Once again Canada is the overwhelming target of email phishing attacks, receiving 66 percent of all phishing emails, according to RSA’s Quarterly Fraud Report for Q1. The next most commonly targeted country, the U.S., accounted for only seven percent.

Email phishing remains the method of choice for fraudsters, accounting for nearly 55 percent of all cyber-attacks observed by the Dell Technologies subsidiary. The United States remains to be the top host for phishing attacks, accounting for nearly 60 per cent of ISPs hosting these types of attacks.

The increasing number of fraudsters luring in victims with fake domains that resemble legitimate websites, a rising number of which are tied to COVID-19, has led to an overall 12 per cent spike in brand abuse attacks. These types of attacks made up more than 22 per cent of all attacks in the first quarter.

Which countries are most targeted with Phishing

  • Canada 66% 66%
  • USA 7% 7%
  • Spain 5% 5%
  • India 4.5% 4.5%
  • China 3% 3%
  • Netherlands 3% 3%
  • Philipines 3% 3%
  • South Africa 3% 3%
  • Mexico 1.5% 1.5%
  • Chile 1% 1%
  • Poland 1% 1%
  • Turkey 1% 1%

Fraud Attack Type Distribution

Out of the 50,119 cyber attacks worldwide identified by the RSA, the vast majority of these were phishing attacks, representing 54% of all attacks.

%

Brand Abuse

%

Rogue Mobile Apps

%

Trojan Horse

%

Phishing

Possible reasons why Canada is the number one target of cyber-criminals?

There are a number of factors as to why attackers are targeting Canadians with phishing attacks, such as:

  • Rich country – Canadians have a higher income and sits in 10 top of per capita income among G7 countries.
  • Covid-19 – Canada’s own research efforts into the novel coronavirus have attracted Covid related threats.
  • English speaking – Close to the United States and fluent English speaking country.

Resources from Thexyz to help reduce the threat of email phishing

Whether the targets are consumers or organizations, the key to avoid being victimized are the same: awareness and preparation. Here are a number of tools developed by Thexyz that can assist you in the fight against email phishing.

  • Report it – Our email phishing reporting tool is integrated into the most spoofed organizations and leading anti-abuse services. Reporting here will have the maximum effect and fastest action.
  • Learn to recognize it – Can you correctly identify spam, phishing and scam email messages? Take our test to find out.
  • Secure your domain – Enable DMARC and DKIM protection on your domain name.

Further resources to help fight email phishing