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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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Tailgating Attack

Tailgating Attack Cybersecurity: The Threat at Your Door

In September 2019, a Chinese national named Yujing Zhang walked past security at Mar-a-Lago carrying a thumb drive loaded with malware. She told the front desk she was there to use the pool. That's tailgating — and it nearly compromised one of the most secured private facilities in the

Carl B. Johnson Dec 18, 2021 7 min read
Clean Desk Policy

Clean Desk Policy Cybersecurity: Your Cheapest Defense

In March 2021, a UK-based financial firm was fined after a visitor photographed sensitive client data sitting on an employee's desk — in plain sight, during a routine office tour. No hacking tools. No zero-day exploit. Just a smartphone camera and a messy workstation. That's the reality

Carl B. Johnson Dec 18, 2021 7 min read
Supply Chain Attack Examples

Supply Chain Attack Examples That Changed Cybersecurity

The Attack That Hit 18,000 Organizations at Once In December 2020, security firm FireEye disclosed that it had been breached — and that the attack vector traced back to a routine software update from SolarWinds, a trusted IT management vendor. Within days, the scope became staggering: up to 18,000

Carl B. Johnson Oct 01, 2021 7 min read
Dark Web

What Is the Dark Web? A Security Pro's Real Talk

Your Credentials Are Probably Already There In April 2021, a threat actor posted a database of 533 million Facebook user records — phone numbers, full names, locations, email addresses — on a popular dark web forum. For the price of nothing. Just sitting there, searchable. So what is the dark web, exactly,

Carl B. Johnson Sep 23, 2021 7 min read
Malware

What Is Malware? A Security Pro's Real-World Guide

The Colonial Pipeline Attack Changed Everything In May 2021, a single compromised password led to the most disruptive cyberattack on U.S. critical infrastructure in history. DarkSide ransomware shut down Colonial Pipeline's 5,500-mile fuel system, triggering gas shortages across the eastern seaboard. The company paid a $4.

Carl B. Johnson Sep 16, 2021 7 min read
Types of Malware

Types of Malware: What's Actually Hitting Networks in 2021

Colonial Pipeline Was Just the Beginning In May 2021, a single compromised password shut down the largest fuel pipeline in the United States. Colonial Pipeline paid DarkSide operators $4.4 million in ransom. Fuel shortages rippled across the Southeast for days. That attack used just one of the many types

Carl B. Johnson Sep 16, 2021 7 min read
Trojan Horse Malware

Trojan Horse Malware: What It Is and How to Stop It

In July 2021, the REvil ransomware gang exploited a vulnerability in Kaseya's VSA software and dropped a trojan payload onto the systems of roughly 1,500 businesses worldwide. The attack didn't arrive as an obvious virus. It masqueraded as a legitimate software update — the textbook definition

Carl B. Johnson Sep 03, 2021 7 min read
Keylogger Attack

Keylogger Attack: How Hackers Steal Every Keystroke

In March 2021, security researchers discovered that the Agent Tesla keylogger had become one of the most prevalent malware families in the wild, appearing in phishing campaigns targeting organizations across every sector. This wasn't some exotic zero-day. It was a commodity keylogger attack tool that anyone could buy

Carl B. Johnson Sep 03, 2021 7 min read
Man in the Middle Attack

Man in the Middle Attack: How Hackers Steal Data

In January 2021, the FBI warned that cybercriminals were actively exploiting telecommuters by intercepting unencrypted network traffic — a textbook man in the middle attack. The shift to remote work didn't just expand the attack surface. It handed threat actors a golden opportunity to sit between employees and corporate

Carl B. Johnson Sep 03, 2021 7 min read