British cybersecurity firm Darktrace identified 17.8 million phishing emails across its customer base in the first half of the year, with a majority bypassing stringent security protocols.
Phishing emails are sent by cybercriminals posing as reputable firms or acquaintances in a bid to steal information or money from their intended victims. Of the 17.8 million phishing emails, 26 percent “successfully passed” DMARC authentication—a security measure used by businesses and other entities to ensure hackers do not impersonate their emails, according to an Aug. 6 report from the company. Moreover, 56 percent of these emails (nearly 10 million) were found to have “passed through all existing security layers,” the report stated.
