"Mobile Phishing to Steal Government Credentials Increased 67% in 2020"

According to a new report released by the mobile security firm Lookout, malicious hackers targeting devices belonging to government workers increasingly focused on stealing victims' login credentials instead of delivering malware in 2020. This shift in focus has led to the increased spread and persistence of attacks. The report revealed that more than 70 percent of phishing attacks faced by government organizations aimed to steal login credentials, a 67 percent increase from 2019. The data used to develop this report comes from almost 200 million devices and more than 135 million mobile apps used by the government agencies for which Lookout provides services. Lookout says the shift to remote work due to the COVID-19 pandemic has caused more government entities to consider implementing a "Bring Your Own Device" (BYOD) policy, thus increasing the attack surface for malicious actors. This article continues to discuss the increase in mobile phishing attacks aimed at stealing government credentials, the contributing factors behind this increase, and the different levels of exposure to phishing threats faced by federal, state, and local governments. 

NextGov reports "Mobile Phishing to Steal Government Credentials Increased 67% in 2020"