Schneier on Security

MAY 30, 2025

And third, using flawed mental shortcuts, like believing PDFs to be safer than Microsoft Word documents, or that mobile devices are safer than computers for opening suspicious emails. Even if we do this all well and correctly, we can’t make people immune to social engineering.

Cybersecurity 235

Cybersecurity Scams Security Awareness Phishing 235

Security Affairs

NOVEMBER 24, 2020

The threat actors were able to modify DNS settings by tricking GoDaddy employees into handing over the control of the targeted domains with social engineering attacks. “This gave the actor the ability to change DNS records and in turn, take control of a number of internal email accounts. .” Pierluigi Paganini.

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Social Engineering Engineering DNS Data breaches 106

NetSpi Executives

OCTOBER 25, 2024

In this article, we will dive deep into the sea of phishing and vishing, sharing real-world stories and insights we’ve encountered during social engineering tests to highlight the importance of awareness. Unfortunately for me, they had MFA enabled on all of their accounts. The customer didn’t provide any other information.

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Social Engineering Engineering Phishing Penetration Testing 98

Webroot

MARCH 3, 2025

Common attacks to consumer protection Identity theft and fraud Some common types of identity theft and fraud include account takeover fraud , when criminals use stolen personal information such as account numbers, usernames, or passwords to hijack bank accounts, credit cards, and even email and social media accounts.

Consumer Protection 99

Consumer Protection Identity Theft Scams Social Engineering 99

Krebs on Security

AUGUST 21, 2020

” The perpetrators focus on social engineering new hires at the targeted company, and impersonate staff at the target company’s IT helpdesk. The actor logged the information provided by the employee and used it in real-time to gain access to corporate tools using the employee’s account.”

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Social Engineering VPN Authentication Engineering 363

Krebs on Security

AUGUST 19, 2021

. “According to this actor, he had originally intended to send his targets—all senior-level executives—phishing emails to compromise their accounts, but after that was unsuccessful, he pivoted to this ransomware pretext,” Hassold wrote. Open our letter at your email. Launch the provided virus on any computer in your company.

Ransomware 363

Ransomware Social Engineering Cybercrime Scams 363

SecureWorld News

OCTOBER 3, 2023

And one of the most successful and increasingly prevalent ways of attack has come from social engineering, which is when criminals manipulate humans directly to gain access to confidential information. Social engineering is more sophisticated than ever, and its most advanced iteration is the topic of today's discussion: deepfakes.

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Social Engineering Phishing Engineering Technology 109

Krebs on Security

APRIL 6, 2022

“They would just keep jamming a few individuals to get [remote] access, read some onboarding documents, enroll a new 2FA [two-factor authentication method] and exfiltrate code or secrets, like a smash-and-grab,” the CXO said. ” Like LAPSUS$, these vishers just kept up their social engineering attacks until they succeeded.

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Social Engineering Phishing Accountability Engineering 293

Krebs on Security

AUGUST 12, 2020

Several stories here have highlighted the importance of creating accounts online tied to your various identity, financial and communications services before identity thieves do it for you. ” In short, although you may not be required to create online accounts to manage your affairs at your ISP, the U.S. .”

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Accountability Mobile Banking Passwords 357

Security Affairs

OCTOBER 20, 2021

The malware landing page is disguised as a software download URL that was sent via email or a PDF on Google Drive, or via Google documents containing the phishing links. The researchers identified around 15,000 actor accounts, most of which were created for this campaign. Follow me on Twitter: @securityaffairs and Facebook.

Accountability 144

Accountability Malware Phishing Social Engineering 144

Krebs on Security

AUGUST 26, 2020

For several years beginning around 2010, a lone teenager in Vietnam named Hieu Minh Ngo ran one of the Internet’s most profitable and popular services for selling “ fullz ,” stolen identity records that included a consumer’s name, date of birth, Social Security number and email and physical address. ” MICROBILT.

Identity Theft 355

Identity Theft Computers and Electronics Hacking Accountability 355

Krebs on Security

APRIL 20, 2023

In many cases, the phony profiles spoofed chief information security officers at major corporations , and some attracted quite a few connections before their accounts were terminated. which owns LinkedIn, said in September 2022 that it had detected a wide range of social engineering campaigns using a proliferation of phony LinkedIn accounts.

