--- title: "Why Mobile Phishing Attacks Are On The Rise And Strategies On How To Counter Them | Phish Protection" description: "Why Mobile Phishing Attacks Are On The Rise And Strategies On How To Counter Them: According to a recent report, 85% of all organizations have been targets." image: "https://phishprotection.com/og/blog/mobile-phishing-attacks-on-rise-and-strategies-to-counter.png" canonical: "https://phishprotection.com/blog/mobile-phishing-attacks-on-rise-and-strategies-to-counter/" --- Quick Answer According to a \[recent report\](https://securityboulevard.com/2020/12/staggering-phishing-statistics-in-2020/), \_\*\*85% of all organizations\*\* have been targets of phishing attacks\_. Like other phishing attacks, adversaries also use \[mobile phishing\](/blog/when-it-comes-to-phishing-attacks-today-its-all-about-mobile/) to trick users into sharing personal or critical organizational information. It is gradually becoming the most \_preferred mode of phishing by threat actors as there has been a significant increase in the use of mobile devices over the years\_. Share [ ](https://www.linkedin.com/sharing/share-offsite/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fphishprotection.com%2Fblog%2Fmobile-phishing-attacks-on-rise-and-strategies-to-counter%2F "Share on LinkedIn") [ ](https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?text=Why%20Mobile%20Phishing%20Attacks%20Are%20On%20The%20Rise%20And%20Strategies%20On%20How%20To%20Counter%20Them&url=https%3A%2F%2Fphishprotection.com%2Fblog%2Fmobile-phishing-attacks-on-rise-and-strategies-to-counter%2F "Share on X/Twitter") [ ](https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fphishprotection.com%2Fblog%2Fmobile-phishing-attacks-on-rise-and-strategies-to-counter%2F "Share on Facebook") [ ](https://reddit.com/submit?url=https%3A%2F%2Fphishprotection.com%2Fblog%2Fmobile-phishing-attacks-on-rise-and-strategies-to-counter%2F&title=Why%20Mobile%20Phishing%20Attacks%20Are%20On%20The%20Rise%20And%20Strategies%20On%20How%20To%20Counter%20Them "Share on Reddit") [ ](mailto:?subject=Why%20Mobile%20Phishing%20Attacks%20Are%20On%20The%20Rise%20And%20Strategies%20On%20How%20To%20Counter%20Them&body=Check out this article: https%3A%2F%2Fphishprotection.com%2Fblog%2Fmobile-phishing-attacks-on-rise-and-strategies-to-counter%2F "Share via Email") ![Phish Protection blog post image](https://media.mailhop.org/phishprotection/images/2021/08/office-365-phishing-protection-8472.jpg) According to a [recent report](https://securityboulevard.com/2020/12/staggering-phishing-statistics-in-2020/), _**85% of all organizations** have been targets of phishing attacks_. Like other phishing attacks, adversaries also use [mobile phishing](/blog/when-it-comes-to-phishing-attacks-today-its-all-about-mobile/) to trick users into sharing personal or critical organizational information. It is gradually becoming the most _preferred mode of phishing by threat actors as there has been a significant increase in the use of mobile devices over the years_. ### What Is Mobile Phishing? _The scope of phishing has extended past the emails_. Today, cyber adversaries have moved to techniques involving [mobile phones](/blog/why-more-and-more-phishing-attacks-are-going-after-mobile-users/) to lure the end-user into divulging some crucial information, such as credentials to their bank accounts, credit card details, and so on. They use various innovative techniques, such as Screen Overlays (replicating the login page of a mobile application to trick the user), [SMS Spoofing](/blog/understanding-phishing-types-phishing/) (sending phony messages to users, trying to get them to click on a **phishing link**), etc., which have proven highly lucrative for attackers. ![Office 365 phishing protection](https://media.mailhop.org/phishprotection/images/2021/08/office-365-phishing-protection-8472.jpg) ### Disturbing Statistics Involving (Mobile) Phishing Attacks > “Zero-day phishing URLs have an average lifespan of just 12 hours before they’re added to blocklists. During that window, traditional signature-based filters are blind. Our real-time behavioral analysis catches these threats by pattern, not by signature - which is how we detect attacks that no database has seen yet.” - **Adam Lundrigan**, CTO, DuoCircle The following [statistics highlight](https://securityboulevard.com/2020/12/staggering-phishing-statistics-in-2020/) the **severity of phishing** and why it has become crucial for organizations to take this threat seriously. - A staggering **97% of the users** are _not even able to recognize a phishing email_. - Adversaries launched _81% of the [mobile phishing attacks](https://cybernews.com/editorial/mobile-phishing-attacks-are-scary-and-on-the-rise-85-are-outside-of-email/) outside of email in 2020_. - Mobile messaging applications