How Hacks Happen

By Many Worlds Productions

Hacks, scams, cyber crimes, and other shenanigans explored and explained. Presented by your friendly neighborhood cybersecurity gal Michele Bousquet.

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4.6

1414 ratings

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FAQs about How Hacks Happen:

How many episodes does How Hacks Happen have?

The podcast currently has 65 episodes available.

How Hacks Happen episodes:

May 22, 2025Coinbase Hack and Impending Crypto Doom
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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28min
May 15, 2025Stingray Part II: The Fight for Privacy
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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25min
May 07, 2025Stingray Part I: Does Cell Phone Surveillance Violate Your Rights?
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.
01:02 The Rise of a Hacker
03:04 The Air Card: A Game Changer
08:17 How Cell Providers Track You
10:46 The Fourth Amendment and Your Privacy
18:33 The Stingray: A Controversial Surveillance Tool
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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26min
April 30, 2025 Identity Theft: Three Stories | Replay
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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Digital Disruption with Geoff Nielson
Discover how technology is reshaping our lives and livelihoods.
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51min
April 23, 2025Social Media Smoke: Razzlekhan, Dutch, and the $4 Billion Heist
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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25min
April 16, 2025Social Media Smoke: Andrew Tate and The Real World
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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27min
April 11, 2025Social Media Fraud: Hushpuppi and the Designer Lifestyle
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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25min
April 01, 2025 April Fool's Day Exclusive: The Blackberry at the End of the Universe
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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10min
March 27, 2025 Social Media Fraud: Fyre Festival
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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30min
March 20, 2025 Hacker, Broker, Scam: Following Stolen Data
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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24min

FAQs about How Hacks Happen:

How many episodes does How Hacks Happen have?

The podcast currently has 65 episodes available.

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