43% of businesses in the UK reported a breach last year, with phishing driving the vast majority (85%) of these attacks, the Register reports. A survey by the British government found that attacks involving only phishing grew by six percent in 2025.
“Phishing attacks remained the most prevalent type of breach or attack by far (experienced by 38% of businesses and 25% of charities) and continued to be ascribed as the most disruptive type of breach or attack (69% of businesses and charities that experienced a breach or attack),” the report says. “Among those who experienced a breach or attack, the proportion experiencing phishing attacks only (and no other type of breach or attack) has increased among both businesses (from 45% last year to 51% this year) and charities (from 46% last year to 57% this year). The qualitative interviews highlighted interviewees’ perception that phishing attacks had become easier for attackers to commit, and that this was contributing to what they perceived as an increase in attack volumes.”
Despite increased publicity surrounding cyberattacks, the survey found that there has been no significant move to increase staff awareness about phishing techniques.
“Qualitative insights highlighted that recent high-profile cyber attacks in the media had moved the perception risk from cyber attacks and breaches up the agenda within organisations,” “Despite this, staff training and awareness-raising activities remained stable across businesses compared with last year (19% in both 2024/2025 and 2025/2026).
“There were signs of an increase among large businesses (76% in 2024/2025 to 84% in 2025/2026), but this did not represent a significant change. On the other hand, the proportion of charities running staff training and awareness raising activities has decreased since last year (17% in 2025/2026, down from 21% in 2024/2025), driven by a decline among low-income charities (13% in 2025/2026, down from 18% in 2024/2025).”
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The Register has the story: Nearly half of UK businesses pwned last year as phishing keeps doing the job like it’s 2005
