A new report reveals an increase in key personnel and corporate social media impersonation accounts, among other threats targeting brands.

According to the latest trend report released by ZeroFox, digital threats targeting brands increased by 164% between the first and second quarters of 2023. This trend shows the importance of securing an organization’s brand against digital risks such as impersonations and fraud.

The 2023 Brand Protection Trend Report analyzed threat actor behavior targeting organizations’ brands in the second quarter of 2023 and highlights a quarter-over-quarter increase in both domain and executive impersonations seeking to exploit the trust that brands have built with their customers, causing damage to brand reputation and customer loyalty.

Other key report highlights

• A 35% increase in verified alerts for brand threats related to fraud, scams and piracy quarter-over-quarter across the customer base, and a nearly 20% increase in brand-related impersonations.
• A 26% increase in fraudulent activity tied to brands observed in this quarter; more specifically, fraudulent job postings identified rose by over 50%.
• A nearly 20% increase in spoofed domains increased in the second quarter of 2023 versus the first quarter, with just over one-third tied to phishing campaigns.
• A 22% increase in key personnel and corporate social media impersonation accounts with a biography, name and image to legitimize these profiles; those that used a biography with a name only increased 35%.