[BEWARE] Microsoft and Facebook are the Most Abused Brands for Phishing Attempts

Stu Sjouwerman | Jul 26, 2022

phishing.c03caef1d469We all know that big brands can be exploited by bad actors in order to execute successful phishing attacks. Now a new study is showing phishing attacks leveraging big brands Microsoft and Facebook as the top abused brands.

Vade's newest report shows phishing attack using Microsoft's brand increased by 266% in Q1 compared to last year, while Facebook messages are up 177% in the second quarter of 2022 with the same timeframe. 

The report also highlights a chart of other brands being exploited, with Microsoft topping the list: 

Microsoft Most Impersonated Brands

Source: Vade

Other findings on the report included the most popular days to receive phishing emails was between Monday and Wednesday, and top abused brands following the chart were PayPal, Google, and Apple. 

The study is showing very similar results to KnowBe4's quarterly top-clicked phishing tests for Q2, with Microsoft, Facebook, and Google themed phishing attacks have been the commonly reported 'in the wild' attacks.

It is extremely important for your employees to stay vigilant in their day-to-day operations. Frequent phishing tests and new-school security awareness training are the ingredients needed to build a strong human firewall for your organization. 

Threatpost has the full story

Topics: Phishing

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