How Hacks Happen: Recent Episodes
Many Worlds Productions
Hacks, cyber crimes, and other shenanigans explored and explained. Presented by cyber security teacher and digital forensics specialist Michele Bousquet. Twitter: @howhackshappenWeb: howhackshappen.net
The promise of Hollywood stardom leads some to fraud and scams. In this episode, we talk about three scammers from the land of the silver screen: Alison Gu, a convicted fraudster who tried to hire Chinese-speaking actors as witnesses for her case; Zach Horowitz (aka Zach Avery), an actor who conned his friends and major investors out of millions of dollars with fake contracts; and Mary Carole McDonnell, a TV producer who pretended to be an heiress to a huge fortune so she could borrow millions and disappear before the bill came due.
Resources:
- Alison Gu: Defendant hires 7 actors for her fraud trial
- Zach Avery: Actor Pleads Guilty to $650 Million Ponzi Scheme, Faking Netflix and HBO Deals
- Mary Carole McDonnell: The 73-year-old ‘fake heiress defrauding banks out of millions’
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When musician Michael Smith couldn't find an audience for his music, he manufactured it. By unleashing thousands of bots to listen to thousands of fake AI-generated songs on Spotify and other platforms, Smith earned millions in royalties before getting caught.
Resources:
- North Carolina Musician Charged with Music Streaming Fraud Aided by Artificial Intelligence — U.S. Department of Justice
- North Carolina Man Pleads Guilty to Music Streaming Fraud Aided by Artificial Intelligence — U.S. Department of Justice
- Indictment: United States v. Michael Smith — U.S. Department of Justice PDF
- Spotify says it now has more than 100 million songs
- Spotify Q4 2025 Earnings Report
- Although the songs and listeners were fake, the millions of dollars Smith stole was real — MusicRadar
- Spotify’s fake artists problem gets weirder with AI-generated albums — The Verge
- Artificial Streaming — Spotify for Artists
- How Royalties Work on Spotify — Spotify Loud & Clear
- Deezer launches artist-centric payment system
- Billie Eilish Was Discovered on Spotify and SoundCloud Before Global Fame — Rolling Stone
- Sofi Tukker on Streaming Success and Spotify Discovery
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Voiceprint ID is the latest virtual gadget for banks and financial institutions. But how secure is it, really? Let's look at the pros and cons of voice recognition, facial ID, and the AI systems they work with, and look back at the 1992 film Sneakers to see how this 34-year-old movie predicted some of the problems with voiceprint security.
Resources:
- BBC: Cloned customer voice beats bank security checks
- CNN: Police used AI facial recognition to arrest a Tennessee woman for crimes committed in a state she says she’s never visited
- Third Innocent Black Man to Be Misidentified by Facial Recognition Software Sues Police Department and Prosecutor for False Arrest and Imprisonment
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Glitch or fraud? Let's explore "money glitches" popularized on social media, and the consequences faced by people who used them.
Resources:
- The Chase Money 'Glitch': How a Viral Fraud Scheme Backfired
- What you need to know about "Klarna method" posts on social media
- Ringleader sentenced in multimillion-dollar fraud operation which saddled victims with crushing debt
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AI is undoubtedly the technology of the year for hacks and scams. While scammers are busy using AI to make scams more convincing, scam baiters are fighting back with ingenious grandma-style AIs that keep scammers busy for hours on end. There have also been some spectacular busts of scam centers. What’s next, AI scammers chatting with AI scam baiters? Now, that would be entertaining.
Resources
- Meet Daisy, the AI 'granny' chatbot that wastes the time of phone scammers
- SpaceX disables thousands of Starlink devices being used by Myanmar scam centers
- China sentences 5 to death for building, running criminal gang fraud centers in Myanmar's lawless borderlands
- Myanmar has declared a 'zero tolerance' policy for cyberscams, but the fraud goes on
- Content creators, banks use AI to waste scammers' time
- Kitboga on YouTube: I Built a Bot Army that Scams Scammers
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Ever get your hair cut and wonder, "Is my barber part of an international scammer ring?" In November 2025, the FBI arrested Victor Marion, the owner of Mecca Barber Shop in San Diego, and eighteen of his buddies for scamming elderly victims out of $40 million with the classic tech support and refund scams, and for laundering the funds through the shop. Come along and find out how the scams worked, and learn what's next for Marion and his friends.
Resources:
- 22 charged in elder scam targeting over 500 seniors: FBI San Diego
- Feds: Barbershop owner led California-based laundering cell in $40 million elder fraud scheme
- Case Number 25CR4061-TWR-01, reviewed via Pacer
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If Facebook has seemed scammy for the past few years, it's not your imagination. A leaked internal document shows that Facebook, and its parent company Meta, are well aware that many of their ads and posts are scams, but they make too much money off of them to do anything about it. Get all the details on this scathing report from Reuters that has rocked the scambuster world.
Resources
- Reuters report: Meta is earning a fortune on a deluge of fraudulent ads, documents show
- Maggie McGaugh on YouTube
- Pleasant Green on YouTube
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Do you tap "Accept" without reading subscriber agreements? Those long-winded documents can strip away your legal rights, and even hijack your face, your voice, and your life. Let's peek inside the dystopian world of Subscriber Agreements for streaming services and see what little goodies they hold for us.
- Netflix in Your Neighborhood Privacy Policy
- Netflix Privacy Policy
- Disney+ Subscriber Agreement
- Disney agrees to have Florida wrongful death lawsuit decided in court
- What Do Consumers Understand About Predispute Arbitration Agreements? An Empirical Investigation
- Disney wants to dismiss a wrongful death lawsuit because of a Disney Plus agreement
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October is Cybersecurity Awareness Month, and it's time to clean house! Let's get rid of all those dust bunnies (weak passwords) and vacuum under the sofa cushions (no multi-factor authentication) and even do a check under the bed for that half-eaten Pop Tart (vulnerable emails). Hear about a few instances where poor cybersecurity led to unfortunate consequences, so you can avoid the same fate.
Resources
- $61K, gone just like that for Oro Valley couple.
- Dream Kitchen Renovation Ruined by a Scam
- PassGAN: A Deep Learning Approach for Password Guessing
- Historic UK KNP transport firm collapses after ransomware attack
- Hacker leaks account data of 12 million Zacks Investment users
- Researchers Instantly Crack Simple Passwords With AI
- Lost $45k to Wire Fraud Scam on E*TRADE – Even with MFA Enabled.
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AI is great for researching topics and digging up information. But what happens when people start to humanize their chatbots, and think they're talking to God? Or that they are God? Let's look at what makes AI come up with delusional theories, and why it tells people they're right even then they're wrong.
