Hacking the human mind: The rise of social engineering security threat

Summary

In this session of 'Big Data in AI Toronto,' hosts discuss the alarming rise of social engineering attacks, a prevalent cybersecurity threat. They delve into the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on cybercrime, highlighting a temporary decrease due to heightened organizational vigilance. The conversation covers various social engineering tactics, including phishing, spear phishing, and smishing, emphasizing the importance of public awareness to safeguard against such threats. The hosts also underscore the role of AI in detecting and combating these attacks, while urging individuals to be vigilant about their online activities and to educate themselves on privacy and cybersecurity.

Takeaways

• 😀 Social engineering attacks have increased during the COVID-19 pandemic, as traditional hacking became more difficult due to heightened security measures.
• 🔐 Social engineering is the manipulation of people to give up confidential information, such as passwords or financial details, through deceit.
• 📧 Phishing is a common form of social engineering attack that can appear as emails from trusted sources, aiming to trick recipients into providing sensitive information.
• 🎯 Spearfishing is a targeted form of phishing where attackers use specific information about an individual to make the attack seem more legitimate and urgent.
• 📞 Vishing, or voice phishing, uses phone calls to deceive individuals, often impersonating authorities or institutions to extract information.
• 📱 Smishing is the practice of sending text messages to trick recipients into revealing personal information, often using urgent or emotional appeals.
• 💻 Mining social media involves collecting personal information from social profiles to create a false sense of familiarity and trust.
• 🕵️‍♂️ Man-in-the-middle attacks intercept communications between two parties to steal information, often occurring on public Wi-Fi networks.
• 💡 Awareness and education are crucial in defending against social engineering attacks, as they help individuals recognize and avoid falling for such scams.
• 🛡️ AI can assist in detecting various forms of social engineering, including deepfake videos, phishing emails, and malware downloads, by analyzing patterns and anomalies.
• 📚 Resources such as books and documentaries can provide valuable insights into the nature of social engineering and how to protect against it.

Q & A

What is the main topic of discussion in the 'Big Data in AI Toronto' session?

The main topic of discussion is 'Hacking the Human Mind: The Rise of Social Engineering Security Threat'.

Who is Mr. Jim Peggy AMSAS and what is his background?

Mr. Jim Peggy AMSAS is an author, writer, podcaster, and business partner of the speaker for the past five years. His work was initially in digital marketing and social media, but he has since become involved in AI and cybersecurity.

What was the unexpected trend in cyber attacks during the early months of 2020?

The unexpected trend was that cyber attacks and data breaches became less frequent during the early months of 2020, possibly due to organizations being on high alert for signs of cyber attacks.

What is social engineering and how does it relate to cybersecurity threats?

Social engineering is the art of manipulating people to give up confidential information about themselves. It is a cybersecurity threat because it targets individuals to trick them into revealing sensitive information like passwords or bank details.

What are some examples of social engineering attacks mentioned in the script?

Examples include phishing emails, spear phishing, vishing (voice phishing), smishing (SMS phishing), mining social media for information, and man-in-the-middle attacks.

Why did the number of security incidents in the finance sector increase by 300 percent in 2014?

The increase was likely due to the rise of social engineering attacks targeting employees in the financial services sector, who have access to sensitive financial data.

What is the average cost to companies for each social engineering attack incident?

The average cost to companies for each social engineering attack incident is more than $25,000.

Why do only a quarter of companies have ongoing training to prevent social engineering attacks?

The script does not provide a specific reason, but it implies that companies may not be allocating enough budget or prioritizing employee training to prevent these attacks.

How can AI help in detecting and preventing social engineering attacks?

AI can help by detecting deep fake videos, fake reviews, back doors, man-in-the-middle attacks, malware downloads, and phishing and spearphishing emails.

What is the importance of creating strong passwords according to the script?

Creating strong passwords is important to protect personal accounts from being hacked. It is recommended to avoid common passwords and to use a password manager to store complex passwords.

What are some of the signs that an email or message might be a social engineering attack?

Signs include requests for personal information, urgent action, secrecy, and approaching from a position of authority or offering something of value.

