Why Resolutions Fail with Dr. Leslie Becker-Phelps
Easy Prey
We often put off changes and schedule them to start on January 1st. Many of these idealistic resolutions fail shortly after beginning, so it is important to be thoughtful when planning so that you can set yourself up for success. Today’s guest is Dr. Leslie Becker-Phelps. Leslie is a noted psychologist who authored a number of books, including Insecure in Love, The Insecure in Love Workbook, and Bouncing Back from Rejection. She writes the Authentically You Blog and the Psychology Today Making Change Blog. Additionally, she is a national speaker and hosts a YouTube channel. Show Notes: ...
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Erasing Your Digital Footprint with Jeff Jockisch
Easy Prey
Data is continuously being collected and this information can lead to misleading conclusions about an individual. Without proper context, behavior can be misinterpreted. This underscores the need for data privacy laws and stronger protections against data brokers. Today’s guest is Jeff Jockisch. Jeff is a passionate data privacy researcher dedicated to exploring the evolution of technology, our search behaviors, trust dynamics, and safeguarding of our information. As Managing Partner at ObscureIQ, he specializes in advanced data removal and privacy risk mitigation for enterprises and...
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Executive Recruiter Scams with John Sidoti
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When a recruiter contacts you, it’s essential to do your homework, verify their sources, and trust your instincts. If something seems too good to be true, it probably is. While it can be frustrating to be this skeptical, being cautious can protect you and your finances. Today’s guest is John Sidoti. John is the Senior Director of Information Technology at Social Current. He has over 30 years of experience as an IT generalist with wide and varied experience across all aspects of the IT spectrum. Show Notes: [0:50] - John shares his background and discusses his extensive and varied...
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Human Hacking with Peter Warmka
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Today’s threat actors and social engineers leverage social media to observe individuals’ patterns and habits. They encounter you at a coffee shop or another familiar spot. They begin to establish trust, which makes you more susceptible to their tactics. Today’s guest is Peter Warmka. Peter is a retired CIA officer with over two decades of breaching the security of organizations overseas in pursuit of intelligence. He is the founder of The Counterintelligence Institute, author of two books, conference speaker, consultant, and educator on the dangers of human hacking. Show Notes: ...
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Digital Deception: What Lies Ahead with Perry Carpenter
Easy Prey
Creating habits of healthy skepticism when receiving texts or emails can prevent you from clicking on phishing links. Everybody is vulnerable online, especially when distracted or in a hurry. But cultivating critical thinking and self-awareness can enhance protection against manipulation. Today’s guest is Perry Carpenter. Perry is an award-winning author, podcaster, and speaker with over two decades in cybersecurity, focusing on how cyber criminals exploit human behavior. As the Chief Human Risk Management Strategist at KnowBe4, Perry helps build robust, human-centric defenses against social...
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Rethinking Online Anonymity with Lance Cottrell
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In a world of cybersecurity and online privacy, anonymity seems to be the key. VPNs are often promoted as the cure-all to our internet needs. Let’s talk about some of those misconceptions. Today’s guest is Lance Cottrell. Lance founded Anonymizer in 1995 and is an internationally recognized expert in cryptography, online privacy, and internet security. He is the principal author on multiple internet privacy and security technology patents. Lance stayed on as Chief Scientist as Anonymizer was acquired by Intrepid, and now advises start-ups through his platform. Show Notes: [1:09] - Lance...
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AI: Double-Edged Sword for Cybersecurity with Vincent LaRocca
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Cybersecurity is more crucial than ever. It’s essential that we proactively safeguard our data and recognize that no one is immune to attacks. We are all vulnerable. As malicious actors continually enhance their tactics, we must stay one step ahead by consistently improving our defenses. Today’s guest is Vincent LaRocca. Vincent is the CEO of CyberSecOp with the commitment to protecting sensitive data and mitigating cyber threats. With over two decades of experience, Vincent has successfully steered CyberSecOp to become one of the world’s fastest growing managed security providers,...
