Loading story…
Recent reporting highlighted a multi-year shift in end-user security attitudes and behaviors, based on the National Cybersecurity Alliance and CybSafe’s Oh, Behave! The Cybersecurity Attitudes and Behaviors Report: 2021–2025, which surveyed more than 24,000 adults. The findings indicate people increasingly believe cybersecurity is “worth the effort” and more achievable, while also expecting more protection from apps and platforms—framing security as a shared responsibility between individuals and service providers. At the same time, the report notes growing feelings of confusion and overwhelm, suggesting a widening gap between awareness of risk and sustained adoption of protective behaviors.
Separate analysis of 418 publicly announced law-enforcement actions (2021 to mid-2025), cited from Orange Cyberdefense’s Security Navigator and covered by The Register, found most arrested cybercrime suspects were 25–44 years old, with the 35–44 bracket the largest share. That demographic trend aligns with a shift toward more monetizable offenses (e.g., extortion and malware) among older cohorts. In a specific case illustrating extortion-driven cybercrime, a 22-year-old Alabama man, Jamarcus Mosley, pleaded guilty to hacking and extorting hundreds of women by impersonating acquaintances to obtain account recovery codes and passwords, hijacking social-media accounts (including Snapchat and Instagram), and threatening to leak intimate content unless victims complied with demands for additional access, explicit material, or payments.
See the reporting duties and controls this puts on the clock.
6 events from the most recent confirmed update back to the earliest known activity.
On March 3, 2026, reporting on Orange Cyberdefense's research highlighted that most publicly disrupted cybercriminals were adults rather than teenagers, challenging the common "teenage hacker" stereotype. The findings were based on 418 publicly announced law-enforcement actions from 2021 to mid-2025.
On March 3, 2026, the National Cybersecurity Alliance and CybSafe published their five-year report summarizing shifts in cybersecurity behavior from 2021 to 2025. It highlighted increased belief in the value of personal cybersecurity alongside growing confusion, overwhelm, cost concerns, and security fatalism, as well as mixed progress in password practices.
By mid-2025, Orange Cyberdefense's review of 418 publicly announced cybercrime law-enforcement actions found most disrupted offenders were adults, with the 35–44 age group the largest and under-18s accounting for fewer than 5% of cases. The analysis also indicated older offenders were more associated with monetization-focused crimes such as extortion, malware deployment, and stolen-data sales.
In the 2025 wave of the "Oh, Behave!" dataset, 44% of respondents said they had been victims of cybercrime, the highest level recorded in the five-year study. The report did not attribute victimization to specific user behaviors.
Orange Cyberdefense's analysis began compiling publicly announced law-enforcement actions involving cybercrime from 2021 through mid-2025. The dataset ultimately covered 418 arrests, disruptions, and takedowns used to assess offender age patterns.
The National Cybersecurity Alliance and CybSafe started collecting annual survey data for the "Oh, Behave!" report series, covering adult users' cybersecurity attitudes and behaviors from 2021 onward. The study ultimately drew on responses from more than 24,000 adults across the 2021–2025 period.
See what this changes for your reporting obligations and which controls it puts on the clock.
2 references tracked. Mallory keeps watching after this page renders.
Map indicators from this story to your assets and identify affected systems in minutes.
Every observed campaign, victim, and pivot linked to actors named in this story.
Malware, exploits, and IOCs connected to the activity described here.
YARA, Sigma, and Snort rules deployed to your SIEM as soon as they’re published.
Get matching new stories delivered to your team as they break — not the next morning.
Ask questions about this story and take action on the answers.
Other stories Mallory is tracking that overlap on entities, sources, or topic labels.
