A company that sells insurance against cyber risk just became another cyber victim.

A company that sells insurance against cyber risk just became another cyber victim.

Last week, Aflac disclosed that attackers gained access to parts of its systems and potentially exposed sensitive customer information, including policy details, personal information, and financial data. The intrusion reportedly lasted for days before it was detected.

Here’s the part that should make every business pay attention.

Aflac isn’t a small company with outdated technology. It’s a sophisticated global insurer with mature security controls, dedicated security teams, and significant cybersecurity investments.

Yet the attackers reportedly succeeded using one of the oldest tactics in the book:

They targeted people.

This follows a pattern we’ve seen repeatedly over the past year, with major insurers including Allianz Life and Erie Insurance falling victim to similar social engineering campaigns.

The attackers aren’t spending weeks breaking through firewalls or exploiting obscure software vulnerabilities.

They’re impersonating employees.

They’re convincing someone to reset credentials or bypass security procedures.

In other words, they’re hacking human trust.

Technology Alone Won’t Save You

This is the uncomfortable reality many organizations still struggle to accept.

There is no amount of spending on cybersecurity tools that completely eliminates human risk.

The best endpoint protection, firewalls, MFA, SIEM platforms, and threat detection systems are incredibly valuable—but they can all be undermined if an attacker successfully manipulates a person into opening the door.

That’s why security awareness training, identity verification procedures, privileged access controls, and rapid incident detection have become just as important as the technology itself.

Cybersecurity has never been solely a technology problem.

It has always been a people problem.

And as AI makes impersonation more convincing than ever, protecting the human layer will only become more critical.

70% of all cyber attacks target small businesses, I can help protect yours.

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