Posts exploring how attackers steal usernames, passwords, and authentication tokens through phishing, keylogging, brute force attacks, and credential stuffing. Includes actionable guidance on multi-factor authentication, password managers, and monitoring for compromised credentials.
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In March 2025, the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center reported that phishing remained the number one reported cybercrime for the fifth consecutive year. That stat alone should tell you everything about where threat actors are focusing their energy. But raw numbers don't teach your employees what
The Attack That Cost MGM Resorts $100 Million Started With a Phone Call In September 2023, a threat actor called the MGM Resorts IT help desk, impersonated an employee they found on LinkedIn, and talked their way into a password reset. Within hours, the attackers had deployed ransomware across MGM&
In January 2025, a finance director at a mid-sized manufacturing firm received an email from what appeared to be the company's CEO. The domain was off by one character. The request was urgent — wire $220,000 to a new vendor before end of day. She complied. The money
In 2023, MGM Resorts lost an estimated $100 million after a threat actor called Scattered Spider socially engineered its way past the help desk with a single phone call. But the reconnaissance that made that call possible? It started with spear phishing — targeted research, crafted messaging, and a specific human
In March 2025, the FBI's IC3 warned that Americans lost over $470 million to phishing and smishing schemes in the prior reporting year — and text-based attacks were growing faster than any other vector. I've personally triaged incidents where a single SMS message led to a six-figure
In March 2025, the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center reported that Americans lost over $12.5 billion to cybercrime in 2023 alone — and voice-based social engineering was one of the fastest-growing attack vectors. I've personally investigated cases where a single phone call cost an organization six
In February 2025, a finance employee at a Hong Kong multinational wired $25 million to threat actors after a deepfake video call impersonating the company's CFO. That single incident captures the state of social engineering attacks right now: they're sophisticated, they exploit trust instead of technology,
In September 2023, a threat actor called Scattered Spider called MGM Resorts' IT help desk, impersonated an employee they found on LinkedIn, and convinced a technician to reset credentials. The result: an estimated $100 million in losses, a ransomware lockout across casino floors and hotel systems, and weeks of
In January 2024, a finance employee at engineering firm Arup wired $25 million to threat actors after joining a video call with what appeared to be the company's CFO and other colleagues. Every person on that call was a deepfake. The attackers never exploited a software vulnerability. They
In February 2024, Change Healthcare — the payment processor handling roughly one-third of all U.S. medical claims — was hit by the ALPHV/BlackCat ransomware group. The result: $872 million in direct costs reported by UnitedHealth Group, months of disrupted pharmacy operations, and the personal health data of over 100 million
