Apple is Most Imitated Brand for Phishing Attempts: Check Point Research’s Q1 2020 Brand Phishing report
April 14 2020 - 6:00AM
Check Point Research, the Threat Intelligence arm of Check Point®
Software Technologies Ltd. (NASDAQ: CHKP), a leading provider of
cyber security solutions globally, has published its new Brand
Phishing Report for Q1 2020. The report highlights the brands
which were most frequently imitated by criminals in their attempts
to steal individuals’ personal information or payment credentials
during Q1 of this year.
In a brand phishing attack, criminals try to imitate the
official website of a well-known brand by using a similar domain
name or URL and web-page design to the genuine site. The link
to the fake website can be sent to targeted individuals by email or
text message, a user can be redirected during web browsing, or it
may be triggered from a fraudulent mobile application. The fake
website often contains a form intended to steal users’ credentials,
payment details or other personal information.
Apple was the brand most frequently targeted brand by
cybercriminals, soaring from seventh place in Q4 of 2019 to the top
of the rankings. 10% of all brand phishing attempts related to the
technology giant, as bad actors sought to capitalize on its
powerful brand recognition. Netflix took the second spot with 9% of
all phishing attempts related to the company, perhaps in part due
to the increase in people accessing the service during the
coronavirus pandemic. Meanwhile the Chase Bank brand rose by 3%
from Q4 2019 to take the sixth position, with 5% of all phishing
attempts seeking to exploit this brand.
The most likely industry to be targeted by brand phishing was
technology, followed by banking and then media. This illustrates a
broad spread of some of the best-known and most used consumer
sectors, particularly during the coronavirus pandemic and
associated quarantine, whereby individuals are grappling with
remote working technology, potential changes to finances, and an
uplift in home entertainment services such as streaming.
Top phishing brands in Q1 2020
The top brands are ranked by their overall appearance in brand
phishing attempts:
- Apple (related to 10% of all brand phishing
attempts globally)
- Netflix (9%)
- Yahoo (6%)
- WhatsApp (6%)
- PayPal (5%)
- Chase (5%)
- Facebook (3%)
- Microsoft (3%)
- eBay (3%)
- Amazon (1%)
Top phishing brands by platform
During Q1 2020, similar brands were used in mobile and web
phishing vectors, which included banking and streaming services
such as Chase and Netflix. Web phishing was the most prominent at
59%, followed by mobile phishing as the second most attacked
platform compared to Q4 of 2019, where it ranked third. This is due
to people spending more time on their mobile phones during the
Coronavirus pandemic, which cybercriminals are taking advantage
of.
Email (18% of all phishing attacks during
Q1)
- Yahoo
- Microsoft
- Outlook
- Amazon
Web (59% of all phishing attacks during Q1)
- Apple
- Netflix
- PayPal
- eBay
Mobile (23% of all phishing attacks during
Q1)
- Netflix
- Apple
- WhatsApp
- Chase
“Cybercriminals continue to exploit users by adopting highly
sophisticated phishing attempts via emails, web and mobile
applications purporting to be from well-recognized brands which
they know will be in high demand at the moment, whether that’s a
high profile product launch or just generally tapping into
behavioral changes we’ve seen during the Coronavirus pandemic,”
said Maya Horowitz, Director, Threat Intelligence & Research,
Products at Check Point. “Phishing will continue to be a growing
threat in the coming months, especially as criminals continue to
exploit the fears and needs of people using essential services from
their homes. As always, we encourage users to be vigilant and
cautious when divulging personal data.”
Check Point’s Brand Phishing Report is powered by Check Point’s
ThreatCloud intelligence, the largest collaborative network to
fight cybercrime which delivers threat data and attack trends from
a global network of threat sensors. The ThreatCloud database holds
over 250 million addresses analyzed for bot discovery, more than 11
million malware signatures and over 5.5 million infected websites
and identifies millions of malware types daily.
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About Check Point Research Check Point Research
provides leading cyber threat intelligence to Check Point Software
customers and the greater intelligence community. The research team
collects and analyzes global cyber-attack data stored on
ThreatCloud to keep hackers at bay, while ensuring all Check Point
products are updated with the latest protections. The research team
consists of over 100 analysts and researchers cooperating with
other security vendors, law enforcement and various CERTs.
About Check Point Software Technologies
Ltd.Check Point Software Technologies Ltd.
(www.checkpoint.com) is a leading provider of cyber security
solutions to governments and corporate enterprises globally.
Check Point’s solutions protect customers from 5th generation
cyber-attacks with an industry leading catch rate of malware,
ransomware and advanced targeted threats. Check Point offers a
multilevel security architecture, “Infinity Total
Protection with Gen V advanced threat prevention”, this
combined product architecture defends an enterprises’ cloud,
network and mobile devices. Check Point provides the most
comprehensive and intuitive one point of control security
management system. Check Point protects over 100,000 organizations
of all sizes.
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