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Legitimate SaaS Platforms Being Used to Host Phishing Attacks ![Clock Icon](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/wp-content/themes/unit42-v6/dist/images/icons/icon-clock.svg) 7 min read Related Products [![Advanced URL Filtering icon](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/strata_RGB_logo_Icon_Color.png)Advanced URL Filtering](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/product-category/advanced-url-filtering/ "Advanced URL Filtering") * ![Profile Icon](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/wp-content/themes/unit42-v6/dist/images/icons/icon-profile-grey.svg) By: * [Lucas Hu](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/author/lucas-hu/) * ![Published Icon](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/wp-content/themes/unit42-v6/dist/images/icons/icon-calendar-grey.svg) Published:August 23, 2022 * ![Tags Icon](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/wp-content/themes/unit42-v6/dist/images/icons/icon-category.svg) Categories: * [Cybercrime](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/category/cybercrime/) * [Threat Research](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/category/threat-research/) * ![Tags Icon](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/wp-content/themes/unit42-v6/dist/images/icons/icon-tags-grey.svg) Tags: * [Credential theft](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/tag/credential-theft/) * [Phishing](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/tag/phishing/) * [SaaS](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/tag/saas/) * [![Download Icon](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/wp-content/themes/unit42-v6/dist/images/icons/icon-download.svg)](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/platform-abuse-phishing/?pdf=download&lg=en&_wpnonce=40dbae5d0f "Click here to download") * [![Print Icon](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/wp-content/themes/unit42-v6/dist/images/icons/icon-print.svg)](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/platform-abuse-phishing/?pdf=print&lg=en&_wpnonce=40dbae5d0f "Click here to print") Share![Down arrow](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/wp-content/themes/unit42-v6/dist/images/icons/down-arrow.svg) * ![Link Icon](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/wp-content/themes/unit42-v6/dist/images/icons/icon-share-link.svg) * [![Link Email](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/wp-content/themes/unit42-v6/dist/images/icons/icon-sms.svg)](mailto:?subject=Legitimate%20SaaS%20Platforms%20Being%20Used%20to%20Host%20Phishing%20Attacks&body=Check%20out%20this%20article%20https%3A%2F%2Funit42.paloaltonetworks.com%2Fplatform-abuse-phishing%2F "Share in email") * [![Facebook Icon](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/wp-content/themes/unit42-v6/dist/images/icons/icon-fb-share.svg)](https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Funit42.paloaltonetworks.com%2Fplatform-abuse-phishing%2F "Share in Facebook") * [![LinkedIn Icon](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/wp-content/themes/unit42-v6/dist/images/icons/icon-linkedin-share.svg)](https://www.linkedin.com/sharing/share-offsite/?url=https%3A%2F%2Funit42.paloaltonetworks.com%2Fplatform-abuse-phishing%2F&title=Legitimate%20SaaS%20Platforms%20Being%20Used%20to%20Host%20Phishing%20Attacks "Share in LinkedIn") * [![Twitter Icon](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/wp-content/themes/unit42-v6/dist/images/icons/icon-twitter-share.svg)](https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?url=https%3A%2F%2Funit42.paloaltonetworks.com%2Fplatform-abuse-phishing%2F&text=Legitimate%20SaaS%20Platforms%20Being%20Used%20to%20Host%20Phishing%20Attacks "Share in Twitter") * [![Reddit Icon](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/wp-content/themes/unit42-v6/dist/images/icons/icon-reddit-share.svg)](https://www.paloaltonetworks.com//www.reddit.com/submit?url=https%3A%2F%2Funit42.paloaltonetworks.com%2Fplatform-abuse-phishing%2F&ts=markdown "Share in Reddit") * [![Mastodon Icon](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/wp-content/themes/unit42-v6/dist/images/icons/icon-mastodon-share.svg)](https://mastodon.social/share?text=Legitimate%20SaaS%20Platforms%20Being%20Used%20to%20Host%20Phishing%20Attacks%20https%3A%2F%2Funit42.paloaltonetworks.com%2Fplatform-abuse-phishing%2F "Share in Mastodon") ## Executive Summary Instead of creating phishing pages from scratch, more and more cybercriminals are now abusing legitimate software-as-a-service (SaaS) platforms, including various website builders or form builders, to host their phishing pages. Since these URLs are hosted on legitimate domains, they can be especially difficult for many phishing detection engines to detect. Furthermore, these platforms typically require [little to no coding experience](https://www.noupe.com/technology/what-is-no-code-development.html), significantly lowering the barrier to entry for creating and launching phishing attacks. From the beginning of 2020 to June 2022, Palo Alto Networks analyzed the URLs detected by our [Advanced URL Filtering](https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/network-security/advanced-url-filtering) service, and discovered that the number of phishing URLs hosted on legitimate SaaS platforms has continued to increase at an alarming rate. In fact, from June 2021-June 2022, the rate of newly detected phishing URLs hosted on legitimate SaaS platforms has increased over 1100%. The Palo Alto Networks Advanced URL Filtering uses deep learning to analyze the content of each webpage at the URL level instead of the domain level. Customers with an Advanced URL Filtering subscription therefore receive protections from these platform-abuse phishing attacks. |------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Related Unit 42 Topics | [Phishing](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/tag/phishing/), [Credential Theft](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/tag/credential-theft/) | ## Introduction to Platform-Abuse Phishing Attacks Today, more organizations are adopting existing SaaS tools for tasks like handling file storage, building websites, and more importantly, enabling collaboration within and outside of the organization. For example, many website builders allow users to easily create websites without having to write any code themselves, and form builders allow users to easily create and share surveys, registration forms, etc. Recently, we've seen that cybercriminals have begun to abuse these SaaS platforms for their own nefarious uses. In early 2022, we noticed an uptick in phishing URLs hosted on legitimate SaaS platforms, and we decided to further investigate this trend. ## Methodology First, we gathered a list of various SaaS platforms that could potentially be used to host phishing attacks. We then looked at the phishing URLs discovered by The Palo Alto Networks [Advanced URL Filtering](https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/network-security/advanced-url-filtering) service from January 2020-June 2022 and used signature-based pattern matching to determine which phishing URLs were hosted on each SaaS platform. Examples of the types of SaaS platforms we studied are shown in Table 1. |---------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | **Platform Type** | **Description** | | File Sharing | Sites for hosting and/or sharing files | | Form Builders | Sites for creating forms, surveys, etc. | | Website Builders | Popular website builders, typically requiring no coding experience | | Note Taking/Collaboration | Sites for taking notes, writing documentation, creating internal dashboards, etc. Various productivity tools. | | Design/Prototyping | Sites for designing/prototyping wireframes, infographics, mockups, etc. | | Personal Branding | Sites for hosting social media links, personal portfolios, etc. | *Table 1. Breakdown of types ofSaaS platforms studied in this research.* ## Results: Platform-Abuse Phishing Is on the Rise In Figures 1 and 2 respectively, we show the number of newly discovered phishing URLs hosted on legitimate SaaS platforms per week, as well as the percentage of all newly discovered phishing URLs that we found being hosted on legitimate SaaS platforms. We can see that the prevalence of platform-abuse phishing URLs has increased significantly from 2020, both in terms of raw numbers and percentage. Although there was a slight dip during the 2021-22 holiday season, starting in February 2022, the trend began to surge once again. ![New Platform-Abuse Phishing URLs Per Week. The chart shows the number of URLs in terms of a 10-week moving average from April 2020 to April 2022, with a notable spike in the final period shown](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/chart-2.png) Figure 1. Newly created phishing URLs hosted on legitimate SaaS platforms per week. ![Percentage of Phishing URLs Hosted on SaaS Platforms. The chart shows the pct. phishing URLs in terms of a 10-week moving average from April 2020-April 2022, with a notable spike toward the end of the period shown.](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/chart-3.png) Figure 2. Percentage of newly discovered phishing URLs hosted on legitimate SaaS platforms. Next, we separately analyzed the trends in each SaaS platform subcategory and normalized each subcategory's "platform abuse" rate to a prevalence value between 0 and 1. A value of 1 represents the week in which that platform type saw the largest number of new phishing URLs. ![Platform-Abuse Phishing Prevalence, By Subcategory. Light blue = personal branding, orange = design/prototyping, green = notetaking/collaboration, yellow = website builders, red = form builders, blue = file sharing. Period covered is April 2020-April 2022. Chart shows number of URLs per week in terms of a 10-week moving average, normalized, with a notable spike at the end of the period shown.](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/chart-4.png) Figure 3. Phishing prevalence within each SaaS platform subcategory, normalized. Generally speaking, each type of SaaS platform saw an increase in phishing activity in the latter half of 2021, with the most noticeable increases occurring between September-October 2021. More recently, we observed a larger increase beginning in February 2022. With new SaaS platforms continuing to rise in popularity, it is likely that this trend will continue into the future, making it absolutely critical that URL Filtering products are equipped with the right capabilities to detect these types of phishing URLs. ## Platform-Abuse Phishing Case Studies We have highlighted a variety of case studies to demonstrate the types of tactics these platform-abuse phishing URLs employ. In Figure 4, we see a file-sharing URL that shows a preview of a document related to a remittance payment. However, upon clicking the "View Now" button, the user is taken to a credential-stealing page built using a popular website builder, which prompts the user to enter their login credentials to view a sensitive document. ![Left image shows a landing page for a phishing attack, hosted on a file-sharing site. Right shows a credential-stealing page built using a popular website building, linked to by the page on the left.](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/word-image-38.png) Figure 4. Left: Landing page for a phishing attack, hosted on a file-sharing site. Sent in an email with the subject line: "Re: \[REDACTED COMPANY NAME\] Wire." Right: Credential-stealing page built using a popular website builder, linked to by the page on the left. In Figure 5, we see an example of a credential-stealing page hosted on a site built by a legitimate form builder. On the page where the user is prompted to enter a password, the attacker has embedded a logo, imitating