10 Most Clicked Phishing Email Subject Lines Q2 2017

Fool me once: Shame on me. Fool me a few thousand times? Shame on the end-users worldwide who fell for the 10 most popular phishing email subject lines in Q2 2017.

Here's the Top 10 list, according to KnowBe4, which offers security training and a simulated phishing platform:

1. Security Alert – 21%
2. Revised Vacation & Sick Time Policy – 14%
3. UPS Label Delivery 1ZBE312TNY00015011 – 10%
4. BREAKING: United Airlines Passenger Dies from Brain Haemorrhage – VIDEO – 10%
5. A Delivery Attempt was made – 10%
6. All Employees: Update your Healthcare Info – 9%
7. Change of Password Required Immediately – 8%
8. Password Check Required Immediately – 7%
9. Unusual sign-in activity – 6%
10. Urgent Action Required – 6%

Note: Capitalization within the list is as it was in the phishing test subject line

Email Server Tests, Phishing Training Platforms

As part of its ongoing research efforts, KnowBe4 in October 2016 evaluated more than 10,000 email servers and found that 82 percent of them were misconfigured, allowing spoofed emails to successfully bypass endpoint security systems and enter an organizations network, the company says.

As the recent WannaCry and Petya ransomware outbreaks reminded us, poor patch management and poor user training remain massive attack vectors for malware and hackers.

With those realities in mind, MSP software providers have been overhauling their RMM (remote monitoring and management) platforms to more rapidly identify which systems are properly patched for the latest malware outbreak. (Check in with your RMM provider for details.)

MSSPs Launching Phishing Tests

Also, MSSPs have been introducing phishing testing and training services -- actually sending test messages to end-users, and educating them when such a message could have been a phishing attempt. Vendors, likewise, are developing and/or acquiring phishing testing tools for their parters and customers to leverage.

Key examples include KnowBe4's free tools and Sophos Phish Threat -- an “advanced phishing attack simulator and training solution.” Armed with the simulator, MSPs can launch fake attacks against their customers — and ultimately train those customers to avoid real attacks, Sophos asserts.