Page 73 - Cyber Defense eMagazine September 2025

Email Threats Are Evolving: Why Low-Tech, AI-Powered

Attacks Are Outpacing Traditional Defenses

By Usman Choudhary, Chief Product and Technology Officer, VIPRE Security Group

The cyber battlefield is shifting, and attackers are gaining the upper hand by taking a deceptively simple
approach. While many security professionals are on high alert for zero-day exploits and advanced
persistent threats, the most successful email attacks in 2025 are often low-tech in nature, exploiting
human behavior over system vulnerabilities. Our recent analysis at VIPRE Security Group, which
examined more than 1.45 billion emails across Q1 and Q2 of this year, reveals that cybercriminals are
increasingly using artificial intelligence to scale and personalize their campaigns, targeting people rather
than systems with alarming success.

The findings show a stark shift in email-based threats. Phishing, malware delivery, and business email
compromise (BEC) attacks are evolving beyond link-based or easily detected vectors. Instead, they now
rely on hyper-personalized deception and social engineering techniques that legacy security tools
struggle to identify.

Cyber Defense eMagazine – September 2025 Edition 73
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