Smartphones Increasingly Targeted As Entry Into Company Networks

An analysis by cybersecurity company Lookout found that there has been a 37 percent increase in mobile phishing attacks worldwide between the last three months of 2019 and the first few months of 2020. The attacks target smartphones as an entry point to compromise company networks. Cyber criminals are targeting both Android and IOS phones. Attacks that target desktop email normally leave signs that something is wrong, such as being able to preview links and attachments, or seeing email addresses and URLs that look suspicious. These are harder to spot on mobile email, social media and messaging applications because they’re designed for smaller screens. Attackers are often able to design fake login pages that look like those of the business they’re targeting. This especially true of businesses that rely on cloud platforms like Office 365. If a user enters their username and password into a phishing page, they’re handing these over to an attacker who can then gain access to corporate accounts. Attackers are also taking advantage of the coronavirus pandemic with mobile phishing campaigns, posing as government and health organizations .