Cybercriminals consistently rely on a core set of attack methods that have proven effective over time, particularly against organizations with gaps in their security defenses. For them, the financial impact keeps growing. Data breaches now average $4.4 million in costs and affect every organization, regardless of size or industry.

Artificial intelligence has made these attacks more dangerous. Attackers use AI to create convincing phishing emails, perfectly spoofed sender addresses, and targeted social engineering campaigns that employees struggle to identify. What once required skilled hackers now happens through automated tools available to anyone.

Proven tactics remain profitable, driving attackers to refine existing methods rather than develop entirely new approaches. Automation and generative AI have transformed these traditional attacks into industrial-scale operations.

Attackers now mass-produce convincing phishing lures, test thousands of stolen credentials simultaneously, and deploy self-propagating ransomware across networks. One compromised account or vulnerable system becomes the entry point for widespread damage affecting millions of users.

The following sections examine nine major types of attacks organizations need to watch out for:

Phishing remains the primary attack vector because it exploits human psychology rather than technical vulnerabilities. Attackers craft believable emails, texts, and voice calls that mimic trusted brands, using urgency, curiosity, or fear to bypass rational judgment. Traditional variants include spear phishing, whaling, and pretexting, but GenAI now produces grammatically perfect, context-rich lures that replace the obvious typos security teams once relied on to identify threats.

Defensive strategies require layered approaches:secure email gateways with LLM-powered language analysis, multi-factor authentication enforcement, and continuous employee simulations. It also includes rapid reporting protocols that allow security teams to quarantine malicious messages before widespread exposure.

Business email compromise weaponizes trusted authority without using malware. Attackers impersonate executives or vendors to trick employees into transferring money or sharing sensitive data. These messages contain no malicious links or attachments; they bypass traditional filters solely through social engineering.

Attackers research targets through LinkedIn and public records, mapping organizational structures and communication patterns. They then compromise legitimate accounts or create convincing spoofed domains to send urgent payment requests that appear routine. Modern campaigns target vendor relationships, legal departments, and HR teams with requests that are perfectly aligned with normal operations.

The prevention requires layered defenses, including DMARC, SPF, and DKIM protocols; mandatory out-of-band verification for financial changes; and behavioral AI that analyzes communication patterns to flag anomalies, such as unusual phrasing or timing.

Credential theft provides attackers direct access to your systems, bypassing perimeter defenses entirely. This persistent threat combines automation with social engineering to harvest login credentials at scale.

Attackers deploy sophisticated techniques to steal authentication data. Phishing kits capture both passwords and MFA tokens simultaneously, while infostealer malware extracts saved credentials from browsers and cloud authentication files. Automated tools then test these credentials across hundreds of platforms, exploiting password reuse through credential stuffing attacks. Botnets mask their activity behind residential proxies, making malicious login attempts appear legitimate.

Compromised administrator or service accounts multiply the damage exponentially. Attackers gain immediate access to SaaS platforms, identity systems, and production environments. Stolen credentials flow directly to the attacker's infrastructure through automated APIs, eliminating centralized collection points that defenders could target.

The prevention requires layered authentication controls, such as:

• Deploying adaptive MFA that escalates security requirements based on risk signals. Implement short session timeouts for privileged access.

• Using behavioral analytics to detect impossible travel, privilege escalation, or unusual data access patterns.

• Monitoring breach databases for exposed credentials and force immediate password resets.

• Reviewing OAuth permissions regularly since attackers establish persistence through tokens that survive password changes.

Ransomware operators use email as their primary entry point to deploy triple-extortion campaigns that encrypt files, steal data, and threaten public exposure, forcing organizations to choose between paying ransoms and prolonged downtime and reputational damage.

Modern ransomware attacks follow a predictable but devastating pattern:

• Initial Email Compromise: Attacks begin with malicious email attachments or links that exploit user trust. Once clicked, malware establishes a foothold, then exploits weak RDP configurations, unpatched vulnerabilities, and compromised software updates to spread across the network within minutes.

• Lateral Movement and Escalation: The malware harvests administrative credentials and propagates via SMB shares and legitimate administrative tools. Advanced variants self-replicate across every accessible system while simultaneously destroying backup infrastructure, eliminating recovery options.

• Triple Extortion Tactics: Operators maximize leverage through encryption, data theft, and DDoS attacks. This multilayered approach creates intense pressure before regulators, customers, or media discover the breach, forcing rapid decisions under extreme stress.

An effective defense combines email security with sandboxing, network segmentation to limit the blast radius, and offline, immutable backups tested quarterly. These controls must operate together, as attackers continually adapt their tactics.

While ransomware represents one outcome, malware delivery encompasses broader threats, including spyware, trojans, and loaders that establish network footholds. Email attachments remain the primary vector: one click on a weaponized file can compromise entire infrastructures.

