Cyber criminals are constantly evolving their methods, but their biggest leverage for growth will always be exploiting the human factor. Software and physical measures against cyber attacks have become so advanced that tricking workers is the only remaining attack vector criminals can reliably use. According to Verizon’s 2023 Data Breach Report, 74% of...

Valentine’s Day isn’t just a day for romance. It’s a time of year when cyber criminals and scammers launch attacks such as phishing, vishing, smishing, and social engineering. Australia has begun issuing warnings to singles, informing them of the “pig butchering” or “romance baiting” scam that’s prominent on Valentine’s Day. It starts with the attacker assuming the identity of an attractive and...

QR codes have come a long way since being invented in 1994 by a subsidiary of Toyota. Initially introduced to address some limitations of barcodes during the car manufacturing process, QR codes have since become staples in people’s day-to-day lives. The introduction of high-powered cameras to most modern smartphones is what allowed these codes to gain new uses. QR codes, easily generated and cost...

“On the internet, nobody knows you’re a dog.”     Cartoon by Peter Steiner There’s a reason this cartoon gained popularity in 1993 and has now become an iconic representation of how the internet works. The internet provides a way for people to hide their real identities, which can unfortunately lead to dishonest activities. Nowadays, scammers take advantage of this to deceive people who...

This year is seeing more phishing attacks in more places, having more detrimental impacts. One security messaging provider noted a 61% increase in phishing attacks between April and October 2022 compared to the same period the previous year. Another report observed that when phishing attacks were successful in 2022, financial losses from those incidents increased by 76%. In another trend,...

Employees come and go for a variety of reasons. If you’re lucky, they’ll be very cooperative with the offboarding process, but this isn’t always the case. And even if they are, you still have to take it with a grain of salt. Some say that calm and cooperative offboarding is often the most dangerous because people aren’t as diligent when the situation seems lax. If these moments have any...

The way we think about data protection is changing. Cyber culture is emerging as the new norm, and organizations must adapt their strategies to stay ahead of the curve. Data protection has traditionally focused on preventing breaches and protecting sensitive information. However, cyber culture goes beyond this by encompassing all aspects of online life. It includes everything from how we interact...

When it comes to cyber crime, hackers like to locate the most high-value targets, whether it’s a piece of infrastructure or an individual with access to privileged information, all while expending the least effort possible. In most examples of spear phishing attacks, a criminal will send out targeted attacks via email to multiple users. In these emails, the attacker will use high-pressure...

Spoofing refers to an attack where hackers use various ways to disguise their identity so that their victims think they are talking to their coworker, boss, or business. The methods used to achieve this are the typical phishing tropes such as fake websites, links, and social engineering. When spoofing is involved, it’s often more helpful to focus on detecting the facade rather than looking at the...

Phishing threats are everywhere, and if your employees don’t know how to spot them, you’re putting your information at risk. Knowing how to build a successful phishing simulation is vital for identifying how well employees can spot the latest threats and ensuring they know how to spot them independently. Unfortunately, many organizations fail to offer adequate security awareness training, with...

Spear phishing occurs when cyber criminals deploy targeted attacks against individuals and businesses alike via email. Using savvy tactics, hackers collect sensitive data about specific parties to construct messages that sound familiar and trustworthy. As its name implies, spear phishing falls under the larger umbrella category of phishing attacks that victimize end users and organizations daily....

Actionable security awareness tips on how employees can prevent insider threats  A misplaced USB drive with confidential data. An opportunistic employee sharing confidential information with a competitor. An employee who accidentally clicks a phishing email. These are all examples of insider threats to your organization. Insider threats unfortunately are not simply the stuff of movies and crime...