Why CISOs Should Fight Phishing Campaigns, Not Just Emails

Jan de Vries · 2026-07-30

If you're a CISO, you already know the drill. Your inbox is a battlefield, and every day brings a fresh wave of suspicious emails. But here's the thing: focusing on individual emails is like trying to stop a flood with a single sandbag. It's exhausting, and it's not working. That's the core message from Cofense, and it's time we listened. ### The Real Problem: IOC Fatigue Indicators of Compromise (IOCs) are the bread and butter of traditional security. You spot a malicious IP address, a suspicious file hash, or a weird domain, and you block it. But here's the catch: attackers know this. They change their infrastructure faster than you can say "blacklist." The result? Your analysts are drowning in alerts, most of which are false positives or already outdated. This is IOC fatigue, and it's burning out your best people. Think about it. Your team spends hours chasing down a single email that turns out to be a marketing newsletter. Meanwhile, a coordinated campaign slips through because it doesn't match any single IOC. The volume is overwhelming, and the signal-to-noise ratio is terrible. It's a recipe for missed threats and exhausted analysts. ### Shifting from Emails to Campaigns Cofense suggests a smarter approach: think in campaigns, not emails. Instead of looking at each message in isolation, you look at the broader pattern. What's the attack's goal? Who's being targeted? What tactics are being used? This is a fundamental shift in perspective. When you focus on campaigns, you start to see the forest, not just the trees. You notice that a phishing email about a fake invoice is part of a larger effort targeting your finance team. You see that a series of LinkedIn messages are all pointing to the same malicious landing page. This holistic view allows you to shut down the entire operation, not just one small piece of it. ### The Benefits of a Campaign-Based Approach So, what do you actually gain from this mindset? Plenty. Here are a few key wins: - **Better Visibility:** You see the whole attack path, from the initial lure to the final payload. This makes it easier to understand your adversary and their methods. - **Faster Response:** Instead of reacting to each email, you can proactively dismantle the campaign. One well-placed block can stop hundreds of attacks. - **Reduced Analyst Fatigue:** Your team spends less time on false positives and more time on actual threats. This improves morale and retention. It's not just about being more efficient; it's about being more effective. A campaign-based approach turns your security team from a reactive firewall into a proactive hunter. ### How to Start Thinking in Campaigns Making this shift isn't just a mental exercise; it requires new tools and processes. Here's a simple roadmap to get you started: 1. **Aggregate Your Data:** Stop looking at email logs in isolation. Combine data from your email gateway, endpoint detection, and threat intelligence feeds. 2. **Look for Clusters:** Use analytics to group similar emails or attacks. Look for commonalities in sender, subject line, or payload. 3. **Track the Full Lifecycle:** Don't stop at the email. Follow the user's interaction, the redirects, and the final malware. This gives you the full picture. 4. **Automate the Response:** Once you identify a campaign, automate the response. Block the domains, quarantine the emails, and alert your team. > "The goal is to move from a state of reaction to a state of anticipation. When you understand the campaign, you can predict the next move." This isn't just a nice-to-have; it's a necessity. The threat landscape is evolving, and your defense strategy needs to evolve with it. By shifting your focus from individual emails to overarching campaigns, you can reduce fatigue, improve your security posture, and ultimately, keep your organization safer. It's a change in mindset, but it's one that pays dividends. So, take a step back, look at the bigger picture, and start fighting the war, not just the battles. Your analysts will thank you, and so will your board.