Hacking Humans

Cybersecurity interview with ChatGPT. In part one of CyberWire’s Interview with the AI, Brandon Karpf interviews ChatGPT about topics related to cybersecurity. Rick Howard joins Brandon to analyze the conversation and discuss potential use cases for the cybersecurity community. ChatGPT is a chatbot launched by OpenAI and built on top of OpenAI’s GPT-3 family of large language models. Cyber questions answered by ChatGPT in part one of the interview. What were the most significant cybersecurity incidents up through 2021? What leads you to characterize these specific events as significant? What were the specific technical vulnerabilities associated with these incidents? Who were the cyber actors involved in each of these attacks? Do you think it's valuable to attribute cyber attacks to specific actors?

This week, Maria Varmazis host of the N2K daily space show, T-Minus, joins Dave and Joe, as they celebrate Maria joining the Hacking Humans podcast every week! Maria's story is from a listener this week who writes in with a story on an IT company that is a third party for a healthcare company, and the dangers that can come from that. Dave and Joe share some listener follow up from Michael, who shares some thoughts on AI. Dave's story follows how a recent study found that 40% of elderly adults in the UK regularly face phone-based fraud attempts, with significant impacts on their mental health and quality of life. Joe follows a Scottsdale couple, Alexandra Gehrke and Jeffrey King, and how they have been indicted for a $900 million fraud scheme targeting hospice patients, receiving $330 million in illegal kickbacks used to purchase luxury items. Our catch of the day comes from listener Jim who writes in with a letter about a concerned beneficiary who received a letter from the FBI about their overdue inheritance with the National Bank of Belgium. The message confirmed the legitimacy of their claim but warned of potential scams by individuals impersonating bank officials. Please take a moment to fill out an audience survey! Let us know how we are doing! Links to the stories: Two-Fifths of Senior Citizens Suffer Frequent Fraud Attempts ‘It’s really disgusting’: Scottsdale couple accused of $900 million fraud scheme targeting hospice patients, according to DOJ You can hear more from the T-Minus space daily show here. Have a Catch of the Day you'd like to share? Email it to us at hackinghumans@thecyberwire.com.

This week, Maria Varmazis host of the N2K daily space show, T-Minus, joins Dave and Joe, as they celebrate Maria joining the Hacking Humans podcast every week! Maria's story is on supplement scams, as there has been a significant surge in health-related supplement scams on social media platforms, utilizing advanced technologies like AI-generated images and deepfake videos to promote fake products endorsed by celebrities and medical professionals. Joe's story follows Airplane WiFi, now essential for many travelers, and how it poses unexpected risks as recent incidents highlight dangers like "evil twin" attacks, urging caution with VPNs and verifying network legitimacy to safeguard personal data midair. Dave has the story on 2 women charged in a romance scheme, defrauding elderly men out of $7 million. Please take a moment to fill out an audience survey! Let us know how we are doing! Links to the stories: Deep Dive on Supplement Scams: How AI Drives ‘Miracle Cures’ and Sponsored Health-Related Scams on Social Media Federal Agency Issues New Security Advice If You Use Airplane WiFi 2 women charged in 'romance schemes' to defraud elderly men out of $7 million, feds say You can hear more from the T-Minus space daily show here. Have a Catch of the Day you'd like to share? Email it to us at hackinghumans@thecyberwire.com.

This week Dave shares a story on Business email compromise (BEC) scams, and how they are a major threat, costing $26 billion annually. The story shares how it's crucial for employees to verify suspicious emails through a secondary channel and for companies to foster transparent communication to mitigate such risks. Joe shares two stories with us this week. The first is from a listener named Jay, who received a story from a relative. In this story, someone claiming to be a constable calls to warn about a person who has gift cards with the victim's name on them, then tries to get the caller to call the police to confirm. Joe's second story comes from Allison Gormly at Consumer reporter at WTHR in Indianapolis. Allison share's videos videos on Instagram that all start with “Hey Allison,” this one starts with Hey Allison, a stranger sent me money on Venmo, should I send it back? Our catch of the day comes from listener Cameron, who shares how he is a business owner with a public-facing email address, and how he gets his fair share of scam emails, but this one takes the cake. Please take a moment to fill out an audience survey! Let us know how we are doing! Links to the stories: How to Spot a Business Email Compromise Scam Scam alert on Venmo, CashApp & Zelle! Have a Catch of the Day you'd like to share? Email it to us at hackinghumans@thecyberwire.com.

