Hackers are valuing quality over quantity, using AI to upgrade their phishing attacks rather than multiplying them.
June 12, 2026
Phishing attacks are down across most industries, yet researchers argue the phishing threat is higher today than ever, as the fewer attacks that are perpetrated are becoming more dangerous.
In its 2026 annual phishing report, Zscaler researchers framed the trend not as a drop but as a "rebalancing" — threat actors moving from wide spray-and-pray campaigns to more focused attacks with higher conversion rates.
You'd be forgiven if you expected phishing attacks to rise with the widespread adoption of modern artificial intelligence (AI) tools.
