Research: Sextortion Scams more frequent, sophisticated

Barracuda Networks reports a rise in sextortion email campaigns that now represent roughly one in ten targeted spear-phishing attacks: attackers leverage breached usernames/passwords and spoofed email addresses to threaten victims with exposure of alleged compromising videos unless paid in bitcoin. These socially engineered campaigns are displacing some traditional email threats by adapting to bypass filters, primarily target education, government and business services, and the report recommends AI-driven email security and user awareness training as mitigations.