14 DAY TRIAL // The RSA’s FraudAction Research Labs reveal the fact that in the first half of 2012, phishing attacks caused businesses worldwide to lose $687 million (€556 million). While this represents an increase compared to the same period of 2011, it’s actually a slight decrease to what companies experienced in the second half of the same year.
Other figures from the report show that compared to the second half of 2011, the number of phishing attacks has increased by 19%. If you’re wondering why the numbers increased and the losses haven’t, there’s a perfectly good explanation for that.
Experts from the Anti-Phishing Working Group noticed that the attack duration median actually went down to 11.72 hours per attack from 15.3 hours. If the duration were to remain the same, the total losses would have been somewhere around $897 million (€726 million).
The main targets of the attacks recorded in the first six months of this year have been the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, Brazil and South Africa.
With the Canadian dollar being almost as powerful as the US dollar, cybercriminals have turned their attention to the country’s organizations. According to the figures, Canada experienced an increase of almost 400% in the past months.
RSA researchers explain that phishing is a phenomenon that will not disappear any time soon because its success is based on human motivators and emotional triggers. The schemes usually rely on prizes, tax refunds, an individual’s greed, curiosity, and trust in institutions.
An individual’s urge to make wrong things right and their fear of false accusations have also been known to ensure the success of malicious operations.
“In social psychology, one of the routes to persuasion is designed to get a person to purposefully not think – but rather react emotionally and react immediately,” experts explain.
“Because persuasion is such a pervasive component in our lives, it is easy to overlook the external influences affecting us. When it comes to phishing, cybercriminals rely on persuasion in getting a victim to act on emotions such as anxiety or excitement.”