Outlines

00:00

😀 Introduction to Cybersecurity and Social Engineering

The video script begins with a warm welcome to the 'Big Data in AI Toronto' session, focusing on the prevalent issue of cybersecurity, particularly social engineering threats. The speaker introduces Mr. Jim Peggy, a business partner, author, writer, and podcaster who has transitioned from digital marketing to AI and cybersecurity. They discuss the surprising decrease in cyber attacks during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, attributing this to heightened organizational vigilance. The conversation shifts to social engineering, defined as the manipulation of people to reveal sensitive information, which can range from passwords to bank details. Examples of social engineering attacks are provided, such as distressing calls for help that exploit empathy to gain personal information. The paragraph concludes with an overview of the three main tactics used in social engineering: in-person, over the phone, and digitally, all of which leverage emotional triggers to deceive individuals.

05:01

📞 The Rise of Social Engineering Attacks Amid COVID-19

This paragraph delves deeper into the types of social engineering attacks, including phishing, spear phishing, vishing, smishing, and mining social media profiles. The speaker provides examples of each, such as emails pretending to be from banks or PayPal to trick individuals into revealing financial information. The paragraph highlights the increase in phone calls from fraudulent sources like the CRA during the COVID-19 pandemic, which prey on people's fears and trust. It emphasizes the importance of awareness and the role of personal connections in identifying and avoiding these scams. The discussion also touches on the impact of misinformation and privacy breaches in the digital age, referencing the speaker's podcast where these topics are frequently addressed.

10:03

📈 The Impact of Social Engineering on Financial Services

The speaker discusses the significant impact of social engineering attacks on the financial sector, noting that over a third of phishing attacks target financial services users. The paragraph reveals that security incidents in finance have surged by 300% compared to other industries, underscoring the vulnerability of financial data. It also mentions that 48% of companies suffer costs exceeding $25,000 per social engineering incident, yet only a quarter of these companies invest in ongoing training to prevent such attacks. The speaker criticizes this lack of investment in employee training as a missed opportunity to prevent financial losses. The paragraph concludes with a reference to recent Facebook scandals, highlighting the tech giant's disregard for customer privacy and security, and the importance of personal data protection.

15:05

🛡️ Strategies for Protecting Against Social Engineering Attacks

This paragraph outlines strategies for individuals to protect themselves from social engineering attacks. It emphasizes the importance of creating strong, unique passwords and avoiding the use of common or easily guessable combinations. The speaker suggests using a physical book to store passwords securely, a method that, while old-fashioned, is highly effective. The paragraph also advises viewers to be cautious of emails and text messages, to scrutinize the source for authenticity, and to be wary of urgent requests or poor spelling and grammar, which can be indicators of phishing attempts. The importance of skepticism when asked to provide personal information is stressed, along with the need to verify the legitimacy of any communication before responding.

20:06

🤖 AI's Role in Combating Social Engineering Attacks

The final paragraph discusses the role of AI in detecting and preventing social engineering attacks. AI technologies are highlighted for their ability to identify deepfake videos, fake reviews, backdoors, man-in-the-middle attacks, and malware downloads. Antivirus software that leverages AI to detect phishing and spearphishing emails is mentioned as a valuable tool in the fight against these threats. The speaker encourages investment in AI research to further enhance these protective capabilities. The paragraph concludes with a personal account from Jim, who shares his experience learning about cybersecurity and the importance of continuous learning and awareness. He emphasizes the accessibility of information through books and documentaries, urging viewers to educate themselves about the risks and to be vigilant, especially when using public Wi-Fi.

Keywords

💡Cybersecurity

Cybersecurity refers to the practice of protecting internet-connected systems, including hardware, software, and data, from various threats. In the video's context, cybersecurity is crucial due to the rise of social engineering attacks, which manipulate individuals into revealing sensitive information. The script mentions how organizations were on high alert for cyber attacks during the COVID-19 pandemic, highlighting the importance of cybersecurity measures.

💡Social Engineering

Social engineering is the art of manipulating individuals to divulge confidential information or perform actions that compromise their security. The video discusses this concept extensively, explaining how criminals use social engineering to trick people into giving away passwords, bank information, and other sensitive data. Examples from the script include fake emails and phone calls that appear to come from trusted sources but are designed to deceive.

