The Psychology Behind the Persistence of Phishing- Singapore Cyber Landscape 2019 (2020)

“The Psychology Behind the Persistence of Phishing” Singapore Cyber Landscape 2019 (2020), 13; 50. June 26, 2020. Singapore: Cyber Security Agency of Singapore (2020)

Citation:
Teo Yi-Ling, "“The Psychology Behind the Persistence of Phishing” Singapore Cyber Landscape 2019 (2020)" in Singapore Cyber Landscape 2019 (2020), 2020, 13; 50 

https://www.csa.gov.sg/news/publications/singapore-cyber-landscape-2019

The Pervasiveness of Phishing

Phishing continues to pose a key risk to organisations of all sizes. A recent estimate saw 3.4 billion malicious e-mails being disseminated every day.13 The sheer volume of scam e-mails is just one aspect of the threat: it is important to realise that when it concerns phishing, scammers are not focused on exploiting systemic or technological vulnerabilities — they are exploiting vulnerabilities in human nature.14 This other aspect of the phishing threat is using the tactic of social engineering, where people are manipulated into carrying out certain behaviours. In the context of cybersecurity or information security, social engineering is about getting people to disclose sensitive information and be exposed to malware. Phishing is a key example of social engineering, as the scams involve impersonating legitimate organisations to attempt to get the recipients of phishing e-mails to comply with requests.

Read more at https://www.csa.gov.sg/news/publications/singapore-cyber-landscape-2019