A recent survey by Optery reveals that hackers are increasingly turning to legal data broking websites to gather personal information for social engineering attacks. This shift in tactics poses a significant threat to companies, with 96% of cybersecurity leaders reporting an uptick in such attacks over the past year. Notably, 80% of these attacks are aimed at IT staff, while 42% target executives. The report indicates that 98% of respondents see data broker sites, like Whitepages and 192.com, as the primary source of intelligence for hackers, overshadowing social media and the dark web. High-profile incidents, including those affecting Jaguar Land Rover and Marks and Spencer, demonstrate the severe consequences of these breaches, with billions lost in revenue. Lawrence Gentilello, CEO of Optery, emphasized that attackers utilize commercially available data to identify and target employees, highlighting the urgent need for companies to safeguard their data and enhance their cybersecurity measures.