💡Phishing

Phishing is a type of social engineering attack where the attacker sends seemingly legitimate emails to trick recipients into providing sensitive information or clicking on malicious links. The script describes phishing as a common method used by cybercriminals, often disguised as emails from banks or financial institutions, to exploit the trust users place in these entities.

💡Spearfishing

Spearfishing is a targeted form of phishing where the attacker collects information about the target to make the attack more personalized and convincing. The script uses the term to illustrate how attackers might use leaked information to craft emails that appear to be from a known entity, increasing the likelihood of the target falling for the scam.

💡Vishing

Vishing, a portmanteau of 'voice' and 'phishing,' refers to phone-based social engineering attacks. The script mentions vishing as a dangerous method because the personal interaction can create a sense of trust, making it easier for the victim to be manipulated into revealing sensitive information.

💡Smishing

Smishing is the practice of sending text messages to trick recipients into revealing personal information or clicking on harmful links. The script describes smishing as a widespread tactic, with examples including messages that claim to be from authorities or relatives in distress, aiming to exploit the recipient's emotions.

💡Mining

In the context of the video, mining refers to the unauthorized collection of personal information from social media profiles. Attackers use this data to craft targeted attacks, as mentioned in the script, by pretending to know the victim based on the information they have gathered.

💡Man-in-the-Middle Attack

A man-in-the-middle attack is a type of cyber attack where the attacker intercepts communication between two parties to eavesdrop, steal data, or impersonate one of the parties. The script discusses this as a risk when using public Wi-Fi networks, where attackers can potentially see everything done on a user's device.

💡Deepfakes

Deepfakes are AI-generated synthetic media in which a person's likeness is superimposed onto another's, creating fake but realistic videos or images. The script mentions AI's ability to detect deepfakes, which are a growing concern due to their potential use in social engineering and misinformation campaigns.

💡Awareness

Awareness, in the context of the video, refers to the individual's understanding and recognition of cybersecurity threats and social engineering tactics. The script emphasizes the importance of being aware of these risks and taking steps to protect oneself, such as being cautious with emails and public Wi-Fi.

💡AI in Cybersecurity

The script discusses the role of artificial intelligence in enhancing cybersecurity measures, such as detecting phishing emails, malware, and deepfakes. AI is presented as a powerful tool that can help identify and prevent social engineering attacks more effectively than human efforts alone.

Highlights

Cybersecurity has become a significant challenge due to the rise of social engineering threats.

During the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, cyber attacks initially decreased as organizations were on high alert.

Social engineering is identified as the art of manipulating people to give up confidential information.

Examples of social engineering include fake emails, distressed calls for help, and exploiting emotions to gain trust.

There are three main tactics used in social engineering: in-person manipulation, phone calls, and digital communication.

Phishing, spear phishing, vishing, smishing, and mining are various forms of social engineering attacks.

Phishing emails often pretend to be from financial institutions to trick recipients into providing sensitive information.

Spear phishing is a targeted form of phishing that uses leaked personal information to deceive the victim.

Vishing, or voice phishing, uses phone calls to create a sense of urgency or authority to manipulate the victim.

Smishing is the practice of sending deceptive text messages or SMS to trick recipients.

Mining on social media involves collecting personal information from profiles to impersonate the victim's acquaintances.

Man-in-the-middle attacks occur when hackers intercept communications in public Wi-Fi networks to steal information.

AI can assist in detecting deep fake videos, fake reviews, malware downloads, and phishing emails.

Awareness and education are crucial in preventing social engineering attacks, including creating strong passwords.

The importance of not using the same password across different platforms to avoid security breaches.

Being cautious of emails and text messages, especially those that request urgent action or contain spelling errors.

Scammers often request personal information, insist on secrecy, and create a sense of urgency to manipulate victims.

The impact of social engineering on the financial sector, with a significant increase in security incidents.

Only a quarter of companies are actively training their employees to prevent social engineering attacks.

The importance of being one's own guardian in protecting personal information and being cautious online.

