Report by Abnormal AI

Read, Replied, Compromised: Data Reveals 44% Engagement Rate with VEC Attacks

13 FINDINGSPublished Jun 3, 2025
View Original Report →

Key Findings

Conversely, EMEA organisations show the highest reporting rate for BEC, at 4.22%

Abnormal AIRead, Replied, Compromised: Data Reveals 44% Engagement Rate with VEC Attacks ·Jun 3, 2025
Vendor email compromiseVECHuman errorEMEABEC

Telecommunications saw the highest VEC engagement rate at 71.3%.

Abnormal AIRead, Replied, Compromised: Data Reveals 44% Engagement Rate with VEC Attacks ·Jun 3, 2025
Vendor email compromiseVECHuman errorTelecommunications

In EMEA, the VEC engagement rate exceeds Business Email Compromise (BEC) by 90%.

Abnormal AIRead, Replied, Compromised: Data Reveals 44% Engagement Rate with VEC Attacks ·Jun 3, 2025
Vendor email compromiseVECHuman errorEMEA

Junior sales staff were among the most vulnerable roles, engaging with read VEC attacks at a rate of 86%.

Abnormal AIRead, Replied, Compromised: Data Reveals 44% Engagement Rate with VEC Attacks ·Jun 3, 2025
Vendor email compromiseVECHuman error

The overall reporting rate for advanced text-based email threats was just 1.46%.

Abnormal AIRead, Replied, Compromised: Data Reveals 44% Engagement Rate with VEC Attacks ·Jun 3, 2025
Vendor email compromiseVECHuman errorReporting

7% of VEC engagements came from employees who had engaged with a previous attack.

Abnormal AIRead, Replied, Compromised: Data Reveals 44% Engagement Rate with VEC Attacks ·Jun 3, 2025
Vendor email compromiseVECHuman error

Employees in large enterprises engaged with malicious vendor messages 72% of the time after reading them, taking follow-up actions such as replying or forwarding.

Abnormal AIRead, Replied, Compromised: Data Reveals 44% Engagement Rate with VEC Attacks ·Jun 3, 2025
Vendor email compromiseVECHuman error

Repeat engagement with VEC in EMEA is the highest of any region, over twice that of BEC.

Abnormal AIRead, Replied, Compromised: Data Reveals 44% Engagement Rate with VEC Attacks ·Jun 3, 2025
Vendor email compromiseVECHuman errorEMEABEC

The second-ranked industry for VEC engagement rate was the energy/utilities sector (56%).

Abnormal AIRead, Replied, Compromised: Data Reveals 44% Engagement Rate with VEC Attacks ·Jun 3, 2025
Vendor email compromiseVECHuman errorEnergyUtilities

EMEA organisations demonstrate the lowest reporting rate for VEC, at 0.27%.

Abnormal AIRead, Replied, Compromised: Data Reveals 44% Engagement Rate with VEC Attacks ·Jun 3, 2025
Vendor email compromiseVECHuman errorEMEA

In just 12 months, attackers attempted to steal more than $300 million via VEC.

Abnormal AIRead, Replied, Compromised: Data Reveals 44% Engagement Rate with VEC Attacks ·Jun 3, 2025
Vendor email compromiseVECHuman error

Employees in large enterprises engaged with malicious vendor messages 72% of the time after reading them, taking follow-up actions such as replying or forwarding.

Abnormal AIRead, Replied, Compromised: Data Reveals 44% Engagement Rate with VEC Attacks ·Jun 3, 2025
Vendor email compromiseVECHuman error

The overall reporting rate for advanced text-based email threats was just 1.46%.

Abnormal AIRead, Replied, Compromised: Data Reveals 44% Engagement Rate with VEC Attacks ·Jun 3, 2025
Vendor email compromiseVECHuman errorReporting