Brands are suffering under the weight of email phishing attacks, according to a new study by Barracuda.

Of 600 firms polled, 43% have been hit with a spear-phishing attack within the last year. And 74% say email attacks are having a major impact on their businesses. 

For example, almost a quarter have lost $100,000 within the last 12 months. And two-thirds overall have suffered financial losses.

Worse, 78% say the costs are gong up. 

The effects also include loss of employee productivity, downtime, business disruption and damage to the reputation of the IT team.

The study also found that 79% of IT professionals are worried about attacks and breaches stemming from inside the organization. In addition, 92% of Office 365 users have security concerns.

The threat is leading to higher levels of stress for employees, even when they are not at work. And many report having to work longer hours to cope with the problem. 

Yet over three-quarters of organizations feel their employees aren’t good at spotting suspicious emails.