Resources
- People Are Losing Loved Ones to AI-Fueled Spiritual Fantasies
- Towards Understanding Sycophancy in Language Models
- I, Robot by Isaac Asimov
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There's a new scam going around, where a thief gets you to unlock your phone under the guise of needing to make a call, then runs off with the phone and sends themselves all your money through your apps. Learn how to protect yourself and your money with a simple smartphone trick for iPhone and Android.
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The finale of HBO's Silicon Valley series pointed up a subtle parallel to the real-world challenges in vulnerability reporting—rather than risk going to jail, Pied Piper chose to burn the company to the ground. For decades, white hat and gray hat hackers had no place to report cybersecurity flaws without fear of legal hassles. Nowadays we have Bug Bounty programs, where hackers get paid to find and disclose security flaws, and even get some cash for their work.
Resources
- Internet Scanner Finds Security Holes
- CERIAS - Center for Education and Research in Information Assurance and Security
- A history of bug bounty programs & incentivised vulnerability disclosure
- Wearing Many Hats: The Rise of the Professional Security Hacker
- Hacking the Pentagon
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What is Red Teaming, and what does it have to do with cybersecurity? In this episode, we look at how Red Teamers are hired to attack company security using all manner of tactics, from tossing malware-infested USB sticks into parking lots to posing as an HVAC technician. We also take a look at one of the most notorious Red Team exercises in history, when two Coalfire employees were arrested and fought a long legal battle, just for doing their jobs.
Resources
- Inside the Courthouse Break-In Spree That Landed Two White-Hat Hackers in Jail
- Darknet Diaries Episode 59: The Courthouse
- Coalfire Systems website
- DEF CON 22 - Eric Smith and Josh Perrymon - Advanced Red Teaming: All Your Badges Are Belong To Us
- How RFID Technology Works: Revolutionizing the Supply Chain
- NolaCon 2019 D 07 Breaking Into Your Building A Hackers Guide to Unauthorized Physical Access
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What goes on under the hood of random number generators (RNGs)? Here we look at one of the best sources of randomness—static from electronic chips—and discuss terminology like entropy and bias, the role of the Birthday Paradox in RNGs, and the fake bias of the Excel RAND function. We'll even do a simple exercise you can try with your friends to see who picks the most "random" number of all.
Resources:
- How Slot Machines Work
- RAND Function
- Britons most likely to pick 7 as "random" number
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Ever heard of the Internet of Things, or IoT? This episode explores the use of random numbers in our everyday devices, and how they’re often not as secure as our PCs. We also look at how Apple gets it right, and what we can do to keep our devices secure in this connected world.
Resources
- Securing the IoT Ecosystem: Challenges & Solutions
- Data security of IoT devices with limited resources: challenges and potential solutions
- What Is IoT Security? Challenges and Requirements
- Apple Platform Security Guide
- Hardware Accelerated Crypto
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This episode explores the mysterious world of random number generators (RNGs) in video games. Looking at popular games like Minecraft, Stardew Valley, and Diablo II, we describe how players hack these random numbers in the same ways hackers hack encryption keys. This episode lays the groundwork for Part 2, a discussion of RNGs in encryption.
Resources:
- How Many People Play Minecraft 2025 (Active Players)
- Pre-determined RNG? (Reddit post)
- Diablo II Seeded Category - Rule / General Discussion
- 10 Perfect Minecraft Seeds You'll Want To Play FOREVER (YouTube video)
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New season, new theme music—and even more hacks and scams to explore. Thanks for coming on these adventures with me. Let's do some more!
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Need cash quick? Why not try a payday loan? While it might look like a better option than a credit card on its surface, the truth is that payday loans can be rather ugly and expensive, and can trap you in a cycle of debt if you don't know how it works. Find out how some states and countries keep a lid on exploding fees for short-term loans, and why a credit card is a far better option.
Resources:
- The Victims of Payday Lending
- Payday Loan Information for Consumers: Legal Status of Payday Loans by State
- FCA confirms price cap rules for payday lenders (UK)
- High cost loans (NZ)
- Can taking out a payday loan help rebuild my credit or improve my credit score?
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Scammers are still at it, happy to ruin our lives in search of a quick buck. Let's look at job scams that attempt to steal personal information, sextortion scams preying on teenage boys, and a really nasty threatening email I personally received. Know your scams, so you can keep yourself safe.
Resources:
- These teenage boys were blackmailed online – and it cost them their lives
- 'You might as well end it now': Terrorized by sextortion plot, a 17-year-old takes his life
- How To Identify Fake Job Postings: 10 Warning Signs
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Hacks used to be impressive, utilizing bits and pieces of technology that made us sit up and pay attention. Nowadays, every scam, breach, or sketchy text message gets labelled a "hack" when it's really just basic use of existing technology, or an outright scam. Let's take a closer look at how the meaning of “hack” has changed, from the complex brilliance of NotPetya in 2017, to today's flood of scams powered by stolen data and AI fakery. It’s the end of the Age of the Great Hack, and the rise of the Age of Many Scams.
Resources:
- Healthcare Data Breach Statistics
- Being Infected by NotPetya: What Maersk learned
- NotPetya: A Columbia University Case Study
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In this episode of How Hacks Happen, we delve into the complexities surrounding trash possession and legalities. Besides the legal distinctions between lost, mislaid, and abandoned property, there are the risks posed by scammers who rifle through trash for personal information so they can steal your identity or call you up and pretend to be your bank. No trash is safe in this world we live in, so shred, burn, and sanitize your trash before throwing it out.
Resources:
- Dumpster Diving for Documents: The Low-Tech Threat Fueling High-Stakes Identity Theft
- California v. Greenwood
- State v. Hempele
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Can you tell if someone is guilty just by looking at them? Let's delve into the infamous case of Amanda Knox, the American exchange student who was wrongfully accused of murdering her roommate in 2007. We'll talk bad cell phone forensics, media sensationalism, and cultural biases, and how they can lead to dire consequences for those who are judged not by evidence, but by how they act differently than society expects them to.
Resources
- Amanda Knox website
- Sentence of the Court of Assizes of Perugia in the Murder of Meredith Kercher
- Talking to Strangers: What We Should Know about the People We Don't Know
- Teacher Recorded Laughing During Apalachee School Shooting May Have Been the Bravest Person in the Room
- Video of teacher laughing during school shooting
- Central Park jogger case
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Send me a text! No matter who you are or where you are in the world, I'd love to hear from you. This is a call for feedback on what you like about How Hacks Happen, what you don't like, or if you just want to say Hi.
Click the "Send us a text" link below, and you'll be sending a text message directly to me, Michele Bousquet. I can't wait to read what you have to say. If I get enough messages, I'll even do an episode just with your feedback.
Resources
- Just my bad self for this one
- The "Send us a text" link is just below!
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In May 2025, Coinbase, one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges in the world, got hacked. Or did they? It was more like a near-miss. But while we might wipe our brows in relief over this latest mishap, it doesn't bode well for the future of cryptocurrency, which is currently unregulated, uninsured, and just waiting for the next big catastrophe to leave investors crying in their collective beers over their lost millions.
