--- title: "Two New Advanced Phishing Threats You Need to Know About | DuoCircle" description: "You have to hand it to those hackers, they’re always innovating." image: "https://www.duocircle.com/images/og-default.png" canonical: "https://www.duocircle.com/blog/phishing-protection/two-new-advanced-phishing-threats-you-need-to-know-about/" --- Quick Answer Two phishing techniques surfaced that are difficult for both filters and users to catch. The first abuses YouTube redirect links of the form youtube.com/redirect?v=maliciouswebsite.com. Because YouTube is whitelisted by most security tools, the redirector slips past URL filters, and the visible domain in the link looks legitimate to users. Any well-known whitelisted domain that supports redirects (LinkedIn and similar) can be used the same way. The second is the phaxttachment: an email attachment that is actually a URL disguised as a file. Clicking it opens a credential-harvesting page rather than a document. End-user training is unreliable against phaxttachments because the visual cues match real attachments, so detection has to come from algorithmic analysis at the gateway. Share [ ](https://www.linkedin.com/sharing/share-offsite/?url=undefined%2Fblog%2Fphishing-protection%2Ftwo-new-advanced-phishing-threats-you-need-to-know-about%2F "Share on LinkedIn") [ ](https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?text=Two%20New%20Advanced%20Phishing%20Threats%20You%20Need%20to%20Know%20About&url=undefined%2Fblog%2Fphishing-protection%2Ftwo-new-advanced-phishing-threats-you-need-to-know-about%2F "Share on X/Twitter") [ ](https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=undefined%2Fblog%2Fphishing-protection%2Ftwo-new-advanced-phishing-threats-you-need-to-know-about%2F "Share on Facebook") [ ](https://reddit.com/submit?url=undefined%2Fblog%2Fphishing-protection%2Ftwo-new-advanced-phishing-threats-you-need-to-know-about%2F&title=Two%20New%20Advanced%20Phishing%20Threats%20You%20Need%20to%20Know%20About "Share on Reddit") [ ](mailto:?subject=Two%20New%20Advanced%20Phishing%20Threats%20You%20Need%20to%20Know%20About&body=Check out this article: undefined%2Fblog%2Fphishing-protection%2Ftwo-new-advanced-phishing-threats-you-need-to-know-about%2F "Share via Email") ![phishing threats](https://media.mailhop.org/duocircle/images/2020/03/phishing-protection-2257.jpg) You have to hand it to those hackers, they’re always innovating. This week comes news of two new phishing exploits designed to do one thing: _convince you it’s NOT a phishing email_. First, from [Threat Post](https://threatpost.com/phishing-skirts-detection-youtube/153639/), comes a clever exploit that uses YouTube redirect links, which are whitelisted by many **security defense** mechanisms, to evade detection. From the article, “_If certain malicious URLs are blocked by web browser phishing filters, attackers commonly use a redirector URL to bypass these filters and redirect the victim to their phishing landing page_. URL redirects have been used in previous campaigns, including **malicious redirect code** affecting Joomla and WordPress websites and HTML redirectors being used by Evil Corp. Now, a new campaign is using legitimate YouTube redirect links.” Since most organizations allow employees to use platforms like YouTube, the links are by necessity, whitelisted. Really, _redirect links from any well-known web site likely to be whitelisted will do_. And while this most recent exploit uses YouTube, any highly-used business platform (e.g., LinkedIn) will theoretically work. [![phishing protection](https://media.mailhop.org/duocircle/images/2020/03/anti-phishing-software-9055.jpg)](https://media.mailhop.org/duocircle/images/2020/03/anti-phishing-software-9055.jpg) _This exploit is doubly hard for users to detect because the malicious, embedded link actually contains the well-known URL within it._ Few users would suspect a link that looked like this: __ The second exploit involves a new kind of email attachment called a _phaxattachment_. From [Security Boulevard](https://securityboulevard.com/2020/03/phaxttachments-are-latest-spin-on-phishing-attacks/), “_When recipients click on the attachment they are actually clicking on a URL that takes them to a fake website where they are prompted to give up their credentials._ **Phaxttachments** look so much like the real thing that it’s difficult for the average end user to distinguish between a real attachment and fake one.” Interestingly, the article goes on to say “the only way to effectively **combat this threat** is to rely more on algorithms that have been trained to look for phaxattachment. _End user training is not likely to prove very effective at identifying phaxattachments_.” That’s probably true about most **phishing emails** today. Afterall, most phishing emails today are excellent at convincing even the