KnowBe4 is a provider of an integrated platform for security awareness training and simulated phishing. As part of a recent study, the company analyzed tens of thousands of simulated phishing tests. The result: 56% of the emails with the highest open rates had 'LinkedIn' in the subject line - more than all other social media phishing emails combined. "It feels good to join a network or connect in some way with colleagues or business contacts. Users inherently trust their 'verified' contacts, so they're more likely to click on a link sent by one of those contacts," said Stu Sjouwerman, CEO at KnowBe4, on why this type of cyberattack is so pervasive. "It is therefore becoming increasingly difficult to identify phishing attacks."

According to Stu Sjouwerman, CEO of KnowBe4, it is becoming increasingly important that employees know how to recognize a phishing attack. They are a company's last line of defense.

© KnowBe4

The most suspicious subject lines identified by KnowBe4 with the highest open rates are

• LinkedIn: 56%
• Login alert for Chrome on Motorola Moto X: 9%
• 55th anniversary and pizza party: 8%
• Your friend tagged a photo of you: 8%
• Facebook password reset verification: 8%
• Your password was successfully reset: 6 %
• New voice message at 1:23 am: 5 %

In addition to examining phishing emails with social media subject lines, the study authors found that phishing tests that focused on password management were also very "successful": As many as 35% of users clicked on the links in the test emails. Furthermore, 'in-the-wild attacks' - i.e. real phishing emails and not simulated ones - were most successful when they asked the recipient to take action - such as inviting them to share an Outlook calendar or assigning them a task on a Microsoft platform.

The security awareness specialist emphasizes that employees are most effective as a company's last line of defense when they are continuously trained and tested for the latest phishing threats. To this end, KnowBe4 introduced the ' Social Media Phishing Test' in June 2019. This free test is designed to help IT and security professionals in organizations of all sizes to better identify users who are likely to open a phishing email originating from a social media site such as Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter.