The OpenText Webroot BrightCloud Threat Report 2021 found that phishing activity increased significantly in the first months of 2020, taking advantage of pandemic-induced product shortages and increased usage of streaming services. For the first time, eBay topped the list of brands most-targeted for impersonations, with 31.1% of all phishing attacks in the month of February impersonating eBay. In March, phishing activity surged among streaming services YouTube (3,064%), Netflix (525%) and Twitch (337%).

The Webroot BrightCloud Threat Report 2021’s other headline findings include:

1. At 2.3%, Japan had the lowest PC infection rate per region, followed by the United Kingdom (2.7%), Australasia (3.2%) and North America (3.7%).

2. In Europe, home devices were more than three times as likely to encounter an infection as business devices (17.4% versus 5.3%)

3. Based on reported data, healthcare and social assistance (down 41.4% from the YoY average) led in terms of sectors/industries with the lowest infection rates, while the highest industry infection rates were seen by wholesale trade, mining/oil/gas and manufacturing

4. Of the total threats detected on Google Android devices in 2020, Trojans and malware accounted for 95.9% – an increase from 92.2% in 2019. Outdated operating systems accounted for close to 90% of Android infections