Join us for a tour of some of most disastrous crypto hacks of yesteryear like Mt Gox and Bybit, and what we see coming for the future of crypto. Hint: It's not pretty.
Resources
- Coinbase: Protecting Our Customers - Standing Up to Extortionists
- The Story of Mt. Gox: Explained
- Bank Secrecy Act (BSA)
- What Is Crypto KYC and Why Do Exchanges Need It in 2025?
- The ByBit Heist and the Future of U.S. Crypto Regulation
- Top 10 Cryptos to Invest In May 2025
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In this episode we continue the story of Daniel Rigmaiden, a man arrested for tax fraud in 2008 who reveals the Stingray surveillance device used by the Feds to track his location. Despite being in jail, Rigmaiden tirelessly researches and files numerous motions, arguing that the use of Stingrays violated citizens' Fourth Amendment rights. His determination attracts the attention of the ACLU and the EFF, ultimately influencing government policy on surveillance practices, policies that protect privacy for all of us.
Resources
- Rigmaiden court documents
- DOJ: Justice Department Announces Enhanced Policy for Use of Cell-Site Simulators
- The News Tribune: Stingray snared him, now he helps write rules for surveillance
- ACLU: Fighting for Transparency
- Wall Street Journal: Judge Questions Tools That Grab Cellphone Data on Innocent People
- ACLU website
- EFF website
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In 2014, the US government chose not to take a massive, rock-solid tax fraud case to trial. But why? This episode kicks off the tale of Daniel Rigmaiden, a hacker who exploited a legal loophole to regain his freedom. Find out how Rigmaiden's method for online connection, his Air Card, was both his downfall and his salvation. Take a deep dive into the data cell providers collect, how they share it with law enforcement, and the Fourth Amendment's role in protecting privacy. And tune in for Part II, where the real drama unfolds.
Resources
- Fourth Amendment Primer
- United States of America v. Daniel David Rigmaiden, Government’s Response to Defendant’s Motion to Suppress
- Video: Daniel Rigmaiden at Aaron Swartz Day 2017
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Is your identity at risk? And what would you do if someone was using it to take out credit cards, steal your tax refund, or even raid your bank account? Enjoy this replay of interviews with Tiffany, Pete, and Astrid, three victims of identity theft. Even though this episode originally aired in 2022, the same lessons remain. Listen to hear about how each of the three discovered the fraud, what they did to reverse the damage, and what they do now to prevent it from happening again.
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When over 100,000 Bitcoin went missing in 2016, no one suspected the culprits: a quiet, mild-mannered developer and his ostentatious entrepreneur/rapper wife with a wacky social media presence. Meet Razzlekhan and Dutch, the most unlikely thieves in the history of crime.
Resources:
- Razzlekhan and husband guilty of $4.5bn Bitcoin launder
- Bitcoin Plunges After Hacking of Exchange in Hong Kong
- Bitfinex Hacker Sentenced in Money Laundering Conspiracy Involving Billions in Stolen Cryptocurrency
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Why is Andrew Tate so popular with young men? With his sports cars and his obvious wealth, Tate has built a significant following out of his admittedly silly 'alpha male' rants. But behind the flashy lifestyle lies a web of controversy, including serious criminal charges. From promising young men financial independence and all the women they can handle, to the humiliations of a pro-trans hack and getting slapped down by a teenage girl on Twitter, the wild world of Andrew Tate is about as crazy as it gets.
Resources
- The Guardian: Inside the violent, misogynistic world of TikTok’s new star, Andrew Tate
- Daily Dot: Hackers breach Andrew Tate’s online university—obtain chat logs and leak data on 800,000 users
- Pro-trans rights hackers target Andrew Tate’s The Real World website
- Andrew Tate’s University Hacked: Chat Logs and Leaked Data of 800,000 Users
- Forbes: Andrew Tate’s Online University Hacked—800,000 Users Exposed
- Rolling Stone Magazine: Greta Thunberg Doesn’t Care About Andrew Tate’s Cars — But Has an Idea of What They’re Overcompensating For
- Andrew Tate / Greta Thunberg Tweet War Part 1
- Andrew Tate / Greta Thunberg Tweet War Part 2
- BBC News: 'Boys formed Andrew Tate club in school' - teacher
- New York Times: ‘Brainwashing a Generation’: British Schools Combat Andrew Tate’s Views
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Instagram star Hushpuppi had over 2 million followers. With his amazing lifestyle filled with Ferraris and Rolls Royces and private jets, dressed head-to-toe in Gucci and Versace and Fendi, Hushpuppi seemed to have it all. But Hushpuppi's lifestyle was built on a massive pile of fraud, $2 billion dollar's worth, that eventually landed him in prison.
Resources
- Video: Dubai Police take down "Hushpuppi" , "Woodberry", ten international cyber criminals
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A Blackberry phone as a hacking tool?! For our April Fool's Day episode, we bring you an exclusive interview with hacking genius Dave the Barber, who leveraged a freak accident with a Blackberry into a hack that can compromise any device until the end of time.
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Want to hang out with supermodels on the beach? That's the dream that Billy McFarland sold in 2017 when he advertised Fyre Festival, an outdoor music concert in the Bahamas. Attendees were promised beautiful beaches, live music, comfy villas, gourmet meals, and supermodels around every corner. Instead, they got a gravel parking lot, soggy tents, cheese sandwiches, and no music. And no supermodels, either.
What went wrong with Fyre Festival? In this episode, we look at Billy McFarland's delusion through the lens of social media, and how it played a leading role in the misleading people into the fraud that was Fyre Festival.
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When a scam caller knows everything about you--your address, social security number, bank account--how do they know? There isn't some super powerful hacker ring with its own call center. Your data is actually stolen at one end of the internet, goes on a trip through hacker forums and dark web stashes, and reappears in a neat spreadsheet for a call center. The more you know about how your data is breached, sold, and aggregated, the better you'll be prepared for your next well-informed call from a scammer.
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Let's explore the technology behind audio and music AI, and how it makes use of some cool math concepts to bring us convincing and realistic voices and music. Hear some actual AI-generated tunes, and find out how "latent space" changed the way AI generates sounds and music.
Resources
- Ghostwriter, the Mastermind Behind the Viral Drake AI Song, Speaks For the First Time
- Spotify will not ban AI-made music, says boss
- Jellybean Benitez Remembers NYC Clubs of Yesteryear
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Trump pardoned Ross Ulbricht after he served 12 years of his life sentence. In light of this news, we decided to replay our 2023 episode on the Silk Road website, which sold recreational drugs and other illegal items from 2011 to 2013. Was Trump's pardon the right move? We'll let you form your own opinion.
