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Phishing Attacks

In-depth coverage of phishing attacks, including spear phishing, whaling, vishing, and smishing campaigns. Posts analyze attack methods, explore recent phishing trends, and provide defensive strategies that help organizations reduce their exposure to credential theft and data breaches.

posts

Spear Phishing

What Is Spear Phishing? The Targeted Attack Behind Major Breaches

A Single Email Cost This Company $100 Million In 2015, Ubiquiti Networks disclosed that threat actors used spear phishing emails to impersonate executives and trick finance employees into wiring $46.7 million to overseas accounts. They eventually recovered some of it, but the damage was done. That wasn't

Carl B. Johnson Jan 19, 2020 7 min read
Data Breach Examples

Data Breach Examples 2026: Lessons from This Year

2026 Has Already Been Brutal for Data Security We're barely halfway through the year, and the data breach examples from 2026 already paint a grim picture. Healthcare systems, school districts, financial platforms, and major retailers have all made headlines — not for innovation, but for failing to protect customer

Carl B. Johnson Nov 26, 2019 6 min read
Cybersecurity Incident Examples

Cybersecurity Incident Examples That Changed Security

A Single Stolen Password Started a $4.4 Billion Problem In May 2021, a single compromised password shut down the Colonial Pipeline — the largest fuel pipeline in the United States. Fuel shortages hit the East Coast. Panic buying emptied gas stations across multiple states. The company paid a $4.4

Carl B. Johnson Oct 09, 2019 7 min read
Trojan Horse Malware

Trojan Horse Malware: How It Gets In and How to Stop It

The Fake Invoice That Cost a Hospital System $28 Million In 2024, Ascension Health — one of the largest healthcare systems in the United States — suffered a devastating ransomware attack that disrupted operations across 140 hospitals. The initial entry vector? A malicious file that an employee downloaded, believing it to be

Carl B. Johnson Jul 14, 2019 7 min read
Phishing Definition

Phishing Definition: What It Really Means in 2026

In 2024, the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center received over 298,000 complaints related to phishing — making it the most reported cybercrime for the fifth consecutive year. Yet when I ask employees in training sessions to give me a phishing definition, most of them describe a Nigerian prince

Carl B. Johnson Jun 23, 2019 6 min read
Phishing Attacks

What Is a Phishing Attack? A Real-World Guide

In 2023, the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center received over 298,000 complaints about phishing — making it the most reported cybercrime for the fifth consecutive year. That number only accounts for what gets reported. The actual volume is staggering. So what is a phishing attack, and why does

Carl B. Johnson Apr 05, 2019 6 min read
FakeEmail

FakeEmail Attacks: How Spoofed Messages Breach Networks

A Single FakeEmail Cost One Company $37 Million In 2024, Orion SA, a Luxembourg-based steel trading company, disclosed it lost approximately $60 million after an employee was tricked by a business email compromise scheme using fraudulent email communications. That same year, the FBI's IC3 received over 21,000

Carl B. Johnson Apr 05, 2019 7 min read
Fake Mailer

Fake Mailer Attacks: How Threat Actors Spoof Email

In March 2024, the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center reported that business email compromise — much of it powered by spoofed sender addresses — cost victims over $2.9 billion in a single year. Behind many of those attacks sits a deceptively simple weapon: a fake mailer. These tools let

Carl B. Johnson Mar 10, 2019 7 min read