Have you ever received an email wondering if it is legitimate or not, but then decide to click on it because the advertisement or the urgent warning catches your eye? Well, many have been in that situation with some consequently becoming victims to a phishing trap.
Around 96% of phishing attempts are deployed via email and 74% of organizations suffered from a successful phishing attack (Proofpoint state of the Phish report 2021). These numbers will continue to rise if we don’t educate ourselves on phishing emails.
Over time, cybercriminals are becoming more sophisticated and are in constant search of new ways to seamlessly trick their victims. Sometimes, even the most cautious users may find it difficult to detect a phishing email, making anyone who uses email a target for phishing scams.
But why do people fall for these traps? Let us find out.
Why do we fall for them?
Before continuing, we recommend you to read our blog on the definition of phishing and its types to fully comprehend the reasoning on why the success rate of phishing emails are high.
Click here to view it!
Moving on, statistics reveal that over 4.1 billion people are email users and around 3 million emails are sent per second, meaning that over 50% of the world’s population use email and the number is expected to grow to 4.5 billion users by 2024. These high numbers encouraged criminals to focus on launching their attacks via email rather than other sources. With COVID-19, many organizations instructed their employees to work remotely for their safety, which resulted in many people depending on online communication via email. With employees receiving a large number of messages daily, this makes them more vulnerable to attacks. And when it comes to phishing, all it takes is one click to lose everything.
This brings us to why we sometimes fall for email phishing traps:
– First, is psychology: Psychology plays a huge role in why people click on a phishing email. There are times where individuals are not in a clear state of mind due to stress or being overwhelmed with work which affects their decision–making. For example, during the beginning of the pandemic, the world was in a state of frenzy, this affected many mentally and emotionally. As a result, it led to criminals taking advantage of these sensitive times to launch phishing emails, and around 18 million malware emails were sent during the start of the pandemic.
– Second, is urgency: When receiving an email promoting a sense of urgency and the need to respond quickly, it has a higher chance of being opened. This way is especially successful if the urgent message is sent from an important or familiar party, such as your hospital, insurance company, place of work, etc. But you should always check the domain of the sender before clicking on any attachment or link to determine the legitimacy of the message. Hackers are fully aware of this and have become skilled at tricking people, they usually use social engineering tactics to understand their victim fully to gain the targeted data. The most used subject lines in phishing emails are “Invoice”, “Verification required”, “[Name] sent a file”, and “Action required” lines. These lines have been successful in raising the victim’s interest or making them feel inclined to reply.
-Third, is generating interest: Sometimes you receive an intriguing email you can’t skip over. This is because the attacker has most likely done their research and sent you something guaranteed to be opened. Subject lines such as “sale” or “discounts” would grab the attention of anyone, but only those who are cautious will be safe from any damages. Triggering the victim’s curiosity and displaying the material in an interesting manner raises the chances of the email being interacted with, and an alarming number was revealed of a %67.5 of people have entered their credentials on a phishing website due to an interesting subject line or for the sender mimicking a known brand.
-Lastly, is increased sophistication: A common way to identify a fake email is by checking the spelling and grammatical errors made in the message. But recently, many cybercriminals have shifted their focus to making their emails as legitimate–looking as possible. They have sufficiently improved their techniques making their phishing emails difficult to detect. But despite this improvement, there will always be a way to differentiate a fake email from a legitimate one, either by their wording, logo, or domain. We could always be a step ahead of them.
In conclusion:
Phishing emails continue to strike individuals and organizations and impact them financially and mentally. But understanding the main four reasons behind the successful phishing attacks could help limit them. Organizations can introduce to their employees phishing simulations to reduce successful attacks while educating them.
Be cautious and don’t fall for the phishers bait!
Share this article:
Popular


Current Trends in SMS Phishing (Smishing) Attacks | 2022
Did you know that there are 6.648 billion (83.72%) people worldwide who own a mobile phone and in Saudi Arabia alone, 97.5% of its society owns one? Also, did you know that the average time people spend on their phones is 3 hours and 43 minutes? With most of the world connected to their mobile phones on a daily basis, this incited cyber criminals to level up their SMS phishing attacks. It’s no wonder that the number of smishing attacks has increased in the last couple of years. In 2021, 74% of enterprises were targeted by smishing attacks, a 13% ...
5th Jul 2022

The 6 Colors of Hacker Hats | Explained
When the word hacker or hacking is mentioned, a universal definition pops into mind. A hacker is known to be a cybercriminal who inflicts chaos on their victims by breaching, stealing, or damaging online systems and data. This is just one part of what the word hacking withholds. And contrary to popular belief, hacking is a broad and diversified category that is misunderstood. The dependency on storing data electronically, as computers have taken over a large part of our life, results in the increased risk of data theft and becoming suspectable to hacking accidents. So, learning more about the ...
5th Jun 2022

