> The sad fact is that there still seem to be more than enough utterly braindead marks on the Internet that fall for these scams
Defense is a game of resource exhaustion. Even security experts get tired/drunk/overwhelmed and make errors in judgment. I almost fell for a recent phishing exercise myself.
A growing number of these "utterly braindead marks" are people like your own parents and grandparents, whose brains are in fact degrading. Meanwhile the threats continue to evolve and new vectors arise. It's like applying for jobs. The more scammers try, the higher the chances an attempt will eventually succeed.
PSA: Expecting an inheritance? Keep your parents out of trouble or you'll never see it. The power-of-attorney scam is alive and well.
> Defense is a game of resource exhaustion. Even security experts get tired/drunk/overwhelmed and make errors in judgment. I almost fell for a recent phishing exercise myself.
It's also a game of numbers. I once did fall for a phishing exercise, because by pure coincidence, the email looked perfectly legitimate in context of my unusual, specific and temporary circumstances. There were some minor red flags, but I missed those as I got the email while waiting in the airport. Basically, a one in a million lottery win. Fortunately, it was a company exercise, so all I lost was a bit of self-esteem and a lot of self-confidence.
But that's the thing: when you can send a message like this to a couple million people for approximately $0, then "one in a million chance" turns into a guaranteed win.
Defense is a game of resource exhaustion. Even security experts get tired/drunk/overwhelmed and make errors in judgment. I almost fell for a recent phishing exercise myself.
A growing number of these "utterly braindead marks" are people like your own parents and grandparents, whose brains are in fact degrading. Meanwhile the threats continue to evolve and new vectors arise. It's like applying for jobs. The more scammers try, the higher the chances an attempt will eventually succeed.
PSA: Expecting an inheritance? Keep your parents out of trouble or you'll never see it. The power-of-attorney scam is alive and well.