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AI makes our lives more convenient in so many ways, but it also gives scammers the same conveniences. Host Michele Bousquet explains how scammers use AI audio, video, and text to better fool their victims.
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The AI model Deepseek was all over the news in January 2025. Deepseek's developers claimed its costs to develop and run were a fraction of the costs for large popular AI models, which caused a big disruption in the stock market. But how true are these claims? In the first of a three-part series on AI, host Michele Bousquet dives in and give Deepseek a spin, and debunks some of the hype around this new export from China.
Resources:
- DeepSeek-V3 Technical Report
- The Extreme Cost Of Training AI Models
- How Much Did It Cost to Train GPT-4? Let’s Break It Down
- OpenAI says it has proof DeepSeek used its technology to develop its AI model
- NASDAQ:NVDA Stock Falls on DeepSeek Fears – Is Wall Street Missing a 71% Upside?
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With so many social security breaches, we return to the original scene of the crime: the Equifax Breach of 2017. Enjoy this replay of one of our most popular episodes, where you'll learn about common hacking techniques, how routers work and why they're so important, and the most basic of cybersecurity measures like patch plans.
Resources for this episode:
- Website where you can check if your identity was compromised in the Equifax breach
- Business Insider: Literally everyone should be thinking about suing Equifax. September 2017.
- U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Government Reform: The Equifax Data Breach. December 2018.
- CHINESE PLA MEMBERS, 54th RESEARCH INSTITUTE - The fellas charged with the Equifax breach, now on the FBI's wanted list.
- United States Government Accountability Office Report to Congressional Requesters
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Everyday AI: Your daily guide to grown with Generative AI
Can't keep up with AI? We've got you. Everyday AI helps you keep up and get ahead.
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They're the kinds of cousins you wish you didn't have, but you don't really have a choice. What's the difference between hacks and scams, and how do they work together to part you from your valuables like personal information and money? In this episode, we look at the similarities and differences between these shady cousins, and how you can keep them from doing their dirty work.
Resources:
- 91% of all cyber attacks begin with a phishing email to an unexpected victim
- Sony Hackers Used Phishing Emails to Breach Company Networks
- Social Engineering Attack
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Everyday AI: Your daily guide to grown with Generative AI
Can't keep up with AI? We've got you. Everyday AI helps you keep up and get ahead.
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In the wake of the devastating California wildfires, conspiracy theories abound, some of them with no basis in fact. Just after her Pasadena home was threatened by the fires, author Su Falcon ran into a wall of disinformation in social media. Find out what she did about it, and how you can help keep the internet free of this kind of destructive garbage.
Resources
- Website: California Fire Facts
- Website: Watch Duty
- Website: AirNow
- Book: How I Survived My First Year with Chickens
- Video: ‘They're Eating the Dogs:' Trump Makes False Claim About Migrants | WSJ News
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Everyday AI: Your daily guide to grown with Generative AI
Can't keep up with AI? We've got you. Everyday AI helps you keep up and get ahead.
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2025 promises to be an exciting year for scammers. From ridiculous job offers to the colorful family of Apple ID scams, join us on a whirlwind tour of schemes designed to part you and your money.
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Everyday AI: Your daily guide to grown with Generative AI
Can't keep up with AI? We've got you. Everyday AI helps you keep up and get ahead.
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The Honey tool has been exposed as a scam, after dozens of YouTube influencers heavily promoted it. Honey was supposed to save online shoppers money by finding discount codes, but how could it make money doing that? By stealing from its own advertisers, of course! Find out how Honey did it, how they got exposed, and what the future holds for Honey's funny money and the stain upon its parent company PayPal.
Resources
- Exposing the Honey Influencer Scam
- 'Biggest Influencer Scam of All Time'?: PayPal Accused of Poaching Commissions Via Its 'Honey' Browser Extension
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Everyday AI: Your daily guide to grown with Generative AI
Can't keep up with AI? We've got you. Everyday AI helps you keep up and get ahead.
Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify
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Romance scams aren't the only goals of a catfish. The catfish needs some way to get all that money delivered into their hands without leaving a trail. To accomplish this, they recruit unwitting victims into laundering their money. Meet Alice, who unknowingly becomes a money mule for Parker the Catfish.
Resources
- What is a money mule?
- Catfished YouTube Channel
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How do catfish convince victims to send money? In this second of a three-part series on catfishing, we take a tour of the many tricks romance scammers use to separate victims from their hearts, and their cash.
Resources
- Catfished YouTube Channel
- Scam Haters United website
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Catfishing scams have reached new heights, particularly romance scams. But how do they get away with it? This first of a three-part series on catfishing explores the technology these scammers use to fool their victims.
Resources
- The man who "sold" The Brooklyn Bridge, Statue of Liberty, and Ulysses Grant's tomb
- All About Ethel Kennedy's 34 Grandchildren
- Catfished YouTube Channel
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Hackers have been releasing password leaks for years. But what exactly is a password leak, and should you be concerned? In this episode of How Hacks Happen, we look at how password security has changed over the years, and how you can keep yourself safe in the ever-changing world of online security.
Resources
- Rockyou2024 analysis: Mega password list or just noise?
- Have I Been Pwned? Check your password
- NIST Special Publication: Digital Identity Guidelines
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With Netflix shining attention on the victims of the 2015 Ashley Madison breach, we're running a replay of our own coverage from 2021 that gets into the dark underbelly that Netflix skipped: lies Ashley Madison told about their services (and their CEO's fidelity), and blackmail attempts from enterprising hacker types. We also put forth evidence that the hacker, who was never caught, is most likely Canadian and a woman.
Resources
- Impact Team Pastebin notice, July 20, 2015: https://pastebin.com/ZGXmk8R9
- Krebs on Security report on breach: https://krebsonsecurity.com/2015/07/online-cheating-site-ashleymadison-hacked/
- Suicides attributed to Ashley Madison breach:
- https://money.cnn.com/2015/09/08/technology/ashley-madison-suicide/
- https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-34044506
- https://toronto.citynews.ca/2013/11/10/woman-hurt-typing-fake-profiles-for-dating-site-20m-suit-alleges/
- https://krebsonsecurity.com/2015/08/ashleymadison-500k-bounty-for-hackers/
- https://krebsonsecurity.com/2015/08/who-hacked-ashley-madison/
- https://krebsonsecurity.com/2015/08/was-the-ashley-madison-database-leaked/
- https://grahamcluley.com/ashley-madisons-leaked-database-available-download-read-this/
- https://grahamcluley.com/ashley-madison-fake/
- https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/the-strange-rise-and-sudden-fall-of-noel-biderman-the-former-ceo-of-ashley-madison/slidelist/48716152.cms
- https://www.priv.gc.ca/en/privacy-topics/business-privacy/safeguards-and-breaches/privacy-breaches/respond-to-a-privacy-breach-at-your-business/gd_pb_201810/
- https://www.wired.com/2015/08/happened-hackers-posted-stolen-ashley-madison-data/
- https://grahamcluley.com/ashley-madison-wives-receiving-blackmail-let
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The medical records of 1/3 of Americans were stolen from Change Healthcare in February 2024, and leaked to the dark web. So who is Change Healthcare, and why did they have your data in the first place? Get the skinny on this week's episode.
