The Ransomware War
Easy Prey
Ransomware isn’t a lone hacker in a hoodie. It’s an entire criminal industry complete with developers, brokers, and money launderers working together like a dark tech startup. And while these groups constantly evolve, so do the tools and partnerships aimed at stopping them before they strike. My guest today is Cynthia Kaiser, former Deputy Assistant Director of the FBI’s Cyber Division and now the Head of the Ransomware Research Center at Halcyon. After two decades investigating global cyber threats and briefing top government leaders, she’s now focused on prevention and building...
info_outline
Opportunistic Crimes
Easy Prey
Criminals are always adapting. Whether it’s copper wiring stripped from job sites or porch pirates grabbing deliveries in broad daylight, they keep finding new ways to take what isn’t theirs. But maybe prevention isn’t about harsher punishment or more cameras. Maybe it’s about smarter design and understanding what drives people to steal in the first place. My guest today is Dr. Ben Stickle, a professor of criminal justice at Middle Tennessee State University and one of the country’s top researchers on property crime. Before entering academia, he worked in law enforcement, which gives...
info_outline
Post Scam Guidebook
Easy Prey
Fraud usually gets talked about in numbers like how much money was stolen, how many people were affected, how many cases got filed. But behind every one of those numbers is a person who’s been blindsided, manipulated, or left trying to rebuild trust in others and in themselves. This episode shifts the focus back to those human stories and the fight to protect them. My guest, Freddie Massimi, has spent more than a decade helping scam victims find both financial and emotional recovery, bringing empathy and understanding to a field that too often feels cold and procedural. As a certified...
info_outline
Can You Trust Anything Online
Easy Prey
You think you’d never fall for a scam until you meet someone like Kitboga. He’s a software engineer who’s turned his curiosity about online fraud into a full-time mission to outsmart scammers and protect the people they target. His YouTube channel, The Kitboga Show, has millions of followers and nearly a billion views, thanks to his mix of humor, empathy, and clever ways of exposing how scams really work. In our conversation, Kit opens up about how this all started, what it’s really like to spend hours pretending to be a scam victim, and how organized crime has turned fraud into a...
info_outline
Real Time Fraud Detection
Easy Prey
Everywhere you turn, someone’s trying to fake something like an image, a voice, or even an entire identity. With AI tools now in almost anyone’s hands, it takes minutes, not days, to create a convincing fake. That’s changed the game for both sides. The fraudsters have new weapons, and the rest of us are scrambling to keep up. The real question now isn’t just how to stop scams, but how to know who or what to trust online. My guest today, Bala Kumar, spends his days on the front lines of that battle. He’s the Chief Product and Technology Officer at Jumio, a company working to make...
info_outline
Child Predator Tactics
Easy Prey
Kids spend more time online than ever, and for the most part it feels normal. They’re gaming, watching videos, and chatting with friends. But hidden in those same spaces are adults who know how to pose as kids, build trust, and push conversations into dangerous territory. Parents might think it couldn’t happen to their child, yet detectives see how quickly an “innocent” interaction can turn into grooming or extortion. That’s the world Detective Seth Cockerham works in every day. He’s been in law enforcement in Texas for close to a decade, and the last few years have been dedicated...
info_outline
Identity Trafficking
Easy Prey
Some people are willing to hand over their identities for cash, while organized fraudsters are lining up to buy them. What used to be a matter of stolen credit cards has turned into a global marketplace where personal details fuel large-scale fraud. Now with AI, automation, and deepfakes making impersonation easier than ever, it’s becoming much more difficult to protect identities. To understand how we got here and what can be done, I spoke with Ofer Friedman, Chief Business Development Officer at AU10TIX. Ofer has spent more than 15 years in the identity verification and compliance...
info_outline
Technology, Trust & Time
Easy Prey
Technology is moving faster than our ability to process its impact, forcing us to question trust, motivation, and the value of our time. Few people have had a closer view of those shifts than Esther Dyson. With a background in economics from Harvard, Esther built a career as a journalist, author, commentator, investor, and philanthropist, with a unique ability to spot patterns across industries and challenge assumptions before they become mainstream. She is the executive founder of Wellville, a ten-year nonprofit project dedicated to improving equitable well-being in communities across the...
