What the ThreatLabz 2026 Phishing and Initial Access Report Means for the Public Sector
Zscaler, Wednesday, June 17th, 2026
Government phishing surged 50% as attackers adopt AI-generated infrastructure and encrypted delivery.
The ThreatLabz 2026 report reveals divergent phishing trends across public sector verticals: government agencies saw a 50% year-over-year increase in phishing attempts, healthcare faced lower volumes but higher-stakes consequences, and education saw a 65.6% decline despite sustained encrypted attack activity.
The report highlights a shift in attacker methodology, identifying over 413,000 AI-generated site instances built with tools like Manus AI and BlackBox AI. Zscaler advises organizations to implement SSL/TLS inspection, deploy phishing-resistant authentication like FIDO2, and extend visibility into encrypted channels.