List of phishing incidents

Last updated

The list of phishing incidents covers important or noteworthy events in the history of phishing.

Contents

1980s

1990s

The term "phishing" is said to have been coined by the well known spammer and hacker in the mid-90s, Khan C. Smith. [3] The first recorded mention of the term is found in the hacking tool AOHell (according to its creator), which included a function for attempting to steal the passwords or financial details of America Online users. [4] [5]

2000s

2010s

Unique phishing reports by year [30]
YearCampaigns
2005
173,063
2006
268,126
2007
327,814
2008
335,965
2009
412,392
2010
313,517
2011
284,445
2012
320,081
2013
491,399
2014
704,178
2015
1,413,978

2020s

Overview

Total number of unique phishing reports (campaigns) received, according to APWG [30]
Year JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecTotal
2005 12,845 13,468 12,883 14,411 14,987 15,050 14,135 13,776 13,562 15,820 16,882 15,244 173,063
2006 17,877 17,163 18,480 17,490 20,109 28,571 23,670 26,150 22,136 26,877 25,816 23,787 268,126
2007 29,930 23,610 24,853 23,656 23,415 28,888 23,917 25,624 38,514 31,650 28,074 25,683 327,814
2008 29,284 30,716 25,630 24,924 23,762 28,151 24,007 33,928 33,261 34,758 24,357 23,187 335,965
2009 34,588 31,298 30,125 35,287 37,165 35,918 34,683 40,621 40,066 33,254 30,490 28,897 412,392
2010 29,499 26,909 30,577 24,664 26,781 33,617 26,353 25,273 22,188 23,619 23,017 21,020 313,517
2011 23,535 25,018 26,402 20,908 22,195 22,273 24,129 23,327 18,388 19,606 25,685 32,979 284,445
2012 25,444 30,237 29,762 25,850 33,464 24,811 30,955 21,751 21,684 23,365 24,563 28,195 320,081
2013 28,850 25,385 19,892 20,086 18,297 38,100 61,453 61,792 56,767 55,241 53,047 52,489 491,399
2014 53,984 56,883 60,925 57,733 60,809 53,259 55,282 54,390 53,661 68,270 66,217 62,765 704,178
2015 49,608 55,795 115,808 142,099 149,616 125,757 142,155 146,439 106,421 194,499 105,233 80,548 1,413,978
2016 99,384 229,315 229,265 121,028 96,490 98,006 93,160 66,166 69,925 51,153 64,324 95,555 1,313,771
201796,148100,932121,86087,45393,28592,65799,02499,17298,01261,32286,54785,7441,122,156
201889,25089,01084,44491,05482,54790,88293,07889,32388,15687,61964,90587,3861,040,654
201934,63035,36442,39937,05440,17734,93235,53040,45742,27345,05742,42445,072475,369

"APWG Phishing Attack Trends Reports" . Retrieved May 5, 2019.

See also

Related Research Articles

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Computer security, cybersecurity, digital security or information technology security is the protection of computer systems and networks from attacks by malicious actors that may result in unauthorized information disclosure, theft of, or damage to hardware, software, or data, as well as from the disruption or misdirection of the services they provide.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cybercrime</span> Type of crime based in computer networks

Cybercrime encompasses a wide range of criminal activities that are carried out using digital devices and/or networks. These crimes involve the use of technology to commit fraud, identity theft, data breaches, computer viruses, scams, and expanded upon in other malicious acts. Cybercriminals exploit vulnerabilities in computer systems and networks to gain unauthorized access, steal sensitive information, disrupt services, and cause financial or reputational harm to individuals, organizations, and governments.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Phishing</span> Form of social engineering

Phishing is a form of social engineering and scam where attackers deceive people into revealing sensitive information or installing malware such as ransomware. Phishing attacks have become increasingly sophisticated and often transparently mirror the site being targeted, allowing the attacker to observe everything while the victim is navigating the site, and transverse any additional security boundaries with the victim. As of 2020, it is the most common type of cybercrime, with the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center reporting more incidents of phishing than any other type of computer crime.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">.tk</span> Country code top-level domain for Tokelau

.tk is the Internet country code top-level domain (ccTLD) for Tokelau, a territory of New Zealand in the South Pacific.

Email fraud is intentional deception for either personal gain or to damage another individual using email as the vehicle. Almost as soon as email became widely used, it began to be used as a means to defraud people, just as telephony and paper mail were used by previous generations.

A spoofed URL involves one website masquerading as another, often leveraging vulnerabilities in web browser technology to facilitate a malicious computer attack. These attacks are particularly effective against computers that lack up-to- security patches. Alternatively, some spoofed URLs are crafted for satirical purposes.

