Phishing Scams Will Be Harder to Spot in 2025
Phishing emails have been a staple of cybercrime for decades.
They’re usually the starting point for a broader infiltration at small and midsize businesses (SMBs), tricking employees into revealing sensitive information that can be used to gain access to larger systems and networks that house critical or confidential data.
However, the incorporation of artificial intelligence (AI) into proven phishing tactics has revolutionized the effectiveness of these email scams.
Though concrete evidence has been sparse, we know that cyber criminals are already using AI to enhance their attacks — and this trend will likely continue in 2025, making phishing emails easier to generate and much more difficult to detect.
Long gone are the familiar signs of phishing
Traditional phishing attempts were often easily spotted due to poor grammar, generic templates, and easily detectable scams. AI has upleveled the sophistication of these emails by creating highly personalized, grammatically flawless, and contextually relevant messages at scale:
Personalization: AI can scrape your business’ social media profiles, corporate websites, and publicly available data to create emails tailored to specific individuals. An AI-generated phishing email might reference recent company news, an employee’s LinkedIn post, or even mimic the tone and writing style of a trusted colleague.
Adaptation: AI-powered phishing campaigns can change based on the recipient's responses or lack thereof. The language and tactics of emails that are successful can be used widely, while ones that perform poorly are quickly shut down in search of better results.
These capabilities make AI-driven phishing emails harder to identify and exponentially increase their success rate, posing a significant threat to SMBs with limited resources to combat such advanced attacks.
AI has upleveled the sophistication of phishing emails by creating highly personalized, grammatically flawless, and contextually relevant messages at scale.
How SMBs can prepare for AI-enabled phishing attacks
1. Enable multi-factor authentication (MFA)
MFA is a process that requires two or more forms of verification to access a system, application, or account. Typically, it involves three categories of authentication factors: something you know (password), something you have (physical device), or something you are (fingerprints).
For example, logging into an account might require both entering a password and verifying a code sent to your phone. By requiring multiple layers of verification, MFA significantly reduces the risk of unauthorized access, even if one factor is compromised.
2. Implement authentication protocols
Authentication protocols help prevent email spoofing and ensure only authorized senders are using your business' domain. There are three vital protocols that your business should implement:
Sender Policy Framework (SPF) is like a guest list for email servers. It helps ensure that only authorized servers can send emails on behalf of your domain.
DomainKeys Identified Mail (DKIM) adds a digital signature to your emails and ensures that the email hasn’t been tampered with during transit.
Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting, and Conformance (DMARC) ties SPF and DKIM together to give you control over how these emails are handled.
Most email services provide SPF, DKIM, and DMARC setup options for free as part of their email hosting plans. However, you may need to configure them manually based on your business’ needs.
3. Promote security awareness training
Security awareness training equips employees with the knowledge and skills to identify and mitigate potential threats. In fact, training programs can reduce cyber risks by up to 60% in the first 12 months.
Looking for the following signs can help your business identify phishing emails:
Unknown or misspelled sender addresses
Emails containing unexpected links or attachments
Different “reply to” email address than sender email address
Emails that ask you to reply with potentially sensitive information
Focusing on current cyber risks can help your employees stay informed about timely and relevant risks, like phishing and social engineering. You can even conduct phishing simulations to help ensure your team has retained its lessons, while building their confidence in spotting and avoiding phishing attempts.
Security awareness training can reduce cyber risks by up to 60% in the first 12 months.
4. Encourage proactive reporting
Encouraging your employees to report suspicious emails creates a system where potential threats can be analyzed and mitigated by IT or security teams. When flagged early, harmful emails can be blocked across the network before they cause damage and improve your technology defenses in multiple ways:
Promoting awareness and reporting of suspicious emails improves cybersecurity for small businesses by reducing the risk of phishing attacks, enhancing employee vigilance, and enabling early threat detection. A security-conscious culture that embraces proactive reporting can both uplift employee morale and strengthen your overall cybersecurity posture.
Level up your security culture in 2025
Don’t wait until after your team gets duped by a phishing email to make cybersecurity a priority.
Coalition Security Awareness Training provides SMBs with cybersecurity training and process automation that makes it easy for IT teams to roll out security training, monitor performance, and track compliance.
Don’t wait for a breach to make cybersecurity a priority. To learn more about Coalition Security™, visit coalitioninc.com/security or click here to book a consultation with our team.