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Malware Software Technology Accountability 331

eSecurity Planet

MAY 16, 2025

The stolen information was then used in social engineering scams that tricked users into giving away their crypto. These insiders abused their access to customer support systems to steal the account data for a small subset of customers, Coinbase said in a blog post. Masked Social Security numbers (last four digits).

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Social Engineering Scams Accountability Engineering 70

Security Affairs

DECEMBER 10, 2024

This social engineering scheme has been amplified by targeted phishing, smishing, and vishing activities, with a noticeable increase around the winter holidays. A month earlier, Dubai and Abu Dhabi Police warned citizens not to share their confidential information, including their account, card details or online banking credentials.

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Social Engineering Phishing Banking DNS 111

SecureWorld News

DECEMBER 30, 2024

This may involve identifying compromised servers, web applications, databases, or user accounts. Disable compromised accounts or restrict their permissions immediately, update passwords for authorized users to prevent further unauthorized access. Introduce MFA for all corporate accounts. Physical security must also be addressed.

Data breaches 111

Data breaches Social Engineering Passwords Accountability 111

SecureWorld News

MAY 9, 2025

The method, known as "ClickFix," leverages social engineering to bypass traditional email-based defenses. The LOSTKEYS malware shows how attackers are getting smarter at tricking people and sneaking past basic security tools, especially by using fake websites and social engineering to get users to run harmful scripts," said J.

Malware 86

Malware Social Engineering Government Engineering 86

Jane Frankland

MAY 16, 2025

Fraudsters use AI, social engineering, and emotional manipulation to steal not just money, but also trust, time, and peace of mind. From AI-generated voices to realistic websites and stolen accounts, scams today are slick, fast, and global. Impersonation and Fake Accounts Unfamiliar or spoofed sender addresses (e.g.,

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Scams Password Management Passwords Banking 130

SecureWorld News

JUNE 9, 2025

Additionally, a distributed workforce, ranging from remote maintenance technicians to cabin crews, multiplies entry points for social-engineering tactics like phishing. Aircraft themselves are nodes on data networks, constantly transmitting telemetry, engine performance metrics, and passenger connectivity data.

Cybersecurity 117

Cybersecurity Social Engineering Computers and Electronics Risk 117

Krebs on Security

JANUARY 30, 2024

In each attack, the victims saw their email and financial accounts compromised after suffering an unauthorized SIM-swap, wherein attackers transferred each victim’s mobile phone number to a new device that they controlled. As documented by Group-IB, the group pivoted from its access to Twilio to attack at least 163 of its customers.

Social Engineering 359

Social Engineering Mobile Cybercrime Passwords 359

Security Boulevard

JULY 10, 2024

Google and Apple look to give users better protections against social engineering attacks like phishing, with Google giving high-risk users access to the APP service with a passkey and Apple educating users about the threats with a detailed support document in the wake of a recent smishing campaign.

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Social Engineering Education Phishing Engineering 122

The Hacker News

APRIL 23, 2025

Multiple suspected Russia-linked threat actors are "aggressively" targeting individuals and organizations with ties to Ukraine and human rights with an aim to gain unauthorized access to Microsoft 365 accounts since early March 2025.

Social Engineering 106

Social Engineering Engineering Accountability 106

Identity IQ

MAY 7, 2021

What is Account Takeover? Account takeover, also known as ATO, is a form of identity theft in which a malicious third party gains access to or “takes over” an online account. One of the primary reasons behind this massive rise in account takeover is the relative ease with which it can be done. Account Takeover Prevention.

Accountability 105

Accountability Data breaches Passwords Social Engineering 105

Malwarebytes

JUNE 9, 2025

Scammers are getting better at social engineering and are using Artificial Intelligence (AI) to sound more authentic and eliminate any spelling errors. Secure your accounts Change the passwords on all your online accounts, especially financial and email accounts. Importantly, acting quickly can limit the damage.

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Scams Banking Artificial Intelligence Accountability 67

Security Through Education

JUNE 10, 2025

There have even been documented cases of predators using the platform to connect with young players. Written by Amanda Marchuck Online Content Manager, Social-Engineer, LLC Some games include inappropriate content, and the chat function may expose kids to strangers or unsafe conversations.

