Phishing emails have gotten so convincing that even the experts can be taken in by a well-crafted fake.
That’s what executives at Intel Security discovered when they circulated a version of their Email Phishing Quiz to 100 attendees at the RSA Internet security conference earlier this year.
The quiz displayed 10 real emails collected by analysts at McAfee Labs — some of which were legitimate correspondences from major companies, and some of which were phishing emails that look amazingly believable — and asked, real or ruse?
“Even if you’re a security professional, it’s hard to just look at these emails and say whether they’re phishing or not. Every single one looks like a good email,” said Gary Davis, vice president of global consumer marketing for McAfee, which is part of Intel Security.
On average, industry insiders were only able to pick out two-thirds of the fakes. A slim six percent of quiz-takers got all the questions right, and 17 percent got half or more wrong. Remember, this is their job.
(Would you fare any better? Take the quiz below to find out.)
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