Hacking Humans

This week, our hosts Dave Bittner, Joe Carrigan, and Maria Varmazis (also host of the T-Minus Space Daily show) are sharing the latest in social engineering scams, phishing schemes, and criminal exploits that are making headlines. This week Joe's got some follow up about his chickens. Joe's story is on LLM-powered coding tools, and how they are increasingly hallucinating fake software package names, opening the door for attackers to upload malicious lookalike packages—a practice dubbed "slopsquatting"—that can compromise software supply chains when developers unwittingly install them. Dave’s story is on Cisco Talos uncovering a widespread toll road smishing campaign across multiple U.S. states, where financially motivated threat actors—using a smishing kit developed by “Wang Duo Yu”—impersonate toll services to steal victims' personal and payment information through spoofed domains and phishing sites. Maria's got the story of how scammers are using fake banking apps to fool sellers with phony payment screens—and walking away with thousands in goods. Our catch of the day comes from listener John who writes in to share a suspicious text message he received. Resources and links to stories: LLMs can't stop making up software dependencies and sabotaging everything Unraveling the U.S. toll road smishing scams 'Scammers used fake app to steal from me in person' Have a Catch of the Day you'd like to share? Email it to us at [email protected].

Please enjoy this encore episode of Word Notes. A broad OWASP Top 10 software development category representing missing, ineffective, or unforeseen security measures. CyberWire Glossary link: https://thecyberwire.com/glossary/owasp-insecure-design Audio reference link: “Oceans Eleven Problem Constraints Assumptions.” by Steve Jones, YouTube, 4 November 2015.

This week, our hosts Dave Bittner and Joe Carrigan, are sharing the latest in social engineering scams, phishing schemes, and criminal exploits that are making headlines, while our other host, Maria Varmazis is at a conference. We begin with some follow-up, as Joe reflects on the density of gold. Then, Dave shares some heartfelt and moving words about the recent passing of his father. Dave's story follows how confusion sparked by Trump's erratic tariff policies is fueling a global surge in cyber scams, phishing sites, and crypto cons, as threat actors exploit the chaos to mislead, defraud, and manipulate online users. Joe has two stories this week, the first is about the "blessing scam," a con that targets older Chinese women with promises of spiritual cleansing that ends in financial ruin. The second covers a new FTC rule requiring companies to make subscription cancellations as easy as sign-ups, cracking down on deceptive practices. Our catch of the day this week comes from MontClair University, as they are warning of a phishing scam offering a “free 2014 Airstream Sport 16′ Travel Trailer.” Resources and links to stories: Trump Tariff Confusion Fuels Online Scams Oklahoma woman charged with laundering $1.5M from elderly women in online romance scam A new ‘jackpotting’ scam has drained more than $236,000 from Texas ATMs — but who foots the loss? Opportunity To Own A Free 2014 Airstream Sport 16′ Travel Trailer Have a Catch of the Day you'd like to share? Email it to us at [email protected].

Please enjoy this encore of Word Notes. A broad class of attack vectors, where an attacker supplies input to an applications command interpreter that results in unanticipated functionality. CyberWire Glossary link: https://thecyberwire.com/glossary/owasp-injection Audio reference link: “APPSEC Cali 2018 - Taking on the King: Killing Injection Vulnerabilities” YouTube Video. YouTube, March 19, 2018.

This week, while Dave Bittner is out, Joe Carrigan, and Maria Varmazis (also host of N2K's daily space podcast, T-Minus), are sharing the latest in social engineering scams, phishing schemes, and criminal exploits that are making headlines. We start off with a lot of follow up on listener feedback this week! Justin shares a thought about how to track gold deliveries with a simple sting operation involving an AirTag. Xray Specs offers a fun response to a theory about scanning plates and running Python scripts, stating they receive similar emails despite not owning a car. Jim Gilchrist recounts his experience with E-ZPass and unpaid tolls, explaining how a failed transponder led to a replacement and noting the prevalence of scam toll messages. Joe shares two gripping stories this week, one being on how the FBI is seizing $8.2 million from a massive romance scam involving cryptocurrency, and second is on a Maryland woman losing millions in a growing "pig butchering" scheme, with the FBI warning that many more victims are at risk. Maria's story is on an East Hartford woman caught up in a federal sweepstakes scam targeting the elderly. The suspects, including one local resident, allegedly stole millions. What did they do, and how did they get caught? Our catch of the day comes from a user on Reddit who shares a message they got from billionaire, and owner of Tesla, Elon Musk. Resources and links to stories: FBI Cracks 'Pig Butchering' Scam on Dating Sites Maryland woman loses millions in crypto "pig butchering" scam as FBI warns of more targets East Hartford Woman Bilked Elderly In Fake Sweepstakes Scam: Feds Elon Musk Vows To Hand Out $1 Million Checks This Weekend: What To Know Have a Catch of the Day you'd like to share? Email it to us at [email protected].

Please enjoy this encore of Word Notes. Code that fails to protect sensitive information. CyberWire Glossary link: https://thecyberwire.com/glossary/owasp-cryptographic-failure Audio reference link: Vandana Verma. “OWASP Spotlight - Project 10 - Top10.” YouTube Video. YouTube, January 4, 2021.

