Phishing is still as large a concern as ever. “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” seems to hold in this tried-and-true attack method. The Verizon 2023 Data Breach Report states that phishing accounted for 44% of social engineering incidents overall, up 3% from last year despite stiff competition from pretexting attacks. In the wake of more “malicious” threats (APTs, recompiled malware code, fileless malware, and emerging ransomware) the simplest method seems to still be the best.
Why is phishing such a favorite among black hats? Because it plays on what has been often described as cybersecurity’s “weakest link”: us. As the 2023 DBIR revealed, 74% of breaches involved the human element, and that largely means employees being duped into clicking on malicious links and diving into fraudulent sites.