France’s **ANSSI/CERT-FR** published its *Panorama de la cybermenace 2025*, reporting continued blurring between **state-linked** and **cybercriminal** activity, including broader misuse of legitimate tools/services and evolving **social engineering** beyond traditional fake IT support. The report notes ongoing **opportunistic and targeted exploitation of vulnerabilities**, with **internet-exposed edge devices** and perimeter solutions often exploited rapidly, and highlights sustained state interest—particularly actors assessed as linked to **Russian and Chinese intelligence services**—in compromising **diplomatic networks** for strategic intelligence collection. Separately, analysis cited from Orange Cyberdefense’s *Security Navigator 2026* indicates that individuals identified in publicly disclosed cybercrime law-enforcement actions are frequently **mid-career adults**, challenging the stereotype of predominantly very young offenders. Based on 418 publicly announced actions (2021 to mid-2025) and age data for 193 offenders, the **35–44** cohort represented **37%** of identified offenders, followed by **25–34** (30%) and **18–24** (21%); the authors caution the dataset reflects disclosure and jurisdictional reporting biases rather than the full universe of cybercrime activity.
Jun 29, 2026
Reporting highlighted how **criminal groups recruit minors online** using familiar platform-native language, coded messages, and “gamified” tasks across social apps (e.g., TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat), leveraging encrypted/disappearing communications to reduce visibility and shift operational risk onto replaceable young recruits. The piece emphasized that vulnerability is amplified by social and psychological factors (e.g., unstable home environments, limited support, mental health challenges), and that youth justice handling can further incentivize criminal networks to use minors as buffers between leadership and law enforcement. Separate commentary and research coverage focused on broader *human-factor* dynamics in cybersecurity: a large-scale study of **1.1B Reddit posts** described how users frequently seek ad-hoc incident help from strangers for issues like suspected fraud, account compromise, and scam messages, amid an environment of more automated attacks, AI-enabled deception (including voice cloning), and text/messaging-led social engineering. Another opinion piece argued that entry-level **cybersecurity workforce readiness** is being undermined by overreliance on LLMs in education and by hiring practices that overemphasize degrees/certifications, while a developer-focused blog framed security as an economic incentive problem—useful perspective but largely generic and not tied to a specific incident or dataset.
Jun 29, 2026
The cybersecurity community observed a range of significant developments and educational initiatives during the first week of October 2025. The SANS Institute launched a comprehensive Cyber Awareness Kit tailored for all generations, aiming to promote best practices and digital safety for both young and old users. This kit, released in conjunction with Cybersecurity Awareness Month, provides resources for families to protect themselves against evolving cyber threats. The SANS OUCH! Newsletter emphasized the risks associated with forgotten online accounts, highlighting how outdated or unused accounts can become entry points for attackers due to weak passwords or obsolete security measures. The newsletter recommended regular reviews and cleanups of digital accounts as a proactive defense strategy. In partnership with the International Spy Museum, cybersecurity expert and former FBI agent Eric O’Neill announced an event to discuss his upcoming book, "Spies, Lies, and Cybercrime," which explores the intersection of espionage, cybercrime, and emerging threats such as AI-powered scams and deepfakes. Meanwhile, Malwarebytes Labs reported on a variety of security incidents and trends from the week. Notably, hackers who had stolen child data were compelled to remove it from the internet following public backlash, demonstrating the impact of community response on cybercriminal behavior. The report also warned that conversations with Meta AI could be used to target users with personalized ads, raising privacy concerns. Scam Facebook groups were found distributing malicious Android malware to senior citizens, exploiting a vulnerable demographic. The FTC accused the app Sendit of deceiving children, harvesting their data, and fabricating messages, underscoring ongoing regulatory scrutiny of tech platforms. Researchers identified critical flaws in Gemini AI that could have exposed user data, prompting calls for improved AI security. Tile trackers were criticized for weak security controls, potentially enabling unauthorized tracking or data leaks. Apple addressed a critical vulnerability in its font processing system, urging users to update their devices to mitigate exploitation risks. A major Interpol operation resulted in the arrest of 260 individuals involved in romance scams and sextortion, disrupting a significant cybercriminal network. Amazon agreed to a $2.5 billion settlement over allegations of deceptive practices related to Prime subscriptions, reflecting increased enforcement against misleading business conduct. Additionally, a spyware breach exposed sensitive information about sex offenders, terrorists, and drug dealers, highlighting the risks associated with surveillance technologies. Collectively, these developments illustrate the dynamic and multifaceted nature of the cybersecurity landscape, with ongoing threats, regulatory actions, and educational efforts shaping the response to digital risks.
Jul 12, 2026