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Phishing is a harmful technique based on deception that is used to steal sensitive information from consumers (credit card information, usernames and passwords, and so on). The attackers pose as a trustworthy entity (typically by imitating the look and feel of a well-known brand) in order to deceive the victims into disclosing sensitive information.

If a phishing attempt is successful, it indicates that malevolent third parties were able to get sensitive information. The stolen data is then utilized to perpetrate financial or identity theft. Hackers can also use it to get illegal access to the victim’s accounts and blackmail them for different benefits.

What Happened?

BleepingComputer reports that throughout Q4 2021, DHL, an international package delivery and express mail service, was the most imitated brand in phishing efforts, pushing Microsoft to the second position and Google to fourth.

This isn’t unexpected given that the fourth quarter of each year comprises the Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and Christmas shopping seasons, thus phishing lures based on package delivery inevitably rise.

As a result, phishing efforts imitating the brand have a decent chance of reaching customers who are expecting a DHL parcel over the Christmas season.

The precise lures range from a parcel that has become detained at customs and requires action to be cleared to phony tracking numbers hidden inside document attachments or embedded links.

The researchers from the threat intelligence company Check Point discovered that the brands most impersonated by phishing actors in Q4 2021 were: DHL, Microsoft, WhatsApp, Google, LinkedIn, Amazon, FedEx, Roblox, Paypal and Apple.

How Can Heimdal™ Help?

One of the conclusions of this phishing study is without a doubt that effective email security and anti-phishing filters are essential for a company to fight against phishing attempts. In this sense, Heimdal has two products that will successfully cover these needs: one is the Heimdal Email Security Solution and the other is the Heimdal Email Fraud Prevention Product.

The Email Security solution offers cloud and on-premises protection keeping mail-delivered threats and supply chain cyberattacks away through its efficient proprietary e-mail threat prevention. Being more than a common spam filter, this product brings together human expertise and Threat intelligence that work on scanning every email for impersonation, data leaks, and more.

Email Fraud Prevention focuses on Business Email Compromise (BEC) and CEO Fraud through its 125 analysis vectors, so your email accounts and business assets are well safeguarded.

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Dora Tudor

Cyber Security Enthusiast

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Dora is a digital marketing specialist within Heimdal™ Security. She is a content creator at heart - always curious about technology and passionate about finding out everything there is to know about cybersecurity.

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