COVID-19 and phishing : effects of human emotions, behavior, and demographics on the success of phishing attempts during the pandemic
- Author
- Hossein Abroshan (UGent) , Jan Devos (UGent) , Geert Poels (UGent) and Eric Laermans (UGent)
- Organization
- Abstract
- Phishing is an online scam where criminals trick users with various strategies, with the goal of obtaining sensitive information or compromising accounts, systems, and/or other personal or organisational Information Technology resources. Multiple studies have shown that human factors influence the success of phishing attempts. However, these studies were conducted before the COVID-19 pandemic, which is significant because security reports show that the numbers of phishing attacks have been rapidly increasing since the start of COVID-19. This study investigates the extent to which users' fear, anxiety and stress levels regarding COVID-19, impact falling for common and COVID-19 themed phishing scams during the outbreak period. Prior studies have depicted the effects of human behaviour on phishing attacks before the pandemic, such as risk-taking preferences and users' demographic factors, hence this study also focuses on the effects of those factors on the likelihood of phishing victimisation. More concretely, we present the results of a scenario-based roleplay experiment to study the relationship between fear, anxiety, stress, risk-taking, and demographic factors and the success of phishing attacks during the pandemic. The findings indicate that fear of COVID-19 influences the success of COVID-19 specific themed phishing scams, while anxiety, stress, and risk-taking influences the success of both the COVID-19 themed and common phishing scams. Our findings also suggest that the users' education level impacts common phishing attacks during the pandemic.
- Keywords
- Phishing, COVID-19, Pandemics, Electronic mail, Psychology, Stress, Coronaviruses, Cyber security, phishing, human behavior, COVID-19, online scams
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Citation
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication: http://hdl.handle.net/1854/LU-8720798
- MLA
- Abroshan, Hossein, et al. “COVID-19 and Phishing : Effects of Human Emotions, Behavior, and Demographics on the Success of Phishing Attempts during the Pandemic.” IEEE ACCESS, vol. 9, 2021, pp. 121916–29, doi:10.1109/ACCESS.2021.3109091.
- APA
- Abroshan, H., Devos, J., Poels, G., & Laermans, E. (2021). COVID-19 and phishing : effects of human emotions, behavior, and demographics on the success of phishing attempts during the pandemic. IEEE ACCESS, 9, 121916–121929. https://doi.org/10.1109/ACCESS.2021.3109091
- Chicago author-date
- Abroshan, Hossein, Jan Devos, Geert Poels, and Eric Laermans. 2021. “COVID-19 and Phishing : Effects of Human Emotions, Behavior, and Demographics on the Success of Phishing Attempts during the Pandemic.” IEEE ACCESS 9: 121916–29. https://doi.org/10.1109/ACCESS.2021.3109091.
- Chicago author-date (all authors)
- Abroshan, Hossein, Jan Devos, Geert Poels, and Eric Laermans. 2021. “COVID-19 and Phishing : Effects of Human Emotions, Behavior, and Demographics on the Success of Phishing Attempts during the Pandemic.” IEEE ACCESS 9: 121916–121929. doi:10.1109/ACCESS.2021.3109091.
- Vancouver
- 1.Abroshan H, Devos J, Poels G, Laermans E. COVID-19 and phishing : effects of human emotions, behavior, and demographics on the success of phishing attempts during the pandemic. IEEE ACCESS. 2021;9:121916–29.
- IEEE
- [1]H. Abroshan, J. Devos, G. Poels, and E. Laermans, “COVID-19 and phishing : effects of human emotions, behavior, and demographics on the success of phishing attempts during the pandemic,” IEEE ACCESS, vol. 9, pp. 121916–121929, 2021.
@article{8720798,
abstract = {{Phishing is an online scam where criminals trick users with various strategies, with the goal of obtaining sensitive information or compromising accounts, systems, and/or other personal or organisational Information Technology resources. Multiple studies have shown that human factors influence the success of phishing attempts. However, these studies were conducted before the COVID-19 pandemic, which is significant because security reports show that the numbers of phishing attacks have been rapidly increasing since the start of COVID-19. This study investigates the extent to which users' fear, anxiety and stress levels regarding COVID-19, impact falling for common and COVID-19 themed phishing scams during the outbreak period. Prior studies have depicted the effects of human behaviour on phishing attacks before the pandemic, such as risk-taking preferences and users' demographic factors, hence this study also focuses on the effects of those factors on the likelihood of phishing victimisation. More concretely, we present the results of a scenario-based roleplay experiment to study the relationship between fear, anxiety, stress, risk-taking, and demographic factors and the success of phishing attacks during the pandemic. The findings indicate that fear of COVID-19 influences the success of COVID-19 specific themed phishing scams, while anxiety, stress, and risk-taking influences the success of both the COVID-19 themed and common phishing scams. Our findings also suggest that the users' education level impacts common phishing attacks during the pandemic.}},
author = {{Abroshan, Hossein and Devos, Jan and Poels, Geert and Laermans, Eric}},
issn = {{2169-3536}},
journal = {{IEEE ACCESS}},
keywords = {{Phishing,COVID-19,Pandemics,Electronic mail,Psychology,Stress,Coronaviruses,Cyber security,phishing,human behavior,COVID-19,online scams}},
language = {{eng}},
pages = {{121916--121929}},
title = {{COVID-19 and phishing : effects of human emotions, behavior, and demographics on the success of phishing attempts during the pandemic}},
url = {{http://doi.org/10.1109/ACCESS.2021.3109091}},
volume = {{9}},
year = {{2021}},
}
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