Resources
- Change Healthcare Cyberattack Affected 100 Million Individuals
- The Change Healthcare attack: Explaining how it happened
- Wyden Hearing Statement on Change Healthcare Cyberattack and UnitedHealth Group’s Response
- Testimony of Andrew Witty, Chief Executive Officer, UnitedHealth Group Before the House Energy and Commerce Committee Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations “Examining the Change Healthcare Cyberattack”
- The impact of the Change Healthcare cyberattack: What to know
- Change Healthcare Cyberattack: What Consumers Should Know
- Received a letter from Change Healthcare? What you should do next
- Change Healthcare Attack Cost Estimate Reaches Nearly $2.9B
- Change Healthcare Finally Admits It Paid Ransomware Hackers $22 Million—and Still Faces a Patient Data Leak
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Credit card fraud is on the rise, but not in the usual way: hackers are cobbling together synthetic accounts from real and fake names, addresses, social security numbers, and credit histories. Children's social security numbers are particularly at risk. Find out how it all works, and what you can do to help prevent synthetic account fraud, and help with inflation in the process.
Resources
- FBI: Combating Threats in the Cyberworld
- LawPay: Guide to Securely Storing Credit Card Information
- How Can Someone Use My Credit Card Without Having It? A Complete Guide to Theft Prevention
- Motley Fool: Identity Theft and Credit Card Fraud Statistics for 2024
- Mastercard: What is Synthetic Identity Fraud?
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QR codes are a super convenient way to access a website or app from your phone without having to type anything in. And while some scammers use QR codes to try and steal your personal information and money, most QR codes are just fine. Learn how to spot a scammy QR code so you can use them safely, and confidently enjoy all the conveniences they offer.
Resources:
- Thieves are using fake QR codes on parking meters to scam drivers. Here's how to protect yourself
- FBI issues new warning about QR code scams
- Alerts issued over a rise in QR code scams, known as ‘quishing’
- 'I fell victim to clever scam when trying to park'
- Redondo Beach warns drivers of parking meter scam involving fake QR codes
- How to spot a fake QR code scam
- A brief history of QR codes
- What Is a Drive-by Download Malware Attack?
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How can you keep hackers from getting your Social Security Number? You can't. Between breaches of Equifax, the healthcare industry, and the recent National Public Data leak, your SSN is probably already making the rounds on the dark web. But you can fight back with some simple security measures.
In this episode, we call back to our very first episode on the Equifax breach of 2017, and revisit the lessons learned and how they pertain to cybersecurity today, and in the future.
Resources
- Krebs on Security: NationalPublicData.com Hack Exposes a Nation’s Data
- SBA: COVID-19 Pandemic EIDL and PPP Loan Fraud Landscape
- A Third of Americans Have had Their Social Security Numbers Leaked in Healthcare Breaches
- Usa.gov: How to place or lift a security freeze on your credit report
- Troy Hunt: Inside the "3 Billion People" National Public Data Breach
- Watchdogs: SBA handed out over $80 billion in potentially fraudulent loans
- NBC News: 'Biggest fraud in a generation': The looting of the Covid relief plan known as PPP
- WIRED: LifeLock CEO's Identity Stolen 13 Times
- YouTube: Lifelock Commercial
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A new bank regulation in the United Kingdom promises refunds to customers who are victims of fraud through bank transfers. We'll likely see the same regulations in other countries soon, and it will likely lead to banks getting up in our business about who we transfer money to, so they won't be on the hook for fraud. Is this a good thing? Let's discuss.
Resources
- Groundbreaking new protections for victims of APP scams start today
- The Perfect Scam podcast: You May Not Be a Winner: Sweepstakes Scam Empties Woman’s Savings
- Kitboga video: Scammers Wanted My Life Savings - We Shut Them Down Instead
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Pump and dump, rug pull... what do these terms mean? Host Michele Bousquet explains how scammy cryptocurrency schemes work, how they relate to illegal practices in the stock market, and how you can spot them so you don't fall for them.
Resources
- A Brief History of the Stock Market and Stock Exchanges
- Investopedia: Forces That Move Stock Prices
- SEC: Pump and Dump Schemes
- Investopedia: What are Penny Stocks?
- Skinning The Wolf of Wall Street: Victims Speak Out
- Faze Clan Members Skewered By Fans Following Huge Crypto Losses
- Notorious YouTube Streamer Stole $500,000 From Fans In Crypto Scheme (And Won't Give It Back)
- Influencers Who Promoted Shady Crypto Scams
- How Influencers Hype Crypto, Without Disclosing Their Financial Ties
- The Many Scams of Logan Paul and His Questionable Ventures
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Is any telemarketing actual real anymore? Here we delve into the history of telemarketing, and how it was always a little scammy, even before the era of endless scam phone calls.
Resources
- Time Life Published Book Series
- MCI Long-Distance Overcharges
- Consumer Alert: Telemarketing Scams
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It's not about pork, it's about stealing your money. Pig Butchering is a devastating scam, a long con that fools people into forking over their life savings for a bogus investment. Pig Butchering takes thousands of people every year for billions of dollars, most of it from the elderly. Find out what Pig Butchering is, how to spot it when it comes your way, and how to keep your friends and loved ones from falling for it.
Resources
- Office of the Inspector General: Pig Butchering Scams
- FBI Cryptocurrency Fraud Report
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Why does ChatGPT lie? It's a great tool for research, but sometimes "hallucinates" its answers. By that I mean, it tells outright lies. Find out how to spot when ChatGPT is being a fool, and how to avoid getting duped by its responses.
Resources:
- Here’s What Happens When Your Lawyer Uses ChatGPT
- Disciplinary judge approves lawyer's suspension for using ChatGPT to generate fake cases
- New York lawyers sanctioned for using fake ChatGPT cases in legal brief
- Mata v. Avianca, Inc.
- The Art and Math of Cryptography
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You’ve probably seen content generated by AI (artificial intelligence) because it’s all around us: on the internet, in advertising, and worst of all, in your DMs. Come on down for a wild ride through the world of AI-generated images, and how scammers are taking advantage of the technology to run their schemes.
Resources:
- Families Scammed by AI Images That Promised Willy Wonka-Style Event
- Artists Copyright Claims Against AI Image Generators Advance in Court
- Georg Nees: Computer Art and Graphics
- An Interview with Frieder Nake
- Interview with Manfred Mohr
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"You can get rich like me. Just buy my course to learn how!" Don't fall for it. Social media has made it a lot easier for scammers to sell you on a dream. Maybe they were early to the game and lucky to make a few bucks, but the opportunity (if it ever existed) is long gone.
