Before I started learning cybersecurity, I believed attacks were loud systems breaking systems. What I didn’t understand then is that many cyberattacks don’t begin with technology at all.
They begin with trust.
Trust is what allows us to believe the best in people. But when trust is manipulated, it becomes one of the most powerful attack tools there is. I learned this the hard way long before I ever opened a cybersecurity textbook.
When Trust Cost Me My Google Account
At the time, I had posted an advert online to promote a product. Not long after, I received a phone call from a man who claimed to be a staff member of the platform where I had placed the advert. He sounded confident, knowledgeable, and helpful. He spoke my language.
He explained how I could boost my sales and improve visibility. Naturally, I listened. I wanted my product to succeed.
He asked for my email address, and moments later a code was sent to me. He told me the code was needed to activate the boost. Without thinking too deeply, I shared it.
Within minutes, I was logged out of my Google account and the platform where I had advertised my product.
That was the moment reality hit.
Nothing had been “hacked” in the way most people imagine.
I had been socially engineered.
It took time, persistence, and patience, but I eventually recovered my account. What stayed with me, though, wasn’t just what happened but it was the realisation of how easily trust can be weaponised.
And Then It Happened Again, This Time on Facebook
Not long after, I experienced something similar with my Facebook page.
I was contacted by someone who said I would be writing content for their company and would be paid $20 per post. It felt like recognition. Like opportunity. Like progress.
I was excited.
They sent me a link. Facebook warned me clearly that clicking “yes” would grant administrative access to my page. I saw the warning. I understood it. And still, I proceeded because in my mind, it made sense. I thought, I will be writing for them anyway.
That click cost me my page.
Again, there was no system breach.
No technical exploit.
Just trust, urgency, and optimism used against me.
What These Experiences Taught Me
Both situations had the same pattern:
- Authority was implied
- Opportunity was offered
- Urgency was created
- Trust was exploited
And the systems did exactly what they were designed to do.
The vulnerability wasn not the platform it was the human decision in the moment.
This is when cybersecurity stopped being theoretical for me.
Why This Changed How I See Cybersecurity
These experiences made one thing painfully clear:
humans are the first attack surface.
Attackers don’t always need advanced tools. They need understanding of behaviour, emotion, fear, ambition, and trust.
In both of my experiences, the threat was social engineering.
The vulnerability was trust.
The risk was underestimated.
Why I Didn’t Quit and Why That Matters
Losing my Facebook page hurt me but it didn’t end me.
I started again.
I rebuilt from scratch.
Because what was taken was a page not my skills, not my creativity, not my mind.
And that resilience matters.
Cybersecurity is not about never making mistakes.
It is about learning from them and designing systems and behaviours that reduce the chances of repeating them.
Trust Isn’t the Enemy Unquestioned Trust Is
These experiences didn’t make me paranoid.
They made me aware.
Cybersecurity doesn’t require us to stop trusting it requires us to verify, slow down, and think critically when emotions are involved.
Once I understood this, cybersecurity stopped feeling distant.
It became personal.
Because at its core, cybersecurity is about protecting humans from attackers, from systems, and sometimes from ourselves.
And that is the work I understand deeply.
