Bank overtakes Facebook in hackers’ playbook

Facebook for years may have topped cybersecurity firm Vade’s “Phishers’ Favorites,” a report of the most impersonated brands in phishing attacks, but the $2 trillion Credit Agricole bank recently edged out the social media giant with 17,755 unique phishing URLs. 

Facebook’s topple from the No. 1 spot was a surprise, Adrien Gendre, chief product officer at the AI-based cybersecurity firm, tells Bank Automation News in this week’s episode of “The Buzz.” 

“Facebook has been the top of that list for four years,” Gendre says. “Obviously, Credit Agricole is less famous worldwide than Facebook.”  

Credit Agricole wasn’t the only financial institution to make the list. Seven others, including $3.7 trillion Chase, $1.9 trillion Wells Fargo and $2.98 trillion HSBC, ranked in the top-25 brands used in cyberattacks that leverage fake websites and emails to gain credentials from unsuspecting employees and customers. 

In this podcast, Gendre and BAN explore how banks became a popular lure for phishing schemes, and what financial institutions can do to protect their brands.