This report analyzes how phishing has evolved from mass email campaigns into highly targeted, AI-assisted attacks that accelerate initial compromise. Although phishing volume declined, attackers increased effectiveness by using AI-generated websites, realistic lures, adversary-in-the-middle techniques, encrypted delivery, and cloud-hosted infrastructure to steal credentials and bypass traditional defenses. Drawing on telemetry from the Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange, the report examines regional and industry trends, reconnaissance activity, credential stuffing, and multiple real-world case studies. It concludes with practical recommendations for reducing attack surfaces through Zero Trust, TLS inspection, stronger identity protection, phishing-resistant authentication, deception technologies,

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