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Cybersecurity Awareness

Articles on cybersecurity awareness cover the foundational knowledge individuals and organizations need to recognize and respond to digital threats. Topics include safe browsing habits, password hygiene, social engineering tactics, and building a security-first culture across teams.

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Dark Web

What Is the Dark Web? A Security Pro's Real-World Guide

Your Stolen Password Is Already For Sale Somewhere In January 2024, a dataset called "Naz.API" surfaced on dark web forums containing over 70 million unique email addresses paired with plaintext passwords. The data had been harvested from credential-stealing malware installed on everyday people's computers. If

Carl B. Johnson Feb 28, 2025 7 min read
Malware

What Is Malware? A Security Pro's Field Guide for 2025

A Single Click Cost MGM Resorts $100 Million In September 2023, a threat actor called Scattered Spider used social engineering to trick an MGM Resorts help desk employee into resetting credentials. Within hours, they deployed malware across MGM's network — crippling hotel check-ins, slot machines, and digital room keys

Carl B. Johnson Jan 06, 2025 7 min read
Keylogger Attack

Keylogger Attack: How Hackers Steal Every Keystroke

In March 2024, security researchers at Fortinet uncovered a campaign distributing Snake Keylogger through phishing emails disguised as payment remittance notices. The malware silently captured credentials from over 280 banking and email applications before exfiltrating everything to attacker-controlled Telegram bots. The victims had no idea. Every password, every credit card

Carl B. Johnson Dec 19, 2024 6 min read
Man in the Middle Attack

Man in the Middle Attack: How Hackers Steal Data

In January 2024, security researchers at Sekoia documented a massive adversary-in-the-middle campaign that used phishing kits to intercept Microsoft 365 credentials and session tokens in real time — bypassing multi-factor authentication entirely. The attack wasn't theoretical. It hit thousands of organizations across multiple industries. And it reminded every security

Carl B. Johnson Dec 19, 2024 8 min read
Phishing

Phishing in 2024: The Attack Vector That Refuses to Die

$4.88 Million Per Breach — and Phishing Opens the Door In January 2024, a finance worker at multinational firm Arup sent $25 million to threat actors after a deepfake video call that impersonated company executives. The attack started with a single phishing email. One message. Twenty-five million dollars gone. That

Carl B. Johnson Oct 17, 2024 7 min read
Phish Setlist

Phish Setlist for Security: Building Your Attack Plan

What a Phish Setlist Is — And Why Your Security Team Needs One In March 2024, a mid-size accounting firm lost $2.1 million after an employee clicked a single phishing email disguised as a DocuSign request during tax season. The firm had no phishing simulation program. No playbook. No plan.

Carl B. Johnson Oct 17, 2024 7 min read
Spoofing

Spoofing Attacks: How Hackers Impersonate You

In August 2024, the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center warned that business email spoofing remained one of the top reported cybercrime vectors, with Business Email Compromise (BEC) losses exceeding $2.9 billion in 2023 alone. That number doesn't even capture the full picture — because spoofing extends

Carl B. Johnson Oct 07, 2024 7 min read
Spoofing

Spoof Attacks: How Hackers Impersonate to Steal

In March 2024, a finance employee at a Hong Kong multinational wired $25.6 million to criminals after a video call with what appeared to be the company's CFO and several colleagues. Every person on that call was a deepfake — a sophisticated spoof that fooled a trained professional

Carl B. Johnson Sep 18, 2024 7 min read
Phishing Email

Phishing Email Tactics in 2024: What Actually Works

In January 2024, a finance employee at a multinational firm in Hong Kong transferred $25.6 million after a video call with what appeared to be the company's CFO and several colleagues. Every person on that call was a deepfake. The attack started, like almost all of them

Carl B. Johnson Sep 18, 2024 8 min read
Spoofing

What Is Spoofing? The Attack Behind Most Breaches

In January 2024, a finance employee at engineering firm Arup wired $25 million to criminals after a video call with what appeared to be the company's CFO and several colleagues. Every person on that call was a deepfake. The attackers had spoofed not just an email address or

Carl B. Johnson Aug 19, 2024 8 min read