Phishing has evolved dramatically since the first attack in 1995, when AOHell was used to steal passwords and generate fake credit card numbers. By 2013, Cryptolocker infected 250,000 computers, marking the rise of cryptographic ransomware. Attackers continued to advance, adopting HTTPS for gift card scams in 2018 and shifting to vendor email compromise in 2019. By 2020, 74 percent of U.S. organizations had experienced a successful phishing attack. Early phishing relied on mass campaigns impersonating corporate entities to steal credentials, with signs such as errors, inconsistencies or suspicious requests.

Join for free to read