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Understanding and Avoiding Triangulation Fraud with Soups Ranjan
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As consumers, we may realize the need to be vigilant by using two-factor authentication and password managers, but there are so many scams out there that can impersonate legitimate organizations, websites, and people. We really can’t let our guard down. Today’s guest is Soups Ranjan. Soups has over 18 years of experience in software engineering, data science, and risk management. He is the co-founder and CEO of Sardine. This behavior-infused platform offers fraud prevention, compliance, and payment solutions for various industries including banking, online marketplaces, FinTech, crypto,...
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Finding Small Business Fraud with James Ratley
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There are a shocking amount of businesses that ultimately fail because of fraud. Many managers and business owners are unaware of their losses because they do not have the systems in place to look for fraud and it may not be their primary concern. Today’s guest is James Ratley. Jim graduated from the University of Texas at Dallas with a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration. In 1971, he joined the Dallas Police Department as a police officer. He was on numerous task forces with a concentration on major fraud cases. He joined a major forensic accounting practice and was in charge of...
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Truth and Lies with Mark Bowden
Easy Prey
Now that so much of our communications are digital, such as texts, emails, and chats, we miss out on the tone and facial expressions to help us understand the intent and content in communication. It’s important to know ourselves well enough to know what areas we’ll be more easily influenced and are susceptible to being deceived. The greater our desire for something to be true, the easier it is for us to be scammed. Today’s guest is Mark Bowden. Mark is a world-renowned body language expert, keynote speaker, and best-selling author. He is the founder of the communication training company,...
info_outlineSecurity risks are dynamic. Projects, employees, change, tools, and configurations are modified. Many companies utilize PEN testers on an annual basis, but as quickly as systems are revised, you may need to implement threat emulation for regular monitoring.
Today’s guest is Andrew Costis. Andrew is the Chapter Lead of the Adversary Research Team at Attack IQ. He has over 22 years of professional industry experience and previously worked in the Threat Analysis Unit Team at Firmware, Carbon Black, and Logrhythm Labs, performing security research, reverse engineering malware, and tracking and discovering new campaigns and threats. Andrew has delivered various talks at DefCon, Adversary Village, Black Hat, B Side, Cyber Risk Alliance, Security Weekly, IT Pro, Bright Talk, SE Magazine, and others.
Show Notes:
- [1:14] - Andrew shares his background and what he currently does in his career at Attack IQ.
- [3:49] - At the time of this recording, there has been a major global security panic.
- [6:06] - There are many programs that we use on a regular basis that we don’t always consider the security of.
- [8:09] - Historically, companies would pay for an external pen test. Andrew describes the purpose of this and how they usually went.
- [9:33] - Pen tests and threat emulation do not need to be limited to just once a year.
- [10:45] - Andrew’s team is in the business of testing post-breached systems. But they preach prevention.
- [11:55] - Attackers are lazy in the sense that they will reuse the same strategies over and over again.
- [14:13] - Many programs we use may be caught in the crosshairs of attacks and vulnerabilities in other companies.
- [16:41] - Andrew discusses the frequency of really critical CVEs.
- [19:01] - What do attackers go after when they’ve breached a system?
- [21:04] - The priority for attackers is to get in quickly and make the victim’s data unavailable.
- [22:24] - A lot of people are under the impression of vulnerability testers. “Fire and forget it” is not a beneficial mindset.
- [24:56] - If we run every test, the amount of data will be overwhelming.
- [27:03] - In his experience, there has been client testing that has been overwhelmingly easy to breach.
- [29:07] - There are also organizations that have done a fantastic job. However, vulnerabilities will still be found.
- [30:18] - The red team is not going to be able to cover your entire organization.
- [32:15] - Threat emulation and pen testing are technically the same thing. Andrew explains how she sees the difference.
- [33:50] - How are vulnerabilities and tests prioritized?
- [36:19] - Andrew describes the things his team works on and their objectives for customers and clients.
- [38:34] - The outage at the time of this recording had a big impact. It gave a really good idea of what could happen if it were a real security breach.
- [41:37] - There are a ton of free resources out there. The primary resource at Attack IQ is the free Attack IQ Academy.
Thanks for joining us on Easy Prey. Be sure to subscribe to our podcast on iTunes and leave a nice review.