Malicious URLs and phishing scams remain a constant threat for businesses - here's what can be done

• Phishing emails with malicious URLs are used four times more than ones with attachments, Proofpoint survey claims
• ClickFix attacks also spiked 400% year-on-year
• A layered approach to security is the best way to defend

Phishing scams and malicious URLs continue being the bane of the business world, increasing year-on-year, and getting more dangerous by the minute, new research has warned.

A new paper from Proofpoint, based on data from the company’s threat intelligence platform, argues phishing emails with URLs, rather than attachments, are rising in popularity; that ClickFix is currently the number one method of tricking victims into getting infected; and that most criminals are interested in stealing login credentials.

Phishing emails have always been the number one initial attack vector, for their simplicity, low cost, and omni prevalence. However, delivering malware via attachments is not that straightforward any more, with different email security ...