Phishing attacks reached an all-time high in the first quarter of 2022, new research has revealed.

During this period, the Anti Phishing Working Group (APWG) said that it observed over 1.025 million total phishing attacks. This was the worst quarter for phishing that APWG has ever observed, and the first time that the quarterly total has exceeded one million attacks.

The previous record was 888,585 attacks, observed in the fourth quarter of 2021.

The data came phishing emails reported to the APWG by its members and from the public, along with phishing URLs reported into the APWG eCrime eXchange.

In addition, the group counted its highest monthly total in its reporting history in March this year, when it counted 384,291 attacks. According to APWG, in early 2020, it was recording between 68,000 and 94,000 attacks per month.

The financial services industry saw a 35% increase in the number of attacks during the first quarter of 2022. This made it the most frequently targeted sector, with 23.6% of all phishing attacks hitting it.

Attacks against webmail and software-as-a-service (SAAS) providers were the second most prevalent, coming in at 20.5% of attacks. Third was the e-commerce and retail sector, at 14.6%, though this peaked during the holiday shopping season when it hit 17.6%

Furthermore, the report found a 7% increase in credential theft phishing against enterprise users, with the impersonation of corporate executives on social media growing as a business risk.

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However, according to APWG’s Phishing Activity Trends Report, most sectors saw a decrease in the overall number of ransomware attacks against them. Manufacturing was the most targeted sector, with a quarter of all attacks focused on it.

While finance was only the third most targeted sector, it was one of the few growth areas, with saw a 35% growth in the number of attacks.

Since the start of the pandemic, cyber-crime, including ransomware and phishing scams, has been on the rise. Exploiting a variety of subjects, such as uncertainties around the pandemic, interest in cryptocurrencies or access to stream new movies, phishing emails provide a simple way for scammers to spread malware or steal data.

In fact, research warned that just shy of half of all emails sent in 2021 were spam. In addition, a survey warned that 91% of UK organisations were hit by bulk phishing email attacks in 2021, up from 2020.

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