Cybercriminals upped their game in 2024, using increasingly advanced tactics like AI-generated deepfakes and highly personalized phishing attacks. According to a recent report from AuthenticID, 46% of organizations experienced a rise in fraud related to generative AI and deepfake technology. Phishing scams saw an even sharper increase—up 76% over the course of the year—with over 90% of cyberthreats driven by social engineering.
These statistics reflect a troubling reality: cybercriminals are getting better at impersonating legitimate employees, vendors, and even entire organizations. Workplace-related fraud, including employee impersonation and account takeovers, has become a major threat. Fraudsters are targeting organizations at every stage of the employee identity lifecycle—from hiring to ongoing access management.
The report emphasizes how attackers use a mix of stolen personal information, synthetic identities, and AI-powered deception to infiltrate businesses. Once inside, they can commit substantial fraud. In 2024, employee fraud was the costliest type of financial crime worldwide, with a median global loss of $145,000 per incident.
The Rise of Hyper-Personalized Social Engineering
Social engineering is not a new concept, but AI is helping attackers perfect their techniques. Today’s scams are hyper-personalized, making them much harder to detect. Bad actors can use AI tools to convincingly mimic human behaviors, speech patterns, and even emotions. This enables them to impersonate trusted individuals and manipulate victims into sharing sensitive information or granting unauthorized access.
The increasing sophistication of these attacks requires organizations to take a proactive approach to cybersecurity. The key to mitigating these risks is raising awareness and training employees to recognize and resist manipulation attempts.
Partner with Citynet and KnowBe4 to Strengthen Your Defenses
At Citynet, we understand how critical it is to protect your business from evolving cyber threats. That’s why we’ve partnered with KnowBe4, a global leader in security awareness and training. Over 70,000 organizations trust the KnowBe4 platform to build stronger security cultures and reduce human risk.
We can help your organization deploy security awareness solutions that educate your workforce on how to identify phishing attacks, avoid social engineering scams, and make smarter security decisions every day. The stakes have never been higher. Cybercriminals are innovating—your security strategy should too. Contact Citynet to learn how we can help protect your business with cutting-edge cybersecurity and training solutions.
