Google, Amazon overtake Apple as most imitated brands in June quarter

Google and Amazon were the most imitated brands via phishing attempts in the second quarter this year while Apple which was the leading phishing brand in Q1 fell to seventh place in the June quarter, a new report said on Tuesday.

Google (13 per cent), Amazon (13 per cent) and WhatsApp (9 per cent) were the top three most imitated brands globally in Q2 across devices while Facebook was the most imitated brand on mobile, according to cybersecurity firm Check Point’s ‘Q2 Brand Phishing Report’.

Email phishing attacks surged, making up nearly a quarter (24 per cent) of all phishing attacks.

The report outlined latest trends in ‘brand phishing’, a term used to describe when a hacker imitates an official website of a known brand by using a similar domain or URL.