a reputable brand in order to make the page appear like a legitimate login portal. Since the password prompt only appears after some user interaction (entering the email address on the first page), this phishing page may be more difficult for automated crawler-based detection engines to detect. ![The left screenshot shows a credential-stealing page built using a popular form builder. This page attempts to collect the user's email address. The screenshot on the right shows the next step, an attempt to collect the user's password.](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/word-image-39.png) Figure 5. Credential-stealing page built using a popular form builder. Sent in an email with the subject line: "Invoice 071158." Furthermore, we noticed several examples of landing pages that don't host the credential-stealing forms themselves, but rather contain urgent-sounding language that prompts the user to click on a link or button, which then leads to a different credential-stealing page. Using landing pages in phishing campaigns may increase the number of clicks necessary to arrive at the credential-stealing page, but the practice has an important benefit: In the event that the final credential-stealing page is taken down, the attacker can simply change the link and point to a new credential-stealing page, preserving the effectiveness of the original campaign. Link-hosting sites are an example of a type of SaaS platform that attackers can abuse to host such landing pages for phishing attacks. These platforms allow users to host links to their various social media accounts on a single page, giving them the ability to consolidate their online presence. As one such link-hosting platform started to gain more popularity in 2021, we observed more and more landing pages for phishing attacks being hosted on the platform. (This trend can be seen in Figure 3 by observing the increase in phishing URLs hosted on "Personal Branding" platforms starting in the latter half of 2021.) An example of such a landing page is shown in Figure 6. ![Landing page for a phishing attack created using a popular link-hosting platform. The copy on the web page purports to share a document for review and signature.](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/word-image-40.png) Figure 6. Landing page for a phishing attack created using a popular link-hosting platform, discovered on Nov. 29, 2021. An article published by [Cofense](https://cofense.com/threat-actors-use-canva-templates-for-credential-phishing/) suggests that these more niche platforms may be less effective at finding hosted threats, especially compared to sites and tools from popular cloud vendors. By utilizing these niche platforms, attackers may be able to put up phishing pages that stay live for a longer period of time. This suggests that attackers may try to take advantage of relatively new and less "obvious" platforms when deciding which platforms to use for their phishing attacks. In doing so, attackers may be attempting to take advantage of the likelihood that these platforms do not have as many resources dedicated to abuse prevention as the more established and general-purpose SaaS platforms do. ## Conclusion As seen in the case studies shown above, just because a URL is hosted on a seemingly legitimate domain or platform, doesn't mean that the URL itself is trustworthy. More phishing URLs are being hosted on legitimate SaaS platforms, making these phishing pages both easier for attackers to create and harder for phishing detection engines to detect. Since the Palo Alto Networks [Advanced URL Filtering](https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/network-security/advanced-url-filtering) service analyzes web content on a URL level (using machine-learning models that study the actual content of the page), Palo Alto Networks customers who subscribe to Advanced URL Filtering receive protections from these types of phishing attacks, as well as from other web-based threats. For end users, it is crucial to take caution when inputting one's credentials into any online type of platform. Furthermore, users should be wary of any suspicious emails that use time-sensitive language to prompt a user to take some sort of urgent action. When in doubt, users should manually navigate to the relevant login page directly in their browser (for example, by typing login.microsoftonline.com in the navigation bar), instead of clicking any links contained in a potentially deceptive email. ## Acknowledgements The author would like to thank Seokkyung Chung, Ziqi Dong, Wei Wang, Jun Javier Wang, Claud Xiao, Billy Melicher and Ashraf Aziz for helping gather the data sources used in this report, for curating the list of SaaS platforms and for setting the direction of this research report. Back to top ### Tags * [Credential theft](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/tag/credential-theft/ "credential theft") * [Phishing](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/tag/phishing/ "phishing") * [SaaS](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/tag/saas/ "SaaS") [Threat Research Center](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com "Threat Research") [Next: Network Security Trends: Recent Exploits Observed in the Wild Include Remote Code Execution, Cross-Site Scripting and More](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/recent-exploits-network-security-trends/ "Network Security Trends: Recent Exploits Observed in the Wild Include Remote Code Execution, Cross-Site Scripting and More") ### Table of Contents * ### Related Articles * [The Xcode Assassin Returns: A Deep Dive Into the Latest XCSSET Version](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/xcsset-v40-malware-analysis/ "article - table of contents") * [Russian Global Webmail Espionage](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/russian-webmail-espionage/ "article - table of contents") * [Phantom Squatting: AI-Hallucinated Domains as a Software Supply Chain Vector](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/phantom-squatting-hallucinated-web-domains/ "article - table of contents") ## Related Cybercrime Resources ![Pictorial representation of Russian global webmail espionage campaign. 