Early and Lucky is the name of the game. Find out what it is, how to play it, and how not to lose your shirt on scammy get-rich schemes.
Resources:
- Logan Paul promises CryptoZoo refunds, as long as you don’t sue him
- Logan Paul is Suing Coffeezilla
- Seint Shifts to Enhanced Affiliate Model
- Rodan and Fields announces new business model, cuts 100 jobs
- Documentary: The Queen of Versailles
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If you've seen The Imitation Game you've heard of the Enigma, the cryptographic machine used by the German military in WWII. Everything about the Enigma--how it was used, how it was solved--is echoed in the cryptographic methods we used in the past, today, and in the future.
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On July 19, the CrowdStrike outage was all over the news. But what was it really about, and what does it have to do with all of us? While the outage was repaired quickly, the fact that it affected so many systems we depend on is a wakeup call reminiscent of crippling cybersecurity attacks. In this episode, we look at what happened, how it relates to other outages including targeted cybersecurity attacks, and how we can protect ourselves from the fallout of such outages in the future.
Resources:
Washington Post: The hospitals, airlines and banks affected by the global IT outage
Video: Times Square billboards with Blue Screen of Death
Forbes: CrowdStrike Windows Outage—What Happened And What To Do Next
Windows 3.1 saves the day during CrowdStrike outage — Southwest Airlines scrapes by with archaic OS
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Your smart phone keeps busy, even when you're not on it. Apps are constantly downloading data–thumbnails, ad content, new posts–at a surprising frequency, even when you're not actively using the app. These downloads can lead to your download data making it look like you're using your phone when you're not.
In this episode, I pull a story from my days in mobile forensics to show just how this constant downloading could get you in trouble one day, and how you can avoid such a fate.
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In response to the San Bernardino shooting in 2015, the FBI demanded that Apple, Inc. create a "back door" to bypass the shooter's iPhone security, a back door that could also compromise any iPhone, anytime. Thankfully, Apple CEO Tim Cook wasn't playing. But this isn't the first time government and law enforcement has tried to stick their noses into our business without permission, and probably won't be the last. In this episode we also talk about government efforts to compromise consumer security, like the NSA's Clipper Chip of 1993, and why these efforts have always failed.
Resources:
- Order Compelling Apple, Inc. to Assist Agents in Search
- The FBI Wanted a Back Door to the iPhone. Tim Cook Said No
- A Message to our Customers (Apple CEO Tim Cook’s response to FBI request)
- Apple Just Killed The 'GrayKey' iPhone Passcode Hack
- Electronic Privacy Information Center: The Clipper Chip
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Buzzwords are the language of business and marketing. But do they really live up to the hype? Find out how phrases like "end-to-end encryption" and "blockchain" are used to hype up a service that might not be what it seems. Join me on a journey through the world of buzzwords in cybersecurity marketing.
Resources:
Hackers steal nearly $10 million from Axie Infinity co-founder’s personal accounts
The Spectacular Collapse of CryptoKitties, the First Big Blockchain Game
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Have you gotten a dream job offer through WhatsApp, Facebook, or some other suspicious source? It's probably a scam. Let's look at how job scams work, and how you can spot them.
Report job scams in the USA to the Federal Trade Commission.
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Does your phone serve you content based on your conversations? It depends.
This is the third episode in a three-part series on social media. Here we talk about what your apps or services might be listening to, and what you can do about it.
Resources:
- Does Your Phone Listen to You for Ads? (Yes, Here’s How)
- This Company Might Be Listening to Everything You Watch on TV
- That Game on Your Phone May Be Tracking What You’re Watching on TV
- Is your smartphone listening to you?
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What's your favorite Beatles song? Where did you get married? What's your dog's name? Whenever you answer a question on a random person's or company's post, you're giving up information to exploit you.
See what social media sites collect about you
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Visit us on Patreon for bonus content and special offers! But only if you hate scams too.
How do you find out what social media platforms know about you? Bet you didn't know you can grab your data anytime, all of it. In this episode, we talk about how to get all your data from a social media platform so you can see what they've stored.
- Get your data from Facebook
- Get your data from Instagram
- Get your data from LinkedIn
- Get your data from Snapchat
- Get all your Google emails, photos, YouTube videos
For any other social media platforms, search for "download my data from [platform]" to find out how.
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What is an NFT, and why would anyone want to buy one? There are lots of reasons why someone might buy a certified JPG or other NFT, but there's no guarantee your NFT will increase in value or even retain the value you paid for it. In this episode, host Michele Bousquet talks about different kinds of NFTs on the market, how they compare to physical art items, and how fraudsters have found a rich source of free funds in NFT theft.
Sources:
- Joey Mars website
- Investors sue Sotheby's, Justin Bieber, Hilton among others as NFT prices crash
- Seth Green’s Bored Ape NFT Got “Kidnapped"
- NFT Price Floor - Bored Ape Yacht Club
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The story of Silk Road, the underground website where you could buy and sell anything, is now part of internet lore. Customers could order everything from pot to meth and have it delivered to their door. Then came fake IDs, unregistered guns, poisons, and murder-for-hire. But wherever there's illegal activity and lots of money, violence isn't far behind. This episode takes you on a very quick tour of the rise and fall of Silk Road, which met its demise in 2013 when founder Ross Ulbricht got caught.
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Well, it finally happened: I got scammed! I bought a high-end projector at a price that was too good to be true, because it wasn't true. Don't fall for the White Van scam!
White van speaker scam on Wikipedia
The Art and Math of Cryptography at Amazon.com
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In October 21, 2021, Josh Renaud, a reporter for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch newspaper, privately alerted a government authority that their website had vulnerabilities. In response, the governor of Missouri, Michael L. Parson, brought charges against the journalist for "hacking." This story would be hilarious if it wasn't true. Update: In July 2022, Josh Renaud was awarded The National Press Club press freedom award for his work.
- Get the "F12 IS NOT A CRIME" T-shirt
- Original St. Louis Post-Dispatch article: Missouri teachers' Social Security numbers at risk on state agency's website (requires subscription to view)
- Arstechnica article: Emails show what happened before Missouri gov. falsely called journalist a “hacker”
- Governor Parson's Facebook post - Enjoy the comments.
- Missouri State Highway Patrol report
- Fundraising video: Gov. Parson holds fake news accountable. Enjoy the comments.
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You get an email telling you you've been billed for a product you never ordered, and when you call for a refund, you somehow you get an excess refund and have to send back the difference. Find out how scammers manipulate people into sending them "excess refund money" from a nonexistent refund, and what you can do to keep it from happening to others. Shout-out to YouTuber Kitboga for showing me how this scam works.
