Familial Identity Theft
Easy Prey
Identity theft is usually framed as an external threat. Hackers, data breaches, anonymous criminals operating somewhere far away. This episode looks at a much harder reality to face: identity theft that happens inside families, often quietly, over many years, and without immediate detection. The damage isn’t just financial. It reshapes trust, relationships, and a person’s sense of stability long before anyone realizes what’s happening. My guest is Axton Betz-Hamilton, an associate professor of financial counseling and planning whose research focuses on familial and child identity theft....
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Exploiting Trust (Part 2)
Easy Prey
Security failures rarely come from cutting-edge attacks or sophisticated tools. They happen in ordinary moments when someone holds a door, follows an instruction without questioning it, or finds a workaround that makes their day easier. Those small, human decisions are often the real entry points, and they tend to compound over time. This episode picks up the second half of our conversation on exploiting trust with FC Barker, a veteran ethical hacker and physical security expert known for legally breaking into banks, government buildings, and high-security facilities around the world. With...
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Exploiting Trust (Part 1)
Easy Prey
Most security failures don’t start with a dramatic breach or a mysterious hacker sitting in a dark room. They usually start quietly. Someone assumes a system is locked down. Someone trusts that a door shouldn’t open, or that a machine “just works,” or that no one would ever think to look there. Over time, those small assumptions stack up, and that’s where things tend to go wrong. Today’s guest is FC Barker, a renowned ethical hacker, social engineer, and global keynote speaker with more than three decades of experience legally breaking into organizations to expose their blind...
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Surviving a Ransomware Attack
Easy Prey
A ransomware attack doesn’t always announce itself with flashing warnings and locked screens. Sometimes it starts with a quiet system outage, a few unavailable servers, and a sinking realization days later that the threat actors were already inside. This conversation pulls back the curtain on what really happens when an organization believes it’s dealing with routine failures only to discover it’s facing a full-scale cyber extortion event. My guest today is Zachary Lewis, CIO and CISO for a Midwest university, a 40 Under 40 Business Leader, and a former Nonprofit CISO of the Year....
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Why You Fall For Scams
Easy Prey
Why do smart, capable people fall for scams even when the warning signs seem obvious in hindsight? In this episode, Dan Ariely joins us to examine how intuition often leads us in the wrong direction, especially under stress, uncertainty, or emotional pressure. A renowned behavioral economist, longtime professor of psychology and behavioral economics at Duke University, and bestselling author of Predictably Irrational, The Upside of Irrationality, Misbehaving, and Misbelief, Dan has spent decades studying why rational people consistently make choices that don’t serve them. We talk about...
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Mobile Device Threats
Easy Prey
In a world where we’re told to carry our entire lives in our pockets, we’ve reached a strange tipping point where the very devices meant to connect us have become windows into our private lives for those who wish us harm. It’s no longer a matter of looking for the "shady" corners of the internet; today, the threats come from nation-state actors, advanced AI, and even the people we think we’re hiring. We are living in an era where the most sophisticated hackers aren't just trying to break into your phone, they’re trying to move into your business by pretending to be your best...
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Past, Present, and Future of AI agents
Easy Prey
The intersection of AI and cybersecurity is changing faster than anyone expected, and that pace is creating both incredible innovation and brand-new risks we’re only beginning to understand. From deepfake ads that fool even seasoned security professionals to autonomous agents capable of acting on our behalf, the threat landscape looks very different than it did even a year ago. To explore what this evolution means for everyday people and for enterprises trying to keep up, I’m joined by Chris Kirschke, Field CISO at Tuskira and a security leader with more than two decades of experience...
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You Are Traceable with OSINT
Easy Prey
Publicly available data can paint a much clearer picture of our lives than most of us realize, and this episode takes a deeper look at how those tiny digital breadcrumbs like photos, records, searches, even the background of a Zoom call can be pieced together to reveal far more than we ever intended. To help break this down, I’m joined by Cynthia Hetherington, Founder and CEO of The Hetherington Group, a longtime leader in open-source intelligence. She also founded Osmosis, the global association and conference for OSINT professionals, and she oversees OSINT Academy, where her team trains...
