Check Point says 90% of phishing attacks come via email

The way of working is already outdated, and no company alerts its employees to the risks involved: an email, sent by an apparently legitimate sender, leads us to click on a link to download a file or fill something with our data.

This is how attackers launch “bait” and try to “fish” sensitive information – in fact, this is the literal translation of the word “phishing”. Although this method is perfectly identified and characterized, there are people who continue to fall victim to this type of attack.

So it's no surprise that Check Point found this fact: “90% of attacks on businesses start with a phishing email.” The company goes further by sharing the latest data: “In the past 30 days, 62% of malicious files were distributed via email, with PDF being the most popular format in 59% of cases.” In other words, “one in every 379 emails comes with this type of file.”

The fact that email has become a popular technology also makes it “one of the most vulnerable technologies” to serve as a vehicle for this type of cyber attack: every day, “3.4 billion emails are sent to phishing emails” – here, check the point cites Techopedia.

In Portugal, Check Point says companies are attacked “on average 1,239 times a week”, a value “higher than the European average”, which is “871 times”.