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.
posts
In 2023, a single phishing email gave attackers access to MGM Resorts' entire IT infrastructure. The result: over $100 million in losses, days of operational chaos, and a security wake-up call that echoed across every industry. The attackers didn't exploit a zero-day vulnerability or deploy sophisticated malware.
In 2024, a finance executive at a multinational firm wired $25 million to threat actors after a deepfake video call impersonated the company's CFO. That wasn't a Hollywood script — it happened in Hong Kong, and it started with a single phishing email. Executive phishing attacks have
The Threat Already Inside Your Building In 2022, a former Twitter employee was convicted of spying on behalf of Saudi Arabia, accessing the personal data of thousands of users — including dissidents — using nothing more than his legitimate employee credentials. No malware. No phishing email. Just a trusted insider with access
In 2023, security researchers at Kaspersky identified over 100 million adware attacks in a single quarter. That same year, spyware variants like SpinOk embedded themselves inside legitimate apps on the Google Play Store, affecting over 421 million downloads. Both threats rode in through the front door — and most users never
A Single Email Delivered 11 Different Types of Malware In 2023, the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center received over 880,000 complaints with losses exceeding $12.5 billion. A significant chunk of those losses traced back to malware delivered through phishing emails and social engineering. I've
The Breach That Started With a Single Click In 2023, MGM Resorts lost an estimated $100 million after a threat actor social-engineered an IT help desk employee with a ten-minute phone call. The attacker didn't exploit a zero-day vulnerability. They didn't brute-force a password. They simply
In March 2025, CISA and the FBI issued a joint advisory warning that the Medusa ransomware gang had compromised over 300 organizations across critical infrastructure sectors — healthcare, education, legal, insurance, and manufacturing. The attack vector in the vast majority of cases? Phishing emails and credential theft. If you think your
The Phishing Email That Cost One Company $37 Million In 2024, a finance employee at a multinational firm in Hong Kong joined a video call with people who looked and sounded exactly like the company's CFO and other executives. Every face on that call was a deepfake. The
The Text Message That Cost One Company $15 Million In 2022, Twilio disclosed that a sophisticated smishing campaign tricked several employees into handing over their credentials via text messages impersonating the company's IT department. The attackers then used those stolen credentials to access internal systems and customer data.
In January 2024, the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center flagged business email compromise — much of it powered by man in the middle attack techniques — as responsible for over $2.9 billion in adjusted losses during 2023 alone. That number isn't slowing down. I've investigated
