Learn how attackers use psychological manipulation to trick people into revealing sensitive information or performing unsafe actions. Topics include pretexting, baiting, tailgating, vishing, and real-world social engineering case studies that expose common human vulnerabilities.
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The $4.88 Million Email That Looked Completely Normal In 2024, IBM's Cost of a Data Breach Report pegged the average breach cost at $4.88 million — a record high. And phishing remained the most common initial attack vector. I've investigated dozens of these incidents firsthand,
Your Old AIM Email Address Is a Bigger Problem Than You Think In December 2017, AOL officially shut down AIM — AOL Instant Messenger — after 20 years of operation. Millions of users shrugged and moved on. But here's what most people didn't consider: their old AIM email
In March 2024, a finance director at a mid-size manufacturer in Ohio received an email from what appeared to be the company CEO. The message asked for an urgent wire transfer to close a confidential acquisition. The email looked flawless — correct logo, matching font, even a convincing signature block. She
Your Inbox Is a Buffet — And Threat Actors Are Cooking In March 2023, the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center reported that phishing was the number one crime type by victim count for the fifth year running, with over 298,000 complaints in a single year. Every one of
In 2023, the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center received over 298,000 complaints about phishing — making it the most reported cybercrime category for the fifth year running. That's not a number on a slide deck. That's hundreds of thousands of real organizations bleeding money,
A Single Fake Email Cost This Company $37 Million In 2024, the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) reported that Business Email Compromise (BEC) schemes — built entirely on fake emails — accounted for over $2.9 billion in adjusted losses across the United States. That figure only captures what
In 2023, the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center reported that business email compromise — attacks built on fakeemail addresses and spoofed sender identities — accounted for over $2.9 billion in adjusted losses. That made it the single most financially devastating cybercrime category they tracked. Not ransomware. Not cryptojacking. Fake
In 2022, a single phishing email sent to a Twilio employee led to the compromise of 163 customer accounts, including high-profile targets like Signal. The attacker didn't exploit a zero-day vulnerability or brute-force a password. They sent a text message that looked like it came from Twilio'
The Email That Cost One Company $121 Million In 2019, a Lithuanian man was sentenced to five years in prison for phishing Google and Facebook out of over $121 million. He sent fake invoices from a spoofed vendor email address. Employees at two of the most technically sophisticated companies on
In 2023, a single spear phishing email cost MGM Resorts an estimated $100 million in losses and recovery. The attacker didn't blast out a million generic messages — they researched one employee, crafted one convincing message, and made one phone call to the help desk. That's the
