Social engineering is an interesting concept, no matter how you look at it. These days, however, you’d come across this term when you talk about Internet security and how people fall victim to threats that seem too obvious at first. In this article, we have compiled some interesting social engineering statistics, talking about sub-areas such as malware, AI-driven social engineering, and the impact of these attacks. We will cover some basics first, though.
What is Social Engineering?
In the world of information security, social engineering refers to the act of using psychological manipulation to extract sensitive information from an individual or a group of individuals. Social engineering may employ one or a combination of techniques to compel the victim to divulge sensitive information, such as passwords and payment details. Additionally, threat actors may employ social engineering tactics to gain unauthorized access to a device or system. Social engineering attacks differ from conventional attacks in several ways.
While conventional cyberattacks primarily target computers and systems, social engineering attacks focus on manipulating humans. Whereas the former exploits vulnerabilities or bugs in a system, social engineering focuses on human vulnerabilities through aspects such as trust, familiarity, bias, and ignorance. For instance, instead of trying to brute-force a password, social engineering attacks manipulate a user into submitting their credentials to an illegitimate form/website.
As mentioned earlier, social engineering attacks continue to rise, targeting individuals and enterprises alike. Understanding how these attacks work and the associated numbers will help you dedicate the right amount of resources to protecting your digital information.
Top Social Engineering Statistics
Here are some key statistics, trends, and facts on social engineering attacks.
- Human error has been the most common reason for data breaches and other cybersecurity incidents for some time now. In 2026, 68% of cybersecurity attacks were attributed to some form of human error, which includes social engineering attacks.
- Although the types of social engineering attacks continue to diversify, phishing remains the most common type. Approximately 65% of all reported social engineering attacks fall under the phishing category.
- There are also sub-varieties of phishing, such as spear phishing, which targets individuals rather than groups. Threat actors continue to develop techniques that optimize phishing attacks to target smaller groups, thereby increasing their effectiveness.
- Compared to previous years, 2026 saw a noticeable increase in social engineering attacks targeting enterprise customers. 45% of businesses reported social engineering attack incidents in the year.
- The last few years have seen the rise of Smishing, which uses SMS messages to lure people. These attacks also utilize mobile webpages to collect information from victims.
- More social engineering threats are now leveraging the trust customers have in specific brands. By doing so, the threat actor pretends to be offering a legitimate product/service from the said brand.
- Studies also show that social engineering attacks nowadays rely more on URLs and QR codes than on email messages and attachments. These methods also appear to have a high success rate, as indicated by the rising number of incidents.
- Attacks targeting enterprises, such as Business Email Compromise (BEC) and payroll platforms, remain the most intense in terms of monetary loss.
- Studies also underline that 89% of social engineering attacks are financially motivated. However, one can also find other crimes related to this issue.
- Once the human factor is compromised, many social engineering attacks utilize malware, such as ransomware, to gain and maintain access to a host device.
Malware and Ransomware Statistics
Malware, especially ransomware, remains a common channel for social engineering attacks:
- Although malware has been used to affect systems, its intensity and frequency have increased in recent years, and social engineering attacks are now widely employed for this purpose.
- According to the Digital Defense Report from Microsoft, ransomware attacks accounted for 50% of all global attacks in recent years.
- Studies have also indicated an increasing proportion of ransomware attacks, with 2026 seeing 59% of businesses facing at least one ransomware attack.
- According to Verizon, a median amount of $46,000 was paid to the threat actor for every ransomware attack in 2026.
- Even when studies have proven otherwise, nearly half of the companies affected by a ransomware attack have paid the ransom, highlighting the complexity of these attacks.
- In addition to employing social engineering attack methods, ransomware attacks have also become increasingly sophisticated. Many businesses have acknowledged that ransomware attacks have impacted both their backup storage and primary storage.
- In the last three years, however, companies have made it a point not to pay the ransom. While 16.3% of the companies attacked paid the ransom in 2026, the number came down to 13% in 2026.
- Cybersecurity experts and the enterprise scene now consider cybersecurity as the most dangerous threat to security and privacy.
- Studies have revealed that threat actors primarily use email and phishing to deliver the payload to a victim’s device. Other common reasons include the lack of awareness and uninformed security practices.
