Email Security Trends in 2026

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Email security trends in 2026

What has changed, what has not and where the real risk now lives

By Cian Fitzpatrick| 16th January 2026

Email is still the front door

Every year, new predictions circulate that email will finally lose its place as the primary attack vector. And every year those predictions get it horribly wrong. Email security trends are funny like that!

Email remains the easiest, cheapest and most effective way for attackers to reach people inside organisations. It connects directly to human behaviour, trust and routine. This hasn’t changed in the last 12 months and it won’t change in the next 12 months. However, the complexity around how email based attacks are planned, executed and combined with other channels has changed and organisations need to be aware.

AI powered attacks are evolving faster than detection headlines suggest

Since ChatGPT became a mainstream tool, we have been flooded with headlines warning that generative AI is transforming cybercrime. These statistics are both alarming and real. Among other developments on this front, the underground market for deepfake tools has exploded in a very short time.

But when you look at detection data, it tells a more nuanced story.

Despite the rise in AI assisted attack tooling, detection rates for well established email security platforms have not dramatically changed. Traditional defences combined with language and behavioural analysis are still catching the majority of automated threats.

This matters because it reframes the conversation.

AI is not suddenly breaking email security. What it is doing is lowering the barrier for attackers who already understand social engineering. As before, it’s the psychology piece that gets people to click on a malware link.

Why sophisticated phishing is the real AI threat

The real risk from AI powered attacks does not live in bulk phishing campaigns.

It lives in carefully planned, highly targeted attacks that take time.

These attacks combine public online data (your company website and LinkedIn profile alone offers a treasure trove of valuable information), internal context, timing and emotional pressure. Email is only one part of the machine malicious actors craft to get you to click. Trust is built gradually. Pressure is applied deliberately. The message itself is designed to look completely harmless.

There may be no links, no attachments and no obvious indicators of compromise. In light of this scenario, it’s easy to see why technology alone struggles. The attack is designed to look like normal business behaviour.

AI helps attackers scale research and impersonation. It does not replace the human planning behind the attack.

Business Email Compromise remains dangerously effective

Business Email Compromise (BEC) continues to be one of the most financially damaging forms of cybercrime.

Businesses rely on people. Likewise, BEC works because it does not rely on malware. It relies on people.

BEC attacks often involve nothing more than a believable email asking someone to do something they do every day. This could be to approve a payment. Or to change bank details. Perhaps the receiver is being asked to share a document.

With no obvious, malicious payload, many traditional security controls are bypassed entirely. The success of these attacks highlights a truth that is uncomfortable but necessary. Email security is not “just” about stopping bad content. It is about understanding intent and context.

QR code phishing moves from novelty to nuisance

QR codes have not gone away.

Attackers use QR codes to bypass link scanning and encourage users to move the interaction to their mobile devices. This is very much in the interest of bad actors as security controls are often far weaker on these devices. Many organisations are responding by blocking emails containing QR codes entirely.

That approach reduces risk even if it introduces friction. The strategy is designed to get the conversation out of email as quickly as possible, then move it into places where there is little or no security oversight.

Email bombing isn’t always about disruption

Email bombing is no longer an occasional nuisance. We are seeing malicious actors use it more frequently. Furthermore, they’ve also increased the volume of messages involved.

In these attacks, thousands of emails are sent in a short period to overwhelm inboxes. This is obviously disruptive, but that’s not always the point. Often the goal of such an exercise is distraction.

While teams struggle to clear noise, a more targeted attack slips through unnoticed.

Compliance pressure changes the conversation

One of the big changes we’re seeing in 2026 is that email security is now more than a technical concern. There are increasingly more regulation requirements to adhere to as well.

Frameworks like DORA and NIS2 place explicit responsibility on organisations to demonstrate monitoring, response and governance.

This shifts the conversation inside organisations. Visibility, reporting and response matter as much as prevention.

Deepfakes and trust

Voice and video deepfakes are changing how trust works.

It hasn’t been safe to assume that a familiar voice or face means a real person for some time. A convincing email is often just the first step. A quick follow up call or video message is used to seal the deal.

This convergence of channels also makes verification harder and pressure more effective. For this reason, email security can no longer be viewed in isolation.

Why younger users are now the highest risk group

It’s also eye-opening to see who is falling victim to phishing.

Anyone of any age can be a victim. However, millennials and Gen Z are now more likely to report being scammed than older generations. This contradicts the assumption that digital natives are safer online.

There is a question of too much confidence here.

Many younger users believe they are too tech savvy to be fooled. Holding that braggadocio can have the opposite effect of lowering caution. And that’s when someone, no matter how many candles on their birthday cake, gets caught out!

How often you’re online matters too. Always being connected, juggling multiple platforms, side projects and accounts increases the attack surface dramatically.

Cognitive overload makes mistakes more likely.

What email security needs to focus on in 2026

The biggest mistake organisations can make in 2026 is chasing shiny threats while ignoring human reality. This has been true since the start of email and by default the start of the cyber crime industry. All these years and technology developments later, this reality hasn’t changed.

AI has scaled attacks, and we need to pay attention. However, the most dangerous attacks are still the ones that understand people, processes and pressure points.

To build an effective email security stack in your organisation, your firm needs visibility across behaviour not just content. Email security cannot sit on its own. It has to connect into wider security operations.

It’s not a foregone conclusion that malicious actors will win the email security war. At Topsec Cloud Solutions, we have plenty of case studies that show how we protect our clients. Contact us today if you’d like to learn more.