Crossing The Firewall

Cybercrime continues to rapidly evolve, with law enforcement and cybersecurity experts racing to stay one step ahead of the latest emerging threats. Business owners and municipality managers often find themselves vulnerable to cyber attacks and are unsure of how best to protect their organizations. Oftentimes, budget constraints, lack of knowledge and training, and staffing limitations mean that c...

What does dressing like a janitor, carrying a ladder into a movie theater, and cybercrime all have in common? We can be easily deceived and persuaded into believing just about anything with relative ease. This phenomenon is called Social Engineering. Social Engineering is the use of deception and persuasion to convince individuals to give up information or be used to gain access to areas not gener...

You're playing Call of Duty mobile, or maybe even Fortnite. You are crushing it, definitely the best you have played in a while...and then the dreaded happens...your internet starts lagging. Game over. Nothing is more frustrating than your game lagging, right Think again. In this episode of Crossing the Firewall , we speak with Dr. Asier Moneva to explore the murky waters where online gaming a...

How do we teach cybersecurity practitioners? How do we define cybersecurity education? We dive deep into why cybersecurity isn't just technical—it’s cultural, and why building hackers means building communities. From chaotic summer camps and Discord-powered learning hubs to the dangers of Cocomelon and algorithmic media, this episode tackles how education must evolve to meet a digital world th...

You click the link in the email you received. It seems legit - from a former co-worker - you're just going to sign the documents and then get back to your day. Your computer shuts down. You can't click on the pop-up that is now covering your entire screen. It says that you have to pay $1,000 to unlock your computer, only payable in Bitcoin. You have until the end of the week. You realize y...

Identity Theft isn't just a movie with Jason Bateman and Melissa McCarthy, it is a real issue people face every day...often with much less comedic and sentimental outcomes. Cybercriminals are always seeking new ways to gather enough personal information about you to steal your identity. Motivations vary, but it often involves financial gain. So, how do we combat this crime? How do we best prot...

Dr. Karen Holt is an Assistant Professor in the School of Criminal Justice at Michigan State University and an expert in sexual deviance and how it relates to digital mediums. Sextortion (the threat of sharing sexually explicit material of a victim unless money or other products are provided) is an increasing threat to people of all ages. Law enforcement is attempting to respond to this increased...