Email spoofing is the creation of email messages with a forged sender address. The term applies to email purporting to be from an address which is not actually the sender's; mail sent in reply to that address may bounce or be delivered to an unrelated party whose identity has been faked. Disposable email address or "masked" email is a different topic, providing a masked email address that is not the user's normal address, which is not disclosed, but forwards mail sent to it to the user's real address.

Voice phishing, or vishing, is the use of telephony to conduct phishing attacks.

Internet fraud prevention is the act of stopping various types of internet fraud. Due to the many different ways of committing fraud over the Internet, such as stolen credit cards, identity theft, phishing, and chargebacks, users of the Internet, including online merchants, financial institutions and consumers who make online purchases, must make sure to avoid or minimize the risk of falling prey to such scams.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Credit card fraud</span> Financial crime

Credit card fraud is an inclusive term for fraud committed using a payment card, such as a credit card or debit card. The purpose may be to obtain goods or services or to make payment to another account, which is controlled by a criminal. The Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard is the data security standard created to help financial institutions process card payments securely and reduce card fraud.

Social hacking describes the act of attempting to manipulate outcomes of social behaviour through orchestrated actions. The general function of social hacking is to gain access to restricted information or to a physical space without proper permission. Most often, social hacking attacks are achieved by impersonating an individual or group who is directly or indirectly known to the victims or by representing an individual or group in a position of authority. This is done through pre-meditated research and planning to gain victims’ confidence. Social hackers take great measures to present overtones of familiarity and trustworthiness to elicit confidential or personal information. Social hacking is most commonly associated as a component of “social engineering”.

Cozy Bear, classified by the United States federal government as advanced persistent threat APT29, is a Russian hacker group believed to be associated with one or more intelligence agencies of Russia. The Dutch General Intelligence and Security Service (AIVD) deduced from security camera footage that it is led by the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR); this view is shared by the United States. Cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike also previously suggested that it may be associated with either the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) or SVR. The group has been given various nicknames by other cybersecurity firms, including CozyCar, CozyDuke, Dark Halo, The Dukes, NOBELIUM, Office Monkeys, StellarParticle, UNC2452, and YTTRIUM.

Fancy Bear is a Russian cyber espionage group. Cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike has said with a medium level of confidence that it is associated with the Russian military intelligence agency GRU. The UK's Foreign and Commonwealth Office as well as security firms SecureWorks, ThreatConnect, and Mandiant, have also said the group is sponsored by the Russian government. In 2018, an indictment by the United States Special Counsel identified Fancy Bear as GRU Unit 26165. This refers to its unified Military Unit Number of the Russian army regiments. The headquarters of Fancy Bear and the entire military unit, which reportedly specializes in state-sponsored cyberattacks and decryption of hacked data, were targeted by Ukrainian drones on July 24, 2023, the rooftop on one of the buildings collapsed as a result of the explosion.

Lazarus Group is a cybercrime group made up of an unknown number of individuals run by the government of North Korea. While not much is known about the Lazarus Group, researchers have attributed many cyberattacks to them between 2010 and 2021. Originally a criminal group, the group has now been designated as an advanced persistent threat due to intended nature, threat, and wide array of methods used when conducting an operation. Names given by cybersecurity organizations include Hidden Cobra and Zinc. According to North Korean defector Kim Kuk-song, the unit is internally known in North Korea as 414 Liaison Office.

VR Systems is a provider of elections technology systems and software. VR Systems is based in Tallahassee, Florida. The company's products are used in elections in eight U.S. states. The company was founded in 1992 by Jane and David Watson. The CEO and President is Mindy Perkins.

Charming Kitten is an Iranian government cyberwarfare group, described by several companies and government officials as an advanced persistent threat.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2020 Twitter account hijacking</span> July 2020 compromise of multiple Twitter accounts to post scam tweets

On July 15, 2020, between 20:00 and 22:00 UTC, 130 high-profile Twitter accounts were reportedly compromised by outside parties to promote a bitcoin scam. Twitter and other media sources confirmed that the perpetrators had gained access to Twitter's administrative tools so that they could alter the accounts themselves and post the tweets directly. They appeared to have used social engineering to gain access to the tools via Twitter employees. Three individuals were arrested by authorities on July 31, 2020, and charged with wire fraud, money laundering, identity theft, and unauthorized computer access related to the scam.

The Nitro hacking attacks were a targeted malware campaign in 2011 suspected to be a case of corporate espionage. At least 48 confirmed companies were infected with a Trojan called Poison Ivy that transferred intellectual property to remote servers. Much of the information known about these attacks comes from a white paper published by cybersecurity company Symantec.

Between 2016 and 2021, multiple prepublication manuscripts were stolen via a phishing scheme that investigators believed were conducted by an industry insider or insiders. In 2022, the FBI arrested Filippo Bernardini, a 29-year-old Italian citizen living in London and working for Simon & Schuster.

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