info_outline
The Global Scam Battle
Easy Prey
Cybercrime continues to evolve in sophistication and scale, with attackers running their operations much like businesses. From ransomware gangs with customer support desks to AI-generated phishing campaigns that erase traditional red flags, scams are becoming harder to detect and stop. In this episode, David Bittner, host of the CyberWire Daily Podcast, shares his perspective on the changing landscape of fraud and cyberattacks. Drawing on his background in media, theater, and podcasting, as well as years of reporting on security issues, he explains how both criminals and defenders are using...
info_outline
AI Supercharges Scams
Easy Prey
Cybercriminals are accelerating their attacks in ways that weren’t possible a few years ago. Artificial intelligence is giving them the ability to spin up phishing campaigns, voice clones, and deepfakes in minutes instead of days. As a result, the gap between what’s genuine and what’s fake is closing fast, making it harder for both individuals and organizations to defend themselves. I’m thrilled to welcome Brett Winterford, Vice President of Okta Threat Intelligence. Brett has had a front row seat to these changes. His team analyzes identity-based attacks and delivers insights to help...
info_outlineNo one ever wants to find themselves in an active shooter situation. But if you are, it’s important to know how to respond. Today’s guest is Katherine Schweit. Katherine is an attorney, consultant, and retired FBI special agent who created and led the FBI’s Active Shooter Program after the horrible tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School. She joined a White House team working on violence prevention matters, led by then Vice President Biden. She is the author of Stop the Killing: How to End the Mass Shooting Crisis, How to Talk About Guns With Anybody, and the FBI’s research on mass shootings, a study of 160 active shooter incidents in the United States between 2000 and 2013. She was part of the crisis team responding to shooting incidents including at the Holocaust Memorial Museum, the Pentagon, and the Navy Yard in Washington, DC.
Show Notes:
-
[1:14] - Katherine shares her background, her experience in the FBI, and her work in the Active Shooter Program.
-
[3:05] - In her work, she spent time with parents and families of those killed in mass shootings.
-
[4:23] - What constitutes a mass shooting or an active shooter situation? There is no real definition.
-
[6:10] - Most mass killings are domestic, particularly murder/suicides, but those will not show in data. Katherine explains what the FBI looks at.
-
[8:44] - Journalists and media impact what stories are news-worthy.
-
[10:21] - Katherine released her book How to Talk About Guns With Anyone to keep the conversation going.
-
[13:19] - In 2020, the CDC determined that gun deaths in youth 19 and younger exceeded the deaths by traffic accidents in the same age group.
-
[15:56] - Safety isn’t about when it happens. It’s about if it happens.
-
[16:58] - The shooting at Columbine changed the way the American public viewed and feared shootings, although public shootings were not new events.
-
[18:32] - Katherine explains the response and training of law enforcement officers during the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary.
-
[21:06] - The numbers of incidents have increased but we have not seen the number of casualties increase.
-
[25:00] - Television shows and movies create misunderstandings on what law enforcement officers and FBI agents can accomplish.
-
[26:37] - See something, say something.
-
[28:00] - In most cases, someone close to a shooter had information and didn’t say anything.
-
[29:48] - What do you do when something happens? People should have Run, Hide, Fight training.
-
[32:51] - In 13% of shootings, a civilian was successful in getting in to help incapacitate the shooter.
-
[37:40] - A simple thing to be prepared with is knowledge of the exits in your location.
-
[39:19] - It is important when hiding to hide where there is actual cover.
-
[40:27] - Don’t stay where there is no protection.
-
[42:51] - Shooters come in with a plan and it is always intentional.
-
[44:11] - Sometimes an unexpected distraction makes a difference because it throws off a shooter’s plan.
-
[47:37] - While school shootings are terrible incidents, children are actually more in danger in their homes and neighborhoods.
-
[49:45] - Although they are major news stories when they happen, elementary school shootings are rare.
-
[51:29] - Listen to Katherine’s podcast, Stop the Killing, for more information.
Thanks for joining us on Easy Prey. Be sure to subscribe to our podcast on iTunes and leave a nice review.
Links and Resources:
-
How to Talk About Guns With Anybody by Katherine Schweit
-
Stop the Killing: How to End the Mass Shooting Crisis by Katherine Schweit