Resources

On-Demand Webinar

Identify and Disrupt Threats Before Attackers Strike

Join us as Fortra experts detail expanded capabilities, insight, and anti-threat measures to better address blind spots, proactively disrupt threat actors, prevent fraud, and enrich security. Attendees will learn about the newly expanded capabilities, including: Compromised Credentials Monitoring enables users to proactively defend against fraud...
Guide

Disrupt Counterfeit Threats

A Digital Risk Protection Playbook Counterfeit threats, such as fraudulent ads and look-alike domains, are on the rise especially with the expansion of e-commerce and online consumer-to-business interaction. However, the collection and mitigation of counterfeit activity can be complicated. Prioritizing relationships with platforms and providers along with collecting data showing evidence of...
Video

Emerging Threats: Disrupt Counterfeit Activity Targeting Retail Brands

Eric George, Director of Solution Engineering at PhishLabs As retail brands expand their online presence to selling goods and engaging with consumers, threat actors are leveraging the credibility of reputable organizations to profit off of cannibalized sales. Counterfeit storefronts mimic legitimate brands using look-alike domains, copyrighted...
On-Demand Webinar

Social Media Intelligence: Real World Threats, Real World Impact

Each day, 3.5 billion people use some form of social media. This is close to half of the global population. Because of the wide spread use and adoption of these various platforms, threat actors are increasing the abuse of both the brands and their accounts faster than any other digital medium. Moreover, most platforms lack the necessary security controls to protect their users. This creates a...
Blog

The Science Behind the Scenes: How Machine Learning Combats Phishing Attacks and BEC

Because email remains the most ubiquitous form of business communication, it continues to be a favorite attack vector for cybercriminals. Email has always been vulnerable because it was not originally designed with security or privacy in mind. As a result, email security vendors emerged to protect this critical communication channel. In the early days, many vendors used signature or reputation...
Blog

Holiday Season Triggers Rise in Counterfeit Activity

Criminals are capitalizing on the urgency behind gift-giving celebrations such as Black Friday, Cyber Monday, Christmas, and Hanukkah. Counterfeit activity has grown more than 50% from September through November, with a 27% increase over the course of November alone, according to Fortra’s PhishLabs. These threats are impersonating brands on social media and the open web to target consumers with...
Blog

How to Mitigate Online Counterfeit Threats

The broad scope of counterfeit campaigns and unclear boundaries of abuse make it challenging to successfully mitigate online threats targeting retail brands. There is a fine line between infringement and fair use of publicly made materials, as well as immeasurable online environments where counterfeit campaigns may live and grow. Additionally, bad actors are continuously modifying attack...
Blog

How to Collect Intelligence on Threats Targeting Retail Brands

Retail brands are increasingly targeted with fraudulent advertisements, fake social accounts, and falsely branded websites. These multipronged counterfeit campaigns redirect sales and compromise consumer data using brand recognition, the same component critical to driving sales within the retail industry. The massive expansion of ecommerce and online consumer-to-retail interaction creates a...
On-Demand Webinar

Quarterly Threat Trends & Intelligence Webinar (August 2022)

John Wilson, Senior Fellow for Threat Research at Agari by Fortra Throughout Q2, Agari and PhishLabs detected and mitigated hundreds of thousands of phishing, social media, email, and dark web threats targeting a broad range of enterprises and brands. The Quarterly Threat Trends & Intelligence Report provides an analysis of the latest findings and insights into key trends shaping the threat...
On-Demand Webinar

Quarterly Threat Trends & Intelligence Webinar (May 2022)

Throughout Q1, Agari and PhishLabs detected and mitigated hundreds of thousands of phishing, social media, email, and dark web threats targeting a broad range of enterprises and brands. The Quarterly Threat Trends & Intelligence Report provides an analysis of the latest findings and insights into key trends shaping the threat landscape. Join our Quarterly Threat Trends & Intelligence webinar...
On-Demand Webinar

Quarterly Threat Trends & Intelligence Webinar (Feb 2022)