carry out about **17% of attacks**. - Social networking applications are responsible for about **16% of mobile attacks**. ### Reasons Why Mobile Phishing Attacks Are On The Rise _Mobile devices are indispensable in today’s times for both individuals and businesses alike_. However, another party seems to be having a field day, i.e., cyber adversaries, who take advantage of the following reasons and vulnerabilities to launch [mobile phishing attacks](/blog/how-something-meant-to-protect-your-mobile-device-is-being-used-to-phish-you/). - **\_Increasing Use Of Mobile Applications: \_**Every business wants to have an application for their product or service to make it easier for their customers to connect. The many results that pop up while searching for a particular application lead to confusion for the unaware user. _The user may end up installing the wrong app, which adversaries may have created to steal the user’s credentials_.**\_ \_** - **\_Lack Of Identity Indicators: \_**Adversaries employ unrecognizable malicious software such as keyloggers, making it difficult and, at times, impossible for regular consumers to identify and **report the vulnerability**. - **\_Lack Of Awareness: \_**_Users of mobile devices are so busy using them that they overlook the security aspect_. Such lack of [awareness](/products/phishing-awareness-training/), especially on the technical front, is one reason that has given rise to [mobile phishing attacks.](https://cybersecurity.att.com/blogs/security-essentials/mobile-phishing) - **\_Small Screen size: \_**As intriguing as it may sound, but the _mobile phone’s small screen size is another reason mobile phishing is rising_, as users cannot easily find out the vulnerabilities behind the applications. Because of the limited screen size, mobile users have difficulty distinguishing between the original or the edited logo of brands. Furthermore, browsers conceal the absolute URL of the requested web page because of the tiny screen size, which indirectly aids the attacker in tricking the users. **\_ \_** ### Strategies To Ensure Robust Mobile Phishing Protection Along with adopting **anti-phishing** and [anti-ransomware solutions](/products/malware-and-ransomware-protection/), organizations can keep the following points in mind to thwart the malicious attempts of threat actors. #### Using Latest Technologies And Methods Deploying the latest technologies like artificial intelligence, [DMARC](https://www.duocircle.com/resources/what-is-dmarc), [DKIM](https://www.duocircle.com/resources/what-is-dkim), robust encryption tools, effective **spam filters**, etc., are powerful ways to ensure the best [phishing protection](/) for mobile devices. #### Keeping Updated On The Changing Patterns _Developers regularly update applications to fix the underlying vulnerabilities and bugs._ Hence, users must check on these updates for their mobile devices as unpatched vulnerabilities are one of the prime ways through which threat actors are able to [infiltrate mobile devices](/blog/new-phishing-exploit-leaves-android-phones-vulnerable/). #### Ensuring Adequate Employee Training Organizations must include adequate [employee training](/products/phishing-awareness-training/) in their policies. They must train the employees on aspects such as how to counter messages received from an unknown sender, identify whether a grammatical mistake is a genuine one or it is a potential **phishing attack**, check the authenticity of messages that require urgent action, etc. #### Reporting Vulnerabilities _An adequately trained employee can most certainly identify phishing attempts_, such as identifying a counterfeit web address from the real one or a vulnerability in the system that could end up being a gateway for future **phishing attacks**. However, if there are no proper communication channels within the organization, there could be a delay in reporting the vulnerabilities. Therefore, _organizations must keep the communication channels as straightforward as possible for reporting vulnerabilities and phishing attacks_, allowing the security and development teams to take prompt action. #### Keeping Work-mobile Separate From Home-mobile As an employer, one must ensure that their employees avoid mixing personal from professional, such as using _mobile phones meant solely for business communication for their personal use, and vice-versa_. Threat actors look for opportunities like these; for instance, an employee may have mistakenly used their personal device to carry out business transactions on an unsecured WiFi. This can potentially give the attacker access to the organization’s various information assets. ![Spear phishing protection](https://media.mailhop.org/phishprotection/images/2021/08/spear-phishing-protection-8461.jpg) ### Final Words Threat actors of