Email threat landscape: Q1 2026 trends and insights
During the first quarter of 2026, email-based threats remained pervasive and dynamic. Microsoft Threat Intelligence recorded roughly 8.3 billion phishing messages across January–March, with monthly volumes edging down from about 2.9 billion in January to 2.6 billion in March. While total volume showed only slight decline, the quarter revealed important shifts in delivery mechanisms and attacker behavior: link-based attacks dominated, QR code phishing accelerated rapidly, CAPTCHA-gated campaigns resurged with new…