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Cybersecurity Training

Covers cybersecurity training programs, techniques, and best practices designed to equip employees and individuals with the skills to recognize and respond to cyber threats. Topics include security awareness curricula, simulation exercises, and measuring training effectiveness.

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Smishing Attacks

Smishing Attack Examples: Real Texts That Stole Millions

In February 2024, the FBI warned that threat actors stole over $10 billion through internet-enabled fraud in 2023 — and SMS-based phishing, commonly called smishing, was one of the fastest-growing attack vectors cited in the FBI IC3 annual report. If you think smishing is just a nuisance text from a fake

Carl B. Johnson Apr 08, 2024 7 min read
Social Engineering Examples

Social Engineering Examples: 7 Real Attacks That Worked

In September 2023, a teenager used a phone call to trick an MGM Resorts employee into resetting credentials. That single social engineering attack cost MGM an estimated $100 million. No malware exploit. No zero-day vulnerability. Just a convincing voice on the other end of a help desk line. If you

Carl B. Johnson Apr 08, 2024 7 min read
Data Breach Response Plan

Data Breach Response Plan: What Actually Works in 2024

When MGM Resorts got hit in September 2023, the chaos lasted ten days. Hotel room keys stopped working. Slot machines went dark. Reservation systems crashed. The estimated cost topped $100 million. And here's the part that stings — the initial compromise reportedly started with a social engineering call to

Carl B. Johnson Jan 22, 2024 8 min read
Cybersecurity Glossary

Cybersecurity Glossary for Beginners: 40 Terms to Know

A hospital employee clicked a link in what looked like a routine password reset email. Within 72 hours, CommonSpirit Health — one of the largest U.S. health systems — was battling a ransomware attack that disrupted operations at over 140 facilities. The investigation report cited "lack of basic security awareness&

Carl B. Johnson Apr 23, 2023 7 min read
Adware vs Spyware

Adware vs Spyware: What's Actually Stealing Your Data

In February 2023, the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center reported that malware-related complaints had surged again, with losses running into the hundreds of millions. Buried in those numbers is a distinction most people get wrong: adware vs spyware. I've watched organizations treat adware as a minor

Carl B. Johnson Apr 10, 2023 6 min read
SQL Injection

SQL Injection Explained: The Attack That Won't Die

A 20-Year-Old Attack Still Dominating the Headlines In late 2022, the FBI and CISA issued a joint advisory warning about ongoing exploitation of a SQL injection vulnerability in a widely used healthcare software platform. The flaw had been known for years. The patches existed. And yet, threat actors kept walking

Carl B. Johnson Jan 09, 2023 7 min read
Phishing Definition

Phishing Definition: What It Really Means in 2022

Twilio, a company with a sophisticated security team and a tech-savvy workforce, got phished in August 2022. Attackers sent SMS messages to employees pretending to be the IT department, directing them to a fake login page. The result: compromised credentials, unauthorized access to customer data, and a breach that rippled

Carl B. Johnson Nov 21, 2022 6 min read
Spoofing

Spoofing Attacks: How Hackers Impersonate Your Trust

In March 2022, the FBI warned that business email compromise schemes — many of which rely heavily on spoofing — had caused over $43 billion in global losses since 2016. That's not a typo. Forty-three billion. And the most unsettling part? The attacks didn't require elite hacking skills.

Carl B. Johnson Oct 24, 2022 7 min read
Group Online Svindel

Group Online Svindel: How Organized Fraud Rings Work

A Single Phishing Email Led to a $100 Million Heist Between 2013 and 2015, a Lithuanian man orchestrated one of the most audacious cases of group online svindel ever documented. Evaldas Rimasauskas and his associates impersonated a legitimate Asian hardware manufacturer and tricked both Google and Facebook into wiring over

Carl B. Johnson Sep 04, 2022 7 min read