Reusing passwords makes it easier for threat actors to gain access to your accounts. They may not actually be using it to take money. They may be impersonating you to scam others in your network. Today’s guest is Joel Hollenbeck. Joel is a cyber security executive with over 25 years experience in multiple disciplines. He is the CTO at Check Point Software Technologies and leads a global team of cyber security experts dedicated to understanding the challenges that customers face and helping them stay ahead of the ever-evolving threat curve.

Show Notes:

• [1:01] - Joel shares his background and his current role.
• [2:38] - Joel has teenagers at home and describes the challenges of communicating threats including one that wound up being an attack.
• [5:06] - His credit card company alerted him of fraud and he looked further into it.
• [6:29] - Threat actors have to constantly change up their tactics.
• [7:53] - The latest report shows that the number one brand that scammers are using is LinkedIn. They are trying to harvest accounts to get in under the radar.
• [9:06] - Brands themselves need to also be aware to keep their customers safe.
• [10:36] - Every major holiday, shopping event, or global event creates new opportunities for phishing attempts.
• [12:09] - Joel shares some of the information threat actors gather.
• [14:33] - A great many people don’t trust SMS messages.
• [16:30] - The reuse of passwords has been proven to be a huge mistake.
• [18:37] - Chris shares an experience with a password reset issue.
• [20:28] - Social media companies do not have a public facing customer service line.
• [22:46] - On the other end of the spectrum, there is the issue of being overwhelmed by multi-factor authentication.
• [24:18] - Product links on social media are also something to be wary of.
• [25:37] - Think of it as a risk assessment and know that sometimes it will feel very cynical.
• [26:59] - You don’t know if the person on the other end of a message is from the person you actually trust.
• [28:48] - Threat actors strive to gain access to high value accounts.
• [30:42] - Some LinkedIn or other social media account hacks, they will be used for simple phishing attacks. But some will be used for something very sophisticated.
• [33:06] - Awareness of these issues is critically important to try to stay ahead of scammers.

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