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   Many workers are overconfident at spotting phishing attacks   
      
   Date:   
   Mon, 17 Mar 2025 10:16:53 +0000   
      
   Description:   
   Experts warn overconfidence creates a false sense of security and opens the   
   doors to cyberattacks.   
      
   FULL STORY   
   ======================================================================   
    - KnowBe4 surveyed employees around the world to gauge their confidence in   
   spotting phishing   
    - Many confident people have also fallen victim in the past   
    - Education and transparency are key to combating phishing, researchers said   
      
   Despite being confident in their ability to spot phishing, many employees   
   still fall for such scams, new research has claimed.    
      
   A report from KnowBe4 warns about misplaced confidence which can cause even   
   more problems for businesses, showing almost all (86%) of respondents believe   
   they can confidently identify phishing emails .    
      
   Yet more than half (53%) fell victim to some form of social engineering    
   scams: 24% fell for a phishing attack, 17% were tricked by a social media   
   scam, and 12% were tricked by a deepfake scam.   
      
   High confidence often leads to victimization   
      
   Employees in South Africa lead the way in both the highest confidence levels   
   and highest scam victimization rate (68%), KnowBe4 explains, hinting that   
   misplace confidence can create a false sense of security.    
      
   At the other end of the spectrum are UK employees, who reported the lowest   
   scam victim rate (43%). However, this figure too is down 5% compared to 2021,   
   indicating that vulnerability is rising even in regions with historically    
   high confidence levels.    
      
   Training is paramount to combating phishing and social engineering, KnowBe4   
   says, adding that fostering a transparent security culture is equally   
   important. While more than half (56%) of employees feel very comfortable   
   reporting security concerns, 1 in 10 still hesitate, either out of fear, or   
   uncertainty.    
      
   The Dunning-Kruger effect, which is a cognitive bias where people    
   overestimate their ability, is alive and well in cybersecurity, commented    
   Anna Collard, SVP Content Strategy & Evangelist at KnowBe4.    
      
   This overconfidence fosters a dangerous blind spot - employees assume they    
   are scam-savvy when, in reality, cybercriminals can exploit more than 30   
   susceptibility factors, including psychological and cognitive biases,   
   situational awareness gaps, behavioral tendencies, and even demographic   
   traits.   
      
   ======================================================================   
   Link to news story:   
   https://www.techradar.com/pro/security/many-workers-are-overconfident-at-spott   
   ing-phishing-attacks   
      
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