Transcripts

hello again and welcome to big data in

ai toronto um so

this session again is we were talking

about

um

a cyber security issue that we're all

facing today uh nowadays it's a big

challenge and for that i am also talking

today uh with mr jim peggy amsas he is

uh an author

uh um

writer and also a podcaster he is also

my business partner for like the past

five years

uh his work was in digital marketing and

social media

and since he became my partner he's got

himself somehow involved into ai and

cyber security so uh jim welcome

uh this is your first time in um

uh big data on ai toronto

yes it is thank you for

watching some insights on this topic

yeah so the topic today we're talking

about is hacking the human mind the rise

of social engineering security threat so

let's dive in so that's me

and my uh jim we're a couple of handsome

dude we're gonna talk about this topic

today

but now let's talk about a very

important

thing that started happening so

you know that during covert everybody

said that the the hacking or the data

leaks are going to rise up but what

happened in the beginning of kobe like

let's say like the first three months uh

in in 2020

um the thing in is

that the the hacks and the cyber attacks

became less as you can see here because

and this is what what uh you know the

databases dropped significantly in the

2020 quarter because according to mr

miss eva vasquez which is the president

and ceo of the identity

uh of this resource center in united

states that organization are have become

on high alert looking for signs of cyber

attacks so it became more complicated

for attackers to come and physically uh

you know to

do that hacking or or cause the data

leaks physically from the servers so

they have to look into other options and

one of those options was social

engineering because social engineering

is the art of manipulating people so

they give up information or confidential

information about themselves that type

of information that criminals are

seeking i can vary but when individuals

are targeted by the criminals they're

usually trying to trick them into giving

them more like something like password

bank information social insurance number

uh computer security uh uh

information that they can install

malware or other stuff so they come and

gain their trust somehow uh to give them

very personal information that they can

use against them and what does a social

engineering attack looks like it could

be it looks like an email from a friend

or an email from another trusted source

or distressed call for help like someone

sends you like oh my mother is dying uh

my father is

lost my father last year my mother's

dying i need some help and so you give

them some information or your credit

card number or something like that in

you know in a like a

you're trying to help but that's what

they're gonna use against you so many

people do not know

that this was an actual social

engineering exam so there are three

types of tactics that these guys are

used in person and this is one of the

most dangerous because

the personal chemistry in people can

create a trust easily with people that

are not trustworthy

through phone you know somebody calls

you and tells you i'm from the cra or

i'm from this bank or whatever and then

the digital which is like kind of like

email

or or a

text message or something like that and

both of those oh sorry three of those uh

you like

they they use they use your emotions

to to to

to come and

either makes me fear something or you

know like feel sorry for someone so that

they could become something remember

and that's what i wanted to talk to you

about a little bit uh jim when we talked

about when did kovitz started and we

were talking too much on the phone at

the time and it was a big bit of a rise

of those phone calls from the cra i was

like oh you're in a big trouble you can

come here and you have to pay for the

cra or you're going to be in big trouble

or the uh the help from the government

uh i think uh serb

and and and that stuff

do you remember we were talking about

that right

yeah actually happened to me uh a few i

got through those calls as well and sort

of some of my friends yes they

definitely uh increased there was a lot

of uh

i got cra call a couple of years ago

actually uh even before uh

covet but yes they seem to have

come back again in 2020 so

that

is and i can say myself and other people

did get those calls yeah and you

remember just calling me about one call

that was like really like a legit call

and you just you didn't do anything but

you called me it's like can you tell me

what is it about and i told you this is

definitely a prank call remember that

one yeah i remember remember

yeah so i mean like

it's i mean i probably you got lucky

because you know someone like me but a

lot of people do not have that someone

so

i believe like what we talk about is the

awareness is very it's very important

and what is what we talked about in our

podcast is he remembers that one many

times

yeah we've talked about uh

this misinformation and and privacy in

the 21st century so yes we've talked

about these topics

yeah so uh again

uh the touch of social engineering

attacks come

in in things like we call them uh

fishing there's called spear fishing

there's wishing smishing and mining

social media i'm just gonna go through

them uh and we're gonna talk about some

examples because like phishing is like

an email that sends you and give you

some information about yourself and they

ask you for for something and most of

these as you can see from here are about

