The Cost of Phishing Attacks & How to Prevent Them

Phishing attacks remain one of the most prevalent and costly cyber threats to businesses today. The financial impact of a phishing attack can be devastating, with costs ranging from direct financial losses to long-term reputational damage. As a partner, this growing threat presents an opportunity to help clients mitigate risks by offering comprehensive, cloud-based email security solutions like the MailGuard suite.

Let’s examine the real cost of phishing attacks and explore how multi-layered security strategies can safeguard your clients' businesses from this persistent threat.

The True Cost of Phishing Attacks

Phishing attacks often begin with a simple email. However, the aftermath can be complex and costly. Some of the major financial impacts businesses face as a result of phishing attacks, are:

Phishing attacks frequently target sensitive information such as financial credentials, leading to unauthorized transfers, fraudulent payments, and theft of data and funds. SMBs may have less robust financial and security controls, making them particularly vulnerable, and the cost of recovering from such incidents can be even more significant.

Example: A single phishing email tricking an employee into divulging sensitive credentials may lead to a breach of company data which may result in thousands—or even millions—in lost funds. According to the IBM Cost of Data Breach Report 2024, the global average cost of a data breach jumped to USD 4.88 million, up 10% on the previous year. And the report found that ‘for the 2nd year in a row, phishing and stolen or compromised credentials were the 2 most prevalent attack vectors. Both also ranked among the top 4 costliest incident types.’

Source: IBM Cost of Data Breach Report 2024

2. Operational Disruptions

Once a phishing attack has infiltrated a business’s systems, it can cause widespread disruptions, especially if malware or ransomware is involved. These attacks often shut down critical operations, leading to lost productivity, delays in service delivery, and missed revenue opportunities.

Example: A business hit by a ransomware attack originating from a phishing email may need to halt operations for days or even weeks while systems are restored, incurring substantial downtime costs. Early identification and remediation of threats is critical, ideally to block attackers and protect the organisation, but also early response times have a meaningful impact on the cost of the attack to the organisation. In the case of ransomware, for example, where the breach is disclosed by the attacker, the cost of a data breach is even higher with a global average of USD 5.53 million.

Source: IBM Cost of Data Breach Report 2024

3. Legal and Compliance Costs

In the event of a data breach caused by phishing, businesses may face regulatory fines for non-compliance with data protection laws such as GDPR or CCPA. Additionally, they could be liable for lawsuits if customers' personal information is compromised.

Example: SMBs handling sensitive customer data could be fined or face legal action if they fail to protect that information from phishing-related breaches. And larger organisations and government bodies are also on notice. In the UK, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) imposed a provisional £6.09m ($7.73m) fine on Advanced Computer Software Group, a provider of IT and software services to the NHS and other healthcare organisations, for a breach that compromised the personal information of individuals, including sensitive health data. The ICO found the company had been negligent in its duty to patients when a ransomware attack succeeded in gaining access to systems via an account that was not protected with multi-factor authentication (MFA).

Image under license courtesy Adobe Stock

4. Reputational Damage

Perhaps the hardest cost to quantify is the reputational damage that follows a phishing attack. Customers, partners, and stakeholders may lose trust in a business’s ability to protect sensitive information, leading to lost business opportunities and long-term revenue declines.

Example: After a high-profile phishing breach, a business may find it challenging to win new contracts or retain existing customers due to concerns over security practices. 70% of businesses say that the level of business disruption following an attack was significant or very significant.

Source: IBM Cost of Data Breach Report 2024

5. Recovery Costs

Even after the immediate damage has been dealt with, the cost of recovery can be substantial. Businesses may need to invest in new IT systems, employee training, forensic investigations, and enhanced security measures to prevent future attacks.

Example: The cost of rebuilding systems, restoring data, and implementing post-attack security measures can easily exceed the original losses caused by the phishing attack. 63% of businesses experience an increase in the cost of providing their goods and services after an attack, with most passing those costs onto customers, further eroding customer trust and loyalty.

