A notable increase in phishing and URL-based attacks has been observed, with malicious URLs used four times more frequently than email attachments. Over a six-month period, around 3.7 billion URL-based threats were recorded, primarily utilizing social engineering and AI-generated content to entice users into clicking. Although only 8.3 million of these threats aimed to deliver malware, the majority involved remote monitoring tools. Hackers are now employing sophisticated methods, such as impersonating trusted brands and embedding threats in SMS messages and QR codes, making them difficult to detect.
URL-based phishing threats are no longer confined to the inbox, they can be carried out anywhere and are often extremely difficult for people to identify.
Researchers observed around 3.7 billion URL-based threats over a six month period, highlighting the growing scale of the problem.
Cyber criminals are using advanced social engineering techniques and AI-generated content to create their malicious URLs, impersonating trusted brands and abusing legitimate services.
Some URL-based credential phishing campaigns with the highest volumes have been facilitated by off-the-shelf 'phish kits' like CoGUI and Darcula.
Collection
[
|
...
]