How Hacks Happen

October is Cybersecurity Awareness Month, and it's time to clean house! Let's get rid of all those dust bunnies (weak passwords) and vacuum under the sofa cushions (no multi-factor authentication) and even do a check under the bed for that half-eaten Pop Tart (vulnerable emails). Hear about a few instances where poor cybersecurity led to unfortunate consequences, so you can avoid the same fate.

Resources

• $61K, gone just like that for Oro Valley couple.
• Dream Kitchen Renovation Ruined by a Scam
• PassGAN: A Deep Learning Approach for Password Guessing
• Historic UK KNP transport firm collapses after ransomware attack
• Hacker leaks account data of 12 million Zacks Investment users
• Researchers Instantly Crack Simple Passwords With AI
• Lost $45k to Wire Fraud Scam on E*TRADE – Even with MFA Enabled.

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AI is great for researching topics and digging up information. But what happens when people start to humanize their chatbots, and think they're talking to God? Or that they are God? Let's look at what makes AI come up with delusional theories, and why it tells people they're right even then they're wrong. 

Resources

• People Are Losing Loved Ones to AI-Fueled Spiritual Fantasies
• Towards Understanding Sycophancy in Language Models
• I, Robot by Isaac Asimov

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There's a new scam going around, where a thief gets you to unlock your phone under the guise of needing to make a call, then runs off with the phone and sends themselves all your money through your apps. Learn how to protect yourself and your money with a simple smartphone trick for iPhone and Android.

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The finale of HBO's Silicon Valley series pointed up a subtle parallel to the real-world challenges in vulnerability reporting—rather than risk going to jail, Pied Piper chose to burn the company to the ground. For decades, white hat and gray hat hackers had no place to report cybersecurity flaws without fear of legal hassles. Nowadays we have Bug Bounty programs, where hackers get paid to find and disclose security flaws, and even get some cash for their work.

Resources

• Internet Scanner Finds Security Holes
• CERIAS - Center for Education and Research in Information Assurance and Security
• A history of bug bounty programs & incentivised vulnerability disclosure
• Wearing Many Hats: The Rise of the Professional Security Hacker
• Hacking the Pentagon

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What is Red Teaming, and what does it have to do with cybersecurity? In this episode, we look at how Red Teamers are hired to attack company security using all manner of tactics, from tossing malware-infested USB sticks into parking lots to posing as an HVAC technician. We also take a look at one of the most notorious Red Team exercises in history, when two Coalfire employees were arrested and fought a long legal battle, just for doing their jobs. 

Resources

• Inside the Courthouse Break-In Spree That Landed Two White-Hat Hackers in Jail
• Darknet Diaries Episode 59: The Courthouse
• Coalfire Systems website
• DEF CON 22 - Eric Smith and Josh Perrymon - Advanced Red Teaming: All Your Badges Are Belong To Us
• How RFID Technology Works: Revolutionizing the Supply Chain
• NolaCon 2019 D 07 Breaking Into Your Building A Hackers Guide to Unauthorized Physical Access

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What goes on under the hood of random number generators (RNGs)? Here we look at one of the best sources of randomness—static from electronic chips—and discuss terminology like entropy and bias, the role of the Birthday Paradox in RNGs, and the fake bias of the Excel RAND function. We'll even do a simple exercise you can try with your friends to see who picks the most "random" number of all. 

Resources:

• How Slot Machines Work
• RAND Function
• Britons most likely to pick 7 as "random" number

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Ever heard of the Internet of Things, or IoT? This episode explores the use of random numbers in our everyday devices, and how they’re often not as secure as our PCs. We also look at how Apple gets it right, and what we can do to keep our devices secure in this connected world.

Resources

• Securing the IoT Ecosystem: Challenges & Solutions
• Data security of IoT devices with limited resources: challenges and potential solutions
• What Is IoT Security? Challenges and Requirements
• Apple Platform Security Guide
• Hardware Accelerated Crypto

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This episode explores the mysterious world of random number generators (RNGs) in video games. Looking at popular games like Minecraft, Stardew Valley, and Diablo II, we describe how players hack these random numbers in the same ways hackers hack encryption keys. This episode lays the groundwork for Part 2, a discussion of RNGs in encryption.

Resources:

• How Many People Play Minecraft 2025 (Active Players)
• Pre-determined RNG? (Reddit post)
• Diablo II Seeded Category - Rule / General Discussion
• 10 Perfect Minecraft Seeds You'll Want To Play FOREVER (YouTube video)

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Need cash quick? Why not try a payday loan? While it might look like a better option than a credit card on its surface, the truth is that payday loans can be rather ugly and expensive, and can trap you in a cycle of debt if you don't know how it works. Find out how some states and countries keep a lid on exploding fees for short-term loans, and why a credit card is a far better option. 

Resources:

• The Victims of Payday Lending
• Payday Loan Information for Consumers: Legal Status of Payday Loans by State
• FCA confirms price cap rules for payday lenders (UK)
• High cost loans (NZ)
• Can taking out a payday loan help rebuild my credit or improve my credit score?

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New season, new theme music—and even more hacks and scams to explore. Thanks for coming on these adventures with me. Let's do some more!  

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