Carl B. Johnson
Author

Carl B. Johnson

vCISO and compliance expert.

https://carlbjohnson.com

posts

Shadow IT

What Is Shadow IT? The Hidden Risk You Can't Ignore

In 2023, a financial services employee signed up for an unsanctioned file-sharing app using their corporate email. Within weeks, a threat actor exploited a vulnerability in that app and exfiltrated 11,000 customer records. The security team didn't even know the app existed. That's shadow IT

Carl B. Johnson May 30, 2026 5 min read
Phishing

What Is Phishing? A Security Pro's Real-World Guide

In 2023, the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center received over 298,000 phishing complaints — making it the most reported cybercrime category for the fifth consecutive year. And those are just the ones people actually reported. If you're asking what is phishing, you're asking the

Carl B. Johnson May 30, 2026 6 min read
Social Engineering Attacks

Social Engineering Attacks: Why Humans Are the #1 Target

In 2023, MGM Resorts lost roughly $100 million after a threat actor called Scattered Spider social-engineered the company's IT help desk with a single phone call. The attacker impersonated an employee, convinced the help desk to reset credentials, and within hours had burrowed deep enough to deploy ransomware

Carl B. Johnson May 30, 2026 6 min read
Cybersecurity for Law Firms

Cybersecurity for Law Firms: A Practical Guide

In November 2023, the international law firm Allen & Overy confirmed it was hit by a LockBit ransomware attack. Weeks earlier, a midsize firm in the southeastern U.S. paid a seven-figure ransom after a threat actor encrypted every client file on its network — and the firm never made headlines

Carl B. Johnson May 29, 2026 5 min read
Dark Web

What Is the Dark Web? A Security Pro's Honest Guide

Your Employees' Passwords Are Probably Already There In 2024, the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) reported over 880,000 complaints with potential losses exceeding $12.5 billion — and a significant chunk of that activity traces back to credentials and data bought and sold on the dark

Carl B. Johnson May 29, 2026 5 min read
Mobile Phishing Attacks

Mobile Phishing Attacks: Why Your Phone Is Now #1 Target

Your Employees' Phones Are the Weakest Link In March 2024, MGM Resorts was still dealing with the fallout of a social engineering attack that started with a simple phone call. But here's what most people missed in the post-incident analysis: the reconnaissance that made that attack possible

Carl B. Johnson May 29, 2026 5 min read
Fake Mail

Fake Mail: How Threat Actors Exploit Your Inbox in 2026

The $4.88 Million Problem Sitting in Your Inbox Right Now In 2024, the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center reported that business email compromise — essentially sophisticated fake mail — cost victims over $2.9 billion in a single year. That wasn't a spike. It was a trend.

Carl B. Johnson May 28, 2026 5 min read
Computer Virus Prevention

Computer Virus Prevention: 9 Defenses That Work in 2026

In February 2024, Change Healthcare — one of the largest health payment processors in the United States — was hit by a ransomware attack that disrupted pharmacy operations, delayed patient care, and ultimately cost UnitedHealth Group an estimated $872 million in the first quarter alone. The attack vector? Stolen credentials and the

Carl B. Johnson May 28, 2026 5 min read