This year's State of the Phish Report key findings included:

Infosecurity professionals reported a higher frequency of all types of social engineering attacks year over year. Phishing increased to 83% versus 76%. Spear phishing increased to 64% from 53%. Vishing and/or SMiShing increased to 49% versus 45%, and USB attacks increased to 4% versus 3%.
Credential compromise increased 70% since 2017 and 280% since 2016, surpassing malware infections to become the most common successful phishing attack result in 2018. Respondents reporting phishing attacks, which resulted in data loss, more than tripled between 2016 and 2018, underscoring the growing phishing threat and effect from such attacks.
Only 10% of respondents reported experiencing a ransomware attack, confirming ransomware took a back seat to other types of attacks last year.
Almost 60% of suspicious emails reported by end users were classified as potential phishing, indicating that employees are more diligent and thoughtful about the emails they receive.
Baby boomers outperformed all other age groups in fundamental phishing and ransomware knowledge, underscoring why organizations should not assume a younger workforce has an innate awareness of cybersecurity threats.
These findings raise the alarm for enterprises to invest in security training for employees, which was found effective by 57% of infosec pros who could quantify a reduction in phishing susceptibility.

The report also revealed educating employees about today's cyberthreats is essential. In a global survey, working adults identified the following terms correctly: phishing (66% correct), ransomware (45% correct), SMiShing (23% correct), and vishing (18% correct). These findings spotlight a knowledge gap when it comes to the language security teams are using when communicating to end users.

Instant Insights /

Social Engineering & Credential Compromise Attacks Jump in 2018

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