Smishing Archives - Optery

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Record breach levels, social engineering dominating, and an active campaign targeting 100+ organizations.

Welcome to The Optery Dispatch — a newsletter delivering the latest insights on threat intelligence and proactive cybersecurity strategy. In Issue #10, published February 17, 2026, we cover: Breach Activity Hits Record High as Social Engineering Remains the Leading Root Cause The ITRC’s 2025 report shows phishing, smishing, and BEC dominating across public and private sectors TheContinue reading "Record breach levels, social engineering dominating, and an active campaign targeting 100+ organizations."

February 17, 2026

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Holiday Privacy and Security Tips: Protect Yourself and Your Loved Ones

The holidays are a time for joy and togetherness—but they’re also a time when scammers and cybercriminals are most active. Staying safe requires keeping your personal information out of their hands. Below are five essential cybersecurity tips for protecting yourself and your loved ones this holiday season. 1. Find and Address Your Personal Data ExposureContinue reading "Holiday Privacy and Security Tips: Protect Yourself and Your Loved Ones"

December 16, 2025

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Salesforce Breaches, Social Engineering & Agentic AI Threats

Welcome to The Optery Dispatch — a newsletter delivering the latest insights on threat intelligence and proactive cybersecurity strategy. In Issue #5, published September 30, 2025, we cover: Salesforce Attacks: FBI FLASH Alert UNC6040 and UNC6395 are breaking into Salesforce environments to steal data and extort victims. The FBI, in an alert from September 12, hasContinue reading "Salesforce Breaches, Social Engineering & Agentic AI Threats"

September 30, 2025

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Data Brokers, Social Engineering, and Enterprise Security: Optery’s Paul Mander on the Unscripted Podcast

Optery for Business GM Paul Mander recently joined cybersecurity expert and host David Raviv on the Unscripted Podcast to reveal how personal data is collected, sold, and weaponized, and how Optery helps individuals and companies fight back. From cookies to data brokers to playing offense against social engineering, this episode covers it all. Paul satContinue reading "Data Brokers, Social Engineering, and Enterprise Security: Optery’s Paul Mander on the Unscripted Podcast"

September 9, 2025

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Data Brokers Used to Target Orgs, Social Engineering is #1 Attack Vector

Welcome to The Optery Dispatch — a newsletter delivering the latest insights on threat intelligence and proactive cybersecurity strategy. In Issue #4, published August 26, 2025, we cover: New Joint CISA/FBI/CNMF Advisory Is Latest Confirmation that Attackers Use Commercial Data Brokers to Target Organizations Advisory follows a string of evidence showing attackers leveraging data brokers forContinue reading "Data Brokers Used to Target Orgs, Social Engineering is #1 Attack Vector"

August 26, 2025

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New Joint CISA/FBI/CNMF Advisory Is Latest Confirmation that Attackers Use Commercial Data Brokers to Target Organizations

Advisory follows a string of evidence showing attackers leveraging data brokers for recon and social engineering The joint CISA/FBI/CNMF updated advisory on Scattered Spider acknowledges what several analysts have previously noted: the threat group is using commercial data brokers as part of their reconnaissance toolkit and as fuel for social engineering. In its July 29,Continue reading "New Joint CISA/FBI/CNMF Advisory Is Latest Confirmation that Attackers Use Commercial Data Brokers to Target Organizations"

August 25, 2025

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Unit 42 Report: Social Engineering Is the #1 Initial Access Vector

Palo Alto Networks’ latest Unit 42 Global Incident Response Report: Social Engineering Edition shows that social engineering remains the #1 initial access vector. Among the more than 700 cases Unit 42 investigated between May 2024 and May 2025, 36% of all incidents began with social engineering. Of those: More Stats from the Report Additional InsightsContinue reading "Unit 42 Report: Social Engineering Is the #1 Initial Access Vector "

August 12, 2025

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Scattered Spider, Social Engineering, and Ransomware

Welcome to The Optery Dispatch — a newsletter delivering the latest insights on threat intelligence and proactive cybersecurity strategy. In Issue #3, published July 24, 2025, we cover: Scattered Spider’s Use of Data Brokers Reconnaissance, Targeting, Threats One of today’s most dangerous threat groups is using data brokers to build detailed victim profiles, impersonate employees, andContinue reading "Scattered Spider, Social Engineering, and Ransomware"

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Scattered Spider’s Use of Data Brokers: Reconnaissance, Targeting, and Threats

Update: A new joint CISA/FBI/CNMF advisory has confirmed that Scattered Spider uses commercial data brokers. Read more here. The hacker collective known as Scattered Spider is once again dominating headlines with a wave of high-profile cyberattacks that span multiple industries. According to threat intelligence sources, the group has pursued a sector-by-sector strategy, recently hitting retailContinue reading "Scattered Spider’s Use of Data Brokers: Reconnaissance, Targeting, and Threats"

