Anatomy of Modern Phishing: From Nigerian Prince to AI-Powered Scams
Category:Research & Analysis
Educational breakdown of modern phishing tradecraft evolution. What's changed: attackers now use AI to generate fluent, localized content removing the 'bad grammar' tell. Common vectors include urgency/fear subject lines, display name spoofing (microsoft.com vs rnicrosoft.com), deceptive links hiding malicious destinations, and weaponized attachments (.zip, .docm, .xlsx). The 'Enable Macros' prompt is the classic infection trigger. Credential harvesting happens through pixel-perfect fake login pages—if you don't inspect the address bar, you'll hand over creds yourself. Real-world examples: fake Microsoft 365 storage warnings, banking 'suspicious activity' alerts, delivery failures requesting address updates, and invoice attachments delivering malware.
CORTEX Protocol Intelligence Assessment
Phishing remains the dominant initial access vector because it exploits human psychology rather than technical vulnerabilities. AI has industrialized the personalization and language quality that previously required manual effort, making detection by 'feel' increasingly unreliable.
Strategic Intelligence Guidance
- Technical controls: enforce phishing-resistant MFA (FIDO2/WebAuthn), deploy URL rewriting and sandboxing for all inbound links and attachments.
- Disable auto-execution of macros from internet sources via Group Policy—force users to explicitly trust documents from verified sources.
- Train users to verify sender email addresses (not just display names), hover before clicking links, and independently navigate to sites rather than clicking embedded links.
- Monitor for ATO indicators: unusual login locations, MFA exhaustion attacks, and credential stuffing attempts following phishing campaigns.
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Targets
Intelligence Source: Anatomy of a Phish: How We Got from the Nigerian Prince to Modern Scams | Oct 31, 2025