This week our hosts, Dave Bittner, Joe Carrigan, and Maria Varmazis (also host of N2K's daily space podcast, T-Minus), are sharing the latest in social engineering scams, phishing schemes, and criminal exploits that are making headlines. First, we start off with some more follow-up on EZ passes, along with the newest iteration, as Kailey Cornick shares that scammers target phone numbers rather than actual toll users, sending her SUN pass scam texts tied to her old Florida number. Dave shares the story of Palo Alto's Unit 42 researchers uncovering a massive campaign distributing thousands of fraudulent cryptocurrency investment platforms via websites and mobile apps, using brand impersonation, Ponzi-like schemes, and domain fronting to deceive victims, primarily in East Africa and Asia. Maria follows the story of a Queens man arraigned for allegedly scamming a 72-year-old Newton woman out of over $480,000 by posing as a DEA agent and coercing her into transferring her assets under the threat of arrest. Joe came across a Facebook video featuring an AI-generated ad falsely claiming Kelly Clarkson endorsed a weight loss product. These deceptive ads use AI to create convincing deepfakes, making it appear as if celebrities are promoting products they’ve never actually supported. Our catch of the day comes from listener Connor, who flagged a phishing email pretending to be from the Social Security Administration. The email urges the recipient to click a link to view an "important update," but the repetition of the message and a suspicious logo placeholder suggest it's a phishing attempt designed to steal personal info. Resources and links to stories: Investigating Scam Crypto Investment Platforms Using Pyramid Schemes to Defraud Victims Man Arraigned After Posing as Government Agent to Scam Senior out of Over $480,000 'I have terminal cancer and lost my life savings to whisky barrel scammers' Casks and Kegs Have a Catch of the Day you'd like to share? Email it to us at [email protected].

Enjoy this encore of Word Notes. The prevention of the first part of an intrusion kill chain model exploitation technique, where the hacker steals valid logging credentials from a targeted victim. CyberWire Glossary link: https://thecyberwire.com/glossary/account-takeover-prevention

Welcome in! You’ve entered, Only Malware in the Building. Join us each month to sip tea and solve mysteries about today’s most interesting threats. Your host is Selena Larson, Proofpoint intelligence analyst and host of their podcast DISCARDED. Inspired by the residents of a building in New York’s exclusive upper west side, Selena is joined by N2K Networks Dave Bittner —and our newest totally unbiased co-host, Archy, a highly sophisticated AI robot who swears they have no ulterior motives (but we’re keeping an eye on them just in case). Being a security researcher is a bit like being a detective: you gather clues, analyze the evidence, and consult the experts to solve the cyber puzzle. On this episode, our hosts discuss Telephone-Oriented Attack Delivery (TOAD), also known as callback phishing. In this type of attack, an attacker sends a seemingly benign email, often containing an invoice or payment notification, along with a phone number. When the victim calls, they speak with the attacker, who convinces them to install remote access tools, leading to malware installation, phishing, and financial theft. Tune in as we explore how this deceptive tactic works and ways to protect yourself from falling victim to it.

This week our hosts, Dave Bittner, Joe Carrigan, and Maria Varmazis (also host of N2K's daily space podcast, T-Minus), are sharing the latest in social engineering scams, phishing schemes, and criminal exploits that are making headlines. We start with some follow-up on E-ZPass scams—a listener suggests that scammers may be exploiting exposed license plate reader data, as demonstrated by YouTuber Mike Brown, to link plate numbers with breached phone records and send scam texts in real time. Dave's story is on how scammers may use conditioning techniques in romance scams—Ben Tasker observed that refusing to provide a phone number led to fewer photos being sent early on, suggesting scammers use rewards like photos to encourage compliance. Joe's got the story of Google's lawsuit against scammers who created and sold thousands of fake business listings on Google Maps, exploiting urgent services like locksmiths and towing to deceive customers and charge inflated fees. Maria's got the story of the FTC suing Click Profit for allegedly scamming consumers out of millions with a fake “passive income” scheme, falsely promising high returns through AI-driven e-commerce stores on Amazon, Walmart, and TikTok while most investors ended up losing money. Our catch of the day comes from Reddit after a user posted a conversation with a scammer after messing with them about a potential job opportunity. Resources and links to stories: Who is sending those scammy text messages about unpaid tolls? My Scammer Girlfriend: Baiting A Romance Fraudster Google finds 10,000 fake listings on Google Maps, sues alleged network of scammers AI scammers on Amazon duped investors out of millions with ‘passive income’ scheme, FTC alleges Can I work from jail? Have a Catch of the Day you'd like to share? Email it to us at [email protected].

Please enjoy this encore of Word Notes. The process of proactively searching through networks to detect and isolate security threats, rather than relying on security solutions or services to detect those threats. CyberWire Glossary link: https://thecyberwire.com/glossary/threat-hunting Audio reference link: “My ‘Aha!" Moment - Methods, Tips, & Lessons Learned in Threat Hunting - sans Thir Summit 2019.” YouTube, YouTube, 25 Feb. 2020.

