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One in 10 Black Friday emails may be malicious, global email protection leader Vade Secure warns
November 2020 by Vade Secure
Cybersecurity firm that protects one billion mailboxes around the world issues urgent warning after spotting ‘Black Friday Event’ unfolding last week
Researchers use tool designed to identify malicious coronavirus emails to expose emerging seasonal threat.
One in 10 Black Friday emails could be malicious, data collected by the global leader in email defence Vade Secure has revealed.
Vade Secure protects one billion mailboxes around the world, allowing it to gather information about emerging threats in real time.
Researchers used a tool called Current Events, available in Vade Secure for Microsoft 365, to identify a “Black Friday Event” which began to take shape last week. This event involved a significant rise in the number of malicious emails using the annual sales event as a lure to fool people.
The Vade Secure Current Events tracker allows sysadmins to monitor incoming emails to expose event-based and seasonal scams, including malware or phishing attacks. Current Events gives admins visibility into the seasonal threats transiting through users’ email. Vade Secure analysed data gathered from ISP and Vade Secure for Microsoft 365 mailboxes and noticed a significant uptick in the number of malicious emails which contained text relating to Black Friday.
It found that 9% of Black Friday emails in the US and 15% in Europe were malicious in nature. Spoofing emails claimed to be a variety of famous brands including Lidl, Sephora and Target. The most popular brand among scammers this year was Amazon, which accounted for the largest number of spoof emails identified by Vade Secure.
Adrien Gendre, Chief Product & Services Officer said: “We are issuing a warning about the Black Friday Event in order to warn ISPs and businesses using Microsoft 365 to help them protect customers and clients from malicious emails. Seasonal threats of this nature can be predicted and monitored more easily than surprise attacks, so sysadmins should be aware of the surge in Black Friday email exploits.
“The rise of online shopping and home working has created new vectors for attackers, so security professionals need to guard carefully against new threats as they emerge. The best way to defeat email threats is to use complementary layers of protection involving both tech and humans."
The best way to stop malicious emails is by making sure they never end up in potential victims’ inboxes. Vade Secure offers solutions with an AI-powered approach to security that identifies, analyzes and isolates malicious software before users have a chance to engage.
