After clock change, clicks on phishing links rose by 13% — News

Neuroscientists at the University of California, Irvine, in the United States found that after the spring transition to daylight saving time, employees were more likely to click links in simulated phishing emails. As News-Medical reports , on the Monday after the clock change, this figure was 13% higher than on the Monday.

Test involving more than 11,000 employees

The researchers analyzed the results of a cybersecurity awareness campaign involving more than 11,000 employees at a large institution in the United States. Its IT group sends employees phishing-like emails every few months to check how many recipients click the links placed in them.

On the Monday after the spring transition to daylight saving time, when people may lose up to an hour of sleep, the of employees who clicked the link was 17.76%. On the Monday, it was 15.56%. The authors believe that even a brief acute reduction in sleep may affect decision-making in everyday situations.

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Results published in PNAS

The study results were presented in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The study leader, Eitan Schechtman, an associate professor in the Department of Neurobiology and Behavior at the University of California, Irvine, noted that the consequences of sleep deprivation may not be limited to cybersecurity and may affect other daily decisions.

The researchers also linked the results to the debate over seasonal clock changes in the United States. According to them, permanent standard time aligns better with the internal biological clock than permanent daylight saving time. They urged employers and cybersecurity companies to consider risks during periods when employees' sleep may be disrupted, including after holidays or major sporting events.