This week Joe and Dave share some interesting follow up from a few episodes ago where Dave shared his love for baby grand pianos and how scammers we're using that to lure people into traps. Listener George wrote in to share about a show on UK Channel 4, called "The Piano," it's a music competition where visitors play a public piano in a train station, judged by hidden famous pianists, with winners performing at the UK Royal Festival Hall. Joe's story is a warning to travel goers using booking.com, as they share scams are at a all time high. Dave's story follows some neighborhood Facebook groups, and how they are inundated with posts about air duct cleaning services, prompting an investigation that reveals a scam involving fake profiles, telemarketers in Pakistan, and local technicians. Our catch of the day comes from listener Christopher, who writes in to share an outlandish message he received from a hacker with too much time on their hands. Please take a moment to fill out an audience survey! Let us know how we are doing! Links to the stories: Note by Note: The Making of a Steinway Piano | Musical Instrument | ENDEVR Documentary Booking.com warns of up to 900% increase in travel scams Air Duct Cleaning Scam Exposed! Have a Catch of the Day you'd like to share? Email it to us at hackinghumans@thecyberwire.com.

Brandon Kovacs, a Senior Red Team Consultant at Bishop Fox, is talking about how Artificial Intelligence is shaping the future of social engineering. Listener Adina wrote in to share their thoughts on an earlier episode on Google. Dave share's listener Tony's write in for his story this week. Joe and Dave discuss some questions Tony shared about preparing for an overseas trip when his bank account was locked due to security measures triggered by setting up a backup phone and using a VPN. Joe has two stories for this week, one from Blair Young at WBAL, where Maryland Lottery is warning the public about a phone scam claiming Powerball winnings. The second comes from listener Don who shares a story on people who hold posters up saying they need money for children's funerals. Our catch of the day comes from a listener that found a "task scam" on Reddit. Please take a moment to fill out an audience survey! Let us know how we are doing! Links to the stories: Maryland Lottery warns public about phone scam claiming Powerball winnings ‘It’s a scam’: Poster-holders aren’t really raising money for a child’s funeral Have a Catch of the Day you'd like to share? Email it to us at hackinghumans@thecyberwire.com.

This week we are joined by Maria Varmazis, host of the N2K daily space show, T-Minus. Maria's story covers the escalating efforts of pro-Russian propagandists to tarnish the Paris Summer Olympics and erode Western support for Ukraine, employing bold tactics like using AI to mimic Tom Cruise's voice. Joe and Dave share quite a bit of listener follow up, the first on is regarding the AirBnB story from a few weeks ago, the second one is from listener Lawrence who wrote in to verify dave’s comments about American Express, and the last one is from listener Tait, who shares some info on how they stay safe with banking. Joe has two stories for this week, the first one is on how the FBI is investigating the city of Gooding after they sent $1 million to a contractor for a wastewater project but later learned it was the victim of a scam. Joe's second story follows how a scammer dupes a Las Vegas woman out of $9,000 using a simple trick after turning up on her doorstep. Dave shares Avast's Q1, 2024 threat report. Our catch of the day comes from listener Clinton who wrote in to share and invoice he received from Apple Global requesting almost $1400. Please take a moment to fill out an audience survey! Let us know how we are doing! Links to the stories: City of Gooding scammed out of $1 million, officials say Scammer dupes Las Vegas woman out of $9,000 using a simple trick after turning up on her doorstep... so can you spot it? Avast Q1/2024 Threat Report Russians target Olympics with fake AI-generated Tom Cruise video You can hear more from the T-Minus space daily show here. Have a Catch of the Day you'd like to share? Email it to us at hackinghumans@thecyberwire.com.

This week, we are joined by Dr. Chris Pierson CEO at Black Cloak, and he is talking about some of the social engineering attacks his team is tracking. Joe's story follows how Microsoft Threat Intelligence has observed the financially motivated cybercriminal group Storm-1811 misusing the client management tool Quick Assist in social engineering attacks. Dave share's the story of the lure of a free baby grand piano to deceive over 125,000 email recipients, mainly targeting North American university students and faculty, earning at least $900,000. Our catch of the day comes from listener Chuck who writes in to share some of his junk mail he has been receiving recently, and shares concerns for other listeners. Please take a moment to fill out an audience survey! Let us know how we are doing! Links to the stories: Threat actors misusing Quick Assist in social engineering attacks leading to ransomware Free Piano phish targets American university students, staff Have a Catch of the Day you'd like to share? Email it to us at hackinghumans@thecyberwire.com.