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Social Engineering Technology Engineering Education 104

SecureList

MARCH 25, 2025

Key findings Phishing Banks were the most popular lure in 2024, accounting for 42.58% of financial phishing attempts. Consumers remained the primary target of financial cyberthreats, accounting for 73.69% of attacks. Mamont was the most active Android malware family, accounting for 36.7% million detections compared to 5.84

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Phishing Banking Scams Mobile 77

Digital Shadows

OCTOBER 23, 2024

The attacker gained initial access to two employee accounts by carrying out social engineering attacks on the organization’s help desk twice. Scattered Spider previously targeted telecommunications firms, likely to support its SIM-swapping activities that facilitate account takeovers.

Social Engineering 122

Social Engineering Accountability Engineering Backups 122

SecureWorld News

JUNE 3, 2025

Here are some potential impacts: Credential stuffing attacks : Cybercriminals can use the stolen credentials to gain unauthorized access to other accounts where users have reused passwords. Account takeovers (ATOs) : With access to login details, attackers can hijack accounts, leading to identity theft or financial fraud.

Malware 65

Malware Identity Theft Passwords Phishing 65

Security Affairs

SEPTEMBER 5, 2020

“Another social engineering technique the threat actor uses to lure the employee into interacting with the email is giving the messages urgency, asking the recipient to review them or they will be deleted after three days.” “The overlay itself is attempting to prompt the user to sign in to access the company account.”

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Social Engineering Phishing Engineering Advertising 145

Malwarebytes

JULY 19, 2021

All documents to enable the smooth release of this fund to you will be carefully worked out and there will be practically no risk involved, this will be executed under a legitimate arrangement that will protect you from any breach of law as a change of fund ownership certificate in your name will be legally initiated. Confidence tricksters.

Accountability 112

Accountability Scams Cryptocurrency Banking 112

SC Magazine

MAY 11, 2021

AWS System Manager (SSM) misconfigurations led to the potential exposure of more than 5 million documents with personally identifiable information and credit card transactions on more than 3,000 SSM documents. AWS SSM documents contain the operations that an AWS systems manager performs on a company’s cloud assets.

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Backups Social Engineering Encryption Media 140

SecureList

OCTOBER 23, 2024

List of in-the-wild 0-days caught and reported by Kaspersky over the past 10 years Social activity What never ceases to impress us is how much effort Lazarus APT puts into their social engineering campaigns. Is that really all this game has to offer?

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Engineering Social Engineering Accountability Cryptocurrency 145

eSecurity Planet

OCTOBER 3, 2022

PuTTY, KiTTY, TightVNC, Sumatra PDF Reader, and the muPDF/Subliminal Recording software installer have been backdoored to perform a wide range of social engineering campaigns that started in April 2022. Targets were encouraged to apply for open positions in legitimate companies.

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Software Social Engineering Engineering Phishing 128

Identity IQ

AUGUST 18, 2023

IdentityIQ Scam Report Reveals Shocking Stats on AI Social Engineering IdentityIQ AI social engineering scams are on the rise, according to IDIQ Chief Innovation Officer Michael Scheumack. “AI-based AI-based social engineering scams, which were at a high percentage last year, are up 100% this year for us,” Scheumack said.

Social Engineering 52

Social Engineering Scams Engineering Identity Theft 52

Zero Day

JUNE 22, 2025

Here's how to check if your accounts are at risk and what to do next. And while financial costs may be a factor, individual victims may face targeted phishing campaigns, social engineering schemes, identity theft, and damage to credit.   Think you've been involved in a data breach?

Passwords 100

Passwords Data breaches Password Management Accountability 100

Zero Day

JUNE 20, 2025

Here's how to check if your accounts are at risk and what to do next. And while financial costs may be a factor, individual victims may face targeted phishing campaigns, social engineering schemes, identity theft, and damage to credit. Close Home Tech Security Heard about the 16 billion passwords leak?

Passwords 106

Passwords Data breaches Password Management Identity Theft 106

Malwarebytes

JULY 19, 2022

The data it’s after includes government documents like passport, as well as selfie photos. In a nutshell, it’s an extensive form of information theft, the likes of which could result in someone’s identity being fully stolen and their financial and other online accounts being taken over. Source: Akamai).

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Phishing Social Engineering Accountability Engineering 114

Security Through Education

SEPTEMBER 6, 2023

At Social-Engineer LLC , we offer a service known as the Social Engineering Risk Assessment or SERA for short. If a target has a public social media account, this can serve as a gold mine for an attacker. At Social-Engineer , our SERA program also begins in a similar way.

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Social Engineering Engineering Risk Phishing 52