Phishing is a real cyber threat in 2025
Phishing is a global problem
It’s clear that in 2025, a phishing attempt will no longer be just an email from a distant relative who wants to bequeath all of their wealth to you, or an email telling you that you’ve won millions in a lottery. According to the latest research identifying and analyzing the methods used by cybercriminals, phishing is a multifaceted security problem that requires a change in how organizations and businesses approach threat detection and prevention.
Phishing continues to be one of the most significant cyber threats affecting organizations worldwide. Phishing attacks can lead to serious financial losses and legal issues, as well as damaging an organization’s reputation. To effectively combat these threats, it is necessary to identify the different attack types and tactics that cybercriminals use to trick people into revealing sensitive information or installing malware. A successful phishing attack allows criminals to gain access to a company’s information systems and customer data, thereby causing significant damage.
Email attacks
Many people understand that email phishing is a typical example of a security threat. The attack method involves sending fraudulent emails to a large group of recipients that contain malicious links.
Overall, email-based threats increased by 202% in the second half of 2024, and on average, users received at least one advanced phishing link per week that could bypass standard security measures.
Phishing for credentials
Phishing is an online scam in which cybercriminals attempt to obtain usernames and passwords in order to gain access to victims' bank accounts and personal information, leading to potential identity theft. Two standard methods used are phishing attempts and fake login pages.
These scams increased by 703% in the second half of 2024, reflecting the increased use of advanced phishing methods and social engineering tactics.
”Zero-Day threat”
A “zero-day” threat is a cyberattack that exploits a previously unknown vulnerability in the software or hardware of a computer or mobile device. “Zero-Day” refers to how the target has “zero days” to fix the problem once the flaw is identified. Of all malicious links detected, 80% were previously unknown “Zero-Day” threats.
Keep these in mind
- Phishing emails are very common and they often appear to come from a trusted sender
- The traditional style is to send mass messages and get the victim to enter their credit card info etc on a phishing page
- When sending targeted messages, espionage is targeted at a specific user or group
- Espionage can come from a known sender and is used to try to get the target to disclose confidential information
- A criminal can, for example, pose as the CEO of a company and ask a person to urgently pay an invoice or transfer money
- The sender's account may have actually been hijacked and the messages may actually come from an email address of someone you know
Do you already know what Phishing and SMiShing mean?
Multichannel
Phishing
A phishing attack that uses multiple communication channels, such as browser links, QR codes, text messages, or cloud-based collaboration tools, in addition to email, to trick victims.
Spear
Phishing
A targeted and centralized phishing attack targets specific individuals or organizations through malicious emails tailored to them.
Credential
Harvesting
An attack that tricks people into revealing their login credentials through fraudulent emails, websites, or messages, such as direct links, QR codes, or attachments.
Social
Engineering
Tactics used to manipulate and trick people into revealing sensitive information or performing actions that aid in a cyberattack. For example, attacks on corporate emails in an attempt to obtain confidential information or trick the recipient into paying a fake invoice fall into this category.
Browser
Messaging Phishing
Phishing attacks that exploit browser messaging services and direct communication platforms such as LinkedIn, Facebook, chat services (Slack or Microsoft Teams), or personal communication tools to trick users into clicking on malicious links
Mobile Phishing
& SMiShing
Attacks mobile devices by redirecting the user to malicious mobile websites via links, sending SMS text messages (SMiShing) or QR codes to the recipient, which leads to a fraudulent website created by the perpetrator.
Cyber threats and protection against them
Phishing attacks are a real threat to businesses, and that's why security must be in place to respond to these new and evolving scams. Device protection and data backups must be up to date to quickly recover from potential attacks.
Remote work is now an essential part of many companies' operations, and the importance of information security has grown even more. Protecting data centers and applications may be everyday life for many, but in a mobile remote and hybrid work environment, it is important to also remember to protect endpoints and mobile devices so that the company can operate in a secure IT environment.
If the user is not in the office behind a firewall, traditional firewalls are no longer enough to protect company data, networks and users, and more modern solutions are needed. Modern remote work security is essentially related to the terms SASE, Zero Trust and security solutions provider Cato Networks.
