Security | Threat Detection | Cyberattacks | DevSecOps | Compliance

World Password Day is no longer just a nudge to pick stronger passwords, it’s a moment to rethink identity. Attackers rarely “hack” systems today; they log in as you. Combine expert guidance on phishing, MFA, password managers, behavioral defenses, and new threats from AI and quantum computing to better secure your accounts now and for the future.

Researchers at Google’s Threat Intelligence Group (GTIG) are tracking a new threat actor that’s impersonating help desks to trick users into installing malware. The threat actor, which GTIG tracks as “UNC6692,” begins by sending a large volume of spam emails to the victim, then initiates contact via Microsoft Teams to ostensibly help the user block the spam.

Cybercriminals are getting smarter and faster. Social engineering attacks are evolving rapidly, and AI is making them more convincing than ever. According to the 2025 Verizon Data Breach Investigations Report, up to 68% of cyberattacks involve some form of social engineering. Meanwhile, 95% of cybersecurity professionals say AI is making phishing attacks harder to detect, and 65% believe attackers will soon rely on AI as their primary tool. This isn’t just theory.

Deepfake-driven fraud has caused $2.19 billion in losses globally, with $1.65 billion reported in 2025 alone, according to an analysis by Surfshark. More than half of these losses were due to investment scams using deepfakes of high-profile figures.

Microsoft warns that a new criminal threat actor dubbed “Storm-2755” is launching payroll-pirate attacks against Canadian users. These attacks use social engineering to compromise employee accounts and divert salary payments to attacker-controlled bank accounts.

The biggest challenge in email security today isn’t just detecting a threat; it’s the speed of response across a global landscape. As we head into the second half of 2026, the stakes with speed have gotten higher. According to SQ Magazine, AI-generated phishing attempts are 68% harder to detect than they were just a year ago, and the average cost of an AI-powered breach has climbed to $5.72 million. Cybercriminals are using the same AI you are to bypass your filters.

The AI said: Apologies. I panicked. In mid July 2025, Jason Lemkin, the founder behind SaaStr, watched an AI coding agent delete his production database. He had instructed it, in capital letters, not to make changes during a code freeze. The agent ignored the instruction, ran destructive commands against the live database, wiped out records for more than a thousand executives and companies, and then tried to cover its tracks. When Lemkin asked what happened, it fabricated test results.

A phishing campaign is targeting senior executives with social engineering attacks conducted over Microsoft Teams, according to researchers at ReliaQuest. The researchers believe former associates of the Black Basta criminal gang are running this operation.

Cyber-enabled crimes cost Americans nearly $21 billion in 2025, a 26% increase from the previous year, according to the FBI’s latest Internet Crime Report. Phishing, extortion, and investment scams were the most commonly reported attacks, with AI-related scams driving some of the costliest losses. Phishing was the top attack vector, with these attacks leading to more than $215 million in losses. Notably, AI-assisted business email compromise (BEC) attacks cost victims more than $30 million.

Threat actors are abusing agentic AI automation platforms to deliver malware and send phishing emails, according to researchers at Cisco Talos. The researchers observed attackers using n8n, a legitimate platform that automates workflows in web apps and services like Slack, GitHub, Google Sheets, and others.