Malware Report: The Number of Unique Phishing Emails in Q4 Rose by 36%
With nearly 280 million phishing emails detected by just one vendor, and the increase in the number of unique emails, organizations have a lot to be worried about in 2023.
I want to start with some context around this stat. This article is not about the number of phishing emails detected (that is the total number sent out), this is the number of unique emails. Meaning, you can multiply each email by some number more than one and you begin to realize the sheer magnitude of the problem.
In Vade Secure’s Q4 2022 Phishing and Malware Report, we see some disturbing trends around phishing:
- December of 2022 had the highest volume of unique phishing emails ever at over 169 million
- Second place is October of 2022 with just 62.3 million emails
- Q4 of 2022 saw a 12% increase in email volumes containing malware, totaling 55.8 million emails
These growth numbers are concerning because it means that the total number of attacks that are bypassing security solutions and reaching inboxes is going to increase. It underscores the importance of adopting a multi-layered approach to security, that includes Security Awareness Training as part of your prevention strategy to manage the ongoing issue of phishing emails.
Will your users respond to phishing emails?
KnowBe4’s Phishing Reply Test (PRT) is a complimentary IT security tool that makes it easy for you to check to see if key users in your organization will reply to a highly targeted phishing attack without clicking on a link. PRT will give you quick insights into how many users will take the bait so you can take action to train your users and better protect your organization from these fraudulent attacks!
Here’s how it works:
- Immediately start your test with your choice of three phishing email reply scenarios
- Spoof a Sender’s name and email address your users know and trust
- Phishes for user replies and returns the results to you within minutes
- Get a PDF emailed to you within 24 hours with the percentage of users that replied
PS: Don’t like to click on redirected buttons? Cut & Paste this link in your browser: https://info.knowbe4.com/phishing-reply-test-partner?partnerid=001a000001lWEoJAAW