Learn how phishing simulations help organizations measure employee susceptibility to email-based attacks. Articles cover simulation design, realistic phishing templates, campaign scheduling, result analysis, and strategies for turning simulation data into stronger security behaviors.
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The CEO Who Wired $47 Million to a Criminal In 2016, Austrian aerospace manufacturer FACC lost €42 million (roughly $47 million) after attackers impersonated the CEO in emails directing employees to transfer funds for a fake acquisition. The CEO was fired. The CFO was fired. The company's stock
In 2023, MGM Resorts lost an estimated $100 million after a single social engineering phone call tricked an IT help desk employee into resetting credentials. One employee. One question they got wrong in real life — not on a cybersecurity awareness quiz, but in a live attack. The attacker found a
In 2023, MGM Resorts lost an estimated $100 million after a threat actor social-engineered a help desk employee with a ten-minute phone call. The attacker didn't exploit a zero-day vulnerability. They exploited a person — someone who hadn't been trained to recognize what was happening. That single
In January 2024, a finance employee at a multinational firm in Hong Kong joined what appeared to be a routine video call with the company's CFO. Everything looked normal — the CFO's face, voice, and mannerisms were all spot-on. The employee followed instructions and wired $25 million
A $100,000 Ransom Demand Starts With One Email In early 2024, the FBI and CISA issued a joint advisory warning that the Medusa ransomware gang had compromised over 300 organizations across critical infrastructure sectors since June 2021. The attack chain almost always starts the same way: phishing campaigns targeting
$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
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.
A Single Email Cost This Company $25 Million In early 2024, a finance worker at engineering firm Arup was tricked into transferring $25 million after a deepfake video call that started with one phishing email. That's not a hypothetical. That happened. And it began the same way nearly
In March 2024, a finance employee at a Hong Kong-based multinational wired $25.6 million to threat actors after a video call with what appeared to be the company's CFO. It was a deepfake. But the attack started the same way almost every phishing attack starts — with a
In May 2024, the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center reported that phishing — including sophisticated attacks targeting Gmail users — remained the number one reported cybercrime for the third year running. Over 298,000 phishing complaints landed at IC3 in 2023 alone, and 2024 is tracking even higher. The Gmail
