The growing wave of Phishing

During the first half of 2023, the number of threats and cyber incidents stopped by Allot Secure continued to grow. From among all the different types of cyberattacks blocked, phishing attacks were among the types with the highest increase during the first 6 months of 2023, compared with the previous half year.

What is Phishing?

Phishing involves different sophisticated forms of cyber fraud where attackers impersonate legitimate entities through apps, websites, or messages to trick victims into revealing sensitive information. Using social engineering tactics and impersonating trusted sources, phishers manipulate victims into divulging confidential information, such as passwords. Once the attackers are in possession of the sensitive user information, many avenues of fraud can be pursued, Including theft of additional data, money, and identity.

Mounting threat of phishing scams

Phishing scams are experiencing a concerning upsurge. In H1 2023, Allot Secure demonstrated its efficacy by thwarting 65% more internet connections linked to Phishing attacks compared to the preceding half year. Simultaneously, the tally of unique domains and IP addresses associated with Phishing activities experienced a 27% surge during the same period.

Furthermore, in H1 2023, Phishing cyber incidents demonstrated a noteworthy increase as a proportion of the overall cyber protection activity provided by Allot Secure for consumers and SMBs. The most striking shift happened among SMBs, with Phishing attempts surging from 15% in H2 2022 to 30% in H1 2023. Similarly, for consumers, the significance of this type of threat escalated from 15% to 20%, indicating a growing concern that necessitates immediate attention, especially for those internet users with no cyber security solution.

The #1 top phishing threat blocked for consumers

In the world of online gaming, cosmetic skins have become very popular, especially among kids. A skin is a graphic download that changes the appearance of characters in video games. They’re purely aesthetic – they don’t increase character abilities or impact the game outcome. The rarer the skin, the more money players pay for it.

Unfortunately, scammers have tapped into this desire for skins to exploit unsuspecting kids by luring them with promises of giveaway skins. The scam begins innocently enough, with enticing free options and offers of exclusive and rare skins, often through social media channels or seemingly legitimate websites. They take advantage of young gamers’ enthusiasm and vulnerability, knowing they’re focused on getting a coveted skin, especially if it’s free.

As with any phishing scam, the goal is to steal personal information. This may lead to a range of issues, from stolen personal data and compromised accounts to financial loss. Additional damage can result from the download of malicious software, or even exposure to inappropriate content.

habby.com was in the top 5 malicious domains blocked for phishing in H1 2023. Originally, it was a legitimate website, but it has been abused by criminals to host phishing scams in several sub domains. At the time of writing, it’s still considered unsafe.

The #1 top phishing threat blocked for SMBs

Business owners of all sizes face cyber threats in today’s digital age. In particular, SMBs should remain vigilant; The FBI is concerned that as more large businesses and corporations invest in cyber security tools, hackers are increasingly targeting small and medium sized businesses.

Among the recent threats is a phishing scam that uses the domain golos-verif.online to impersonate Telegram’s login page.

Telegram is an instant messaging app that enables real-time communication between team members, allows large file transfers, and facilitates document, image, and video sharing. Furthermore, it allows the creation of groups of up to 200,000 members, as well as channels for broadcasting to unlimited audiences. This may serve SMBs as a platform for customer engagement and marketing. In light of that, it is not surprising to find many SMBs engaged with the service.

With that, another phishing scam has emerged that is simple and effective. Users are lured to the fake site, which looks like Telegram’s login page. As users enter their login credentials, scammers capture the information and use it for identity theft.

Learn more in the latest Cyber Threat Report

During the first half of 2023, there was no let up on cybercrime. Many categories of potential attacks were detected and blocked in our customers’ networks, both among consumers and small businesses.

Allot’s latest Cyber Threat Report highlights the most significant trends and specific cyber threats that Allot Secure blocked during the first half of 2023 for consumers and SMBs worldwide.

With many millions of customers cyber-protected by the end of H1 2023 and billions of risky cyber connections blocked for our security services subscriber base, we’re able to present a comprehensive analysis based on valuable threat data and shed light on the latest trends and emerging risks.