Appreciation post: that moment I learned most data breaches start from phishing emails, not hackers.

I read a report from Verizon last month that said over 90% of data breaches start with phishing and it actually surprised me since I always thought it was guys breaking into servers, has anyone else seen numbers that changed how you think about staying safe online?

3 comments

3 Comments

price.ben1mo ago

Is it weird that I actually feel kind of relieved knowing it's mostly phishing and not some super hacker breaking into a server? Cause for a long time I felt pretty helpless thinking there was nothing I could do if someone really wanted in my stuff. But knowing that most attacks start with someone falling for a fake email makes me feel like I actually have some control over this. At the same time it's scary how good some of those emails look these days. I've almost clicked on a couple myself that looked like they were from my bank or a package delivery company.

shane_park921mo ago

That Verizon report kind of wrecked my whole mental picture of what "cyber attack" looks like. The one that got me was a story from a security guy I know - his company got hit because someone clicked a link that looked like an HR benefits update. It was literally just one email to the right person and the whole network was toast. So my question is - how many of those breaches you think come from people just being careless versus emails that are actually convincing enough to fool anyone?

murray.cora1mo ago

Are companies doing enough to train people, or are they just blaming the victim for clicking a link that looks legit?