A look at the state of Internet security.

DNSFilter’s State of Internet Security Q1 2023 report showed a “61.39% increase in traffic leading to websites containing threats between October 2022 and March 2023.” Phishing attacks remain at the top of the attack vectors with malware in second, and new domains in third. Employees should remain vigilant in vetting emails they receive by not clicking on suspicious links and checking with their IT department when they receive enticing emails or opportunities from outside organizations.

Tried and true phishing attacks continue to trend upwards. 

The report also showed a combined 281.88% increase in malicious phishing, malware, crypto, and botnet traffic from the same timeframe. Phishing alone showed a 464.36% increase which shows that it is a successful method for exploitation as phishing continues to be the most significant threat. The report said that all industries are affected by these attacks and recommends that companies employ more training on the signs of phishing and spotting phishing emails.

The financial and healthcare sectors are being targeted.

The financial sector is the most heavily affected, eperiencing 83% of the domain threats related to phishing and deception, and 60% of the domain threats clicked by healthcare and medical organizations were from phishing and deception attacks. Healthcare employees were shown to be twice as likely to click a malicious link in a phishing attack compared to other industries analyzed. DNSFilter wrote, “IT teams across industries need to remember every internet-connected device is vulnerable regardless of if it's connected at the office, on the go or at home. And research shows that 78% of threats are found at the DNS layer. So, the time to focus on your corporate network is now.”