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Security Awareness Training

Discover resources and strategies for building effective security awareness training programs. Posts cover curriculum design, engagement techniques, compliance requirements, and methods for measuring training impact to reduce human-related security incidents across organizations.

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Phishing

What Is Phishing? A Security Pro's Real-World Guide

In January 2024, a finance employee at a multinational engineering firm in Hong Kong wired $25.6 million to threat actors after a video call with what appeared to be the company's CFO and several colleagues. Every person on that call was a deepfake. The attack started with

Carl B. Johnson Dec 10, 2024 7 min read
Medusa Ransomware

Medusa Ransomware Gang Phishing Campaigns Explained

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

Carl B. Johnson Nov 07, 2024 7 min read
Phish

Phish: Why One Click Still Causes Million-Dollar Breaches

In January 2024, a finance employee at engineering firm Arup received an email inviting them to a video call with the company's CFO. Everything looked legitimate — the email, the meeting link, even the faces on the screen. It was all a deepfake-powered phish. That single interaction cost Arup

Carl B. Johnson Nov 07, 2024 7 min read
Fake Email

Fake Email: How to Spot, Stop, and Survive One

In January 2024, a finance worker at British engineering firm Arup was tricked into wiring $25 million to criminals after a video call — a call that started with a single fake email. The message looked like it came from the company's CFO. Everything about it — the sender name,

Carl B. Johnson Oct 17, 2024 8 min read
Phishing

Phishing in 2024: The Attack Vector That Refuses to Die

$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

Carl B. Johnson Oct 17, 2024 7 min read
Phish Setlist

Phish Setlist for Security: Building Your Attack Plan

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.

Carl B. Johnson Oct 17, 2024 7 min read
Phish Tour

Phish Tour: Walk Through a Real Phishing Attack

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

Carl B. Johnson Oct 17, 2024 7 min read
Phishing

Definition of a Phishing Attack: What It Really Looks Like

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

Carl B. Johnson Oct 17, 2024 7 min read
Spear Phishing

Spear Phishing: Why Targeted Attacks Beat Your Defenses

In January 2024, a finance employee at British engineering firm Arup joined a video call with what appeared to be the company's chief financial officer and several colleagues. Every face on the screen was a deepfake. The attackers had spent weeks researching the company's org chart,

Carl B. Johnson Sep 18, 2024 7 min read
AI Phishing Attacks

FBI Warns Gmail Users of AI-Driven Phishing Attacks

In May 2024, the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) released its annual report showing over $12.5 billion in cybercrime losses for 2023 — with phishing and spoofing topping the list at nearly 300,000 complaints. Now, the FBI warns Gmail users of sophisticated AI-driven phishing attacks that

Carl B. Johnson Sep 18, 2024 7 min read