You have been warned. “Attackers increasingly abuse trusted enterprise and consumer brands to harvest credentials,” which are then used to “gain initial access” to accounts. More than half of password attacks on major brands to steal credentials hit Microsoft, Apple, Google and Amazon. Along with Meta, these accounts are prized above all.

A new report from Check Point warns that last quarter, “Microsoft once again ranked as the most impersonated brand in phishing attacks, accounting for 22% of all brand phishing attempts.” This dominance “reflects attackers’ focus on credentials that can unlock enterprise access, cloud services, and identity platforms.”

ForbesMicrosoft Deletes Google Chrome After Windows MistakeBy Zak DoffmanGoogle was next for the same reason with 13%, “while Amazon climbed into third position at 9%, fueled by Black Friday and holiday sales, overtaking Apple. After a prolonged absence, Facebook (Meta) re-entered the top 10, landing in fifth place, highlighting renewed interest among attackers in social media account takeover.”

The top-1o was rounded out by PayPal, Adobe, Booking.com, DHL and LinkedIn, albeit those five accounted for just 8% of attacks between them, dwarfed by the top five’s 55%.

  1. Microsoft – 22%
  2. Google – 13%
  3. Amazon – 9%
  4. Apple – 8%
  5. Facebook (Meta) – 3%
  6. PayPal – 2%
  7. Adobe – 2%
  8. Booking – 2%
  9. DHL – 1%
  10. LinkedIn – 1%

All those leading technology brands offer account security upgrades that prevent hackers gaining access to your account through phishing attacks and almost all other password stealing campaigns and lures. If you have not added two-step verification and passkeys to all your key accounts, stop reading this article and go do that now.