Easy Prey

Have you ever received calls either at work or at home where the caller wants you to verify some information about yourself or someone else in the company? This could just be someone updating their records or it could be the start of social engineering. Our guest today is Jack Rhysider. Jack is the host of the podcast DarkNet Diaries: True Stories From the Dark Side of the Internet. His podcast is...

If your reputation or the reputation of your business gets trashed online, it can have a lasting impact. But there are things that you can do today to limit the impact of negative online statements about you and some of them are easier than you might expect.  Our guest today is Chris Silver Smith. Chris is the CEO of Argent Media, a marketing agency focused heavily on reputation management where C...

Conspiracy theories are all crazy, right? Well, maybe not. There's some history as to why so many people believe in them. What we really need is a conspiracy theory detection kit and that's what we have in today's episode. Our guest today is Dr. Michael Shermer. Dr. Shermer is the founding publisher of Skeptic Magazine, the host of the Science Salon Podcast, and a presidential fellow at Chapman Un...

Long gone are the days of companies giving away coolers on college campuses when students would sign up for high-interest credit cards. Unfortunately, there are still sneaky promotions, fine print, and ways these companies take advantage of unsuspecting customers.  Our guest today is Sara Rathner. Sara is a NerdWallet travel and credit cards expert. She appeared on the Today Show , Nasdaq , and CN...

To what extremes are you willing to go for complete privacy and security? No one takes privacy as seriously as today's guest, John McAfee. John McAfee is known for founding McAfee Antivirus, being a crypto currency evangelist and a privacy activist. In this episode, John shares the lengths he goes to protect his own privacy with significant unexpected costs. John lives and plays by his own rules a...

Twenty years ago, cybersecurity was something that only nerds talked about. Now cybersecurity has gone mainstream. Listen in as we talk about common scams, the recent Twitter hack, and organized crime with Graham Cluley from The Smashing Security Podcast. Graham Cluley has been working in the computer security industry since the early 1990's. He was in senior roles with Sophos and McAfee. In 2011,...

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, we've rapidly changed the way we work, how we play, and how we're educated. This sudden shift leaves us and our families exposed to privacy and security risks we previously hadn't thought about or planned for. Listen up for any blindspots you might have. Our guest today is Rebecca Herold. Rebecca, also known as The Privacy Professor, has over 25 years of experience...

I'm contacted by people on a regular basis who believe that their devices have been compromised and that they're being stalked and spied on. Sometimes they've misinterpreted what they're looking at but sometimes they are actually being digitally stalked. Find out what to do about it in this episode.  Today's guest is John Bambenek. John is the Vice President of Security Research and Intelligence a...

I've been telling people for years that they need to implement two-factor authentication wherever possible.  Now that you've done that, imagine the havoc that would happen if those security codes were sent to somebody else enabling them to access your email, social media accounts, and worse your bank accounts. It is called SIM swapping, porting out, and SIM jacking. Today's guest is Haseeb Awan. ...

Just because someone isn't trying to scam you out of your hard-earned money doesn't mean that they don't see you as a pawn, stepping stone, or a means to an end. Find out how to protect yourself from a narcissist. Our guest today is Dr. Ramani Durvasula.  Dr. Ramani Durvasula is one of the world-leading experts on narcissism. She is a clinical psychologist, professor, best selling author, and spea...

We've all had that random fraudulent charge show up on our credit card and we wonder how did that happen.  Do I need to cancel my credit card? Do I need to get a new one?  Today we talk about credit card skimming with Scott Schober.  Scott Schober is the president and CEO of Berkeley Varitronics Systems, a 48-year-old leading provider of advanced world-class wireless test and cybersecurity solutio...

Many of us have seen James Veitch's comedic YouTube videos of him interacting with email scammers.  Today's guest shares how he helps real-world victims of those scams and he has participated in taking down criminal enterprises.  Wayne May is the owner of scamsurvivors.com . He began as a scam baiter in 2005 before concentrating and helping the victims of scams.  Scam Survivors was created in 2012...

