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Threat Detection

Stay current on methods and technologies used to identify cyber threats before they escalate. Topics include intrusion detection systems, anomaly monitoring, threat intelligence feeds, endpoint detection, and behavioral analysis techniques for proactive defense.

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Adware vs Spyware

Adware vs Spyware: What Security Teams Must Know

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

Carl B. Johnson Sep 20, 2026 5 min read
Incident Response

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

In February 2024, Change Healthcare — one of the largest health payment processors in the U.S. — was hit by a ransomware attack that disrupted claims processing for thousands of hospitals, pharmacies, and clinics nationwide. UnitedHealth Group, its parent company, later confirmed the breach affected roughly 100 million individuals. The company

Carl B. Johnson Sep 06, 2026 6 min read
Cyber Incident Response Steps

Cyber Incident Response Steps That Actually Work

A Ransomware Attack Exposed What Most Plans Are Missing In February 2024, Change Healthcare suffered a ransomware attack that disrupted prescription processing for millions of Americans. UnitedHealth Group later confirmed the breach affected approximately 100 million individuals — the largest healthcare data breach in U.S. history. The attackers got in

Carl B. Johnson Aug 21, 2026 5 min read
Incident Response

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

In 2023, MGM Resorts lost an estimated $100 million after a social engineering attack that started with a single phone call to their help desk. The threat actor impersonated an employee, gained access to internal systems, and deployed ransomware across the enterprise. The entire operation took roughly 10 minutes to

Carl B. Johnson Jul 11, 2026 5 min read
Phishing Links

What Is a Phishing Link? How to Spot and Stop Them

Last year, a mid-size accounting firm in Ohio lost $1.2 million after a single employee clicked one link in a spoofed Microsoft 365 email. The link looked like a routine password-reset page. It wasn't. Within 90 minutes, a threat actor had harvested credentials, bypassed weak authentication, and

Carl B. Johnson Jun 28, 2026 5 min read
Insider Threats

How to Prevent Insider Threats Before They Cost Millions

In 2022, a former employee at Cash App's parent company, Block, downloaded reports containing the personal information of 8.2 million customers — months after they'd left the company. Their access had never been revoked. That single oversight triggered SEC filings, lawsuits, and reputational damage that took

Carl B. Johnson Jun 23, 2026 5 min read
Data Breach Response Plan

Data Breach Response Plan: What Actually Works in 2026

The Breach That Didn't Have to Cost $350 Million When Equifax disclosed its 2017 breach affecting 147 million people, the eventual settlement topped $700 million. But here's what most people forget: the vulnerability that attackers exploited had a patch available months before the breach. Equifax didn&

Carl B. Johnson Jun 22, 2026 5 min read