The development of phishing during the COVID-19 pandemic : An analysis of over 1100 targeted domains

© 2023 The Author(s).

Bibliographische Detailangaben
Veröffentlicht in:Computers & security. - 1998. - 128(2023) vom: 13. Mai, Seite 103158
1. Verfasser: Hoheisel, Raphael (VerfasserIn)
Weitere Verfasser: van Capelleveen, Guido, Sarmah, Dipti K, Junger, Marianne
Format: Online-Aufsatz
Sprache:English
Veröffentlicht: 2023
Zugriff auf das übergeordnete Werk:Computers & security
Schlagworte:Journal Article COVID-19 Cybercrime Dutch firms Pandemic Pattern shifts Phishing
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245 1 4 |a The development of phishing during the COVID-19 pandemic  |b An analysis of over 1100 targeted domains 
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520 |a To design preventive policy measures for email phishing, it is helpful to be aware of the phishing schemes and trends that are currently applied. How phishing schemes and patterns emerge and adapt is an ongoing field of study. Existing phishing works already reveal a rich set of phishing schemes, patterns, and trends that provide insight into the mechanisms used. However, there seems to be limited knowledge about how email phishing is affected in periods of social disturbance, such as COVID-19 in which phishing numbers have quadrupled. Therefore, we investigate how the COVID-19 pandemic influences the phishing emails sent during the first year of the pandemic. The email content (header data and html body, excl. attachments) is evaluated to assess how the pandemic influences the topics of phishing emails over time (peaks and trends), whether email campaigns correlate with momentous events and trends of the COVID-19 pandemic, and what hidden content revealed. This is studied through an in-depth analysis of the body of 500.000 phishing emails addressed to Dutch registered top-level domains collected during the start of the pandemic. The study reveals that most COVID-19 related phishing emails follow known patterns indicating that perpetrators are more likely to adapt than to reinvent their schemes 
650 4 |a Journal Article 
650 4 |a COVID-19 
650 4 |a Cybercrime 
650 4 |a Dutch firms 
650 4 |a Pandemic 
650 4 |a Pattern shifts 
650 4 |a Phishing 
700 1 |a van Capelleveen, Guido  |e verfasserin  |4 aut 
700 1 |a Sarmah, Dipti K  |e verfasserin  |4 aut 
700 1 |a Junger, Marianne  |e verfasserin  |4 aut 
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