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.
posts
16,000 Complaints and Counting: Why the FBI Is Sounding the Alarm In February 2021, the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) began tracking a dramatic spike in smishing — phishing attacks delivered via SMS text messages. The FBI warning on smishing texts wasn't hypothetical. It came
One Click Cost Colonial Pipeline $4.4 Million In May 2021, a single compromised credential shut down the largest fuel pipeline in the United States. Colonial Pipeline paid a $4.4 million ransom to a threat actor group called DarkSide. The entry point wasn't some exotic zero-day exploit.
In March 2021, a single phishing email led to a credential theft incident at a European banking authority that exposed personal data from thousands of email accounts. The attack wasn't sophisticated. It didn't exploit some exotic zero-day vulnerability. It started with a convincing email and a
In July 2020, a handful of Twitter employees received phone calls from people claiming to be IT administrators. Those calls led to the compromise of 130 high-profile accounts — including Barack Obama, Elon Musk, and Apple — and a Bitcoin scam that netted over $100,000 in hours. The whole thing started
In July 2020, a seventeen-year-old in Florida used phone-based spoofing and social engineering to compromise internal Twitter tools, hijacking the verified accounts of Barack Obama, Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and Apple. The attackers impersonated IT staff during phone calls to Twitter employees, spoofing caller IDs to appear legitimate. Within hours,
In July 2020, a teenager from Florida used spear phishing to compromise the internal tools at Twitter, hijacking 130 high-profile accounts — including those of Barack Obama, Elon Musk, and Apple — to run a Bitcoin scam. The attack didn't exploit some exotic zero-day vulnerability. It started with targeted messages
Earlier this year, the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) reported that phishing schemes were the most reported cybercrime in 2020, with 241,342 complaints and adjusted losses exceeding $54 million. Now the threat is evolving fast. The FBI warns Gmail users of sophisticated AI-driven phishing attacks that
In March 2021, Google disclosed that it blocks more than 100 million phishing emails daily — and Gmail remains the single largest target for sophisticated credential theft campaigns worldwide. The FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) reported that phishing was the number one crime type by victim count in
36% of All Breaches Start With a Phishing Email The 2021 Verizon Data Breach Investigations Report made something painfully clear: phishing was involved in 36% of all confirmed data breaches — up from 25% the year before. That's not a trend. That's an escalation. And if your
91% of Cyberattacks Start With Fake Mail That's not a guess. The Verizon 2021 Data Breach Investigations Report confirmed that phishing was present in 36% of breaches — up from 25% the year before. And when you broaden the lens to include all forms of social engineering delivered through
