A report on Thursday revealed that more than 90 per cent of digital attacks on companies originate from malicious emails, making the electronic message one of the most vulnerable forms of digital communication.
The report by Check Point stressed that the reach of phishing attacks is unlimited and mainly affects large companies. Microsoft was the most targeted (38 per cent of phishing attacks worldwide), followed by Google and LinkedIn.
The study found that in the last thirty days, 62 per cent of malicious files were distributed through emails of which one in 379 emails had a corrupted PDF format, which was commonly reported at the frequency of 59 per cent.
In a statement, Sundar Balasubramanian, India and SAARC MD, Check Point Software Technologies at Check Point Software said, “Email is currently one of the most effective tools for companies and although the advantages it offers are numerous. Nevertheless, it is necessary to always stay alert against cyber-attack attempts leveraging emails, from ransomware attacks to cunning phishing schemes and scams.”
He suggested it is an indispensable requirement for any organisation to maintain the safety and integrity of their operations, as the AI integration has only heightened the urgency for robust defenses in the organisation and at home.
The study highlighted the prevalence of phishing in various regions in India, an average of 2444 attacks per week were reported against organisations in the past 6 months, in contrast to the global average of 1151 attacks per company.
Additionally, it was found that EXE is the most common malicious file type sent via email, accounting for 57 per cent of such files.
