Cybercrime, Psychology, and the M&S Attack
Why cyber-crime is con artistry at scale, and what you can do about it
Key Insight
Many of the most damaging incidents begin not with sophisticated exploits, but with human manipulation. Yet cyber resilience is still too often approached as a purely technical programme.
Social engineering is con artistry at scale, exploiting predictable cognitive shortcuts—trust, urgency, authority, and social proof—that evolved to help humans make fast decisions. It remains one of the most persistent and impactful breach patterns year after year.
The fastest, most measurable way to reduce cyber risk is to remove unnecessary access. Less privilege means fewer entry points, constrained lateral movement, and a dramatically smaller blast radius when accounts are compromised.