On Hacking Humans, this week Dave Bittner is back with Joe Carrigan, and Maria Varmazis (also host of N2K's daily space podcast, T-Minus), and they are sharing the latest in social engineering scams, phishing schemes, and criminal exploits that are making headlines. Joe shares a bit of follow up on scam victims sharing their experiences of losing money to various frauds, including investment schemes, romance scams, business email compromises, online shopping fraud, unusual payment requests, tax impersonations, remote access scams, and identity theft. Maria shares a story on scammers using fake E-ZPass toll alerts to steal personal information, and another on victims losing thousands to investment, romance, and online shopping scams. Dave's got the story of how digital scammers prey on the financially vulnerable, using AI-generated content and deceptive ads on platforms like Instagram to sell worthless "get-rich-quick" schemes that ultimately leave victims deeper in debt. Joe's got two stories this week, the first being on Wenhui Sun, a California man, and how he was sentenced to six and a half years for stealing nearly $800,000 through a gold bar scam targeting victims nationwide. Meanwhile, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission reported a sharp rise in fraud, with 2.6 million people losing $12.5 billion in 2024, up from $2.5 billion in 2023, primarily due to impostor scams. Younger adults reported losing money more often than older ones. Our catch of the day follows how First Lady Melania Trump messaged an unsuspecting citizen claiming to give them a free gift. Resources and links to stories: Scam victims tell us their stories Digital Snake Oil Merchants Are Stealing From The Already Broken California man sentenced after Montgomery Co. woman loses over $700K in gold bar scam FTC says Americans lost $12.5B to scams last year — social media, AI, and crypto didn’t help 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 [email protected].

Please enjoy this encore of Word Notes. The continuous practice of identifying classifying, prioritizing, remediating, and mitigating software vulnerabilities within this. CyberWire Glossary link: https://thecyberwire.com/glossary/vulnerability-management Audio reference link: “Vulnerability Scanning - Comptia Security+ sy0-501 - 1.5.” YouTube, YouTube, 11 Nov. 2017,

On Hacking Humans, this week Dave Bittner is on vacation so our two hosts Joe Carrigan, and Maria Varmazis (also host of N2K's daily space podcast, T-Minus), are sharing the latest in social engineering scams, phishing schemes, and criminal exploits that are making headlines. Our hosts start out with some follow up on chicken talk from last week. Maria shares the story of scammers impersonating police officers in England to steal cryptocurrency by exploiting leaked personal data, creating fake fraud reports, and tricking victims into revealing their seed phrases, leading to losses totaling £1 million. Joe has two stories this week, his first one is on a $21 million "Grandparent Scam" in which 25 Canadians were charged for running a scheme from Montreal call centers, posing as grandchildren in distress to deceive elderly Americans into handing over money, with 23 suspects already arrested. Joe's second story is on two people charged in a ticket scam that exploited a loophole in StubHub’s system to steal and resell over 900 tickets—mostly for Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour—netting more than $600,000 in profit before being caught by the Queens D.A.'s Cybercrime Unit. We have a special catch of the day this week, where we are joined by N2K's own Ma'ayan Plaut, who joins to discuss going out of business scams. Resources and links to stories: ‘Fake police call cryptocurrency investors to steal their funds Dozens of Canadians Are Charged in $21 Million ‘Grandparent Scam’ 2 People Charged with Taylor Swift Eras Tour Ticket Scam That Allegedly Netted More Than $600K BBB Scam Alert: How to spot a fake "going out of business" sale Joann Fabric’s going out of business scam 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 [email protected].

Please enjoy this encore of Word Notes. A formal record containing the details and supply chain relationships of various components used in building software.

On Hacking Humans, this week Dave Bittner is on vacation so our two hosts Joe Carrigan, and Maria Varmazis (also host of N2K's daily space podcast, T-Minus), are sharing the latest in social engineering scams, phishing schemes, and criminal exploits that are making headlines. We start off the show with some follow-up from a long-time listener who shared how switching to Publii and Cloudflare Pages saved his wife's psychiatric nurse practice over $120/year in hosting costs after discovering static site generators on Hacking Humans. Joe's story is on a warning from an Oregon woman who fell victim to an online scam while trying to buy hens for her backyard chicken coop amid egg shortages caused by the bird flu, urging others to be cautious and avoid transactions on social media. Maria has the story on the increasing threats targeting sellers on online marketplaces, including phishing campaigns, scams designed to bypass platform protections, and the risks associated with off-platform transactions, all of which emphasize the need for heightened vigilance and security measures. The catch of the day, from Scott, highlights an email invitation that appeared legitimate but redirected to a phishing site designed to steal email credentials, with Scott’s wife recognizing the suspicious nature and forwarding it for further investigation. Resources and links to stories: ‘Be suspicious’: Sweet Home woman warns of chicken scam amid egg shortage Your item has sold! Avoiding scams targeting online sellers 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 [email protected].

Welcome in! You’ve entered, Only Malware in the Building. Join us each month to sip tea and solve mysteries about today’s most interesting threats. Your host is Selena Larson, Proofpoint intelligence analyst and host of their podcast DISCARDED. Inspired by the residents of a building in New York’s exclusive upper west side, Selena is joined by N2K Networks Dave Bittner —and our newest totally unbiased co-host, Archy, a highly sophisticated AI robot who swears they have no ulterior motives (but we’re keeping an eye on them just in case). Being a security researcher is a bit like being a detective: you gather clues, analyze the evidence, and consult the experts to solve the cyber puzzle. On this episode, we talk about the latest shake-ups in the fake update threat landscape, including two new cybercriminal actors, fresh Mac malware, and the growing challenge of tracking these evolving campaigns.

