Carl B. Johnson
Author

Carl B. Johnson

vCISO and compliance expert.

https://carlbjohnson.com

posts

Phishing Psychology

How Phishing Emails Work: The Psychology Behind the Click

A Single Click Cost One Company $100 Million In 2019, a Lithuanian national named Evaldas Rimasauskas pleaded guilty to stealing over $100 million from Google and Facebook using nothing but phishing emails. No zero-day exploits. No advanced malware. Just carefully crafted messages that exploited human psychology. If you want to

Carl B. Johnson May 03, 2024 8 min read
Phishing Training for Employees

Phishing Training for Employees: A Practical Guide

In March 2024, a finance employee at a multinational firm in Hong Kong wired $25.6 million to threat actors after a deepfake video call convinced him his CFO had authorized the transfer. One employee. One convincing lure. Twenty-five million dollars gone. That's not a hypothetical — it'

Carl B. Johnson May 03, 2024 7 min read
Phishing Email Detection

How to Recognize a Phishing Email Before You Click

In January 2024, a finance employee at a multinational firm in Hong Kong wired $25 million to threat actors — all because of a phishing email that led to a deepfake video call. That incident made global headlines, but here's what didn't: the thousands of nearly identical

Carl B. Johnson May 03, 2024 7 min read
Phishing Attack Examples

Phishing Attack Examples: 7 Real Breaches That Cost Millions

One Email Cost This Company $100 Million In 2019, Toyota Boshoku Corporation — a major Toyota parts supplier — lost $37 million after an employee wired funds to a fraudster posing as a legitimate business partner. That same year, Nikkei's American subsidiary lost $29 million to a nearly identical scheme.

Carl B. Johnson May 03, 2024 7 min read
Spear Phishing vs Phishing

Spear Phishing vs Phishing: What Actually Gets You Hacked

In January 2024, a finance employee at engineering firm Arup wired $25 million to threat actors after a deepfake video call that impersonated the company's CFO. That attack didn't start with a mass spam blast. It started with a carefully researched, individually targeted spear phishing email.

Carl B. Johnson May 02, 2024 6 min read
Phishing Prevention Tips

Phishing Prevention Tips That Actually Stop Breaches

In January 2024, a finance employee at a multinational firm in Hong Kong wired $25 million to threat actors after a deepfake video call convinced him his CFO had authorized the transfer. It started with a phishing email. Every catastrophic breach I've investigated over the past decade traces

Carl B. Johnson May 02, 2024 7 min read
Email Phishing Red Flags

Email Phishing Red Flags: 9 Signs You're Being Targeted

In January 2024, a finance employee at a multinational firm in Hong Kong wired $25.6 million to threat actors after a deepfake video call that started with a single phishing email. The attackers spoofed the company's CFO — and the employee never questioned it. That wire transfer began

Carl B. Johnson May 02, 2024 7 min read
Phishing Prevention

How to Avoid Phishing Attacks: A Practical Guide

In January 2024, a finance employee at a multinational firm in Hong Kong wired $25.6 million to threat actors after joining a video call where every other participant — including the company's CFO — was a deepfake. The attackers had spent weeks studying publicly available video of those executives,

Carl B. Johnson May 02, 2024 7 min read