Commissioned by IRONSCALES
Published June 2026
Executive summary
Three years ago, we put a price on phishing in a research report for IRONSCALES. Then ChatGPT launched.
Based on survey data from 128 IT and security professionals at mid-to-large organizations, this report tracks how the phishing burden has changed since 2022, what AI has done to both sides of the fight, and what it will cost you if defenses don’t keep pace.
Key Findings:
- Phishing Now Costs $51,948 Per Analyst. That’s a 13.6% jump since 2022. The full breakdown by role is in the report.
- The AI Paradox Hit Defenders Hard. Per-incident handling got faster. Aggregate hours got worse. The report explains why.
- Phishing Concern Has Climbed (even further). Half of organizations now rate phishing as a high or extreme threat. In 2022, it was one third.
- Deepfakes Have Moved from Theoretical to Disruptive. 62.5% of organizations expect deepfakes to significantly increase phishing response time.