INFOGRAPHIC
KnowBe4 phishing test results reveal trend towards businessrelated emails
KnowBe4 , the provider of some of the world ’ s largest security awareness training and simulated phishing platform , has announced the results of its Q3 2022 phishing report .
The results include the top email subjects clicked on in phishing tests and reflect the shift from personal to business-related email subjects including internal requests and updates from Human Resources , IT and managers .
Phishing emails regularly plague organisations around the globe . Research from cloud and email security specialist , Avanan , reveals that nearly 19 % of phishing emails were bypassed by the antimalware app , Microsoft Defender . This is a key indicator as to why technology and email filters cannot be relied on as the sole method of protection against malicious emails .
Business phishing emails have always been effective and continue to be successful because of their potential to affect a user ’ s workday and routine . Q3 ’ s phishing test results reveal that 40 % of email subjects are HR-related , creating a sense of urgency in users to act quickly , sometimes before thinking logically and taking the time to question the email ’ s legitimacy . This phishing test also revealed the top vector for that quarter to be phishing links in the body of an email . These combined tactics can have destructive outcomes for organisations and lead to a multitude of cyberattacks such as ransomware and Business Email Compromise ( BEC ).
Along with reflecting a shift towards the use of more business-related emails , Q3 ’ s phishing test reveals a shift away from the use of personal-related emails such as those from social media . In fact , Q3 ’ s phishing report is the first of 2022 that does not
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