Source: IBM Cost of Data Breach Report 2024

Preventing Phishing Attacks with Cloud Email Security

Phishing attacks are evolving, and traditional security measures are no longer enough to protect against them. The good news is that as a partner you can help your clients by implementing specialist cloud-based email security solutions like MailGuard to dramatically reduce the risk of falling victim to phishing attempts, and archiving and continuity solutions like SafeGuard and MailGuard Live to mitigate any incidents.

Here’s how a multi-layered security approach can help:

A specialist cloud-based email security solution like MailGuard offers real-time scanning of emails to detect malicious links, attachments, and suspicious behavior, up to 48 hours faster than other vendor solutions. It can identify even the most sophisticated zero-day phishing attempts before they reach employee inboxes.

How You Can Help:

Recommend MailGuard to scan inbound and outbound emails, leveraging 23+ years of threat protection intelligence to block phishing attacks in real time.

No single security measure is foolproof. A multi-layered approach ensures that if one defense fails, others will catch the threat. This could include anti-phishing technology, malware detection, data loss prevention, and quarantining of suspicious emails and attachments. Microsoft CEO & Executive Chairman, Satya Nadella, referred to the need for a defense-in-depth approach to protect Microsoft 365 customers, and praised MailGuard as the ‘innovation that we want to see.’

How You Can Help:

Provide comprehensive solutions that integrate multiple layers of protection—email filtering, firewalls, endpoint security, and user authentication—to ensure all attack vectors are covered.

Even with the best security technology, human error remains one of the top causes of successful phishing attacks. Regular training and simulated phishing exercises can help employees recognize suspicious emails and avoid falling into traps.

How You Can Help:

Encourage your clients to invest in ongoing employee cybersecurity training. Consider offering training services as part of your security packages to help reinforce best practices for spotting phishing emails. Refer them to the MailGuard blog and share threat posts to raise awareness of what they should be looking out for.

Specialist cloud-based email security solutions like MailGuard include advanced monitoring and threat intelligence, allowing businesses to detect phishing attempts in real time and respond swiftly. Early detection helps mitigate the damage before it escalates.

How You Can Help:

Offer managed email security services like MailGuard that include 24/7 monitoring and rapid incident response, providing peace of mind to your team and clients.

In the event that a phishing attack does result in a breach or ransomware incident, having a robust backup and recovery plan in place can make all the difference. Businesses that can quickly restore their data without paying a ransom are better positioned to recover.

How You Can Help:

Ensure your clients have a reliable backup and recovery strategy in place, and integrate it with their overall cybersecurity defenses. Cloud backup solutions provide both convenience and added security. Talk to your Account Manager about adding SafeGuard and MailGuard Live for archiving and email continuity.

Conclusion: Phishing Prevention as a Business Imperative

Phishing attacks are a constant threat, and the cost to businesses continues to rise as cybercriminals develop more advanced and cunning tactics. For businesses, the financial impact can be crippling, from direct financial losses to long-term reputational harm.

As a partner, you are in a unique position to help your clients mitigate these risks. By offering specialist cloud-based email security solutions like MailGuard, MailGuard Live and SafeGuard, that provide advanced threat detection, real-time monitoring, and a multi-layered defense strategy, to protect your clients from phishing attacks and build lasting trust.

In today’s threat landscape, investing in a robust email security posture is no longer optional—it’s a business imperative. Help your clients safeguard their operations, finances, and reputation by becoming their go-to partner for comprehensive email cybersecurity solutions.

Keeping Businesses Safe and Secure

Prevention is always better than a cure, and one of the best defences is to encourage businesses to proactively boost their company’s cyber resilience levels to avoid threats landing in inboxes in the first place. The fact that a staggering 94% of malware attacks are delivered by email, makes email an extremely important vector for businesses to fortify.

No one vendor can stop all email threats, so it’s crucial to remind customers that if they are using Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace, they should also have a third-party email security specialist in place to mitigate their risk. For example, using a specialist third-party cloud email solution like MailGuard.   

MailGuard provides a range of solutions to keep businesses safe, from email filtering to email continuity and archiving solutions. Speak to your customers today to ensure they’re prepared and get in touch with our team to discuss fortifying your customer’s cyber resilience.

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