Phishing Landscape 2025: Data, Trends, and Prevention Strategies

Phishing is one of the oldest and most effective forms of cybercrime, yet it continues to advance faster than most organizations can defend against.

Phishing begins with a single act of imitation, a fake website, login page, or message made to look authentic enough to fool even a cautious user. The purpose is simple: to convince someone to hand over information that should never be shared, like passwords, financial details, or account credentials, directly into the hands of an attacker.

According to Interisle Consulting Group’s Phishing Landscape 2025 report, Phishing continues to surge, setting new records for both the number of incidents and economic damage. Phishing remains the single most prevalent and effective form of cyberattack.

The Scale of the Threat

• Nearly 2 million unique phishing attacks were detected globally between May 2024 and April 2025, up by over 60,000 attacks compared to last year.
• Over 1.5 million domains were reported for phishing, a 38% rise from last year.
• 77% of those domains were maliciously registered, created with the intent to defraud.
• Over half of all phishing attacks reported worldwide were hosted with US-based companies.

Behind these numbers lies staggering impact: the FBI reported $16.6 billion in direct financial losses to cybercrime in 2024, a 33% rise from 2023. Globally, losses could reach $1.2–$1.5 trillion in 2025, including indirect costs like downtime and reputational damage.

Phishing directly targets trust, and trust is the core of every brand. For brands, it’s a reminder that phishing doesn’t just happen to “someone else.” Any domain with an audience, a product, or a reputation can become a target.

How you can fight back:

1. Take ownership of your domain portfolio
Start by auditing all registered domains, subdomains, and related assets across markets and regions. Identify vulnerabilities such as expired or unmanaged domains that could be exploited for impersonation. Centralized oversight allows you to act decisively and prevent abuse before it spreads.

2. Monitor for emerging threats and lookalike domains
Attackers often move fast, registering deceptive domains that mirror legitimate ones within hours of a campaign launch. Implement continuous monitoring across top-level domains to detect copycat sites, phishing pages, and unauthorized use of your brand identity. Early detection is the most effective defence against reputational damage.

3. Strengthen authentication and trust signals
Enhance your organisation’s credibility and resilience through domain and email authentication protocols such as DMARC, SPF, and DKIM. These standards protect your customers from spoofed communications and help prevent brand impersonation at scale.

4. Foster a culture of digital awareness
Empower your teams with training to recognize suspicious domains, fraudulent content, and unauthorized brand use. When awareness becomes part of company culture, every employee contributes to your brand protection.

5. Establish a rapid response and escalation framework
In the event of a phishing or impersonation incident, speed matters.
Define clear response procedures for identifying, reporting, and removing malicious domains. Coordinate with your registrar, legal counsel, and external partners to minimize exposure and restore trust quickly.

6. Partner with experts in digital brand protection
Collaborate with specialists who combine domain intelligence, monitoring technology, and enforcement expertise. A trusted partner can help you foresee threats, streamline remediation, and protect your reputation.

If It Happens Anyway
If you discover a phishing attempt or brand impersonation targeting your company:

1. Verify and document.
   Check the scope and gather evidence.
2. Act quickly.
   Contact your registrar or hosting provider. If you work with a brand protection partner, they can often coordinate the takedown.
3. Communicate transparently.
   Let customers know through official channels. Transparency builds trust, even during an incident.
4. Review and strengthen.
   After the incident, review what happened and adjust your processes accordingly.

At Dotkeeper, we often assist clients in managing this process, from identifying the threat to coordinating takedowns and reinforcing their protection strategy.

The Bottom Line

Phishing is no longer a random attack vector, it’s a scalable business model.
Criminals go where defences are weakest, exploiting low-cost registrations and slow response systems, the smartest defence is proactive work, and our experts can help you:

– Audit your current domain and subdomain portfolio
– Identify and remove brand impersonations or lookalike domains
– Implement proactive monitoring and domain security protocols

Book a security consultation with one of our experts today!