What does it take to go undercover with international cybercriminals — with no backup, no safe house, and no script? In this episode of The Audit, Richard LaTulip, Field CISO at Recorded Future and former U.S. Secret Service agent, pulls back the curtain on three years of undercover operations spanning Thailand, Dubai, Macau, and China. From buying stolen credit card data in bulk to handing cheap government-issued laptops to disappointed hackers, Richard shares the raw, unfiltered reality Hollywood never shows you. 

Co-hosts Joshua J Schmidt, Eric Brown, Nick Mellem, and Jen Lotze dig into the psychology of social engineering, the stark differences between nation-state and financially motivated threat actors, and why your employees are simultaneously your greatest asset and your biggest vulnerability. Richard breaks down how SolarWinds revealed the patience of nation-state operations, why cultural awareness is a cybersecurity weapon, and how organizations can shift security from a cost center to a value driver. 

• 🔑 Key Topics Covered: 
• Undercover operations against international cybercriminal networks — the reality vs. the Hollywood version 
• Nation-state vs. financially motivated threat actors — how their goals fundamentally change defense strategy 
• The ClickFix campaign and social engineering attacks targeting human psychology 
• How Recorded Future delivers actionable, tailored threat intelligence vs. generic feeds 
• Why tabletop exercises need HR, communications, and every department at the table • Cultural dimensions of cybersecurity — from Eastern European honeytraps near nuclear sites to password reuse psychology 
• Turning your security team from a "cost center" into a trusted business ally 
• Operation Carter Chaos — Richard's new book chronicling the untold human side of undercover cyber operations 

📖 Richard's book Operation Carder Kaos is available now on Amazon.

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