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Cybersecurity Best Practices

Provides actionable strategies and proven frameworks for strengthening your organization's security posture. Articles cover risk assessment, access controls, incident response planning, network segmentation, encryption standards, and policy development for businesses of all sizes.

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Phishing Awareness Training

Phishing Awareness Training: What Actually Works in 2021

On May 7, 2021 — less than a week ago — Colonial Pipeline shut down 5,500 miles of fuel infrastructure after a ransomware attack that started with a single compromised credential. One password. No multi-factor authentication. An entire region's fuel supply disrupted. This is the kind of incident that

Carl B. Johnson May 13, 2021 7 min read
Phishing Simulation Training

Phishing Simulation Training: Why 97% of Users Fail

In March 2021, a single phishing email led to a credential theft incident at a mid-size manufacturing firm in Ohio. The attacker impersonated the CEO, asked the controller to update direct deposit information, and walked away with $1.7 million. The email had two typos, a slightly wrong domain, and

Carl B. Johnson May 04, 2021 7 min read
Phishing Prevention

How to Avoid Phishing Attacks: A Practical Guide

In December 2020, the Treasury Department and the Department of Commerce confirmed they'd been breached through a supply chain attack that started, in part, with carefully crafted phishing emails targeting key personnel. If federal agencies with dedicated security teams can get caught, your organization isn't immune

Carl B. Johnson Apr 15, 2021 7 min read
Cybersecurity Best Practices

Cybersecurity Best Practices for Employees: A 2021 Guide

The Click That Cost One Company $46 Million In 2020, Ubiquiti Networks disclosed a breach that started with a single employee's compromised credentials. Attackers impersonated company executives, manipulated employees through social engineering, and walked away with $46.7 million in fraudulent wire transfers. The technology was fine. The

Carl B. Johnson Apr 02, 2021 8 min read
Password Manager Benefits

Password Manager Benefits: Why Pros Won't Work Without One

The Breach That Started With a Sticky Note In 2020, a senior employee at a Florida water treatment facility reportedly reused passwords across multiple systems — including the one controlling sodium hydroxide levels in the public water supply. That incident, disclosed in early February 2021, showed exactly how a single weak

Carl B. Johnson Jan 14, 2021 6 min read
Password Hygiene Tips

Password Hygiene Tips That Actually Stop Breaches

In December 2020, SolarWinds disclosed a supply chain compromise that shook the entire cybersecurity industry. But while the world was focused on nation-state threat actors, Verizon's 2020 Data Breach Investigations Report had already confirmed something far more common and just as devastating: over 80% of hacking-related breaches involved

Carl B. Johnson Jan 03, 2021 7 min read
Cyber Incident Response Steps

Cyber Incident Response Steps That Actually Work

When SolarWinds disclosed in December 2020 that threat actors had compromised their Orion software update mechanism — affecting up to 18,000 organizations including multiple U.S. government agencies — it became the most significant supply chain attack in modern history. The organizations that responded effectively didn't improvise. They followed

Carl B. Johnson Dec 20, 2020 7 min read
Insider Threat Awareness

Insider Threat Awareness: What Your Team Isn't Telling You

In July 2020, a 17-year-old in Florida convinced a Twitter employee to hand over internal credentials. Within hours, threat actors had hijacked 130 high-profile accounts — including those of Barack Obama, Elon Musk, and Apple — and used them to run a Bitcoin scam. The breach didn't start with a

Carl B. Johnson Dec 20, 2020 7 min read
Insider Threats

How to Prevent Insider Threats: A Practical Guide

In July 2020, a 17-year-old in Florida convinced a Twitter employee to hand over internal tool credentials. Within hours, threat actors had hijacked high-profile accounts — Barack Obama, Elon Musk, Apple — and ran a Bitcoin scam that netted over $100,000. The breach didn't start with a zero-day exploit

Carl B. Johnson Dec 20, 2020 7 min read