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While a lot of the world came to a standstill in 2020, the one thing that didn’t slow down was phishing attempts on businesses.  And it’s carried on well into 2021.  Here are the headline stats that we should know and be aware of.

One of the most common goals of phishing is to get hold of login details.

• 85% of phishing attempts went after user credentials
• 20% of data breaches started with compromised user credentials
• On average it takes approximately 250 days to detect breaches resulting from compromised user credentials

Frequency of attacks

• According to the FBI, phishing attempts nearly doubled in 2020 compared to 2019

Phishing attack methods

• 96% of phishing attacks emerged from email
• 61% of companies deal with attacks via social media channels
• 65% of targeted attacks focus on spear phishing, often aimed at stealing the credintials of top executives

Cost of phishing attacks

• The average ransom payment is around $200,000
• Largest paid was $40m
• Companies experience approximately 21 days of downtime

The #1 most damaging phishing attack of 2021 (so far)

• Microsoft Office 365 (What we use here at Coos Bay School District) – Organizations using Office 365 were targeted by emails designed to bypass phishing safeguards.  They appeared to come from legitimate domains and encouraged users to enter their credentials.