With an average of 1 in 6 users receiving email-based impersonation attacks, it spells bad news for organizations.
Cybercriminals need users to believe the emails being sent are legitimate. No better way can be found than to impersonate someone known to the sender. According to email security vendor Mimecast, email impersonation—aka CEO Fraud or Business Email Compromise—has risen 80% over last quarter in their latest Email Security Risk Assessment Report.
Utilizing the findings from the inspection of over 140M messages, Mimecast’s report is particularly statistically relevant and should be given the proper attention. The massive increase in impersonation denotes the cybercriminals finding greater successes with impersonation than without.
Over 40,000 impersonated email messages reached users’ inboxes, demonstrating that bad guy ingenuity can get past even the best security solutions in place. In some cases, malware-less social engineering attacks rely solely on a mix of impersonation and contextual details to fool users into wiring funds, giving up credentials, etc.
So, what can organizations to in the face of a huge increase in impersonation attacks?
Given that these emails, according to Mimecast, are getting to the Inbox, your users become your last line of defense. It’s only through effective Security Awareness Training that they are made aware of the potential threats, the methods used to fool them, and the proper response to both not become a victim and to inform the organization of a possible attack.
CEO Fraud Prevention Manual Download
CEO fraud has ruined the careers of many executives and loyal employees. Don’t be next victim. This brand-new manual provides a thorough overview of how executives are compromised, how to prevent such an attack and what to do if you become a victim.
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