today are as innovative as the rapidly-growing technologies of today’s times. Besides standard [social engineering](/resources/protection-against-social-engineering-phishing-and-ransomware/) techniques, they have started to deploy more sophisticated methodologies, such as keylogging, screen overlay, SMS spoofing, etc., to trick the user into making a mistake. No business wants to have their digital assets fall into the wrong hands; however, there is so much one can do when an employee makes the careless mistake of clicking on a [phishing link](/blog/phishing-attacks-are-no-longer-just-malicious-links-in-emails/). Hence, along with adopting the right [phishing protection](/) measures for your organization, it is also _crucial to keep the employees adequately trained on identifying and **mitigating phishing attacks**_. ## Topics [ Phishing ](/tags/phishing/) ![Brad Slavin](https://media.mailhop.org/phishprotection/images/authors/brad-slavin.jpg) [ Brad Slavin ](/authors/brad-slavin/) General Manager Founder and General Manager of DuoCircle. Product strategy and commercial lead across DuoCircle's 2,000+ customer base. [LinkedIn Profile →](https://www.linkedin.com/in/bradslavin) ## Protect your inbox from phishing attacks Real-time email security with 60-day free trial. No credit card required. [Start Free Trial](https://portal.duocircle.com/cart.php?a=add&pid=101&brand=phishprotection) [View Pricing](/pricing/) ## Related Articles [ Foundational 5m 0ktapus, Okta Breach Helps Attackers Launch Sophisticated Supply Chain Attacks Sep 5, 2022 ](/blog/0ktapus-okta-breach-helps-attackers-launch-sophisticated-supply-chain-attacks/)[ Foundational 4m 13 Spear Phishing Attacks Examples To Justify Investment For Phishing Prevention Solutions In Your Organization Aug 1, 2019 ](/blog/13-spear-phishing-attacks-examples-to-justify-investment-for-phishing-prevention-solutions-in-your-organization/)[ Foundational 4m All 14 centers of Kettering Health were affected by a massive ransomware attack, Major outage in the Ohio medical center May 23, 2025 ](/blog/14-centers-of-kettering-health-were-affected-by-massive-ransomware-attack-in-ohio-medical-center/)[ Foundational 4m 2021 Phishing Trends You Need To Be Wary Of Aug 2, 2021 ](/blog/2021-phishing-trends-to-be-wary-of/) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Organization","name":"Phish Protection","url":"https://phishprotection.com","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://phishprotection.com/images/phishprotection-logo.png"},"description":"Advanced phishing protection and email security for businesses. Real-time threat defense, time-of-click protection, and seamless Office 365 integration.","parentOrganization":{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q138883901","name":"DuoCircle LLC","url":"https://www.duocircle.com","sameAs":["https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q138883901","https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/duocircle-llc","https://www.linkedin.com/company/duocircle","https://github.com/duocircle"],"subOrganization":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q138898167","name":"DMARC Report","url":"https://dmarcreport.com"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q138897474","name":"AutoSPF","url":"https://autospf.com"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q138897912","name":"Phish Protection","url":"https://www.phishprotection.com"}]},"sameAs":["https://www.linkedin.com/company/duocircle","https://x.com/duocirclellc","https://www.facebook.com/duocirclellc","https://github.com/duocircle"],"contactPoint":{"@type":"ContactPoint","contactType":"customer support","url":"https://phishprotection.com/contact/"},"knowsAbout":["Phishing Protection","Email Security","Anti-Phishing","Business Email Compromise","Ransomware Protection","Time of Click Protection","Office 365 Email Security","Advanced Threat Defense"]} ``` ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"WebSite","name":"Phish Protection","url":"https://phishprotection.com","description":"Advanced phishing protection and email security for businesses. Real-time threat defense, time-of-click protection, and seamless Office 365 integration.","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Phish Protection","url":"https://phishprotection.com","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://phishprotection.com/images/phishprotection-logo.png"},"description":"Advanced phishing protection and email security for businesses. Real-time threat defense, time-of-click protection, and seamless Office 365 integration.","parentOrganization":{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q138883901","name":"DuoCircle