Mobile phishing is a bigger threat than email now - how to stay protected

Verizon's 2026 DBIR finds mobile-centric social engineering (texts, voice, pretexting) outpaces traditional email phishing, with higher click rates and growing use as an initial access method; exploitation of vulnerabilities now accounts for ~31% of breaches—surpassing stolen credentials—and only 26% of critical CISA-recorded vulnerabilities were fully patched in 2025, while widespread shadow AI and BYOD practices increase insider and data-exposure risk.