When Bad Actors Use Reality Against Us
KnowBe4, Thursday, October 29th, 2026
KnowBe4's 8th Phishing Threat Trends Report finds phishing volume up 29.8% as attackers borrow trusted infrastructure instead of faking it.
Phishing volume rose 29.8% in 2026 versus 2025, with one dangerous email in every 733 received.
Mass phishing is fading (mobile-focused attacks down 47.3%, 419 scams down 31.3%) while spear phishing is up 41.1%, scouting up 33.7% and company impersonation up 28%.
Attackers route campaigns through hyperscalers, harvest API keys from trusted platforms and steal permissions via device-code logins and OAuth consent, so password resets do not end compromise.
In Q3 2026, 25.6% of link-bearing attacks had MFA-bypass capability, and links made up 66.2% of payloads against 19.1% for attachments.