- Desktop sharing software is also used to set up ransomware attacks and compromise devices.
Phishing Statistics
Here are some interesting numbers and trends on phishing, the most common social engineering attack:
- According to 2026 statistics, the average cost of a phishing attack was $4.88 million. It is worth noting that phishing attacks are designed to carry a variety of payloads, including ransomware.
- Threat actors are now using phishing and pretexting as the most common way to access SMBs and other entities. The lack of enterprise security in these organizations has led to increased efficiency of such attacks.
- A median time of 60 seconds is recorded as the time it takes for a user to fall victim to an account. It is worth noting that threat actors are continually improving their ability to mimic legitimate websites.
- Spear phishing is becoming as popular as conventional phishing these days. Unlike general phishing, spear phishing targets a specific individual or group and customizes the content according to their specific needs.
- Microsoft, DHL, Google, DocuSign, Dropbox, Xerox, and WeTransfer are some brands that phishing attacks often impersonate in order to collect credentials/information from victims.
- According to a survey by Barracuda, a CEO receives around 57 targeted phishing emails per year, with the total number of attacks being higher.
- Smishing, which stands for SMS phishing, is now the most common threat spread using mobile devices, and it continues to cause victims to lose their data and money.
- Voice and video-based phishing attacks have increased drastically since 2026, and the rise of AI tools is aiding threat actors in this regard.
- More phishing attacks are now using the pretexting technique. It works by creating a scenario that prompts the customer to access the page or email containing the payload.
- Over 50% of the phishing attacks tend to target privileged accounts that can make system-wide changes. They also try to impersonate internal individuals.
AI-Driven Social Engineering Statistics
Threat actors and security advisors are both using AI for social engineering. Here are some pointers:
- 91% of businesses have faced AI-enabled email attacks in the previous month, indicating the crucial frequency of these attacks.
- Over 50% of security professionals are worried that AI tools make their companies more vulnerable to ransomware attacks.
- At the same time, 1 out of 2 security leaders has admitted to using AI to handle sensitive data from their companies. This data may be fed to AI models or other platforms.
- The increasing use of AI for developing threats has led to a shift in how comprehensive security operates in enterprise spaces.
- In 2026, a 140% increase in browser-based phishing attacks was reported. The ease of access to AI platforms enables attackers to create more believable websites and emails.
Cost and Impact of Social Engineering Attacks
Like other security incidents, social engineering attacks leave a lasting impact on all aspects of finance and beyond.
- Multiple estimates indicate that a typical social engineering attack will cost the company an average of $130,000. Depending on the case, this amount may include the costs of fraud, remediation, and the direct loss.
- Many studies state that over $1 trillion has been lost in the past year alone, and the numbers are expected to rise as social engineering attacks become more common.
- The number of social engineering attacks targeting businesses is also significant, with an average company facing approximately 700 threats.
- It is estimated that 8 out of 10 companies have faced at least one data breach issue affecting overall security.
- The impact of social engineering attacks is most intense on small businesses, 60% of which tend to close their doors after a data breach.
Business Email Compromise (BEC) Statistics
As social engineering attacks target enterprise customers, cases of Business Email Compromise also rise.
- According to the complaints the FBI receives, a total of $8.5 billion was lost by companies between 2022 and 2026 due to BEC attacks.
- A single successful BEC attack is expected to cost a company an average of $1,25,000 to $1,37,000.
- Most successful BEC attacks utilize phishing as the initial channel for the first payload. In the next steps, more resources are built into the system.
- AI-enhanced phishing has been a factor contributing to the rise and success of BEC attacks. Security experts anticipate that these numbers will continue to rise over the next decade.
- Because these attacks often utilize phishing tactics, companies with less robust security protocols are most vulnerable to business email compromise (BEC) attacks.
- Sectors such as finance, manufacturing, retail, utilities, and real estate are the most targeted by BEC threat actors.
Wrapping Up
We believe our coverage of social engineering statistics and trends helped you understand the severity of the issue at hand. While antivirus programs and anti-spam extensions can help, being aware of the threat is the first step, especially when threat actors continue to become more sophisticated. As businesses, there is no room for compromise when it comes to anti-social engineering protection!
