Phishing. Spoofing. And the granddaddy of them all: social engineering.
As much as cyberattacks evolve, many of the old strategies remain the same, for one very simple reason: they still work. Add in the modern-day twist of AI enhancement, and the threat landscape suddenly looks a lot more… well, threatening. And when a phishing email lands in someone’s inbox, the real threat isn’t the email itself. However inadvertently, the real threat is whoever reads it.
In short: no matter how effective your technology is, you cannot afford to neglect the human risk.
So, without further preamble – it’s time to get to know Hoxhunt!
The Problem
You can invest in building the most sophisticated and impenetrable cybersecurity stack in the world, but the moment Ed from Sales (we’re giving Ed from Accounts a break – he gets enough flak) clicks a dodgy link in a phishing email, that stack could suddenly become about as effective as a very expensive wall hanging.
Now, to be fair to Ed from Sales, between the evolution of social engineering and the rise of AI, phishing emails are only getting better at bypassing security controls, not to mention a lot more convincing. In fact, there might not even have been a link to click in the first place.
As an example, let’s detour quickly to take a look at the tactics behind a recent Temu password reset phishing attack.
In this example, the attacker:
- Registers a Temu account using an attacker-controlled phone number as the account name.
- Triggers a password reset, generating a genuine Temu email.
- Forwards through the attacker-controlled mailbox to a large number of recipients.
- Uses an attacker-controlled phone number in the greeting line, prompting recipients to call back.
The email passes standard authentication checks because it looks like a completely legitimate email. Only the greeting line carries a payload, but that ‘Not You?’ line is deceptively reassuring and steers the recipient towards a phone call, evading link- and attachment-based detection entirely. The callback is where the real social engineering begins. [1]
Let’s remove Temu from the equation for a moment – an email from any other platform, including a professional one, could potentially be hijacked in a similar way. How do you respond when you’re faced with an attack that uses legitimacy to bypass security checks and removes those dodgy links from the equation entirely? In that moment, the security of your organisation might be entirely dependent on Ed from Sales.
Your people are your most powerful defence — not your technology.
The Solution
Your people don’t have to be your greatest security vulnerability. With the right training and reinforcement, they can become your strongest line of defence.
Enter Hoxhunt.
The goal isn’t simply to make employees more aware of cyber threats. It’s to help them consistently make better security decisions. By going beyond compliance and awareness to drive measurable behaviour change and lasting secure habits, Hoxhunt reduces human risk while turning your workforce into an active line of defence.
Using AI-driven phishing scenarios and personalised, gamified micro-training that rewards employees and motivates continuous participation, Hoxhunt delivers industry-leading engagement rates of 60%+ and measurable reductions in human risk. Hoxhunt’s dynamic training library draws on the latest social engineering attacks, connecting training to real-world context and ensuring your security training sticks and delivers meaningful, lasting results.
Want to see for yourself how Hoxhunt can transform how you manage human risk? Find out more and book a demo below:
[1] https://www.linkedin.com/posts/hoxhunt_phish-of-the-week-activity-7465341308795011073-M4IA?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop&rcm=ACoAADLaLX8B1ylzuzsxDF88kPQAfIr6QkELatU
