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