Google, Facebook, Amazon users most targeted for credential theft

In its latest research, Kaspersky has warned users of Google, Facebook, Amazon against rise in phishing attacks in 2024.
   
The research, which focused on 25 popular global companies, observed that cybercriminals are also heavily after the credentials and data of other brands, with the number of attacks increasing nearly 1.5 times year-on-year.
    
Kaspersky analysed a sample of 25 names from the Best Global Brands 2023 rating by Interbrand for phishing exploitation. In the first half of 2024, people around the world tried to access fake resources impersonating these brands nearly 26 million times, nearly 40 per cent more frequently than in January-June 2023.
   

“Phishing for Mastercard, typically aimed at stealing money, has likely risen alongside the proliferation of fake online shops pretending to sell goods and offering checkout options with allegedly Mastercard. Interestingly, Microsoft experienced a decline in clicks on phishing resources.
   
“Since this brand is frequently targeted for corporate credentials phishing, the decrease may be attributed to improved cyber literacy in various organisations. DHL has also seen a decline, which is a common trend among several transport and logistics brands we analysed.”
   
Other brands that didn’t make it into the top 10, but have become increasingly targeted include HSBC, which experienced an eight-fold rise to 240,000 phishing attempts in 2024, and eBay, which saw a three-fold increase to more than 300,000 attacks. Airbnb, American Express, and LinkedIn recorded increases of 174 per cent, 137 per cent, and 122 per cent in attempts, respectively.