financial services come from something

that that pretends it's from your bank

or from paypal or from anything that you

use your credit card or something

uh to purchase and they and they give

you some information so that they give

them more now spearfishing is also

fishing but it's more targeted they

they might give you they might hacked

into some leaked information from

somewhere and they would send you

information that oh you have done this

purchase on that time with with this

last four numbers of your credit card

and that's something that they stole

from somewhere you know and that that

that's like spearfishing because it's

targeted to you and has very information

and so you just start doubting yourself

or giving them trust that they they

don't deserve there's also something

called wishing with his voice fishing

it's like through phone calls this is

also very

um um you know very dangerous because if

specifically if the the one in um on the

other side is not a

bot or a robot call it's a human a human

voice might also create that trust or

that fake trust so that you will be more

inclined to believe them and trust them

there's also smishing which is like

phishing through text messages or sms

that when they send you all of that also

sometimes from the cra or sometimes oh

some relative to you

from you some of your relatives died in

africa and they have like this million

of millions of inheritance and we need

some to give you some act to get some

action from you so that you will get all

of those money

a lot of this happened like all the time

but during cover it was like so big

there's also mining social media which

is like they go to your social profile

they collect a lot of information that

you don't know you were giving for free

and they pretend they know you

by

by by collecting all of this social

information about you there's also man

in the middle attack which is like they

hack into your computer while you're

working on it specifically when you are

on a public that you are in the library

or in a coffee shop or something and

they can see everything you do on your

uh um what you call it on your uh

laptop or your phone even the credit

card numbers that you get and all of

that

is is it does happen all the time

now

you know there's also mine in the

browser attack which is not they don't

hack your machine but they have the

browser but the same thing so i don't

know you remember we also talked about

like

we're telling people it's it's okay to

connect to public wi-fi it's just don't

share

personal information or financial

information they're called public wi-fi

for a reason they called public for a

reason you know

yeah

yeah yeah we talked about you know

it's something we talked this in the

privacy many times and even in person

and yeah it's just public for a reason

but i but i really believe that uh you

know they're

people are aware of it but they're just

bringing their guard down

because they're just going through their

day and i think that's important

that we keep reminding people through

these

talks and all that that you have to not

abuse that or use it too often

yeah and and uh you remember when we

when we saw that book that you wanted to

surprise me but i bought it before it's

the book that's called targeted which

talked about this social media hack the

big hack of social media the uh uh what

we call it on facebook and how cambridge

analytica used our information against

us

in many steps like one of them was was

like u.s election and brexit

yeah well i guess you're right i did i

did eventually read it

but at the end of the day what i'd like

to get tell people quickly the context

is there's a lot not great books target

is on there there's one called weapons

of math destruction by kathy o'neil and

the only reason we're mentioning these

these books

is for you to to look into them their

resources

but cambridge analytica did some very

uh

horrendous

greatest things and i'm not going to

ruin it for you because i want i'd

rather people read the book but

i mean it was crazy

what they did they swayed elections

ladies and gentlemen this way opinion

they sway people's minds

it was like it was bad but when you read

it and and then they met there was a

movie movie that came out called the

great hack

with uh shoes in it but

you know these are these are some of the

material that's out there available in

your local libraries and books so we're

just using that as context that's all i

just want to make sure we're clear here

and and and just i wanted to remember to

remind people that 620

and 30 something thousand canadians

were

were in that league and that's one

league of many leagues and we've just

heard about uh facebook scandal a couple

of days ago where we know that they

actually don't give a damn about their

customers and this is recent this is

just last week

yeah

and and it was like it was like i mean

like it was shocking but at the same

time it was not that shocking right i

was shocking you know i i

i fortunately didn't see the whole thing

but i i watched it online and it is

shocking it is shocking to to see that

they're aware of the problem and they're

not doing anything about it that's what

the shocking part is and they they have

hired those people to do those studies

and then when they looked at them they

just ignored them

right i mean this is this is again as

you said we're too much trustee we don't

give too much trust into those platforms

while

we saw what is happening but we are we

are actually submitting to social

engineering while we are totally

