phishing Attacks & Data Breaches

71 data breaches have involved phishing as the primary attack method or incident type. Phishing attacks use deceptive communications—typically email but also SMS, voice calls, or social media—to trick users into revealing credentials, installing malware, or transferring funds.

Impact: Successful phishing leads to account compromise, data theft, wire fraud, and ransomware deployment. Business email compromise (BEC) attacks cost organizations billions annually.

Prevention: Multi-factor authentication, email security gateways, security awareness training, and DMARC/DKIM email authentication reduce phishing risk.

Understanding how phishing attacks occur helps security teams prioritize defenses and incident response capabilities. Compare with other attack types like Ransomware, Phishing, or Supply Chain attacks. View the latest breaches across all incident types.