This week we are joined by Maria Varmazis, host of the N2K daily space show, T-Minus. Maria shares an interesting story from a listener, who writes in on an AirBnB debacle he was dealing with. Joe shares the newly released 2024 Data Breach Investigations Report from Verizon. Dave shares a story From the New York Magazine, written by Ezra Marcus, on a college sophomore from University of Miami who was found to be tangled up in a refund fraud scam that granted him a lavish lifestyle. Our catch of the day comes from Joe's mother this week. She happened to receive an email with the subject line being "your order is confirmed," coming from what looks to be "McAfee." Please take a moment to fill out an audience survey! Let us know how we are doing! Links to the stories: The Package King of Miami 2024 Data Breach Investigations Report You can hear more from the T-Minus space daily show here. Have a Catch of the Day you'd like to share? Email it to us at hackinghumans@thecyberwire.com.

This week, we are joined by host of 8th Layer Insights, Perry Carpenter from KnowBe4 and Dr. Jessica Barker from Cygenta to discuss human risk: awareness, behavior and beyond. Joe and Dave share some listener follow up, the first being from Richard, who writes in to share some tips and tricks regarding relationship scams mentioned in a previous show. The second is from Michael, who writes in with some thoughts on social engineering to compromise open source projects from episode 288. Dave shares a story on researchers observing millions of daily emails from "Jenny Green," facilitated by the Phorpiex botnet, distributing LockBit 3.0 ransomware that has affected millions of people. Joe share's Paul Raffile's story, a gentleman who got fired from Facebook before he even started. Our catch of the day comes from listener Gordy who shared an email with us regarding his "McAfee security." Please take a moment to fill out an audience survey! Let us know how we are doing! Links to the stories: Security Experts Issue Jenny Green Email Warning For Millions LinkedIn Paul Raffile (Part 1) LinkedIn Paul Raffile (Part 2) Have a Catch of the Day you'd like to share? Email it to us at hackinghumans@thecyberwire.com.

This week we are joined by Maria Varmazis, host of the N2K daily space show, T-Minus. Maria shares an interesting story about how ransomware infections are beginning to change to form a more psychological attack against victims' organizations, as criminals are using personal and aggressive tactics to force them to pay. Dave and Joe share some listener follow up, from Bob, who writes in to share how he shares stories with his family members, and mentions one specifically on a Best Buy Geek Squad scam. Dave share's a story on bank scams, and how scammers are using genuine push notifications to trick their victims. Joe shares a story regarding email security loopholes, and how these loopholes are the latest path for North Korean social engineering attacks. Our catch of the day is from our follow up listener Bob, as he shares the story of trying to figure out the difference between a real email from the U.S social security department and a fake one. Please take a moment to fill out an audience survey! Let us know how we are doing! Links to the stories: Ransomware crooks now SIM swap executives' kids to pressure their parents Bank scammers using genuine push notifications to trick their victims Email security loopholes are latest path for North Korean social engineering attacks You can hear more from the T-Minus space daily show here. Have a Catch of the Day you'd like to share? Email it to us at hackinghumans@thecyberwire.com.

Bogdan Botezatu from Bitdefender is discussing research on "Audio deepfakes: Celebrity-endorsed giveaway scams and fraudulent investment opportunities flood social media platforms." Dave and Joe shares some follow up from listener Lara, who writes in to discuss a few topics regarding a previous episode. Joe's story is sharing a game changer in the social engineering world. Dave shares the story of a listener's grandmother who had fallen victim to a pig butchering scam. Our catch of the day comes from listener Kenneth who shares an email he received from a "Cardiologist" on some puppies. Please take a moment to fill out an audience survey! Let us know how we are doing! Links to the stories: Audio deepfakes: Celebrity-endorsed giveaway scams and fraudulent investment opportunities flood social media platforms PCI DSS v4.0 a game-changer in social engineering awareness, prevention Have a Catch of the Day you'd like to share? Email it to us at hackinghumans@thecyberwire.com.