Accounting doesn't sound like a sexy career choice. How about forensic accounting and getting to work with the FBI and Secret Service? Now that's getting interesting. White-collar crime is typically committed by business or government professionals that engage in fraud, insider trader, embezzlement, or cybercrime. It can destroy companies, individuals, and families. What happens when a murder occu...

Have you ever wondered what strange things a digital forensic investigator has to dig through? Listen to this episode to find out.   Our guest for this episode is Jake Moore. Jake Moore is a cybersecurity specialist for ESET, Europe's number one internet security and anti-virus company. Jake previously worked in the police force for 14 years investigating cybercrime in the Digital Forensics Unit a...

I have always been curious as to why so many people fall for scams. What are some of the consistent elements that scammers use to hook us? In this episode, we find out. We talk about the different psychological tactics scammers use to successfully scam their victims.  Our guest for this episode is Dr. Stacey Wood. Dr. Wood is a clinical neuropsychologist and full Professor of Psychology at Scripps...

Have you ever wondered how hackers find vulnerabilities and how companies can find and fix their own? You will find out today! On average 30,000 new websites are hacked every day. Our guest for this episode is James Kettle. James is the Director of Research at PortSwigger Web Security where he explores new ways to attack websites and designs and refines vulnerability detection techniques for the B...

You have probably heard of multi-level marketing also called MLM or network marketing. A multi-level marketing company is a company that recruits people to sell their products to their network including their friends and family. Network marketers typically buy inventory and then try to sell it. They can also recruit people underneath them and create a triangular shape in which they can collect com...

Workplace bullying and violence seldom happens in a vacuum but rather are led up to with warning signs and events. In this episode, I talk with Timothy Dimoff about workplace bullying and violence. Workplace bullying is usually not physical, but it is ongoing. We talk about steps you can take if you are a victim of workplace bullying and ways to prevent it from the very beginning.  Timothy Dimoff...

Just because something is secure, doesn't mean that it's safe. The S in HTTPS doesn't always mean safe. In this episode, I talk with Casey Crane about trust and encryption. We discussed many practical ways for you to avoid being a victim of a scam. Prevention and knowledge can help stop many attacks before they even begin.  Casey Crane is a cybersecurity writer for Hashed Out at The SSL Store. Cas...

School districts, health care organizations, cities, and towns have all been victims of ransomware. Families have lost access to photo albums of 20 years of memories and personal finances. It can be a very devastating experience. It is very scary to not be able to do your job or access your data.  Now attackers are not only threatening to delete your data, but they are also threatening to leak the...

Identity theft comes in many forms. Children and adults can be victims of identity theft.  Each year there are over 9 million identity victims.  1 million of these victims are minor children. The worst part is that we often don't notice a problem until we need to buy a car, house, or get a college loan. The clean-up process can be costly and time-consuming.   Dana Mantilia is the founder of Identi...

Website attacks are very common.  They are often not personal, but they can create a mess for website operators.  As website owners and operators, we need website privacy and security especially if we are collecting data and personal information.   As I was making more money from my business in 2015,  the need for better performance became an issue.  I also needed to be able to keep my site up 24/...

Your online identity is quickly becoming more crucial to your personal and professional success than in-person communications. But most of us don't understand this digital Wild West and the dangers that lurk around every corner. Most of us are unaware of the digital breadcrumbs that we leave behind with every post, and how easy it is for a person with malicious intent to harm us. In her book, Catc...

With over ten million cyber-attacks reported daily, we have to be equipped with the knowledge, information, and software to protect ourselves and our families. With the outbreak of the Coronavirus, there was a sudden shift of employees working at home and this has become even more of a problem. Since time wasn't available for most businesses to create a well-thought-out plan, that opens the door f...

In this day and age, we are experiencing knowledge overload. There is information everywhere on the internet and social media. Add in the changes and hoaxes we are seeing pop up with the Coronavirus and it is harder than ever to decipher the truth. How do we research and check out this overload of information? In this episode, Alex and I talk about many strategies you can use to be more aware and...