Since the fourth quarter of 2015, phishing scams have increased by 789%…
Along with the increase in phishing attacks, it has now been reported that an estimated 93% of these attacks have ransomware attached to them. 93 percent. I’ll let that sink in for a moment.
According to PhishMe, in the first quarter of 2016, there were 6.3 million phishing emails sent out. Now if we do the math, 93% of those emails included ransomware. That’s just under 5.9 million ransomware attacks executed in the first three months of 2016.
KnowBe4 reported one of the phishing trends that has increased with the uptake in phishing scams has been “soft targeting”. Soft targeting is seeking out individuals who have a similar occupation or job category.
PC Pitstop CEO, Rob Cheng, made the following statement to SC Magazine regarding this growing problem:
“The security problem is getting consistently worse, the consequences are getting consistently larger, and the frequency is growing.”
We cannot stress the importance of proper PC protection and user education when it comes to these attacks. PC Matic offers a free cybersecurity training through KnowBe4 with each PC Matic subscription. Although, you certainly don’t have to have a subscription to use the training through KnowBe4. Do yourselves a favor and educate yourself, family members, colleagues, etc. These attacks are not a joke.
Education and PC protection is key!
