A new report from email security provider Egress has revealed that 89% of phishing emails involve impersonation, with Adobe ranking as the most impersonated brand, and DHL the most impersonated delivery company.

The findings, coming from the latest Phishing Threat Trends Report, show a 28% increase in phishing emails over Q2 of 2024, with June 10th apparently the ‘most phished’ day of the year so far.  

The report also found that 44% of phishing emails were sent from compromised accounts, 8% from within an organisation’s own supply chain, with employees only accurately reporting 29% of phishing emails that made their way through.

The most prevalent payloads in these emails were hyperlinks, found in 45% of cases, followed by attachments, which appeared in 23% of the phishing emails. 

One in five (20%) of phishing emails relied on social engineering tactics, with words like ‘urgent’, ‘password’, ‘delivery’, ‘payment’, and ‘wire transfer’ among the most used by attackers.

Commodity attacks, which are mass-produced, malicious campaigns that typically mimic spam by impersonating brands on a large scale, are also rising in popularity, peaking at 13.6% of all phishing emails detected.

During a commodity campaign, companies experienced a staggering 2,700% increase in phishing attacks compared to their normal baseline, with data showing over the course of a month an organisation with 2,000 employees would receive an average of 7,382 phishing emails, or around 238 every day.

These attacks are mostly image-based, with 51% featuring a single graphic, 72.3% including hyperlinks, and 14% using QR codes. According to Egress, this flood of unsophisticated threats creates white noise, potentially masking more sophisticated and targeted phishing attempts, making detection even harder for cybersecurity admins. 

Even more concerning is the rising use of AI technology by malicious actors, with the report finding that 82% of phishing toolkits on the dark web mentioned the use of deepfakes and 75% referenced AI.

The phishing toolkits can be bought for as little as $300 (£228), and often include brand impersonation templates, with attackers claiming ‘guaranteed delivery’ through Microsoft and SEG defences. 

Recommended reading

• Ransomware Groups are Adjusting Their Strategies
• Comment | The Rise in QR Code Attacks
• NCSC Warns Ransomware Threat to Rise with AI

Jack Chapman, SVP of threat intelligence at Egress, said: “One of the most troubling findings is the rapid commoditisation of AI in phishing toolkits, which is putting advanced threats into the hands of less sophisticated cybercriminals.

“Organisations must respond by adopting advanced AI defences that effectively counter these evolving threats; while ensuring they aren’t introducing new vulnerabilities by using AI for AI’s sake.”