Cybercriminals never sleep, and their aim keeps getting better. According to new research from Abnormal Security, phishing attacks targeting organizations in Europe shot up by a staggering 112.4% between April 2023 and April 2024. Meanwhile, US organizations weren't spared either, with phishing attempts increasing by 91.5% over the same period. Phishing may be an old-school social engineering tactic, but it's no joke.

A new phishing campaign is exploiting the eSignature platform Yousign. There have been plenty of phishing attacks that leverage legitimate platforms to help establish credibility with security solutions – including online email services, web hosting, payment processors and more.

A phishing campaign is spreading the DarkGate malware using new techniques to evade security filters, according to researchers at Cisco Talos. “The DarkGate malware family is distinguished by its covert spreading techniques, ability to steal information, evasion strategies, and widespread impact on both individuals and organizations” the researchers explain.

I have created a comprehensive webinar, based on my recent book, “Fighting Phishing: Everything You Can Do to Fight Social Engineering and Phishing”. It contains everything that KnowBe4 and I know to defeat scammers. The evidence is clear – there is nothing most people and organizations can do to vastly lower cybersecurity risk than to mitigate social engineering attacks. Social engineering is involved in 70% to 90% of all successful attacks.

Imagine: You get an email from your bank alerting you to a suspicious login attempt. It looks identical to their usual security notices, down to the logo and phrasing. You click the link to review the activity, log into your account—and unwittingly hand your credentials over to a cybercriminal. This is the reality of clone phishing.

Social engineering scams can come through any communications channel (e.g., email, web, social media, SMS, phone call, etc.). They can even come in the mail as the Nextdoor warning below shares. Source: Nextdoor They can even come in person and on the television.

Cybersecurity researchers are ringing the alarm on new phishing campaigns exploiting Cloudflare Workers, HTML smuggling, and generative AI (GenAI) to target user credentials. These innovative techniques highlight the sophisticated strategies cybercriminals are deploying to bypass security measures and harvest sensitive information.

The prevalence of cyber crime continues to soar, victimizing individuals in both their work and private lives. Cybercriminals are indiscriminate, targeting around the clock and across the globe. With digital security advancing, these criminals shift their focus to exploiting human weakness amidst increasingly secure technological environments.