Interisle sees 17% jump in cybercrime driven by phishing surge

A new Interisle Consulting Group study finds cybercrime attacks rose 17% in a year, with phishing up 56% and bulk-registered domains playing a major role. The report argues that easier access to cheap domains, hosting and subdomains is helping criminals scale attacks across the internet.

Why it matters: - Cybercriminals are scaling attacks by cheaply acquiring domain names, hosting and other online resources. - The findings point to a supply-chain problem in DNS and hosting that affects phishing, malware and spam campaigns. - Interisle says making those resources harder to obtain could reduce abuse and raise costs for attackers.

What happened: - Interisle Consulting Group released Cybercrime Supply Chain 2026 in Boston on October 20, 2026. - The study analyzed more than 30 million malware, phishing and spam attacks. - Overall cybercrime attacks increased 17% year over year. - Phishing attacks rose 56% year over year.

The details: - Nearly 24 million unique domain names were used in attacks, up 21% from the prior year. - 11 million of those cybercrime-associated domains were bulk-registered, a 50% increase from last year. - New generic top-level domains accounted for 43% of all cybercrime domains reported, far above their share of the broader TLD market. - Free website hosting and subdomain services became more important attack resources over the past year. - More than 1.1 million subdomain hostnames were used in attacks, up 67% year over year. - Phishing attacks and the domains used for phishing have each increased by about 500% over the past four years. - Carel Bitter of Spamhaus said independent data is needed to shape DNS abuse policy and noted that nearly half of the cybercrime domains in the study were bulk-registered. - Dave Piscitello, an Interisle partner and co-author, said criminals keep sourcing naming and hosting resources where they are cheapest and easiest to get.

Between the lines: - The report suggests abuse is being enabled by weak verification and low-friction registration systems. - Bulk registrations and automated account creation appear to be central to the scale of the problem. - Interisle argues that voluntary industry measures have moved too slowly, leaving room for government action if private-sector efforts fail.

What's next: - Interisle recommends stronger verification of customer registration data at domain and hosting providers. - The report calls for identity checks for bulk domain registrants and limits on free-hosting accounts and automated sign-ups. - Interisle also wants automated systems to flag suspicious requests and faster shutdowns of abuse. - The report urges “Trusted Reporter” programs to speed suspension of cybercrime resources identified by recognized monitors. - The full report is available here. - Media contact: media@interisle.net - Interisle said the study was sponsored by APWG, CAUCE, DomainTools, Meta, M3AAWG, Spamhaus and SURBL.