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What is Tor? In this episode, we demystify the Tor browser and how it relates to the Surface Web, the Deep Web, and the Dark Web. Maybe you want to use Tor, and maybe you don't. But in any case you'll know what it is, and will be able to decide if it's right for you.
Download the Tor browser at the official site
A great read about the dark web at Wired.com
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After a little hiatus, we're back! Season 2 has so many great episodes coming up. We're going to explain how the refund scam works and what NF T's are, and we're going to talk about the notorious hacking case in Missouri, where the governor was convinced that pressing the F12 key is a crime. We'll also have a very special episode that discusses some of the things you can do right now, for free, in your own home, to keep yourself safe. So Like and Follow so you get a heads-up when the episodes start dropping!
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What we can we learn about hacks, scams, and fraud from TV shows and movies? Plenty, as it turns out. Fictional shows, documentaries, podcasts, and other types of entertainment are a treasure trove of knowledge. Don't discount the education you can get about scams, con games, legal proceedings, police procedure, and other aspects of safety, all while being thoroughly entertained.
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The Tinder Swindler is a fascinating Netflix documentary about a serial romance scammer who took each of his "girlfriends" for more than $100,000 each. In this episode, we look at what we can learn from The Tinder Swindler, going beyond the easy "blame the victim" mentality to show how effective such scams can be, and to point out the individual red flags you should watch out for in any new romance.
Resources for this episode:
- The Tinder Swindler documentary on Netflix
- Tinder Dating Safety Tips
- GoFundMe for Tinder Swindler victims
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The hack of Sony Pictures Entertainment in 2014 was one of the most bizarre crimes of the decade. Instead of demanding money, the hackers threatened a terrorist attack on the USA if Sony didn't cancel the release of the film 'The Interview,' a comedy about two bumbling journalists who travel to North Korea and attempt to assassinate the country's Supreme Leader. The release went forward anyway, and thankfully, the threats came to nothing. Enjoy the terrible English in the hackers' written threats against 'The Sony,' and Michele's terrible attempts at reading them aloud in a North Korean accent.
Resources for this episode:
https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-30512032https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2019/10/the-untold-story-of-the-sony-hack
https://www.vox.com/2015/1/20/18089084/sony-hack-north-korea
https://www.vox.com/2014/12/16/7403437/sony-hacks-threats
https://www.amnesty.org.uk/north-korea
https://www.operationblockbuster.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Operation-Blockbuster-Report.pdf
https://www.mandiant.com/resources/apt38-details-on-new-north-korean-regime-backed-threat-group
https://www.theverge.com/2018/9/6/17826722/north-korea-sony-hack-wannacry-charges
https://www.jhuapl.edu/Content/documents/SonyNightmareBeforeChristmas.pdf
https://www.mitnicksecurity.com/in-the-news/sony-hack-was-not-all-that-sophisticated-cybersecurity-experts-say
https://www.jhuapl.edu/Content/documents/SonyNightmareBeforeChristmas.pdf
https://www.vox.com/2015/4/21/11561700/sony-hack-was-not-an-inside-job-says-security-expert-kevin-mandia
https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2019/10/the-untold-story-of-the-sony-hack
https://thinkst.com/ts/free/ThinkstScapes-2014-AH4-Trial.pdf
https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2014/12/unprecedented-cyberattack-no-excuse-for-sony-breach-pros-say/
https://www.thewrap.com/president-obama-sony-made-a-mistake-in-canceling-the-interview/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g4xjJbEwJsg
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Why are older people so susceptible to scams? There could be a relationship to the music you loved in your teen years. Just as most of us have a Musical Peak in our teens, I propose that we also have a Technology Peak in our 20s-40s. Nudging our elderly relatives out of their Technology Peak, and into the present, is the only way to break this pattern. And the only way to do it is by showing them.
References:
Study of link between adolescent age and music preference: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/2059204320965058
Other references:
https://usa.kaspersky.com/resource-center/preemptive-safety/phone-number-spoofing
https://www.theverge.com/2018/2/12/17003076/spotify-data-shows-songs-teens-adult-taste-music
https://www.acpjournals.org/doi/10.7326/M15-0882?doi=10.7326%2FM15-0882
https://www.forbes.com/sites/carolynrosenblatt/2014/02/13/why-do-elderly-parents-fall-for-scams-that-seem-so-obvious-to-us/?sh=2d28ad2991d8
https://www.aarp.org/content/dam/aarp/home-and-family/personal-technology/2016/09/2016-Longevity-Economy-AARP.pdf
https://www.marketplace.org/2019/05/16/brains-losses-aging-fraud-financial-scams-seniors/
https://www.acpjournals.org/doi/10.7326/M15-0882?doi=10.7326%2FM15-0882
https://neurosciencenews.com/music-youth-17765/
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/10/opinion/sunday/favorite-songs.html
https://neurosciencenews.com/music-youth-17765/
https://www.statista.com/statistics/189959/housing-units-with-telephones-in-the-united-states-since-1920/
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/snake-oil-salesmen-knew-something/
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0056262/
https://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/27/nyregion/thecity/for-you-half-price.html
https://www.statista.com/statistics/189959/housing-units-with-telephones-in-the-united-states-since-1920/
https://www.elon.edu/u/imagining/time-capsule/150-years/back-1870-1940/
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/silicon-valleys-idea-of-successful-entrepreneurs-is-all-wrong-2018-05-11
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What would you do if you found out someone was using your identity to take out credit cards, steal your tax refund, or even raid your bank account? Meet Tiffany, Pete, and Astrid, three victims of identity theft. Find out how each of them discovered the fraud, what they did to reverse the damage, and what they do now to prevent it from happening again.
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How are bike thieves like hackers? Both look for the same kinds of vulnerabilities, including easy-to-crack passwords. Would you leave your bike's combination at the default of 0000? Of course not. In the same way, you should change default passwords and use something that a hacker won't find easy to crack. Be safe out there!
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Black Friday, the day after American Thanksgiving, is traditionally one of the biggest holiday shopping days of the year. But hackers aren't going to take a holiday--they'll use Black Friday as an opportunity to try and scam you. If you get a text about an order or a gift card, don't tap the link! Instead, go to the retailer's site and see if there's a message for you. Let's all have a holly jolly holiday season with no scams!
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You've heard of Bitcoin, but how does it work, and why are so many people talking about it? Let's talk about blockchain--the tech behind Bitcoin and other cryptocurrency--in plain English, including hashing, a key part of blockchain technology. We'll also talk about why people invest in cryptocurrency.
