Tag

Phishing

Explore in-depth articles about phishing attacks, including email phishing, spear phishing, smishing, and vishing. Learn how attackers craft deceptive messages, steal credentials, and compromise systems — and discover proven strategies to detect and block these threats.

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Whaling Attack

Whaling Attack Cybersecurity: How CEOs Get Hooked

In 2016, an employee at Austrian aerospace firm FACC wired $47 million to a bank account controlled by criminals — because an email that looked like it came from the CEO told them to. The CEO was fired. The CFO was fired. The company's stock tanked. That single email

Carl B. Johnson Apr 22, 2022 7 min read
Vishing Scam Awareness

Vishing Scam Awareness: Stop Voice Phishing Cold

In July 2020, a teenager and two accomplices called Twitter employees, posed as IT staff, and convinced them to hand over internal credentials. Within hours, they'd hijacked 130 high-profile accounts — including Barack Obama, Elon Musk, and Apple — and ran a Bitcoin scam that netted over $100,000 in

Carl B. Johnson Apr 21, 2022 7 min read
Pretexting Attacks

Pretexting Attack Examples: Real Scams That Fool Smart People

In 2020, a teenager convinced a Twitter employee he was a co-worker from the IT department. That single phone call led to the compromise of 130 high-profile accounts — including Barack Obama, Elon Musk, and Apple — and a Bitcoin scam that netted over $100,000 in hours. The attack wasn'

Carl B. Johnson Apr 04, 2022 7 min read
Ransomware

What Is Ransomware? A Practical Defense Guide for 2022

In February 2022, Nvidia — one of the largest chip manufacturers on the planet — confirmed it was hit by a ransomware attack. The threat actor group Lapsus$ claimed they stole over a terabyte of proprietary data and began leaking employee credentials and source code. If a company with Nvidia's

Carl B. Johnson Mar 21, 2022 7 min read
Ransomware

How Ransomware Spreads: 6 Attack Vectors You Must Know

In February 2022, the FBI and CISA issued a joint advisory warning that ransomware incidents against 14 of 16 U.S. critical infrastructure sectors had increased dramatically. That advisory wasn't theoretical — it followed real attacks against water treatment facilities, hospitals, and food processors. If you're searching

Carl B. Johnson Mar 18, 2022 7 min read
Data Breach

What Causes a Data Breach: 7 Root Causes Explained

In January 2022, the International Committee of the Red Cross disclosed that a sophisticated cyberattack compromised the personal data of more than 515,000 vulnerable people — including missing persons, detainees, and their families. The breach didn't happen because of some exotic zero-day exploit. It happened because of a

Carl B. Johnson Mar 18, 2022 6 min read
Incident Response

How to Respond to a Cyberattack: A Step-by-Step Plan

In May 2021, Colonial Pipeline paid a $4.4 million ransom after a single compromised password shut down fuel distribution across the U.S. East Coast. The attack didn't just expose a vulnerability in critical infrastructure — it exposed a truth most organizations ignore: the speed and quality of

Carl B. Johnson Feb 10, 2022 7 min read
Cybersecurity Incident Examples

Cybersecurity Incident Examples That Changed Everything

The Breach That Cost a Pipeline Its Entire Operation In May 2021, Colonial Pipeline — the largest fuel pipeline in the United States — shut down completely after a ransomware attack. A single compromised password on a legacy VPN account gave the DarkSide threat actor group everything they needed. The company paid

Carl B. Johnson Jan 18, 2022 6 min read
Cybersecurity Glossary

Cybersecurity Glossary for Beginners: 40 Terms to Know

During the 2020 SolarWinds breach investigation, I watched a boardroom full of executives stare blankly when an incident responder mentioned "lateral movement" and "supply chain compromise." They had no idea what was happening to their own network — not because they were negligent, but because nobody had

Carl B. Johnson Sep 16, 2021 8 min read