Spear phishing attacks are becoming more sophisticated, using personalized emails to gain victims' trust. According to a Symantec report, 91% of cyberattacks start with a spear phishing email. The report also found that employees in sales, marketing, and manager roles are most frequently targeted. It recommends using strong filtering to identify spear phishing emails and educating employees to reduce successful attacks.

1. WEBSITE SECURITY THREAT REPORT
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SPEAR-PHISHING SCAMMERS SHARPEN
THEIR ATTACKS WITH CLEVER NEW TACTICS
Attackers win your confidence with personalized, targeted emails
Getthewholethreatpictureandlearnmoreabouthowtoprotectyourselfin
Symantec’snewWebsiteSecurityThreatReport
Expect to be attacked.
It’s not if, but when.
Use strong, cloud-based filtering to
identify and eliminate spear-phishing attacks
91% OF CYBERATTACKS START WITH A SPEAR-PHISHING EMAIL
RISK RATIO OF SPEAR-PHISHING ATTACKS BY JOB ROLE
SPEAR-PHISHERS TARGET EMPLOYEES WHO MAY BE UNAWARE
OF WHAT A SUSPICIOUS EMAIL LOOKS LIKE
THAT’S THE MEDIAN
TIME-TO-FIRST-CLICK WHEN A
SPEAR-PHISHING EMAIL LANDS IN
AN INBOX ON A COMPANY
NETWORK.*
*VERIZON BREACH INVESTIGATIONS REPORT 2015
YOUNOWHAVE
80SECONDSTO
PROTECTYOUR
COMPANY!
27%
26%
MANAGER
19%
13%
11%
INDIVIDUALCONTRIBUTOR
25%
INTERN
DIRECTOR
SUPPORT
OTHER
Attackers prowl for weaknessesin an
internal network’s hostnames, IP addresses, and
internal path names
80sec
84% of spear phishing attacks target
large enterprises*but attacks on
medium-sized and small businesses are rising
THE MOST
COMMONLY
USED SPEAR
PHISHING
WORDS
Targeted attack
campaigns rose by 8%
Custom malware with crafted
email messages evade security
Many have malicious file
attachments and many more
include infected links in emails.
Source : Symantec | .cloud.SRL
35%
27%
30%
23%
19%
16%
14%
11%
1IN2.9
Individuals in Sales and Marketing job roles were the most targeted in 2014, with 1 in 2.9 of them being targeted at least once; this is equivalent to 35 percent of Sales
and Marketing personnel.
KEEP YOUR GUARD UP.
DON’T MAKE IT EASY FOR CRIMINALS
23% of employees open phishing
messages—11%actually click on malicious
attachments!
Implement
Always-On SSL
Educate your employees on what a
spear phishing email looks like
Change your
passwords often
SALES/MARKETING
SALES/MARKETING
1IN3.8
OPERATIONS
OPERATIONS
FINANCE
R&D
IT
ENGINEERING
HR&RECRUITMENT
OTHER
1IN3.3
FINANCE
1IN4.4
R&D
1IN5.4
IT
1IN7.2
HR & RECRUITMENT
1IN9.3
OTHER
1IN6.4
ENGINEERING
2014 RISK RATIO 2014 RISK RATIO AS %
RISK RATIO OF SPEAR-PHISHING ATTACKS BY JOB LEVEL
Source : Symantec | .cloud.SRL
Managers were the most frequently targeted level of seniority in 2014, with 1 in 3.8 of them being targeted at least once; this is equivalent to 26 percent of individ-
uals at managerial level.
1IN3.7
INDIVIDUAL
CONTRIBUTOR
1IN3.9
INTERN
2014 RISK RATIO 2014 RISK RATIO AS %
1IN5.4
DIRECTOR
1IN7.6
SUPPORT
1IN9.3
OTHER
* 2500+ EMPLOYEES
1IN3.8
MANAGER