The modus operandi is already old and there is no company that alerts its employees to the risks it entails: an email, sent by an apparently legitimate sender, leads us to click on a link to download a file or fill in something with our data.
This is how attackers launch the “bait” and try to “fish” for sensitive information – in fact, this is the literal translation of ‘phishing’. Despite this being a perfectly identified and flagged technique, there are people who continue to fall for this type of attack.
It is therefore not surprising that Check Point found this fact: «90% of attacks on companies start with a phishing email». The company goes further by sharing the most recent data: «In the last thirty days, 62% of malicious files were distributed by email, with PDF being the most common format in 59% of cases». In other words, «1 in every 379 emails comes with this type of files».
The fact that e-mail has become a commonplace technology also makes it “one of the most vulnerable” to serve as a vehicle for this type of cyberattack: every day, “3.4 billion e-mails are sent phishing emails” – here, Check Point cites Techopedia.
In Portugal, Check Point says that companies are attacked an “average of 1239 times per week”, a value “above the European average”, which is “871 times”.
