{"id":91766,"date":"2020-08-26T09:00:14","date_gmt":"2020-08-26T16:00:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/security\/blog\/\/?p=91766"},"modified":"2023-05-15T23:03:01","modified_gmt":"2023-05-16T06:03:01","slug":"how-microsoft-threat-protection-risk-phishing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/security\/blog\/2020\/08\/26\/how-microsoft-threat-protection-risk-phishing\/","title":{"rendered":"How can Microsoft Threat Protection help reduce the risk from phishing?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Microsoft Threat Protection can help you reduce the cost of phishing<\/h2>\n

The true cost of a successful phishing campaign may be higher than you think. Although phishing defenses and user education have become common in many organizations, employees still fall prey to these attacks. This is a problem because phishing is often leveraged as the first step in other cyberattack methods. As a result, its economic impact remains hidden. Understanding how these attacks work is key to mitigating your risk.<\/p>\n

One reason phishing is so insidious is that attackers continuously evolve their methods. In this blog, I\u2019ve described why you need to take phishing seriously and how different phishing methods work. You\u2019ll also find links to Microsoft Threat Protection solutions that can help you reduce your risk.<\/p>\n

Nearly 1 in 3 attacks involve phishing<\/h2>\n

According to Accenture\u2019s Ninth Annual Cost of Cybercrime Study<\/a>, phishing attacks cost the average organization USD1.4 million in 2018, an eight percent rise over 2017. This likely underestimates the cost because the report only considers four major consequences when determining the cost of an attack: business disruption, information loss, revenue loss, and equipment damage. However, phishing is used as the delivery method for several other attacks, including business email compromise, malware, ransomware, and botnet attacks. The 2019 Verizon Data Breach Report<\/a> finds that almost one in three attacks involved phishing. And according to the 2019 Internet Crime Complaint Center,<\/a> phishing\/vishing\/smishing\/pharming are the most common methods for scamming individuals online.<\/p>\n

Since the costs of other attacks can often be attributed to phishing, a comprehensive cyber risk mitigation strategy should place a high value on phishing defenses and user education.<\/p>\n

Phishing campaigns can be well-targeted and sophisticated<\/h2>\n

As attackers have developed new methods to evade detection by defenders and victims, phishing has transformed. Phishing now uses mediums other than email, including voicemail, instant messaging, and collaboration platforms, as people have enhanced email-based defenses, but may have not considered these other attack vectors. The success of phishing as the delivery of other cyberattacks makes it critically important for defenders to be able to identify the many types of phishing and how to defend against them, including:<\/p>\n