Google Study Says Phishing Attacks Are the Biggest Threats to Web Users

A study by Google discovered that phishing attacks through fake emails were as effective as compared to data breaches that exposed usernames and passwords.

Cyber criminals or cyber groups manage to steal over 25,000 valid sets of web credentials for Gmail accounts every week, painting a picture of the extent this problem has reached.

Hackers are constantly searching for, and are able to obtain over millions of different platform’s usernames and passwords on dark web marketplaces.

This study was as a result of a team effort with the University of California at Berkeley and the International Computer Science Institute.

The study focused on discovering the most common way in which user accounts get hacked. It also emphasized on the numerous hacking techniques available and which of them was the biggest threat to web users.

“We find that the risk of a full email takeover depends significantly on how attackers first acquire a victim’s (reused) credentials,” the researchers stated.

A 12-month investigation of login and account data found on websites and criminal forums, (or which had been harvested by hacking tools) observed more than 12 million instances of account theft as a result of a phishing attack.

The results showed that hackers were more likely to break into accounts using credentials obtained by phishing.