KnowBe4: Spear-Phishing Jumps 41% as Mass Attacks Decline
Berlin – November 06, 2026 -- Spear-phishing rose 41% as cybercriminals shifted from mass campaigns to targeted attacks, according to Volume 8 of KnowBe4's Phishing Threat Trends Report.
Business email compromise accounts for 79% of attacks in Germany
Dr. Martin J. Krämer, CISO Advisor DACH at KnowBe4, said business email compromise (BEC) dominates phishing in Germany at 79% of all attacks. That concentration crowds out nearly every other attack vector. Classic brand impersonation has fallen to 6% in Germany.
Mobile-focused scams fall 47% as attackers abandon spray-and-pray tactics
Indiscriminate campaigns declined sharply. Mobile-focused scam attempts dropped 47%, advance-fee fraud fell 31% and missed-message lures decreased 11%.