Computer Security News and Insights
The Misconfiguration That Exposed 100 Million Records In 2019, a former cloud engineer exploited a misconfigured web application firewall at Capital One and accessed over 100 million customer records stored in AWS S3 buckets. The breach cost the company over $270 million in settlements and remediation. It wasn't
A Single Email Cost One Hospital Chain $100 Million In 2024, Change Healthcare — a subsidiary of UnitedHealth Group — suffered a ransomware attack that disrupted pharmacy operations, insurance claims, and patient care across the United States. The company paid a $22 million ransom. Total damages exceeded $100 million. The initial entry
In 2023, the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center received over 298,000 phishing complaints — making it the most reported cybercrime for the fifth consecutive year. Yet when I ask business owners what phishing actually means, most give me a vague answer about "fake emails." That incomplete
In March 2024, a single compromised employee credential at Change Healthcare led to a ransomware attack that disrupted pharmacy operations across the United States for weeks. The attackers didn't kick down a digital door — they logged in. That's what account takeover looks like in practice, and
The Ransom Note Nobody Expected In January 2026, a mid-sized hospital network in the American Midwest discovered that every imaging workstation, patient scheduling system, and billing server had been encrypted overnight. The ransom demand: 200 Bitcoin. Staff resorted to paper charts and fax machines for eleven days. Surgeries were postponed.
A Single Text Message Cost This Company $15 Million In 2022, Twilio disclosed that a coordinated smishing campaign tricked employees into entering credentials on a fake login page. Attackers used those credentials to access internal systems and compromise data for over 100 customers. The whole thing started with a text
In 2024, a finance clerk at a mid-sized manufacturing firm wired $25 million to a threat actor after joining a deepfake video call where every other "participant" — including the CFO — was AI-generated. The clerk wasn't careless. She wasn't stupid. She simply hadn't
A Single Phish Email Cost One Company $100 Million In 2024, MGM Resorts confirmed that a social engineering attack — which started with a single phone call and a phish-style credential theft scheme — contributed to losses exceeding $100 million. The threat actors behind the Scattered Spider group didn't need
The FBI Told You About Medusa. Are You Listening? In March 2025, the FBI and CISA issued a joint advisory — AA25-071A — warning that the Medusa ransomware gang had compromised over 300 organizations across critical infrastructure sectors. Healthcare systems, school districts, legal firms, manufacturers. The common thread? Almost every intrusion started
The Breach That Started With "Summer2024!" In 2024, the Verizon Data Breach Investigations Report found that stolen credentials were involved in roughly 31% of all breaches over the prior decade — and that number hasn't meaningfully dropped. I've personally investigated incidents where an entire corporate
