Hacking Humans

Latest Episodes:

Prisoners have nothing but time. Jan 17, 2019

Show notes

Joe shares the tale of a prisoner running a variety of romance scams from the inside. Dave outlines direct deposit scams. The catch of the day is a clever variation from (where else?) Nigeria. Our guest is Sam Small from ZeroFox.

Links to stories:

https://hubpages.com/politics/The-Games-That-Inmates-Play

https://ogletree.com/shared-content/content/blog/2018/january/diverting-employees-payroll-direct-deposits-the-latest-wave-of-phishing-scams

https://www.kansas.com/news/local/crime/article223873805.html

Have a Catch of the Day you'd like to share? Email it to us at hackinghumans@thecyberwire.com or hit us up on Twitter.

Trained humans are your strongest link. Jan 10, 2019

Show notes

Dave warns of scammers gaining access to homes by pretending to be workers from the local utility company. Joe shares a story of a sophisticated bank transfer scam in the UK. Our catch of the day outlines an attempted email scam targeting an architectural firm. Carole Theriault is back with the second part of her interview with the pen tester who goes by the name freaky clown.

Links to today's stories:

https://www.wxyz.com/news/michigan-energy-company-warns-of-increase-in-imposters-trying-to-enter-homes

https://inews.co.uk/inews-lifestyle/money/lost-19960-life-savings-phone-scam-natwest

Have a Catch of the Day you'd like to share? Email it to us at hackinghumans@thecyberwire.com or hit us up on Twitter.

At some point you're probably going to have to do some running. Jan 03, 2019

Show notes

Joe describes a reply-all scenario gone wrong. Dave explains the criminal use of steganography in memes as a command and control technique. Our catch-of-the-day features alluring photos texted to an unimpressed listener. Carole Theriault interviews physical pen tester Freaky Clown.

Links to stories mentioned in this week's show:

https://blog.trendmicro.com/trendlabs-security-intelligence/cybercriminals-use-malicious-memes-that-communicate-with-malware/

https://www.cygenta.co.uk/

Have a Catch of the Day you'd like to share? Email it to us at hackinghumans@thecyberwire.com or hit us up on Twitter

Truth emerges from the clash of ideas. Dec 20, 2018

Show notes

We follow up on critical feedback of last week's show. Dave describes how online extortionists have pivoted from sex to explosives. We've got an auto-responding catch of the day from one of Joe's colleagues. Guest is Sean Brooks, Director of the Citizen Clinic and a Research Fellow at the Center for Long-Term Cybersecurity at UC Berkeley. He shares their research into online attacks of politically vulnerable organizations.

From our EV certs follow-up:

https://www.troyhunt.com/extended-validation-certificates-are-dead/

https://casecurity.org/2018/12/06/ca-security-council-casc-2019-predictions-the-good-the-bad-and-the-ugly/

Bomb threat catch of the day:

https://www.zdnet.com/article/extortion-emails-carrying-bomb-threats-cause-panic-across-the-us/

Sean Brooks interview:

Report: http://cltc.berkeley.edu/defendingpvos/

Clinic: http://cltc.berkeley.edu/citizen-clinic/

Have a Catch of the Day you'd like to share? Email it to us at hackinghumans@thecyberwire.com or hit us up on Twitter.

A pesky problem that doesn't go away. Dec 13, 2018

Show notes

Joe describes a Nigerian gang called London Blue that focuses on business email compromise. Dave shares surprising Cyber Monday phishing statistics. Guest Chris Bailey from Entrust Datacard teaches us how to detect lookalike sites online and better protect ourselves from fraud.

Links to today's stories:

https://www.agari.com/insights/whitepapers/london-blue-report/

https://www.zscaler.com/blogs/research/cyber-monday-biggest-day-cyberattacks-not-long-shot

Have a Catch of the Day you'd like to share? Email it to us at hackinghumans@thecyberwire.com or hit us up on Twitter.

Bringing trust to a trustless world. Dec 06, 2018

Show notes

Listener follow-up on a URL issue. Dave describes an elderly couple scammed out of savings. Joe wonders if it's wise to unsubscribe. Guest Andre McGregor from TLDR Capital describes his work as a former FBI agent, and his experience consulting on Mr. Robot.

Bank account transfer scam:

https://abc11.com/troubleshooter-durham-couple-loses-$8900-in-computer-virus-scam/4782799/

Have a Catch of the Day you'd like to share? Email it to us at hackinghumans@thecyberwire.com or hit us up on Twitter.

Be very aware of your desire to be right. Nov 29, 2018

Show notes

Joe explains URLs and DNS. Dave has tips to prevent holiday skimming. A bogus bank barrister is the catch of the day. Writer Ben Yagoda explains cognitive biases.

Links:

Wikipedia page on URLs -

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/URL

Tips to prevent skimming -

https://www.social-engineer.org/newsletter/social-engineer-newsletter-vol-07-issue-96/

Ben Yagoda's article from the Atlantic -

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2018/09/cognitive-bias/565775/

Have a Catch of the Day you'd like to share? Email it to us at hackinghumans@thecyberwire.com or hit us up on Twitter.

CEOs can be the weakest link. Nov 15, 2018

Show notes

Listener feedback on the "Can you hear me?" scam. Dave shares an ongoing Elon Musk Bitcoin giveaway scam. Joe describes the malicious use of a compromised DHL email address. This week's catch of the day comes from down under. (Apologies to the fine citizens of Australia.) Carole Theriault returns with an interview with MimeCast's Matthew Gardiner.

Have a Catch of the Day you'd like to share? Email it to us at hackinghumans@thecyberwire.com or hit us up on Twitter.

Human sources are essential. Nov 08, 2018

Show notes

Joe gathers open source information online. Dave wonders if a tow truck driver got the better of him. A listener shares a possible custom app scam. Former FBI agent Dennis Franks shares his experience developing human intelligence sources.

Have a Catch of the Day you'd like to share? Email it to us at hackinghumans@thecyberwire.com or hit us up on Twitter.

Scams are fraud and fraud is crime. Nov 01, 2018

Show notes

We get listener followup on the church pastor scam. Dave explores a phony investment web site. Joe explains phishing, spear phishing and whaling. Fake federal agents are featured in our catch of the day. Carole Theriault interviews Max Bruce from Action Fraud UK.

Have a Catch of the Day you'd like to share? Email it to us at hackinghumans@thecyberwire.com or hit us up on Twitter.

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