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Abstract, stylized cosmic setting with vibrant blue and purple shapes, representing space and distant planetary bodies.](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Ursa-Russia-B-1920x900-1-786x368.png) [![category icon](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Insights-icon-white.svg)Insights](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/category/insights/) January 29, 2026 [#### Understanding the Russian Cyberthreat to the 2026 Winter Olympics](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/russian-cyberthreat-2026-winter-olympics/) * [AI](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/tag/ai/ "AI") * [IoT](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/tag/iot/ "IoT") * [Russia](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/tag/russia/ "Russia") [Read now ![Right arrow](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/wp-content/themes/unit42-v6/dist/images/icons/icon-right-arrow-withtail.svg)](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/russian-cyberthreat-2026-winter-olympics/ "Understanding the Russian Cyberthreat to the 2026 Winter Olympics") ![Pictorial representation of 01flip ransomware written in Rust. Digital artwork of a pixelated U.S. dollar bill disintegrating into small blocks against a blue data matrix background.](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/05_Ransomware_Category_1920x900-786x368.jpg) [![category icon](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/icon-threat-research.svg)Threat Research](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/category/threat-research/) December 10, 2025 [#### 01flip: Multi-Platform Ransomware Written in Rust](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/new-ransomware-01flip-written-in-rust/) * [Bitcoin](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/tag/bitcoin/ "Bitcoin") * [CL-CRI-103](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/tag/cl-cri-103/ "CL-CRI-103") * [Cryptocurrency](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/tag/cryptocurrency/ "Cryptocurrency") [Read now ![Right arrow](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/wp-content/themes/unit42-v6/dist/images/icons/icon-right-arrow-withtail.svg)](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/new-ransomware-01flip-written-in-rust/ "01flip: Multi-Platform Ransomware Written in Rust") ![Pictorial representation of malicious LLMs. Close-up view of a digital wall displaying various glowing icons, representing a high-tech network interface.](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/AdobeStock_1270203474-786x440.jpeg) [![category icon](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/icon-threat-research.svg)Threat Research](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/category/threat-research/) November 25, 2025 [#### The Dual-Use Dilemma of AI: Malicious LLMs](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/dilemma-of-ai-malicious-llms/) * [Credential Harvesting](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/tag/credential-harvesting/ "Credential Harvesting") * [Data exfiltration](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/tag/data-exfiltration/ "data exfiltration") * [LLM](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/tag/llm/ "LLM") [Read now ![Right arrow](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/wp-content/themes/unit42-v6/dist/images/icons/icon-right-arrow-withtail.svg)](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/dilemma-of-ai-malicious-llms/ "The Dual-Use Dilemma of AI: Malicious LLMs") ![Pictorial representation of Gh0st RAT malware. A woman analyzes code on a computer screen in an office setting, with another individual working in the background.](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/04_Security-Technology_Category_1505x922-718x440.jpg) [![category icon](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/icon-threat-research.svg)Threat Research](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/category/threat-research/) November 14, 2025 [#### Digital Doppelgangers: Anatomy of Evolving Impersonation Campaigns Distributing Gh0st RAT](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/impersonation-campaigns-deliver-gh0st-rat/) * [DLL Sideloading](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/tag/dll-sideloading/ "DLL Sideloading") * [Gh0st Rat](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/tag/gh0st-rat/ "Gh0st Rat") * [PDNS](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/tag/pdns/ "PDNS") [Read now ![Right arrow](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/wp-content/themes/unit42-v6/dist/images/icons/icon-right-arrow-withtail.svg)](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/impersonation-campaigns-deliver-gh0st-rat/ "Digital Doppelgangers: Anatomy of Evolving Impersonation Campaigns Distributing Gh0st RAT") * ![Slider arrow](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/wp-content/themes/unit42-v6/dist/images/icons/slider-arrow-left.svg) * ![Slider arrow](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/wp-content/themes/unit42-v6/dist/images/icons/slider-arrow-left.svg) ![Close button](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/wp-content/themes/unit42-v6/dist/images/icons/close-modal.svg) ![Enlarged Image]() ![Newsletter](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/unit42-footer-subscribe-desktop.png) ![UNIT 42 Small Logo](https://unit42.paloaltonetworks.com/wp-content/themes/unit42-v6/dist/images/palo-alto-logo-small.svg) Get updates from Unit 42 ## Peace of mind comes from staying ahead of threats. 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