Please enjoy this encore of Word Notes. A security philosophy that assumes adversaries have already penetrated the digital environment and tries to reduce the potential impact by limiting access by people, devices, and software to only the resources essential to perform their function and nothing more.

In this special live episode of Hacking Humans, recorded at ThreatLocker’s Zero Trust World 2025 conference in Orlando, Florida, Dave Bittner is joined by T-Minus host Maria Varmazis. Together, they explore the latest in social engineering scams, phishing schemes, and cybercriminal exploits making headlines. Their guest, Seamus Lennon, ThreatLocker’s VP of Operations for EMEA, shares insights on Zero Trust security and the evolving threat landscape. Maria's story this week follows the IRS warning about a fake “Self Employment Tax Credit” scam on social media, urging taxpayers to ignore misinformation and consult professionals. Dave's got the story of the Better Business Bureau’s annual Scam Tracker report, revealing that online shopping scams continue to top the list for the fifth year, with phishing and employment scams remaining major threats, while fraudsters increasingly use AI and deepfake technology to deceive victims. Our catch of the day comes from Diesel in West Virginia, and features a scammer who tried to panic their target with a classic “We’ve frozen your account” scam—only to get hilariously mixed up with actual embryo freezing. Resources and links to stories: Better Business Bureau reveals top local scams of 2024 IRS warns taxpayers about misleading claims about non-existent “Self Employment Tax Credit;” promoters, social media peddling inaccurate eligibility suggestions BBB Scam Tracker Got a $1,400 rebate text from the IRS? It's a scam, Better Business Bureau warns. 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 [email protected].

Please enjoy this encore episode of Word Notes. Hardware and software designed to detect and prevent cyber adversary campaigns that target industrial operations.

On Hacking Humans, Dave Bittner, Joe Carrigan, and Maria Varmazis (also host of N2K's daily space podcast, T-Minus), are once again sharing the latest in social engineering scams, phishing schemes, and criminal exploits that are making headlines to help our audience become aware of what is out there. We start off with some follow up from listener Dave who writes in with a call for help after a good friend of his, who fell victim to a dream job scam. They also have a discussion after the Washington Post shared an article on scammers are remorseful and how they have a support group. Maria has a quick follow up from last week, talking about deepfakes, this week, she talks about Kim Jong Un. Dave has a romance scam story this week, talking about how the loneliness epidemic is causing issues. Joe has two stories this week, the first is on a thief using a homemade barcode ring to scam Walmart self-checkouts. Joe's second story is on new protection methods that are out, giving us game changing anti-scam laws. Our catch of the day comes from Reddit after a user posted a conversation they had with a scammer that got a bit out of hand. Resources and links to stories: Arizona laptop farmer pleads guilty for funneling $17M to Kim Jong Un The Loneliness Epidemic Is a Security Crisis Thief using homemade barcode ring to scam Walmart self-checkout busted after trying to ring up $300 grill for price of tomato soup: cops 'Game-changing' anti-scam laws to protect consumers Hello, Jane. 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 [email protected].

Please enjoy this encore episode of Word Notes. The difference between organizational employee job requirements and the available skillsets in the potential employee pool.

On Hacking Humans, Dave Bittner, Joe Carrigan, and Maria Varmazis (also host of N2K's daily space podcast, T-Minus), are once again sharing the latest in social engineering scams, phishing schemes, and criminal exploits that are making headlines to help our audience become aware of what is out there. Our hosts start off with some follow up from listener Robert who writes in from the Great White North, who shares how he thinks the U.S. might be stuck in the past with payment tech. Joe's got two stories this week, both on financial crime—Thailand cutting power to Myanmar's billion-dollar scam hubs and the struggle to shut them down for good. Maria has the story of a job candidate who not only used AI-generated answers during a technical interview but also altered his appearance with software—marking the second time this has happened to the interviewer in just two months. Dave sits down with our guest Nati Tal, Head of Guardio Labs, as he is discussing the growing danger of homograph attacks. Our catch of the day comes from listener Kenneth, who got an alarming email from the PayPal Security Team—apparently, he just bought nearly $700 in Bitcoin. Resources and links to stories: China's Xi hails Thailand's 'strong' action against scam centres Power cut to site of global, billion-dollar scam industry. But will it halt the swindling? AI altering 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 [email protected].

Please enjoy this encore episode of Word Notes. The use of technology to radically improve the performance or reach of the business.

