Ahead of peak shopping days like White Friday and Cyber Monday, and holiday season, organizations need to protect their brands from cybercriminals who imitate their websites and emails and launch phishing attacks on their customers.

Based on a consistent pattern of spoofing email addresses and distributing lures designed to impersonate official bodies, Proofpoint believes this actor is targeting groups directly or indirectly involved with the Philippine government.

The more popular the brand, the more likely it will be co-opted into cybercriminals’ nefarious plans. Mimecast’s State of Brand Protection report highlights how companies on the Brandz Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands 2020 index experienced a massive 381% increase in brand impersonation attacks during the two months of May and June 2020 compared to January-February, before the pandemic struck.