Drive-by downloads create secondary risks by silently installing code via browser exploits on compromised websites. Even in isolated environments, threats may come from infected USB devices or Office documents containing malicious macros.

An effective protection requires layered defenses beyond single-point solutions. Organizations must strip active content from attachments before delivery, execute unknown files in real-time sandboxes, and detonate suspicious links in isolated browser containers. Endpoint detection using behavioral analysis catches post-infection activity that signature tools miss.

This defense strategy combines automated content disarmament with continuous monitoring. Regular patching schedules and strict USB access policies close remaining gaps. Together, these controls eliminate the delivery paths attackers depend on for initial access and lateral movement.

Supply chain compromises enable attackers to breach one vendor and then affect thousands of downstream customers, making third-party connections critical security vulnerabilities.

Vendor weaknesses have become a critical resilience gap for enterprises, particularly due to resource disparities between large organizations and their smaller suppliers. Supply chain incidents result in substantial financial losses, regulatory penalties, and potential litigation, which compound the initial breach impact.

Attackers increasingly favor this asymmetric approach because compromising one vulnerable vendor provides access to multiple well-protected networks, maximizing their return on investment while minimizing detection risk.

Effective defense requires complete visibility and needs the following steps:

• Maintain real-time inventories of vendors, subcontractors, and dependencies with continuous risk scoring.

• Enforce least-privilege access, rotate OAuth tokens regularly, and require software bills of materials for component tracking.

• Segment vendor access through dedicated APIs or isolated networks with aggressive anomaly monitoring.

• Include suppliers in incident response planning and conduct joint exercises.

Social engineering attacks bypass traditional security filters by avoiding malicious payloads entirely. These plain-text scams, particularly gift card fraud, exploit psychological manipulation rather than technical vulnerabilities.

The attackers craft believable narratives impersonating executives or trusted colleagues. A typical scenario involves an urgent email from a "CEO" requesting immediate gift card purchases for employee rewards, emphasizing confidentiality and speed to prevent verification. These messages contain no links or attachments that would trigger security alerts, relying instead on authority, urgency, and trust to succeed.

Effective defense combines technology with human awareness. Behavioral AI detects unusual requests hidden in normal communications. Most critically, continuous security training and simulations teach employees to question suspicious communications. Organizations must recognize that when technical controls cannot detect an attack, educated employees become the primary defense against social engineering.

Attackers intercept communications between users and legitimate services, capturing credentials or hijacking sessions without triggering security alerts. These attacks position criminals between your connection and trusted sites, allowing them to steal login information, modify data in transit, or take over authenticated sessions to impersonate legitimate users.

Threat actors deploy rogue Wi-Fi or poison DNS to redirect traffic through their infrastructure. Weak encryption enables real-time credential harvesting. Session hijacking steals authentication tokens from cookies, bypassing passwords and MFA to access cloud environments.

For example, an employee may connect to a fake airport Wi-Fi that downgrades HTTPS, injects fake login forms, and steals session cookies. Attackers use these tokens to create privileged OAuth apps for persistent access.

Enforce mandatory TLS with HTTP Strict Transport Security. Deploy short-lived tokens that refresh through secure channels. Use browser isolation on public networks. Monitor concurrent logins across different locations using identical tokens to terminate them rapidly.

The most challenging security risks originate within your organization, where employees already possess legitimate access that bypasses perimeter defenses.

Malicious insiders steal intellectual property, plant backdoors, or sabotage systems for financial gain or revenge. Negligent insiders inadvertently expose data through misconfigurations, improper file handling, or careless email forwarding. Both create high-impact breaches that evade traditional detection and often exceed average incident costs.

Since insiders use legitimate credentials, defense requires limiting access and detecting abnormal behavior. Implement least-privilege policies, regularly review permissions, and deploy User and Entity Behavior Analytics to identify anomalies like bulk downloads or unusual login patterns. Enforce strict offboarding procedures that immediately revoke all access. Require dual approval for sensitive data exports.

Additionally, balance technical controls with cultural initiatives like clear policies, consistent enforcement, and confidential reporting channels. This combination transforms potential threats into security allies while addressing the root causes of risky behavior.

The attack methods outlined throughout this article succeed because traditional defenses cannot keep pace with AI-enhanced threats. Abnormal addresses this gap through behavioral AI and advanced language analysis that detect the subtle anomalies these common attacks create. The platform learns standard communication patterns across your organization, instantly identifying when phishing attempts mimic trusted senders, when credentials show signs of compromise, or when insider threats emerge.

By leveraging generative AI and graph intelligence, Abnormal catches what signature-based tools miss: the sophisticated social engineering behind BEC attacks, the careful reconnaissance preceding ransomware deployment, and the lateral movement following initial compromise. This behavioral approach delivers precise detection with minimal false positives, protecting against the full spectrum of threats cybercriminals repeatedly deploy.

To learn more about how Abnormal can stop these common attacks before they impact your organization, book a personalized demo now.