AI Phishing, Malicious Svgs Continues After Surge Over Holidays
SC Media, Friday, March 13th, 2026
A report based on millions of phishing emails reported to Hoxhunt in 2025 and early 2026 revealed a massive surge in AI-generated phishing attempts at the end of last year, as well as a 50-fold increase in malicious SVG attachments.
The Hoxhunt Phishing Trends Report, released Thursday, noted that AI-generated content made up less than 5% of phishing attempts for the first 11 months of 2025, but rose to 56% during the December 2025 holiday season, a 14-fold increase.
Notably, the trend did not fully reverse in January 2026, with 40% of phishing attempts showing signs of AI generation that month. These signs included descriptive HTML comments included in email templates, emojis that emphasize actions (such as a phone emoji next to a malicious phone number) and overly polished or formal language, according to Hoxhunt.