On this episode of Hacking Humans, we are going old school with Dave Bittner and Joe Carrigan sans T-Minus host Maria Varmazis (as she was hanging out with astronauts at the SpaceCom event). Not to worry, Dave and Joe have it covered sharing the latest in social engineering scams, phishing schemes, and criminal exploits that are making headlines to help our audience become aware of what is out there. This week, we have some follow up including a conversation Joe had with ChatGPT, some discussion on AI generated images of people, and scam letters that are sent out in the mail. Joe shares a text his office mate received from the "IRS." He also has a story about food workers taking photos of credit and debit cards at restaurant drive throughs. Dave's story is about a near-perfect scam attempt that almost fooled a very smart guy—Zach Latta, the founder of Hack Club. Our Catch of the Day comes from Reddit about a Facebook Marketplace scam using Zelle. Resources and links to stories: Scam Warning: Food workers taking photos of debit cards in North Carolina, police say Google takes action after coder reports 'most sophisticated attack I've ever seen' FB Marketplace scam using Zelle 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 [email protected].

Please enjoy this encore episode of Word Notes. Cloud services intended for cyber criminals and other bad actors designed to obstruct law enforcement and other kinds of government investigations, and to provide some protection against competitors.

Welcome in! You’ve entered, Only Malware in the Building. Join us each month to sip tea and solve mysteries about today’s most interesting threats. Your host is Selena Larson, Proofpoint intelligence analyst and host of their podcast DISCARDED. Inspired by the residents of a building in New York’s exclusive upper west side, Selena is joined by N2K Networks Dave Bittner and Rick Howard to uncover the stories behind notable cyberattacks. Being a security researcher is a bit like being a detective: you gather clues, analyze the evidence, and consult the experts to solve the cyber puzzle. On this episode and since it is February (the month of love as Selena calls it), we talk about romance scams known throughout the security world as pig butchering. And, Rick's experiencing a bit of a Cyber Groundhog Day in his newly-realized retirement.

On Hacking Humans, Dave Bittner, Joe Carrigan, and Maria Varmazis (also host of N2K's daily space podcast, T-Minus), are once again sharing the latest in social engineering scams, phishing schemes, and criminal exploits that are making headlines to help our audience become aware of what is out there. This week, Dave has the story from Ampyx Cyber that has a scam reporter on staff to do awareness videos and this latest one is about an amazing sale on fake leather bags. Joe has two stories this week. The first one sent Joe down a rabbit hole and is about romance scams where 3 people were recently sentenced. The second one is about one of the victims of that previous romance scam. And finally, Maria's story is about Restaurant Week in NYC and third-party brokers who do restaurant reservation auctions. Our Catch of the Day involves a GoGetFunding gift card scam related to a campaign looking for donations to help pay for a child's medical costs. Resources and links to stories: Fake leather, fake people: AI sellers generate numerous complaints Romance scam "money mules" sentenced in case that ended with Illinois woman's death When her mother went missing, an Illinois woman ventured into the dark corners of America's romance scam epidemic Security Alert: Bots Target NYC Restaurant Week GoGetFunding Scamming Donations Alert 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 [email protected].

Please enjoy this encore of Word Notes. The practice of securing a device that connects to a network in order to facilitate communication with other devices on the same or different networks.

On Hacking Humans, Dave Bittner, Joe Carrigan, and Maria Varmazis (also host of N2K's daily space podcast, T-Minus), are once again sharing the latest in social engineering scams, phishing schemes, and criminal exploits that are making headlines to help our audience become aware of what is out there. This week Maria has the story on how the return to office life brings unique security challenges, highlighting the need for Red Team assessments to uncover and address physical and digital vulnerabilities, empowering organizations to proactively enhance workplace security and protect against evolving threats. Joe's story comes from the FCC's warning about a scam dubbed "Green Mirage," where fraudsters impersonate mortgage lenders, spoof caller IDs, and use social engineering to trick financially vulnerable homeowners into sending payments via unconventional methods, often only discovered when foreclosure proceedings begin. Last but not least, Dave's story is on how a Reddit user shared their cautious experiment with a suspected Airbnb scam involving a new account requesting to move to WhatsApp, agreeing to unusually high rental rates, and engaging in rapport-building tactics, with red flags pointing to potential financial fraud or phishing attempts. Our catch of the day comes from listener William, who spotted a phishing scam disguised as a security alert about a compromised crypto wallet, featuring an unsolicited QR code and a generic warning that targets even non-crypto users. Resources and links to stories: Navigating Workplace Security: Red Team Insights for the Return to Office FCC warns of 50-state scam by fraudsters posing as mortgage lenders FCC ENFORCEMENT ADVISORY I'm saying "Yes" to the Chinese long-term rental WhatsApp chat asking for 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 [email protected].

Please enjoy this encore episode. President Biden's May, 2021 formal compliance mandate for federal civilian executive branch agencies, or FCEBs, to include specific shortterm and longterm deadlines designed to enhance the federal government's digital defense posture.

