71% failed to identify a fraudulent website in ‘spot the difference’ test
convincing than ever, according to new research from Avast, a global leader in digital security products, released on Safer Internet Day 2020. The survey asked respondents to correctly identify the ‘phishing’ site from two seemingly identical screengrabs taken from a household name ecommerce site, and only 29% answered correctly. This comes at a time when phishing, alongside malware, remains one of the most common forms of cyberattack.[i]
The research also asked people if they had ever fallen victim to a phishing attack, with 14% saying they had but a larger proportion admitting they weren’t sure, perhaps highlighting a lack of understanding on what phishing looks like and how to spot the signs of an attack. The survey also asked those who had fallen victim to identify the type of attack they experienced. Email phishing was the top answer (55%), followed by a phishing website (39%). Telephone phishing, often referred to as a ‘call center scam’ was experienced by more than a quarter (27%).
Pete Turner, Senior Vice President at Avast said, “Many attacks today use some form of social engineering to trick people into giving up sensitive information or downloading malware to their device. Unfortunately, the success of phishing campaigns is increasing because of how targeted the attacks have become, particularly over email or text.
“Historically, phishing attacks have targeted large pools of people for maximum impact, but now cybercriminals are starting to experiment with technologies such as AI to extract information about you from online platforms – including social networks – in order to deliver more personalized and seemingly legitimate messages to ..
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