Identity Access Management (IAM) | What is it?
With Digital Transformation, remote work acceptance and e-services becoming ubiquitous, Businesses’ and organizations – of all sizes – main concern is to keep its Information Technology (IT) up and running around the clock. This requires its various ingredients such as database and servers to be secure. This means they are always on the lookout for ways to achieve the most efficient way to be safe and secure. Typically, organizations follow basic protocols and use passwords to control and protect their digital assets from unauthorized access, however, statistics reveal that globally %58 of CISOs agree that human error is the number ...
3rd Apr 2022

Insider Threats in Cyber Security
Organizations tend to only focus on setting cyber security measures for potential threats and intrusions made by external circumstances. Unfortunately, they undermine the possibilities of a trusted employee launching a cyber-attack against them. This negligence resulted in 34% of businesses being affected by an insider threat on a yearly basis. This cyber security risk does not only leave the organization vulnerable but is also viewed as an easy target for internal and external threats. Whoever has authorized access to sensitive data, either it being an employee or a partner (which sometimes referred to as Third-party risk), is considered trusted and ...
3rd Mar 2022

6 Advantages of utilizing SMS Marketing
Many businesses are constantly seeking ways to interact with and attract new customers. Their joint objective is to reach a wider audience. To do so, communication is key. There are many ways for businesses to communicate with their audience, either by email, social media, or adverts, but the most beneficial marketing method, that is often overlooked, is SMS (text messages). Currently, SMS is typically utilized for personal communication, but it has proved to be an important marketing method that helps boost businesses in today’s mobile-centered society. In 2021, up to 3.8 billion people own smartphones and 60% of them read ...
1st Feb 2022

Juice Jacking: The Threats of Public USB Charging Stations
A shared scenario between many is being in public with a dying mobile device, franticly looking for a charger. When coincidently you find a free charging station calling out your name. You find a solution, but have you ever thought about the risks of using these public charging stations? The accessibility of these public USB charging stations is convenient but connecting your device to one can put you in a vulnerable position. With just plugging in your smartphone or laptop, you’re potentially opening up an opportunity for a threat actor to steal data or install malware all without your knowledge. This is known as Juice Jacking. Unfortunately, many are unaware ...
2nd Jan 2022

The Threats of Mobile Malware | Explored
With mobile phones becoming an integral part of our daily life and with many shifting from desktops to mobile devices as their main way of computing, cybercriminals are following along. Unfortunately, the threats posed by mobile malware are evolving and becoming more sophisticated than ever, making them one of the rising cyber threats at this time. Cybercriminals are in constant search of sensitive data, and when such data is detected on a device, they will try their best to gain access through the device’s security flaws. Unfortunately, many do not educate themselves about the risks of having unsecure mobile devices ...
2nd Nov 2021

What are the 4 Major Cyber-Threats Smart Cities face?
With the increasing number of people moving from rural to urban areas, Smart cities have become the main attraction for many. The concept of Smart cities began between 1960 and 1970, but countries started prioritizing this idea in 2010. Yokohama, Japan, was the first city to be designated as a smart city demonstrator in 2010, two years later, Barcelona introduced data-driven urban services, such as public transportation, waste management, and street lighting, Cities are becoming more technologically empowered, and in order to capture opportunities and generate long-term success, they must become smarter. Unfortunately, cities that take this step neglect an ...
3rd Oct 2021

Enterprise Messaging Gateway: What is it? And What are its Types?
With technology evolving day by day, new developments are being made to align with today’s fast-paced society and especially with remote work culture where we don’t meet people as often as we used to. Any business or organization must take this into consideration to keep up with the current trends. One of the notable evolvements that occurred is the means of communication. The way we communicate with one another changes as technology evolves. Calls, formerly, were the most common way for businesses to communicate with their customers, however, it has been revealed that 87% of the 97% of customers who reject calls from businesses, ...
1st Sep 2021

The 5 Major Cybersecurity Threats Against the Healthcare Industry in 2021
The healthcare industry is known for being one of the primary targets for cybercriminals, and by 2020 it was ranked as the seventh most attacked sector. Unfortunately, hospitals, clinics, and medical laboratories have experienced a rise in these attacks in the last two years. And with the recent pandemic, cybercriminals took advantage of this event and launched many of their destructive plans. These attacks are mainly motivated by financial gain. They either sell the stolen data or request ransom money from their victims to enable them back access to their data. For instance, at the end of 2020, a major ...
1st Aug 2021