Phishing works because it exploits people, not technology. Security systems are built to block suspicious code and detect intrusions, but people are far easier to influence. Employees are conditioned to trust familiar names, respond quickly to requests from authority and act fast when something feels urgent. Attackers take advantage of these instincts, knowing that even the best defenses can be bypassed if a single person makes the wrong move.
According to Verizon’s 2025 Data Breach Investigations Report,60% of breaches involved the human element, with credential abuse and phishing among the leading causes. This heavy reliance on human error is what makes phishing a classic form of social engineering.
How does social engineering tie in?
Social engineering is a broad tactic that manipulates human behavior to gain access or information. Instead of breaking through systems, attackers persuade people to click a link, share a password or open what looks like a normal file. The goal is to trick someone into giving attackers the entry point they need to steal data, move deeper into networks or carry out financial fraud.
What’s the difference between phishing and social engineering?
Phishing is a specific form of social engineering. It uses digital messages — email, text or social media — to create trust or urgency and trick people into acting quickly. What sets phishing apart is the delivery method. Social engineering as a whole can take many shapes, from phone scams to in-person manipulation, while phishing focuses on digital communication as the channel of deception.
How is social engineering used in phishing attacks?
Most employees are cooperative; they tend to respect instructions that appear to come from authority figures, and they feel pressure when a message stresses urgency. Attackers design their messages to trigger those instincts — an urgent password reset, a request from the CEO or a warning that an account will be suspended.
When these cues appear in an email, a text or even a social media message, people often react before they stop to question the source. That quick reaction is exactly what attackers count on. By weaving social engineering into digital communication, phishing turns everyday interactions into high-risk moments that can disrupt operations and expose sensitive data.
Types of phishing attacks
Phishing is not one-size-fits-all. Attackers use different tactics depending on their goals, and AI is making them harder to detect. IBM’s Cost of a Data Breach Report 2025 found that 16% of breaches involved AI, most often in phishing and deepfake impersonation. From fake websites to AI-generated deepfakes and malicious code, these attacks are evolving faster than defenses can respond.
With phishing evolving so quickly, it’s important to understand the most common attack types, including:
Business email compromise (BEC)
Criminals hack or spoof business email accounts to impersonate executives or vendors. They request urgent payments or sensitive data, often copying writing styles with AI. For example, an employee might receive what looks like an urgent wire transfer request from their CFO. IBM’s Cost of a Data Breach Report also shows how powerful this has become — generative AI now cuts phishing email creation time down from 16 hours to just five minutes.
Spear phishing
Targeted emails crafted with personal or business details to trick specific individuals. Generative AI makes these campaigns easy to scale. Example: Fake project document link captures employee credentials.
Angler phishing
Attackers pose as customer support on social media to lure users into sharing logins. AI-generated profiles make accounts look real. Example: A “support agent” sends a fake link to resolve a complaint.
Brand impersonation
Emails mimic trusted companies with lookalike domains or fake sites. Example: A fake company login page steals credentials.
Credential phishing
Designed to steal usernames and passwords, often combined with BEC or brand impersonation. Example: A bogus invoice email redirects to a fake login portal.
Smishing
SMS texts that carry malicious links or prompts. Example: A fake bank alert urges users to secure their accounts.
Quishing (QR code phishing)
Fraudulent QR codes lead to spoofed sites or malware. Example: An email QR code redirects to a fake login page.
How Kaseya 365 Endpoint protects against phishing
Kaseya 365 Endpoint is built to give IT teams a smarter, more reliable way to block phishing-driven attacks. Unlike standalone tools, it combines security, automation and monitoring in one subscription, giving you the visibility and protection you need at the endpoint level.
Here’s how it helps:
- Real-time threat detection and blocking: Malicious files and links are automatically analyzed and stopped before they reach end users, reducing reliance on manual detection.
- Behavioral analysis to catch evolving threats: AI-powered monitoring doesn’t just look for known signatures — it recognizes suspicious behavior, making it effective against new phishing tactics, including AI-generated attacks.
- Integrated endpoint security: Antivirus, EDR and patch management work together under one platform, closing the gaps that fragmented tools leave open.
- Automation built in: Kaseya 365 Endpoint automates updates, patches and responses, saving IT teams time and ensuring systems stay protected without constant oversight.
- Visibility and reporting: Admins can see where phishing attempts are happening, which endpoints were targeted and how the system neutralized threats, helping to strengthen defenses over time.
- Reliable backup: Critical data is automatically protected and recoverable, so even if an attack slips through, businesses can restore systems quickly and avoid prolonged downtime.
- Pro users gain MDR services: MDR adds a 24/7 security team that hunts for advanced threats, ensuring faster detection and expert response if phishing leads to an intrusion.
Keep your team safe from phishing
Phishing will always target human behavior. With Kaseya 365 Endpoint, you have a solution designed to intercept those attacks before they succeed — so your team can focus on growing the business, not recovering from breaches. To see the difference it can make, book a demo of Kaseya 365 Endpoint today.
