"LinkedIn Becomes the Most Impersonated Brand for Phishing Attacks"

During a new study by Check Point Research, the cybersecurity vendor found that LinkedIn has become by far the most impersonated brand for phishing attacks.  The researchers revealed that phishing attacks impersonating the professional social networking site made up over half (52%) of all attempts globally in the first quarter of 2022.  This represents a 44% increase compared to the previous quarter, Q4 2021 when LinkedIn was the fifth most impersonated brand.  The researchers stated that the findings reflected an emerging trend of social engineering scams shifting away from shipping companies and tech giants toward social media networks.  In Q1 2022, social networks were the most targeted category, followed by shipping.  Following LinkedIn, the most frequently impersonated brands in phishing attacks were DHL (14%), Google (7%), Microsoft (6%), FedEx (6%), WhatsApp (4%), Amazon (2%), Maersk (1%), AliExpress (0.8%) and Apple (0.8%).  The researchers noted that the best defense against phishing threats is knowledge.  The researchers are urging organizations to train employees on how to spot suspicious anomalies such as misspelled domains, typos, incorrect dates, and other details that can expose a malicious email or text message.  The researchers warned LinkedIn users, in particular, should be extra vigilant over the course of the next few months.

Infosecurity reports: "LinkedIn Becomes the Most Impersonated Brand for Phishing Attacks"