Resources for this episode
Development of blockchain:
"A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System" by Satoshi Nakamoto: https://bitcoin.org/bitcoin.pdf
Rising Bitcoin value:
https://www.businessinsider.com/bitcoin-surge-means-laszlo-hanyecz-paid-316-million-two-pizzas-2021-3
The fascinating original forum conversation about the pizza buy: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=137.0
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/dec/09/bitcoin-forgotten-currency-norway-oslo-home
https://cointelegraph.com/news/satoshi-nakamoto-s-bitcoin-white-paper-is-now-a-13-year-old-teenager
Bitcoin accepted as currency:
https://cointelegraph.com/news/el-salvador-president-bitcoin-law-will-be-approved-tonight
https://www.buybitcoinworldwide.com/who-accepts-bitcoin/
Losing the key:
https://www.wired.com/story/i-forgot-my-pin-an-epic-tale-of-losing-dollar30000-in-bitcoin/
https://www.wired.com/story/wired-lost-bitcoin/
https://www.cnbc.com/2021/01/15/uk-man-makes-last-ditch-effort-to-recover-lost-bitcoin-hard-drive.html
https://medium.com/luno/where-do-lost-bitcoins-go-7e8dd24abd0f
How blockchain works:
https://www.guru99.com/blockchain-tutorial.html
https://www.investopedia.com/terms/b/blockchain.asp
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If anyone--the IRS, the electric company, the police--calls you and asks you to buy a prepaid Visa card or a gift card to pay your bill over the phone, it's not who you think it is. They'll tell you to scratch the numbers off the back and read them the numbers. This is a ploy by scammers to get money from you. Don't fall for it!
This tip was inspired by a recent real-life story of a phone scam that terrified a woman in the San Francisco area: https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/phone-scam-therapists-16483251.php
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Hackers operate off of fear. They'll call you with an urgent problem: Your bill is overdue! Pay now! But if they don't know your name, social security number, or anything else about you, it's a scam. Hang up and be satisfied that you thwarted yet another hack.
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In July 2015, a very polite group of hackers called The Impact Team stole the data of over 30 million users from Ashley Madison, a website for cheating spouses, and threatened to dump it all over the dark web if the site wasn't shut down. The site stayed up, and the data went out. Learn about how hackers worldwide have used the data to blackmail users, the denials (and eventual resignations) of Ashley Madison executives, and the many clues, including the hackers' unusual level of politeness, that point to certain culprits.
Resources
- Pastebin notice of July 20: https://pastebin.com/ZGXmk8R9
- Krebs on Security report on breach: https://krebsonsecurity.com/2015/07/online-cheating-site-ashleymadison-hacked/
- Suicides attributed to Ashley Madison breach:
- https://money.cnn.com/2015/09/08/technology/ashley-madison-suicide/
- https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-34044506
- https://toronto.citynews.ca/2013/11/10/woman-hurt-typing-fake-profiles-for-dating-site-20m-suit-alleges/
- https://krebsonsecurity.com/2015/08/ashleymadison-500k-bounty-for-hackers/
- https://krebsonsecurity.com/2015/08/who-hacked-ashley-madison/
- https://krebsonsecurity.com/2015/08/was-the-ashley-madison-database-leaked/
- https://grahamcluley.com/ashley-madisons-leaked-database-available-download-read-this/
- https://grahamcluley.com/ashley-madison-fake/
- https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/the-strange-rise-and-sudden-fall-of-noel-biderman-the-former-ceo-of-ashley-madison/slidelist/48716152.cms
- https://www.priv.gc.ca/en/privacy-topics/business-privacy/safeguards-and-breaches/privacy-breaches/respond-to-a-privacy-breach-at-your-business/gd_pb_201810/
- https://www.wired.com/2015/08/happened-hackers-posted-stolen-ashley-madison-data/
- https://grahamcluley.com/ashley-madison-wives-receiving-blackmail-letters/
- https://grahamcluley.com/ashley-madison-slammed-with-1-6m-fine-for-data-breach/
- https://grahamcluley.com/ashley-madisons-leaked-database-available-download-read-this/
- https://digitalguardian.com/blog/timeline-ashley-madison-hack
- "American Kingpin": https://www.amazon.com/American-Kingpin-Nick-Bilton-audiobook/dp
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Let's look at the impact of credit card fraud, and talk about how they're stolen, and what you can do to keep your credit safe. Jiggle that cover, man!
Resources for this episode:
- Credit card safety: 8 tips to help keep you safe: https://www.zdnet.com/article/how-hackers-stole-millions-of-credit-card-records-from-target/
- Verizon 2020 Payment Security Report, available from https://www.verizon.com/business/resources/reports/payment-security-report/
- History of credit cards: https://www.creditcards.com/credit-card-news/history-of-credit-cards/
- Credit card safety: 8 tips to help keep you safe: https://bettermoneyhabits.bankofamerica.com/en/credit/credit-card-protection
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Say No to the NSA! Until the mid-1970s, the National Security Agency held an iron grip on all research into computer-based cryptography in the USA. In this episode, we talk about how the NSA squashed all public research into cryptography in the 1950s and 1960s, but loosened its grip to work to develop the Digital Encryption Standard (DES) with IBM. Then, in the 1970s, mathematicians Whitfield Diffie, Martin Hellman, and others went head-to-head with the NSA to make cryptography available to us all. Their research, and their courage, forever changed the face of modern cybersecurity.
Resources:
- Truman original memo regarding formation of NSA: https://www.nsa.gov/Portals/70/documents/news-features/declassified-documents/truman/truman-memo.pdf
- NSA American Cryptology During the Cold War 1945-1989: https://www.nsa.gov/Portals/70/documents/news-features/declassified-documents/cryptologic-histories/cold_war_iii.pdf
- Crypto: How the Code Rebels Beat the Government - Saving Privacy in the Digital Age: https://www.amazon.com/Crypto-Rebels-Government-Privacy-Digital/dp/B092RLYFTR/
- Paper: "A Mathematical Theory of Communication" by Claude Shannon: https://people.math.harvard.edu/~ctm/home/text/others/shannon/entropy/entropy.pdf
- J. A. Meyer letter to IEEE in July 1977: https://cryptome.org/hellman/1977-0707-Meyer-letter.pdf
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When consumer reporting agency Equifax was breached in 2017, the records of over 140 million people (more than half the adults in the USA!) were stolen. Three years later, we take a closer look at the mistakes Equifax's security team made, how hackers leveraged a compromised Equifax web page to gain access to logins, passwords, and dozens of additional databases, and how they got the stolen data out of Equifax's network through a flawed router setup. We wrap up what you can do to keep yourself safe from identity theft as a result of this and other breaches.
Resources for this episode:
- Website where you can check if your identity was compromised in the Equifax breach
- Business Insider: Literally everyone should be thinking about suing Equifax. September 2017.
- U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Government Reform: The Equifax Data Breach. December 2018.
- CHINESE PLA MEMBERS, 54th RESEARCH INSTITUTE - The fellas charged with the Equifax breach, now on the FBI's wanted list.
- United States Government Accountability Office Report to Congressional Requesters
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