A new report[pdf] by Europol identifies spear phishing, i.e. targeted phishing, as the top threat to organizations in European Union (EU) member states. According to the study, spear phishing is the most common attack vector used by cybercriminals to compromise organizations.
Steven Wilson of Europol’s European Cybercrime Centre added that “spear phishing is a major enabler of some of the most serious forms of cybercrime, especially ransomware, and can cause real harm to European citizens and organizations.” Due to its effectiveness, spear phishing is not only popular among cybercriminal organizations, but is also frequently used by state-sponsored hacking groups.
Read more: Europol: Spear phishing the most prevalent cyber threat affecting orgs across the EU
