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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A Single Phone Call Cost MGM Resorts $100 Million In September 2023, a threat actor called MGM Resorts' IT help desk, impersonated an employee found on LinkedIn, and convinced a technician to reset credentials. That one vishing call triggered a ransomware attack that shut down slot machines, hotel key
In 2023, MGM Resorts lost roughly $100 million after a threat actor called Scattered Spider impersonated an employee on a help desk call — a textbook spear phishing technique that bypassed every technical control the company had. The attacker didn't blast out a million generic emails. They researched one
A Single Fake Identity Website Fueled a $10 Million Fraud Ring In 2023, the FBI dismantled an identity fraud operation that relied heavily on fake identity websites — convincing portals designed to harvest personal data from unsuspecting victims. The ring used stolen credentials to open bank accounts, file fraudulent tax returns,
We're barely halfway through 2026, and the breach disclosures are already stacking up at a pace that should alarm every executive, IT director, and business owner reading this. If you're searching for data breach examples 2026, you're probably trying to figure out what'
A Single Email Cost This Company $100 Million In 2019, Toyota Boshoku Corporation lost $37 million to a single business email compromise attack. A threat actor impersonated a senior executive and convinced a finance employee to change wire transfer details. The money vanished. That's phishing — not some abstract
In 2023, a small accounting firm in Ohio discovered that a browser toolbar one employee installed — what looked like a harmless coupon finder — had been silently logging keystrokes and exfiltrating client tax records for eleven months. The toolbar was adware on the surface. Underneath, it was spyware. And the firm
The Ransomware Gang That Treats Phishing Like a Business In March 2025, CISA and the FBI issued a joint advisory — AA25-071A — warning that the Medusa ransomware gang had compromised over 300 organizations across critical infrastructure sectors. Healthcare, education, legal, insurance, manufacturing. The attack vector in the vast majority of cases?
A Single Email Took Down a $5.8 Billion Pipeline In May 2021, a single compromised password shut down Colonial Pipeline and triggered fuel shortages across the U.S. East Coast. The attack didn't start with some exotic zero-day exploit. It started with a stolen credential and an
The AI-Generated Email That Fooled a Security Engineer In early 2025, a Google Workspace consultant named Sam Mitrovic publicly documented how he nearly fell for an AI-driven phishing attack targeting his Gmail account. The attacker spoofed Google's support number, used a perfectly natural AI-generated voice, and referenced real
Your Old AIM Email Is Still a Threat Vector In December 2017, AOL officially shut down AIM — AOL Instant Messenger — along with the ecosystem of AIM email accounts that millions of people had used for over two decades. Most users moved on. But here's the problem: their credentials
