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Cybersecurity expert Eric O'Neill reveals holiday shopping scams. Scammers exploit people more during the holiday season. Learn simple ways to protect your information and finances and outsmart hackers. #Cybersecurity #HolidayShopping #Scams #OnlineSafety #FraudPrevention
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0:00
We are getting ever closer to the
0:02
holiday season. That means that scammers
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unfortunately have a lot more
0:07
opportunities to exploit people. Here to
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help us identify some of those holiday
0:12
shopping scams and protect ourselves
0:14
from them is Eric O'Neal. He's a cyber
0:16
security expert and a former FBI
0:18
operative. He also wrote a new book
0:20
called Spies, Lies, and Cyber Crime:
0:23
Cyber Security Tactics to Outsmart
0:25
Hackers and Disarm Scammers. Eric,
0:28
welcome to our show and thanks for being
0:29
with us.
0:30
Well, thanks for having me.
0:31
It seems like you're the best person to
0:32
talk to about this today. So, um, why
0:35
are there so many cyber attacks right
0:37
now and what would you say is really
0:38
driving those?
0:39
The biggest reason is because there are
0:41
so many cyber criminals. Uh, cyber crime
0:44
right now is the fastest growing
0:45
business on Earth. The dark web, which
0:48
is where cyber criminals can hide behind
0:50
anonymous servers and launch attacks and
0:53
steal our money and put it in their
0:55
pockets, has been growing
0:57
astronomically. Cyber crime business is
0:59
very good for the bad guys. Right now,
1:01
the cost of cyber crime moving through
1:03
the dark web is $14 trillion, and a lot
1:06
of people want a share of that prize.
1:08
That is a huge amount of money,
1:09
unfortunately, stolen from people. So,
1:11
what are some of the most common ways
1:13
that cyber criminals are using to try to
1:16
hack people, especially over the
1:18
holidays?
1:19
Exactly. And over the holidays, Will, is
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when we have to be the most careful
1:23
because it's the best quarter for cyber
1:25
criminals in their year. They start in
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October around Halloween and they move
1:31
all the way through New Year's and
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taking advantage of all of the different
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hall holidays in between and then of
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course they keep going uh through
1:38
Valentine's Day in February. So what do
1:40
we have to look for? They're using
1:42
different tactics to deceive us. And
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that's why I say that in if we want to
1:46
stop them, we need to think like spies.
1:48
We need to think like the attackers. And
1:50
what they want to do is create a sense
1:52
of urgency, create some sort of benefit
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that we feel like if we don't take
1:55
advantage of, we're going to be missing
1:57
out. And they don't want you to think.
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That's the most important thing. They
2:00
might say, for example, here is the
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perfect present. As you're scrolling
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through social media, you stop on this
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great ad. The perfect present that you
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desperately want to buy. It's now 75 70%
2:11
off, but it's only available for the
2:13
next hour. Click here immediately to
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take advantage of this. They don't want
2:17
you to spend the time to look at it and
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think maybe this is something that's too
2:21
good to be true. So, what they're using
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is deception to fool us into trusting
2:25
something we know we shouldn't.
2:27
Yeah, that too good to be true part
2:28
really sticks out. But, um, in your
2:30
book, you also wrote that there are no
2:33
hackers, only spies. You spoke about
2:35
that just a few minutes ago, but talk to
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us about what you mean by that exactly.
2:39
Certainly. So, what I want to explain by
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that is for my readers and everyone to
2:43
elevate their thinking, not to think of
2:45
our attackers, our cyber criminals, of
2:47
some kid in a basement typing away at a
2:49
keyboard. Cyber attackers and cyber
2:51
criminals today are sophisticated. They
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have uh the the anonymity of the dark
2:57
web to launch attacks from. They're
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large and they're using the best tactics
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from espionage. In fact, some of the
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cyber crime gangs have hired
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intelligence officers from foreign
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intelligence services to help teach them
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how to launch these very deceptive
3:12
attacks. So, if we want to stop cyber
3:14
crime, we have to stop thinking about
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just one kid attacking us, but think of
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large organizations coming after us,
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groups of individuals who are doing
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reconnaissance and launching attacks
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that deceive us into clicking or opening
3:26
attachments we shouldn't. We need to be
3:28
spy hunters.
3:30
And let's talk finally about prevention
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from all of this. What are some of the
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most simple ways that people can do to
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protect themselves and their information
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and their finances?
3:40
Absolutely. There are a few things that
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that you must do and these include the
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the internet hygiene things. Be careful
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where you are on the internet. Be
3:50
extremely wary when you're on social
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media. That is a proving ground and a
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fertile ground for cyber attacks. Turn
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on your multiffactor authentication
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everywhere. I can't say that enough. I
4:00
know people hear it all the time, but it
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turns out most people do not turn that
4:04
second level of protection after your
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password, like the text that comes to
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your phone. Use credit cards. When you
4:11
are buying during the holiday season,
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use your credit card. They give you
4:15
fraud protection. If you're using your
4:16
debit card and the attacker steals your
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debit card number and your information,
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which is what they're trying to get,
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they can clean out your bank account and
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you may not get that back. and never
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send a wire or another payment that you
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can't recover if you're defrauded. But
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most importantly, as you're doing all of
4:33
these things and you're thinking,
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develop what I call in my book a cop
4:36
instinct. If it doesn't feel right, if
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there's all this pressure to do
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something, stop. Don't give into the
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pressure to click on links and open
4:45
attachments and send your money places
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you may never be able to recover it
4:49
from. Stop and think and look for the
4:51
scam.
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Those are all great things for people to
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keep in mind. So, uh, Eric O'Neal,
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thanks again for joining us here this
4:57
afternoon. We so appreciate it. Well, it
5:00
was great to be with you.
#Consumer Resources
#Identity Theft Protection