On Hacking Humans, Dave Bittner, Joe Carrigan, and Maria Varmazis (also host of N2K's daily space podcast, T-Minus), are once again sharing the latest in social engineering scams, phishing schemes, and criminal exploits that are making headlines to help our audience become aware of what is out there. This week we jump right into stories, Maria shares Apple’s new AI feature and how it is unintentionally rewording scam messages to make them appear more legitimate and flagging them as priority notifications, raising concerns about increased susceptibility to scams. Joe has two stories this week, the first focuses on two individuals, including an inmate using a smuggled cellphone, being charged with defrauding a Sarasota woman of $12,000 in a jury duty scam involving spoofed law enforcement identities and Bitcoin transfers, with authorities urging vigilance against such schemes. Joe's second story is on a LinkedIn job interview turned hacking attempt when a technical challenge contained obfuscated code designed to gather crypto wallet information from the user's computer; the scam highlights the importance of carefully reviewing code and using secure environments like virtual machines during such evaluations. Finally Dave has the story on a prolific voice phishing crew manipulating legitimate Apple and Google services to deceive victims, leveraging advanced phishing kits, social engineering tactics, and automated tools like "autodoxers" to target cryptocurrency holders and high-value individuals for significant financial theft. Our catch of the day comes from listener Keefe, who shares a voicemail from one suspicious sounding Walmart voice. Resources and links to stories: Apple’s new AI feature rewords scam messages to make them look more legit Apple urged to withdraw 'out of control' AI news alerts Suspected jury duty scammers arrested for bilking Sarasota woman out of $12K: DOJ The code challenge scam A Day in the Life of a Prolific Voice Phishing Crew 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 [email protected].

Phase of a typical cyber adversary group's attack sequence, after the initial compromise and usually after the group has established a command and control channel, where the group moves through the victims network by compromising as many systems as it can, by looking for the data, it has come to steal or to destroy.

On Hacking Humans, Dave Bittner, Joe Carrigan, and Maria Varmazis (also host of N2K's daily space podcast, T-Minus), are once again sharing the latest in social engineering scams, phishing schemes, and criminal exploits that are making headlines to help our audience become aware of what is out there. Our hosts discuss and ponder whether or not diamonds are the original cryptocurrency, as well as diving further into Yubikeys for organizations. Maria shares the story of a 66-year-old woman who lost her $2 million retirement savings to a romance scam on Match.com, highlighting the rise in such scams and efforts to pass the Online Dating Safety Act to protect users. Joe's story is on the Madoff Victim Fund's final $131.4 million payout, bringing total recoveries to $4.3 billion for victims of Bernard Madoff's infamous Ponzi scheme, which collapsed during the 2008 financial crisis. Dave's got the story on allegations that the PayPal Honey browser extension not only fails to deliver the best deals but also hijacks affiliate revenue from influencers by replacing their links with its own, sparking backlash and controversy. Our catch of the day comes from Reddit and Dave and Maria do their best impressions yet, as a scammer chats up an unsuspecting victim. Resources and links to stories: Online dating scammers bilk more money each year. A bipartisan bill seeks to stop them at the source. Madoff fraud victims get $4.3bn as fund completes payouts Honey’s deal-hunting browser extension is accused of ripping off customers and YouTubers 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 [email protected].

Welcome in! You’ve entered, Only Malware in the Building. Join us each month to sip tea and solve mysteries about today’s most interesting threats. Your host is Selena Larson, Proofpoint intelligence analyst and host of their podcast DISCARDED. Inspired by the residents of a building in New York’s exclusive upper west side, Selena is joined by N2K Networks Dave Bittner and Rick Howard to uncover the stories behind notable cyberattacks. Being a security researcher is a bit like being a detective: you gather clues, analyze the evidence, and consult the experts to solve the cyber puzzle. On this episode, we talk about the year's most impactful cyber trends and incidents—from the Snowflake hack and Operation Endgame to the rise of multi-channel scams and explosive growth in web inject attacks. Ransomware continued to wreak havoc, especially in healthcare, while callback phishing and MFA-focused credential attacks kept defenders on high alert. Join us as we reflect on these challenges and look ahead to what’s next in 2025.

A public list sponsored by the US government and designed to uniquely identify, without the need to manually cross- reference, all the known software vulnerabilities in the world.

On Hacking Humans, Dave Bittner, Joe Carrigan, and Maria Varmazis (also host of N2K's daily space podcast, T-Minus), are once again sharing the latest in social engineering scams, phishing schemes, and criminal exploits that are making headlines to help our audience become aware of what is out there. First off, our hosts share some follow up, Asher wrote in to discuss follow up on the AI granny. Maria's story covers a "new QR code scam" involving unsolicited packages and brushing tactics, where scammers lure victims into scanning malicious QR codes to steal personal and financial information. Joe's story highlights how the FBI and CISA urge Americans to secure their text messages using end-to-end encryption to combat sophisticated hacking campaigns linked to China's government, which target telecom networks and user data. Dave's story highlights how pallet liquidation scams target buyers with offers of discounted merchandise, warning against red flags like unrealistic prices and unverified sellers. Our Catch of the Day comes from Jim, who shares a suspicious email he received offering a collaboration under the guise of a business partnership, which included overly generic language and an unusual sign-off from "Robert De Niro." Resources and links to stories: New warning about ‘brushing’ scam as victims are reported in Colorado FBI warns Americans to keep their text messages secure: What to know Pallet liquidation scams and how to recognize them Mobile Communications Best Practice Guidance 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 [email protected].

A forensic technique where practitioners capture an entire image of a system and analyze the contents offline.

