Kaspersky finds phishing themes with click rates as high as 92%

Kaspersky says some phishing themes are much more likely than others to draw clicks. The security company analyzed anonymized data voluntarily provided through its Phishing Simulator to identify which topics performed best.

AI and technology lures ranked first overall. Emails about introducing “next-gen artificial intelligence” had a 45% click-through rate. Healthcare and insurance lures averaged 28%, while emails about a sanitary inspection report reached 92%. IT policies and compliance messages had a 26% rate, followed by gifts and promotions at 24%. Within that category, 66% of recipients clicked an invitation to wear their national football team’s jersey and win a prize. HR and corporate communications lures had a 22% rate.

Kaspersky’s Svetlana Kalashnikova said sensitive, contextual messages can be especially effective, and that generative AI is helping criminals personalize phishing. The company also said regular training and simulated attacks reduced susceptibility from 60% to 5–7%, according to its KASAP effectiveness analytics.

Kaspersky describes phishing as the most prevalent cyber incident for businesses. It says AI has made malicious emails harder to distinguish from legitimate messages, shifting attention toward links, attachments and overall sentiment. The company recommends ongoing cybersecurity awareness training and simulations. It also notes that urgency, unfamiliar third-party document services, executable attachments and suspicious sender domains can be signs of phishing.