How Adaptive Email Security Helps Navigate Threats In The Age Of AI
KnowBe4, March 27,2026
A finance employee receives an email that appears to come from the CFO requesting urgent payment approval. The message references a current project, uses the correct tone, and arrives at a plausible time. However, the email wasn't written by a colleague - it was generated by AI. And it contains a malicious link.
These attacks are becoming more common as threat actors use AI to produce convincing phishing emails, automate impersonation attempts, and launch social engineering campaigns at scale. In fact, social engineering remained the top initial access vector for cyberattacks in 2025, with growing assistance from AI tools, highlighting how quickly email-based threats continue to advance.
As attackers use AI to accelerate and refine their tactics, security approaches built on static rules and known threat signatures struggle to keep pace. Organizations need defenses that can respond just as quickly and account for the human element in email-based attacks.