Please enjoy this encore episode of Hacking Humans. This week we are joined by Maria Varmazis, host of the N2K daily space show, T-Minus. She discusses how AI is being used as a possible solution to one of the oldest scams in the book in Japan. Dave and Joe share some listener follow up, one from listener Alan and one from Clinton, who both write in about a recent episode and they share their thoughts on the story of Charlotte Cowles being scammed out of $50,000. Dave shares a story about calendar meeting links, from Calendly, a popular application for scheduling appointments and meetings, being used to spread mac malware. Joe shares write ins from several listeners, some writing in to share experiences with scams they have come across, others writing to warn others on scams they have seen used in the real world. Our catch of the day comes from Zach with an oddity, getting scammed by mail! Please take a moment to fill out an audience survey! Let us know how we are doing! Links to the stories: Japan’s new ATMs automatically play anti-fraud videos to people talking on mobile phones【Video】 Fraudsters in Japan use foreigners' bank accounts in cash grab 【警察庁】ATMで携帯電話…AIで検知し警告表示 特殊詐欺の被害増受け Calendar Meeting Links Used to Spread Mac Malware IDcare 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 [email protected].

Please enjoy this encore episode of Word Notes. A supply chain cybersecurity accreditation standard designed for the protection of controlled unclassified information that the U.S. Department of Defense, or DoD, will require for all contract bids by October, 2025.

On Hacking Humans, Dave Bittner, Joe Carrigan, and Maria Varmazis (also host of N2K's daily space podcast, T-Minus), are once again sharing the latest in social engineering scams, phishing schemes, and criminal exploits that are making headlines to help our audience become aware of what is out there. First we start off with some follow up, our hosts share some more information on VIN swapping, and a clarification on bank participation in FinCEN. Maria shares a telling tale about a Bethesda couple loosing $367,000 in gold bars to a sophisticated scam involving fake officials and elaborate deceptions, but a police sting led to the arrest of a suspect, highlighting a growing nationwide trend of elderly victims targeted by gold bar fraud. Joe's story comes from KnowBe4 and is on DavidB, their VP of Asia Pacific, thwarting a sophisticated social engineering attack via WhatsApp by recognizing inconsistencies in the impersonator’s behavior and verifying directly with the colleague they claimed to be. Dave's story comes from the FBI on how criminals are exploiting generative AI to enhance fraud schemes, including using AI-generated text, images, audio, and video to create convincing social engineering attacks, phishing scams, and identity fraud, while offering tips to protect against these threats. Our catch of the day comes from a listener who received an urgent email from someone claiming to be an FBI agent with a rather dramatic tale about intercepted consignment boxes, missing documents, and a ticking clock—but let's just say this "agent" might need some better training in both law enforcement and grammar. Resources and links to stories: “VIN swap scam costs Las Vegas man $50K, new truck" FinCEN Gold bar scammers claimed hackers could fund Russian missiles, police say Real Social Engineering Attack on KnowBe4 Employee Foiled Criminals Use Generative Artificial Intelligence to Facilitate Financial Fraud 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 [email protected].

Please enjoy this encore episode of Word Notes. A collection of people, process, and technology that provides an organization the ability to detect and respond to cyber attacks.

On Hacking Humans, Dave Bittner, Joe Carrigan, and Maria Varmazis (also host of N2K's daily space podcast, T-Minus), are once again sharing the latest in social engineering scams, phishing schemes, and criminal exploits that are making headlines to help our audience become aware of what is out there. This week, Maria shares two stories this week, the first is from "PayPal" saying they are owed over $200. The second comes from LinkedIn where a gentleman shares the terrifying story of losing everything all because of a scam. Joe's story is on text message scams where strangers pretend to know you, building trust over time to lure victims into schemes like cryptocurrency fraud; he advises ignoring unknown messages, blocking suspicious numbers, avoiding links, and protecting personal information. Dave's story follows Silent Push Threat Analysts tracking "Payroll Pirates," a group leveraging phishing campaigns targeting HR systems like Workday to redirect payroll funds by using search ads, spoofed websites, and credential harvesting, as they alert organizations and share threat intelligence to counter these sophisticated attacks. Our catch of the day comes from a phishing scam email claiming to offer a $1.75 million compensation fund via the "United Bank for Africa," requiring victims to share personal and banking details under the guise of an IMF directive. Resources and links to stories: “Wrong Number” Text Scams on the Rise Hunting Payroll Pirates: Silent Push Tracks HR Redirect Phishing Scam 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 [email protected].

Please enjoy this encore episode of Word Notes. Cybercriminals who lack the expertise to write their own programs use existing scripts, code, or tools authored by other more skilled hackers.