LLC","url":"https://www.duocircle.com","sameAs":["https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q138883901","https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/duocircle-llc","https://www.linkedin.com/company/duocircle","https://github.com/duocircle"],"subOrganization":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q138898167","name":"DMARC Report","url":"https://dmarcreport.com"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q138897474","name":"AutoSPF","url":"https://autospf.com"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q138897912","name":"Phish Protection","url":"https://www.phishprotection.com"}]}}} ``` ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BlogPosting","headline":"Why Mobile Phishing Attacks Are On The Rise And Strategies On How To Counter Them","description":"Why Mobile Phishing Attacks Are On The Rise And Strategies On How To Counter Them: According to a recent report, 85% of all organizations have been targets.","url":"https://phishprotection.com/blog/mobile-phishing-attacks-on-rise-and-strategies-to-counter/","datePublished":"2021-08-10T07:28:18.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-17T15:43:10.000Z","dateCreated":"2021-08-10T07:28:18.000Z","author":{"@type":"Person","@id":"https://phishprotection.com/authors/brad-slavin/#person","name":"Brad Slavin","url":"https://phishprotection.com/authors/brad-slavin/","jobTitle":"General Manager","description":"Brad Slavin is the founder and General Manager of DuoCircle, the company behind DMARC Report, AutoSPF, Phish Protection, and Mailhop. He founded DuoCircle in 2014 and has led the company's growth to 2,000+ customers across its email security product family. Brad's focus is product strategy, customer relationships, and the commercial and compliance side of email authentication (DPAs, SLAs, enterprise procurement).","image":"https://media.mailhop.org/phishprotection/images/authors/brad-slavin.jpg","knowsAbout":["Email Security Strategy","SaaS Product Management","Enterprise Compliance","Customer Success","Email Deliverability Business"],"worksFor":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Phish Protection","url":"https://phishprotection.com"},"sameAs":["https://www.linkedin.com/in/bradslavin"]},"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Phish Protection","url":"https://phishprotection.com","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://phishprotection.com/images/phishprotection-logo.png"},"description":"Advanced phishing protection and email security for businesses. Real-time threat defense, time-of-click protection, and seamless Office 365 integration.","parentOrganization":{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q138883901","name":"DuoCircle LLC","url":"https://www.duocircle.com","sameAs":["https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q138883901","https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/duocircle-llc","https://www.linkedin.com/company/duocircle","https://github.com/duocircle"],"subOrganization":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q138898167","name":"DMARC Report","url":"https://dmarcreport.com"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q138897474","name":"AutoSPF","url":"https://autospf.com"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q138897912","name":"Phish Protection","url":"https://www.phishprotection.com"}]},"sameAs":["https://www.linkedin.com/company/duocircle","https://x.com/duocirclellc","https://www.facebook.com/duocirclellc","https://github.com/duocircle"],"contactPoint":{"@type":"ContactPoint","contactType":"customer support","url":"https://phishprotection.com/contact/"},"knowsAbout":["Phishing Protection","Email Security","Anti-Phishing","Business Email Compromise","Ransomware Protection","Time of Click Protection","Office 365 Email Security","Advanced Threat Defense"]},"mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://phishprotection.com/blog/mobile-phishing-attacks-on-rise-and-strategies-to-counter/"},"articleSection":"foundational","keywords":"Phishing","wordCount":956,"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://media.mailhop.org/phishprotection/images/2021/08/office-365-phishing-protection-8472.jpg","caption":"Phish Protection blog post image","width":1200,"height":630},"speakable":{"@type":"SpeakableSpecification","cssSelector":[".answer-block","h1"]}} ``` ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https://phishprotection.com/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Blog","item":"https://phishprotection.com/blog/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Foundational","item":"https://phishprotection.com/foundational/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"name":"Why Mobile Phishing Attacks Are On The Rise And Strategies On How To Counter Them","item":"https://phishprotection.com/blog/mobile-phishing-attacks-on-rise-and-strategies-to-counter/"}]} ```