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Anyone Could Walk In
Easy Prey
Sometimes we forget how much trust we place in the little things around us like a lock on a door or a badge on someone’s shirt. We see those symbols and assume everything behind them is safe, but it doesn’t always work that way. A person with enough confidence, or the right story, can slip through places we think are locked down tight, and most of us never notice it’s happening. My guest today is Deviant Ollam, and he’s one of the rare people who gets invited to break into buildings on purpose. He talks about how he fell into this unusual line of work, the odd moments that shaped his...
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The Scam You Never See Coming
Easy Prey
Fraud today doesn’t feel anything like it used to. It’s not just about somebody skimming a credit card at a gas pump or stealing a check out of the mail. It has gotten personal, messy, emotional. Scammers are building relationships, earning trust, and studying the little details of our lives so they can strike when we’re tired, distracted, or dealing with something big. And honestly, most people have no idea how far it’s gone. My guest, Ian Mitchell, has spent more than 25 years fighting fraud around the world and leading teams in the financial sector. He’s the founder of The Knoble,...
info_outlineCybercriminals 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 organizations adapt their defenses. Brett previously served as Okta’s Regional CISO for Asia-Pacific and Japan and started his career as a journalist covering information security before moving into leadership roles in banking, government, and technology.
In this episode, Brett explains how AI is reshaping the speed and scale of cybercrime, why trusted platforms like email, SMS, and collaboration tools are being targeted, and what practical steps can reduce risk. He highlights the growing importance of phishing-resistant authentication methods like passkeys, the need for clearer communication between service providers and users, and the role of collaboration across industries and law enforcement in pushing back against attackers.
Show Notes:
- [00:00] Brett Winterford introduces himself as Vice President of Okta Threat Intelligence and explains how identity-based threats are monitored.
- [02:00] He shares his career path from cybersecurity journalist to CISO roles and now to leading threat intelligence.
- [05:48] Brett compares phishing campaigns of a decade ago with today’s AI-driven ability to launch attacks in minutes.
- [08:00] He notes how reconnaissance and lure creation have become easier with artificial intelligence.
- [10:40] Brett describes the shift from banking malware to generic infostealers that sell stolen credentials.
- [12:30] He explains how cryptocurrency changed the targeting of attacks by offering higher payouts.
- [14:21] We learn about the Poison Seed campaign that used compromised bulk email accounts to spread phishing.
- [15:26] Brett highlights the rise of SMS and other trusted communication channels as phishing delivery methods.
- [16:04] He explains how attackers exploit platforms like Microsoft Teams and Slack to bypass traditional defenses.
- [18:30] Brett details a Slack-based campaign where attackers impersonated a CEO and smuggled phishing links.
- [22:41] He warns that generative AI has erased many of the old “red flags” that once signaled a scam.
- [23:01] Brett advises consumers to focus on top-level domains, official apps, and intent of requests to detect phishing.
- [26:06] He stresses why organizations should adopt passkeys, even though adoption can be challenging.
- [27:22] Brett points out that passkeys offer faster, more secure logins compared to traditional passwords.
- [28:31] He explains how attackers increasingly rely on SMS, WhatsApp, and social platforms instead of email.
- [31:00] Brett discusses voice cloning scams targeting both individuals and corporate staff.
- [32:30] He warns about deepfake video being used in fraud schemes, including North Korean IT worker scams.
- [34:59] Brett explains why traditional media-specific red flags are less useful and critical thinking is essential.
- [37:15] He emphasizes the need for service providers to create trusted communication channels for verification.
- [39:29] Brett talks about the difficulty of convincing users to reset credentials during real incidents.
- [41:00] He reflects on how attackers adapt quickly and why organizations must raise the cost of attacks.
- [44:18] Brett highlights the importance of cross-industry collaboration with groups like Interpol and Europol.
- [45:24] He directs listeners to Okta’s newsroom for resources on threat intelligence and recent campaigns.
- [47:00] Brett advises consumers to experiment with passkeys and use official apps to reduce risk.
- [48:00] He closes by stressing the importance of having a trusted, in-app channel for security communications.
Thanks for joining us on Easy Prey. Be sure to subscribe to our podcast on iTunes and leave a nice review.