most highly-trained user that they’re not phishing emails. If you want to protect your end users from clever **phishing tactics** like redirects and phaxattachments, you’re going to need the help of technology. Technology like [Phishing Protection](/email/phishing-protection) available from DuoCircle. [![phishing protection](https://media.mailhop.org/duocircle/images/2020/03/email-sending-services-5589.jpg)](https://media.mailhop.org/duocircle/images/2020/03/email-sending-services-5589.jpg) Phishing Protection from [DuoCircle](/) is a cloud-based, real-time **email scanning software** that doesn’t fall for redirects or phaxattachments. Instead, it virtually “clicks” on links embedded in emails and attachments and follows those links all the way to the destination. And _if the destination website is determined to be malicious, users are prevented from visiting it_. In other words, _Phishing Protection does NOT get fooled by social engineering_. _Since it’s cloud-based, Phish Protection requires no hardware, no software and no maintenance_. It works with all major email services, sets up in 10 minutes and only costs pennies per user per month. These won’t be the last advanced phishing tactics that will threaten your organization, but they can be the last ones you have to worry about. Try [Phishing Protection](/email/phishing-protection) risk free for 30 days. ![Brad Slavin](https://media.mailhop.org/dmarcreport/images/team/brad-slavin.jpg) Brad Slavin General Manager General Manager at DuoCircle. Product strategy and commercial lead across the email security portfolio. ## Secure your email infrastructure Protect, authenticate, and deliver. Contact our team to find the right solution. [Contact Sales](/contact/) [Explore Products](/products/) Share this article [ ](https://www.linkedin.com/sharing/share-offsite/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.duocircle.com%2Fblog%2Fphishing-protection%2Ftwo-new-advanced-phishing-threats-you-need-to-know-about%2F) [ ](https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?text=Two%20New%20Advanced%20Phishing%20Threats%20You%20Need%20to%20Know%20About&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.duocircle.com%2Fblog%2Fphishing-protection%2Ftwo-new-advanced-phishing-threats-you-need-to-know-about%2F) [ ](https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.duocircle.com%2Fblog%2Fphishing-protection%2Ftwo-new-advanced-phishing-threats-you-need-to-know-about%2F) Copy Related Articles - [ ![AI-Generated Phishing](https://media.mailhop.org/duocircle/images/2026/04/spf-record-4522.jpg) AI-Generated Phishing Has Eliminated the Typo: Why Traditional Email Filters Are No Longer Enough Phishing ](/blog/ai-generated-phishing-eliminates-typos-making-traditional-email-filters-ineffective/) - [ ![spf-permerror-4555](https://media.mailhop.org/duocircle/images/2023/05/spf-permerror-4555.jpg) 10 Applications of ChatGPT that Hackers Are Already Exploiting Phishing ](/blog/phishing-protection/10-applications-of-chatgpt-that-hackers-are-already-exploiting/) - [ ![Email-Based Cyber-Attacks](https://media.mailhop.org/duocircle/images/2016/03/spf-record-tester-4455.jpg) 65% of Global Businesses Ill-Equipped to Defend Against Email-Based Cyber-Attacks Phishing ](/blog/phishing-protection/65-global-businesses-ill-equipped-defend-email-based-cyber-attacks/) - [ ![Email-based Ransomware Attacks](https://media.mailhop.org/duocircle/images/2018/02/email-smtp-service-7834.jpg) 7 Ways to Protect Your Organization from Email-based Ransomware Attacks Phishing ](/blog/phishing-protection/7-ways-protect-organization-email-based-ransomware-attacks/) ## Related Articles [ Phishing 11m AI-Generated Phishing Has Eliminated the Typo: Why Traditional Email Filters Are No Longer Enough Apr 28, 2026 ](/blog/ai-generated-phishing-eliminates-typos-making-traditional-email-filters-ineffective/)[ Phishing 5m 10 Applications of ChatGPT that Hackers Are Already Exploiting May 3, 2023 ](/blog/phishing-protection/10-applications-of-chatgpt-that-hackers-are-already-exploiting/)[ Phishing 4m 65% of Global Businesses Ill-Equipped to Defend Against Email-Based Cyber-Attacks Mar 29, 2016 ](/blog/phishing-protection/65-global-businesses-ill-equipped-defend-email-based-cyber-attacks/)[ Phishing 9m 7 Ways to Protect Your Organization from Email-based Ransomware Attacks Feb 11, 2018 ](/blog/phishing-protection/7-ways-protect-organization-email-based-ransomware-attacks/) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Organization","name":"DuoCircle LLC","url":"https://www.duocircle.com","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://www.duocircle.com/images/duocircle-logo.png"},"description":"DuoCircle is a portfolio of specialized email products covering protection, authentication, delivery, and routing. 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