Throughout 2021, PhishLabs detected and mitigated hundreds of thousands of phishing, social media, email, and dark web threats targeting a broad range of enterprises and brands. The PhishLabs Quarterly Threat Trends & Intelligence Report provides an analysis of the latest findings and insights into key trends shaping the threat landscape. Join our Quarterly Threat Trends & Intelligence webinar...
Blog

Fake Mobile Apps Leave Users Vulnerable, Damage Brands

Cloned and spoofed mobile applications can damage a brand’s reputation and compromise user data. Fake mobile apps are widely available on both third-party and official app stores and rely heavily on brand impersonation to build trust and drive downloads. Many mobile users lack the security posture normally practiced on desktops, leaving devices vulnerable to compromise. Fake Apps Cloned Mobile...
Blog

Top 4 Digital Brand Threats

Threat actors routinely impersonate brands as part of their attacks. Brand abuse can occur anywhere online, and impersonating a reputable company automatically gives credibility to a threat that might otherwise be instantly identified as suspicious. Because brand impersonation is so broadly used across the threat landscape, security teams need to have complete visibility into the top brand...
Blog

Alien Mobile Malware Evades Detection, Increases Targets

PhishLabs is monitoring the increasing number of mobile applications targeted by the relatively new Alien Mobile Banking Trojan. Alien, a fork of Cerberus, continues to evade Google's malware detection and is targeting a broad spectrum of both financial and non-financial apps. So far, Alien has been connected with 87 new brands previously not targeted by Cerberus. Cerberus versus Alien...
Blog

Easy to Deceive, Difficult to Detect, Impersonation Dominates Attacks

Impersonation enables threat actors to manipulate victims into disclosing sensitive information as well as enhance their ability to commit fraud. An organization's name, logo, or messaging can be incorporated into almost any threat type, making it an easy and versatile element of a cyber attack. Impersonation is an especially difficult technique to defend against because of its diverse range of...
Blog

As Screen Time Skyrockets, So Does Threat of Fake Apps

App downloads fueled by COVID-19 lockdowns leapt to 37.5 billion in Q2 of this year, and collective global app usage is surging. Android users' screen time stands out significantly, with an increase of 25% above the weekly average from the previous year. As apps continue to be an integral part of how we conduct business and perform sensitive tasks, bad actors are using fake and unethical apps...
Blog

COVID-19 Phishing Update: BEC Lures use Pandemic to Enhance Attacks

Threat actors are using the novel coronavirus to add credibility in recent Business Email Compromise (BEC) attacks. Below are three examples of how they are doing it. We are providing ongoing updates on coronavirus-themed attacks observed by the PhishLabs team. This post and others are meant to help the security community stay up-to-date on how threat actors are exploiting the pandemic. ...
Blog

COVID-19 Phishing Update: Money-Flipping Schemes Promise Coronavirus Cash

Threat actors are using social media to engage in money-flipping scams abusing the novel coronavirus. The two examples below demonstrate how they are doing it. We are providing ongoing updates on coronavirus-themed attacks observed by the PhishLabs team. This post and others are meant to help the security community stay up-to-date on how threat actors are exploiting the pandemic. The...
Blog

COVID-19 Phishing Update: Your Bank is Not Texting You About Coronavirus

Threat actors continue using COVID-19 fears to exploit individuals on a variety of channels. Today we are taking a look at two new, related SMS lures. We are providing ongoing updates on coronavirus-themed attacks observed by the PhishLabs team. This post and others are meant to help the security community stay up-to-date on how threat actors are exploiting the pandemic. The first...
Blog

Evasion Techniques: User-Agent Blocking

Recently we highlighted one of the most common evasion techniques employed by threat actors in order to keep a phishing site online: geoblocking, or blocking by location. However, many other techniques exist, some that are more subtle and make it more difficult for unwanted visitors to view a site. One such method is used to thwart unintended parties - bots, analysts, hosting providers, etc. -...