Agari’s Cyber Intelligence Report for the second quarter of 2022 shows that the use of “hybrid vishing” has increased by a massive 625% since the first quarter of 2021. However, the report notes that phishing volume has increased by 6% compared to the first quarter of 2022.<\/p>\n
Vishing, also known as “voice phishing.” This type of attack is carried out using automated text-to-speech systems, which induce a victim to call a number controlled by the attack.<\/p>\n
“Hybrid Vishing attacks reached a six-quarter high in Q2, increasing 625% from Q1 2021. This threat type also contributed to 24.6% of the overall share of Response-Based threats. While this is the second quarter hybrid vishing attacks have declined in share due to the overall increase of response-based threats, vishing volume has steadily increased in count over the course of the year,” the Agari report states.<\/p>\n
Vishing, also known as callback phishing attacks, was first introduced as part of the “BazarCall \/ BazaCall” campaign, which was launched in March 2021 and was used to gain first access to corporate networks for ransomware attacks.<\/p>\n
Other notable trends in the report include an increased targeting of telecommunication service providers, but financial organisations remain the most targeted sector.<\/p>\n
The detection evading tactic of using compromised websites to spread phishing messages is still widespread, with analysts seeing growth of 6.7% compared to the last quarter.<\/p>\n