Blair Cohen from AuthenticID joins Dave to discuss how generative AI and authentication go hand in hand. Joe and Dave share some follow up from listener Robert who discusses an ad for a device that uses ChatGPT to record phone calls on your device. Dave helps his dad out with his computer and shares the tale. Dave also shares a story this week on the FBI warning against scammers who are posing as NFT devs to try and steal your crypto. Joe and Dave test their scammer catching skills while taking a test to see if they are smarter than the average scammer. Our catch of the day comes from listener Steve who writes in to share a receipt he received that looked quite suspicious. Links to stories: FBI warns of scammers posing as NFT devs to steal your crypto Are you smarter than a scammer? Play this game. 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.

This week we are joined by Maria Varmazis, host of the N2K daily space show, T-Minus. Maria shares an interesting story from Canada on a gentleman who thought he was calling Best Buy's Geek Squad, but instead ended up getting scammed out of $25,000. Dave and Joe share quite a bit of listener follow up, the first one is from Raul who shares how they saw an infamous Facebook scam. The second one is from listener Alec who shares some thoughts on episode 286's catch of the day. Lastly, Paula shares some thoughts on a recent discussion on why people are on the phone when a flight gets cancelled. Joe brings back answers to an old scam featured on an episode back in January on toll scams, as well as sharing about how the OpenSSF and OpenJS Foundations have issued an alert for social engineering takeovers of open source projects. Dave shares updates from the ex-athletic director accused of framing principal with AI and how he was arrested at the airport with a gun. Our catch of the day comes from listener Kenneth who shares an email from a "doctor" who has puppies for sale. Please take a moment to fill out an audience survey! Let us know how we are doing! Links to the stories: An Ontario senior thought he called Geek Squad for help with his printer. Instead, he got scammed out of $25,000 Smishing Scam Regarding Debt for Road Toll Services Open Source Security (OpenSSF) and OpenJS Foundations Issue Alert for Social Engineering Takeovers of Open Source Projects Ex-athletic director accused of framing principal with AI arrested at airport with gun You can hear more from the T-Minus space daily show here. Have a Catch of the Day you'd like to share? Email it to us at hackinghumans@thecyberwire.com.

Roger Grimes, a Data Driven Defense Evangelist from KnowBe4 and author is discussing his new book, "Fighting Phishing: Everything You Can Do to Fight Social Engineering and Phishing." Dave and Joe share some listener follow up, the first being from listener Tim, who shares a story of him almost falling for a scam involving some of his investment assets. Lastly, Dave and Joe share a story from an anonymous listener who wrote in to share about a LinkedIn imposter nightmare. Dave's story focuses on a how the LabHost PhaaS platform was disrupted by a year-long global law enforcement operation, resulting in the arrest of 37 suspects, including the original developer. Joe shares the story of an 81 year old Ohio man, who was arrested after shooting a woman after both of them got wrapped up in a phone call scam. Our catch of the day comes from Robert, who writes in with what he believes is a email scam from a Chinese company called "Infoonity." Please take a moment to fill out an audience survey! Let us know how we are doing! Links to the stories: LabHost phishing service with 40,000 domains disrupted, 37 arrested Ohio Man - Daily Mail Have a Catch of the Day you'd like to share? Email it to us at hackinghumans@thecyberwire.com.

Trevin Edgeworth, Red Team Practice Director at Bishop Fox, is discussing how change, like M&A, staff, tech, lack of clarity or even self-promotion within and around security environments presents windows of opportunity for attackers. Joe and Dave share some listener follow up, the first one comes from Erin, who writes in from Northern Ireland, shares an interesting new find about scammers now keeping up with the news. The second one comes from listener Johnathan who shared thoughts on reconsidering his view on defining Apple's non-rate-limited MFA notifications as a "vulnerability." Lastly, we have follow up from listener Anders who shares an article on AI. Joe shares a story from Amazon sellers, and how they are being plagued in scam returns. Dave brings us the story of how to save yourself and your loved ones from AI robocalls. Please take a moment to fill out an audience survey! Let us know how we are doing! Links to the stories: Theory Is All You Need: AI, Human Cognition, and Decision Making Amazon Sellers Plagued by Surge in Scam Returns How to Protect Yourself (and Your Loved Ones) From AI Scam Calls News Insights: Does X Mark a Target? with Trevin Edgeworth, Director of Red Team Have a Catch of the Day you'd like to share? Email it to us at hackinghumans@thecyberwire.com.

