The top phishing themes of 2023

New research from Cofense reveals the most common phishing themes of last year, which offer insight into the threat actor's intentions.

Information analyzed to determine the theme includes the brand being spoofed, any attachment names, rendered attachments in the case of documents or HTML files, and the email body content, plus of course the subject.

The report finds that benefits themed emails were most common in Q1 and Q4 of 2023, while fax and document themed emails were most common in Q1.

Legal themed emails were most common in Q3 and Q4, while tax and notification themed emails peaked in Q3. Closing (as in closing on a property) themed emails were most common in Q1 and Q3.

Themes are classified as major, moderate and minor. Major themes are those with the highest volume that are also typically the most relevant as employees are more likely to see them. Moderate themes are seen less often but are more likely to form part of targeted campaigns. Minor themes are seen least and are most likely to be aimed at particular times of year such as tax return deadlines.

Of the major themes, finance made up 54 percent of attacks, notification made up 35 percent, shipping seven percent, and response three percent. Of the moderate themes, documents made up 38 percent, voicemail 25 percent, travel assistance 24 percent, fax eight percent, and legal six percent. Among minor themes, benefits accounted for 37 percent, taxes 32 percent, job applications 21 percent, and closing 10 percent.

You can read more about the various themes on the Cofense blog.

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