RESEARCH & RESOURCES

Survey: 92% of Organizations Fell Victim to Phishing in Last 12 Months

Eighty-six percent of organizations experienced negative consequences as a result of the attack.

Note: TDWI’s editors carefully choose press releases related to the data and analytics industry. We have edited and/or condensed this release to highlight key information but make no claims as to its accuracy.

Phishing attacks remain a significant threat to organizations. According to the data presented by Atlas VPN gathered from a survey of 500 cybersecurity leaders conducted by Egress, 92% of organizations were victims of phishing in the past 12 months and 86% experienced negative consequences as a result.

The most commonly reported fallout from phishing attacks was financial loss from customer churn. Overall, 54% of surveyed organization leaders said they lost customers and revenue due to successful phishing attacks.

A company's reputation, which may have taken years or even decades to build, can be irreparably damaged in just seconds due to a single security breach. Reputational damage was reported by 47% of organizations that were impacted by phishing attacks in the last 12 months.

Moreover, a fourth (27%) of organizations underwent lengthy remediations; nearly a tenth (9%) faced legal repercussions.

Phishing incidents also had repercussions for the employees involved. In 30% of cases, the employees were disciplined as a result of the successful phishing event; 22% of organizations reported that the employee was dismissed. In 18% of instances, employees left voluntarily.

Cybersecurity Leaders Concerned About Use of AI in Phishing Emails

Phishing has become an increasingly sophisticated cyber threat as cybercriminals continue to evolve their tactics. There are concerns AI may be misused to create more sophisticated cyberattacks. Specifically, 72% of cybersecurity leaders expressed worries about the use of AI in email phishing attacks. Cybersecurity leaders within financial organizations are the most alert about AI's use to craft phishing campaigns -- 80% at those organizations showed concern.

These worries arise from the potential for AI to automate the phishing process, which can make attacks more efficient and scalable. Additionally, AI can create highly sophisticated and personalized phishing emails that are difficult to detect using traditional security systems. The use of deepfake technology to add video and voice capabilities to phishing attacks can make them even more dangerous.

Full results are available at https://atlasvpn.com/blog/survey-92-of-organizations-fell-victim-to-phishing-in-the-past-12-months.

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