Found out 95% of data breaches start with phishing emails, not some hacker genius

I was reading the Verizon DBIR report last week and that stat really hit me. All this time I thought the big threats were these super skilled hackers breaking into systems. But nope, it is just people clicking links they should not. Makes me wonder how many of us actually run phishing tests on our own accounts or do those mock email drills.

3 comments

3 Comments

emmaclark13d ago

Oh man, that "just people clicking links they should not" part hit home. My old company had a fake phishing test and I fell for it twice in the same month. First one was a fake Amazon package notification, second was pretending to be from our own IT department asking for a password reset. I felt so stupid after both of them. It is crazy how easy those emails look real, especially when you are just rushing through your inbox on a busy morning. Definitely makes me think the real skill is in manipulating people not breaking into systems.

the_anthony12d ago

Dude, that IT department one is the worst! They know you're trained to trust internal emails, so they specifically target that. Makes you wonder though, like after falling for it twice, did your company actually teach you anything useful afterward or did they just make you feel dumb about it? I feel like that's where a lot of these security tests fail, they just shame people instead of showing them the specific red flags to look for in those tricky emails.

janah8313d ago

You ever try setting up a second inbox just for signups and spam? @emmaclark that's what finally worked for me after I fell for a fake DHL delivery. I made a rule that any email asking me to click a link goes to a separate folder first. Then I check them later when I'm not rushed. Also I stopped using the same password for everything. That way even if I do click something stupid, they can't get into my bank or work stuff. It's not perfect but I haven't fallen for a phish in over a year now.