If you think you already know what the most common cyberattack vectors are… you’re probably right.

Still, just knowing what the vectors are isn’t the full story.

This article is the second in a series summarizing the findings of our new report:

Today, we’re starting a two-part segment on the statistics surrounding common vectors and shedding light on some important learning points.

This post will focus on two old favorites.

Social Engineering Still Reigns Supreme

Easily the most common tactic used by cybercriminals is exploiting humans. Today, at least 82% of breaches include what Verizon’s Data Breach Investigations Report (DBIR) calls the human element, mostly in the form of email-based threats such as phishing, pretexting, and compromised email accounts.

For many years, more sophisticated pretexting attacks—where an attacker presents their victim with a legitimate-sounding reason to take an ill-advised action—have outperformed more basic phishing attacks in results. Seeing (Read more...)