Dr. Robert Blumofe, CTO at Akamai, sits down to talk about the AI doomsday versus a "very bad day" scenario. Dave shares a story from The Knowledge Project Podcast, where the host talks to Adam Robinson, a multifaceted individual known for his work as an author, educator, entrepreneur, and hedge fund advisor, and he talks about what is all incorporated into the term "stupidity." Dave goes on to share that while most people may feel stupid when falling for a scam, this research suggests otherwise, and you should never feel that way for falling for any scam. Joe's story comes from Hayley Compton at BBC, and is on a Facebook scam sneaking it's way into a family's home after a couple just had their first child. Our catch of the day comes from listener Michael, who shares an email he received that caught him off guard at first. Please take a moment to fill out an audience survey! Let us know how we are doing! Links to the stories: How Not to Be Stupid 'Facebook scammer tricked his way into our home' Have a Catch of the Day you'd like to share? Email it to us at hackinghumans@thecyberwire.com.

This week we are joined by Maria Varmazis, host of the N2K daily space show, T-Minus. Maria shares an interesting story about Apple users reporting that they are being targeted in elaborate phishing attacks that involve's a bug in Apple’s password reset feature. Joe and Dave share some listener follow up from Leo who shares some thoughts on episode 282 and the recruiter scam that was discussed. Dave shares a story from Mexico on one of the most violent criminal groups and drug cartels, Jalisco New Generation. They have been running call centers that offer to buy retirees’ vacation properties and then empty the victims’ bank accounts. Joe has the story of Facebook spying on users' Snapchats in a secret project. Our catch of the day comes from listener Van, who writes in to share a voicemail they received related to a tax scam. Please take a moment to fill out an audience survey! Let us know how we are doing! Links to the stories: Recent ‘MFA Bombing’ Attacks Targeting Apple Users A Mexican Drug Cartel’s New Target? Seniors and Their Timeshares Facebook snooped on users’ Snapchat traffic in secret project, documents reveal You can hear more from the T-Minus space daily show here. Have a Catch of the Day you'd like to share? Email it to us at hackinghumans@thecyberwire.com.

Graham Cluley joins to discuss trends he’s been seeing lately in online scams. N2K's very own Gina Johnson shares some insights on a discussion a few episode ago on why people need a prescription for oxygen in the US. Joe brings up the topic of getting and exploiting access to your infrastructure, and shares an article that deals with the rise of social engineering fraud in business email compromise. Dave shares a personal story this week, on how he got scammed from a Facebook post, sharing that it can happen to anyone. Our catch of the day comes from listener Vance, who writes in to share a scam he found via "snail mail," regarding a life insurance policy that he needs to collect on. Please take a moment to fill out an audience survey! Let us know how we are doing! Links to the stories: The Rise of Social Engineering Fraud in Business Email Compromise How Sophisticated Social Engineering Attacks Are Targeting IT Service Desks Have a Catch of the Day you'd like to share? Email it to us at hackinghumans@thecyberwire.com.

This week we are joined by Maria Varmazis, host of the N2K daily space show, T-Minus. She shares the story on scammers posing as recruiters on LinkedIn to get you to fall for an age old phishing scam. Dave and Joe share some listener follow up, the first being from listener Alex who shared a video on scammers being forced to prove they are not robots. Listener Chloe wrote in with a question, asking about a potential scam she encountered. Joe has a story from the BBC this week regarding a love scam in the Philippines. Finally, Dave shares the story on the FCC approving a voluntary cybersecurity labeling program for wireless IoT products. Our catch of the say comes from Mark, who shares a personal story on a recruiting scam nightmare. Please take a moment to fill out an audience survey! Let us know how we are doing! Links to the stories: Heads Up, Tech Professionals: Protect Yourself From Phishing Scams Presenting as Recruiters Forcing Scammers To Prove They're Not Robots Hundreds rescued from love scam centre in the Philippines FCC adopts voluntary 'Cyber Trust Mark' labeling rule for IoT devices You can hear more from the T-Minus space daily show here. And be sure to join our live webinar: CISOs are the new Architects (of the Workforce) Join N2K’s Simone Petrella and Intuit’s Kim Jones on Wednesday, March 27th for an online discussion about the pivotal role security leaders play in shaping the security workforce landscape, and how we can start showing up for the future of our industry. Learn more and register on the event page. Have a Catch of the Day you'd like to share? Email it to us at hackinghumans@thecyberwire.com.