- Barracuda researchers detected a 400 percent increase in domain-impersonation attacks aimed at conversation hijacking since July. While the method is used far less frequently than other phishing attack methods, its sophisticated, targeted nature makes the threat much more effective.
The research team analyzed more than 500,000 monthly email attacks from July 2019 to November 2019. In July, they detected just 500 of this type, compared with more than 2,000 attempts in November.
In an effort to steal sensitive personal information or money or change payment details, hackers leverage conversation hijacking: where an attacker sends emails within an actual conversation from the victim’s email account. Some malware variants, like Emotet, can compose attack methods from infected accounts.