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Social Engineering Is the #1 Attack Vector: Highlights from the ITRC’s H1 2025 Data Breach Report

The Identity Theft Resource Center’s 2025 H1 Data Breach Report is out. AI-powered phishing attacks continue to rise, phishing/smishing/BEC topped the list of known attack vectors, the supply chain is a critical weakness, breach notifications still lack critical details, and financial and healthcare sectors remain prime targets. Here are some highlights: “The overwhelming majority ofContinue reading "Social Engineering Is the #1 Attack Vector: Highlights from the ITRC’s H1 2025 Data Breach Report"

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Optery Wins 2025 Fortress Cybersecurity Award for Privacy Enhancing Technologies

Optery has been named a winner in the 2025 Fortress Cybersecurity Awards, presented by the Business Intelligence Group. We were recognized in the category of Privacy Enhancing Technologies for our work in reducing the online exposure of employee and executive personal data—the most exploited vulnerability in modern cyberattacks. The Fortress Cybersecurity Awards program honors the industry’s leading companies andContinue reading "Optery Wins 2025 Fortress Cybersecurity Award for Privacy Enhancing Technologies"

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Fortinet’s 2025 Threat Report Makes the Case for Proactive Exposure Management

Fortinet’s 2025 Global Threat Landscape Report shows attackers are moving faster and with greater precision—fueled by automation, AI, and a thriving underground economy for stolen credentials. Here are some of the key findings: “From pre-attack reconnaissance to post-compromise persistence, attackers now operate with unprecedented speed, precision, and reach, challenging organizations to shift from reactive defenseContinue reading "Fortinet’s 2025 Threat Report Makes the Case for Proactive Exposure Management "

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Personal Data Removal: A Core Cybersecurity Measure

Why data broker removal is a must-have for organizations Personal data exposure is the biggest cyber threat to organizations today. It enables the most successful attack vectors: social engineering and the use of compromised credentials. Despite this reality, many companies continue to overlook a major security risk—vast amounts of employee and executive personal data readilyContinue reading "Personal Data Removal: A Core Cybersecurity Measure"

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Privacy Protectors Spotlight: Jeff Jockisch

In the eighth installment of our Privacy Protectors Spotlight series, we are excited to feature data privacy expert Jeff Jockisch! Jeff Jockisch is a highly regarded data privacy researcher specializing in the data broker ecosystem and commercial surveillance. His expertise spans data science, governance, and operational design, with a strong foundation in building knowledge graphs,Continue reading "Privacy Protectors Spotlight: Jeff Jockisch"

January 30, 2025

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Protecting Employee Data As Part of Attack Surface Management

The concept of the “enterprise attack surface” refers to the sum of all possible security risk exposures for a business. Traditionally, securing this attack surface was a task focused primarily on direct IT infrastructure vulnerabilities, such as network systems, software applications, and endpoints. Aspects like exposed personally identifiable information (PII) on data broker sites, whichContinue reading "Protecting Employee Data As Part of Attack Surface Management"

October 22, 2024

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Social Engineering Attacks and How Organizations Can Prevent and Defend Against Them

The vast majority of cyber attacks today begin with social engineering: the act of using exposed personal data to manipulate human targets into providing unauthorized access to an organization’s systems or data. As cybercriminals increasingly target the human element, social engineering has become the number one threat to businesses, leading to account takeovers, data breaches,Continue reading "Social Engineering Attacks and How Organizations Can Prevent and Defend Against Them"

October 7, 2024

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Finance: Regional Bank CISO Prevents Phishing and Smishing with Optery

The CISO of a regional bank leveraged Optery to protect executives and long-term staff, minimize social engineering risk, and reduce spam, phishing, and smishing attempts.

September 3, 2024

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Healthcare: Analytics CEO Shields His Employees from Spear Phishing Attacks with Optery

The CEO of a healthcare analytics company used Optery to prevent spear-phishing attacks, reduce cyber insurance premiums, and protect his tech staff from targeted attacks.

September 3, 2024

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PII Removal for Executives is Not Enough

Protecting a Broader Range of Employees is Essential Are your personal data removal efforts only focused on protecting your executives? In an era where mass SMS-phishing (smishing) campaigns and other social engineering attacks targeting non-executive staff are prevalent, extending personal data removal beyond just the C-Suite is essential. Our new whitepaper, “PII Removal for ExecutivesContinue reading "PII Removal for Executives is Not Enough"

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2024 Cybersecurity Alert: New Gmail Protections Likely to Increase Smishing and Vishing Threats

As email becomes more secure, threat actors are expected to pivot focus towards other methods like smishing (SMS phishing) and vishing (voice phishing). Here’s why and how you can protect your people and your company. Google’s recent announcement on enhanced email security measures for bulk senders, set to begin in February 2024 and including mandatory emailContinue reading "2024 Cybersecurity Alert: New Gmail Protections Likely to Increase Smishing and Vishing Threats"

December 12, 2023

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