Report by Abnormal AI
2025 State of Misdirected Email Prevention
Key Findings
97% of security and IT pros surveyed believe behavioral AI can help prevent accidental data loss before it occurs.
95% of organizations surveyed reported measurable business impact due to misdirected email, including remediation costs, compliance violations, or damage to customer trust.
98% of security leaders consider misdirected email a significant risk.
The average enterprise spends over 400 hours per year managing false positive alerts from data loss prevention (DLP) or email security tools.
Misdirected emails contributed to over $1.2 billion in fines worldwide last year.
47% of security and IT professionals learn of misdirected emails from recipients rather than from security tools.
Misdirected emails accounted for 27% of all data protection incidents under the GDPR last year.
96% of organizations surveyed experienced data loss or exposure from misdirected email in the past year.