On Hacking Humans, Dave Bittner, Joe Carrigan, and Maria Varmazis (also host of N2K's daily space podcast, T-Minus), are once again sharing the latest in social engineering scams, phishing schemes, and criminal exploits that are making headlines to help our audience become aware of what is out there. This week, our hosts dive into some follow up from listener Will. who writes in about the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network. They also share after an anonymous listener writes in with a suggestion on filtering scam emails using the DocuSign API. Maria follows the story of how Black Friday is increasingly being dubbed "Black Fraud Day," as criminals exploit the festive shopping frenzy to scam eager bargain hunters, often using AI to create convincing fraud schemes. Joe has two stories this week. The first one is on scammers exploiting financially distressed individuals by posing as the "Bankruptcy Fraud Watchdog Group," threatening bankruptcy filers with false accusations and fines payable in Bitcoin, while warning them against contacting their attorneys. The second story explores the rise of deepfake scams in the U.S., with criminals using AI-generated videos of celebrities like Elon Musk to deceive victims into fraudulent cryptocurrency investments, contributing to over $12 billion in annual fraud losses. Finally, Dave share's a story on a new wave of deepfake scams, where AI-generated videos of Elon Musk trick unsuspecting victims into investing large sums, contributing to billions in fraud losses. Our catch of the day comes from Raul, who shares a scammy text message sent to his mother, sharing his efforts to educate her on spotting fraudulent messages. Resources and links to stories: Black Friday turning into Black Fraud Day, says UK cybersecurity chief U.S. Trustee Program Warns Consumers of Bankruptcy Fraud Alert Scam Deepfakes of Elon Musk are contributing to billions of dollars in fraud losses in the U.S. Inside the Mind of Thru-Hiking’s Most Devious Con Man 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 [email protected].

Welcome in! You’ve entered, Only Malware in the Building. Grab your eggnog and don your coziest holiday sweater as we sleuth our way through cyber mysteries with a festive twist! Your host is Selena Larson, Proofpoint intelligence analyst and host of their podcast DISCARDED. Inspired by the residents of a building in New York’s exclusive upper west side, Selena is joined by N2K Networks Dave Bittner and Rick Howard to uncover the stories behind notable cyberattacks. Being a security researcher is a bit like being a detective: you gather clues, analyze the evidence, and consult the experts to solve the cyber puzzle. On this episode, our cyber ghosts delve into the past, present, and future of some of the season’s most pressing threats: two-factor authentication (2FA), social engineering scams, and the return to consumer-targeted attacks. Together, Rick, Dave, and Selena deliver a ghostly—but insightful—message about the state of cybersecurity, past, present, and future. Can their advice save your holiday season from digital disaster? Tune in and find out. May your holidays be merry, bright, and free of cyber fright!

Please enjoy this encore episode of Word Notes. An isolated and controlled set of resources that mimics real world environments and used to safely execute suspicious code without infecting or causing damage to the host machine, operating system, or network.

Please enjoy this encore of Hacking Humans: This week, we are joined by host of N2K's T-Minus Space Daily podcast, Maria Varmazis, she sits down with Joe and Dave to discuss sextorion materials that were found on popular social media apps such as, TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat and YouTube. Joe and Dave share quite a bit of follow up, Joe starts with an anonymous listener writing in sharing their story on gift card scams. Dave shares another anonymous listeners comments, sharing about what they think of Andy Cohen going public on how he got scammed. Finally, Joe and Dave hear from a listener by the name of "The Computrix," who says they need to defend Walmart. Dave share's his story about the most common phishing email themes of 2023. Joe's got the story of ransomware not being paid the same way as it used to be by companies, and share the two different angles on that. Our catch of the day comes from listener William, who writes in with a phishing scam that caught his eye. Links to the stories: Sextortion training materials found on TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat and YouTube, according to new report Most Common Phishing Email Themes of 2023 Companies aren’t paying ransoms like they used to New Ransomware Reporting Requirements Kick in as Victims Increasingly Avoid Paying FBI: Scammers Are Sending Couriers to Collect Cash From Victims 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 [email protected].

Please enjoy this encore episode of Word Notes. A stack of security software solutions and tools that allow organizations to orchestrate disparate internal and external tools which feed pre-built automation playbooks that respond to events or alert analysts if an event meets a certain threshold.

On Hacking Humans, Dave Bittner, Joe Carrigan, and Maria Varmazis (also host of N2K's daily space podcast, T-Minus), are once again sharing the latest in social engineering scams, phishing schemes, and criminal exploits that are making headlines to help our audience become aware of what is out there. This week, Joe shares a note from listener Michael before getting into stories, and Michael writes in to share that there are VIN cloning scams. Joe brings back the Iota discussion from last week. Joe's up first for stories and focuses on fraud. Dave informs us of the new human-like AI granny who is wasting scammers time. Finally Maria brings us the story of how BforeAI researchers analyzed over 6000 newly registered retail domains, revealing a surge in scam activity targeting shoppers with phishing websites, fake apps, and fraudulent offers, particularly during the holiday season, exploiting brand names, seasonal trends, and emerging technologies like AI and cryptocurrency. Our catch of the day comes from listener Kenneth who writes in about a fraudulent email claiming to be from Emirates Group, inviting a company to register as a vendor or contractor for upcoming projects in 2024/2025. The email emphasizes the company's experience in various sectors and urges a prompt response to initiate the registration process. It is signed by a supposed "Contractors Coordinator," Mr. Steve Ibrahim Ghandi, and includes fake contact details for the Emirates Group. Resources and links to stories: VIN cloning How Cybercriminals Use Vehicle Identification Numbers (VINs) to Hack Cars Yes, your car's Vehicle Identification Number can be used to steal from you Geolocation Resources for OSINT Investigations Person dressed in a bear costume to fake attacks on cars for insurance payout, California officials say U.S. Trustee Program Warns Consumers of Bankruptcy Fraud Alert Scam O2 unveils Daisy, the AI granny wasting scammers’ time 2024 Online Holiday Retail Threat 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 [email protected].