not aware what it's doing but we're not

we here we hear about all of those

private subjects like oh we don't have

any other option well what you do have

often don't share that much online right

and

we look you know the only thing i like

to add hashem i i let me for a few

seconds is we do we've done so much more

of this

uh even before covet hit

we've become a sharing society

um you know on facebook on twitter it's

become something

of a complete tsunami

of of of sharing it's gotten

way out of control

yeah

so uh

continue continuing with with

this one

because i wanna i wanna

talk now in numbers

uh the impact about of social

engineering attacks and as you can see

over the third of phishing attack

targets user of financial services which

means

uh

one employee will have power to see our

financial data

they give their information and all of

our financial data is in the in the

hands of hackers

uh also there's lots of associated with

security incidents in the finance sector

increased by 24

that's only

in 2014 you can imagine what is

happening right now financial services

encounter security incidents 300 percent

more frequently than other industries

this is our money this is our credit

cards these are things that we rely on

those entities to protect for us because

we cannot keep our money in a shoe box

anymore right and and we have we still

all have all of that and it's us through

giving the information or some people in

that industry so 48 of companies

that say that social engineering attacks

cost them more than 25 000

per incident that is not a small number

but only as you see here but only a

quarter of those companies are ongoing

training to prevent social engineering

what would you say when you hear that

they know that it's cost them but they

don't you know they didn't give enough

budget to train their employees on that

i mean like isn't that like

i mean like you could you could spend

much less than that on training your

employees and preventing all of this

you could and this is this is why um you

know i think it's important that you're

giving this talk and i appreciate you

allowing me to be part of it because at

the end of the day what even what

francis haugen said is that they had the

guard rails in place and they didn't use

them

ladies and gentlemen and this is exactly

what

i'm talking about they could do but

they're not

because they're more concerned about

their profit than they are about

doing the right thing exactly and this

is why talks like this are important

because now it's on us

to be aware and to know what we're doing

what we are sharing with those entities

so that we don't share much right i mean

to protect ourselves it's coming to us

to be our own guardians right yes yes

yeah and i i believe that the books we

talked about there there are a lot of

documentaries there i mean that go and

watch

yeah there's a gold

yeah there's a one called coded bias

um

uh by women and uh the one of the ladies

that was in the doc was actually from

the university of toronto that she did

some work with and kathy o'neil from

weapon to math destruction is actually

featured in coded bias it's a fantastic

film

and i know we're talking about these but

these are resources i'm going to say it

again these are resources we're not just

we're not promoting these please don't

misunderstand be very clear these are

resources for you to do to check them

out to see for yourself what's happening

exactly and and these are just examples

i mean if you don't like what would be

saying just go and

and watch something like that yes it's

what we know but there's a lot out there

and these are just examples to go and

watch i mean like

we also heard about pegasus software

which was spying on people and most of

it happened because people were just

like clicking links on whatsapp

that were implanting something on their

phones right remember also when you told

me about the uh those whatsapp messages

that you were getting and the sms which

have those links and you say like

from banks that you've never even have

any account with right yeah i don't have

an account anyways i was like

even text i was getting texts too yeah

text messages whatsapp i mean that that

is that is that's going crazy and um

you know that's again on us to be our

own guardians uh so

that was the impact of these attacks now

let's talk

about how to protect ourselves from

these social engineering attacks and by

the way

it's it's not that difficult i mean we

talked about it many times me and gemini

create strong passwords

can i try him on this one can i jump in

on this one

so i uh it's gonna be a little comedy

corner but my i have a younger brother

and he he has um warped me on this and i

think hashem knows this his his

passwords are like 15 letters long

ladies and gentlemen

15. you know i've i've gone to eight

okay

15.

and like i told hashem this and he was

like and what's your point you know

but i high i highly recommend i have a

book i have all my passwords please this

is the one of the strongest things that

i want i really that's why i appreciate

hashem allow me this is one thing please

no one two three four no

q-w-e-r-t-y

please use have a book a heart copy book

and write all your passwords in there i

know it's old school

but this is the strongest recommendation

we'll have another recommendation

besides the physical book but

but the idea here is also creating a

strong password you know yes i really

agree i agree i agree yeah and avoid

common obvious password as we just said

yes sorry you're you're strong i saw you

i stole your thunder sorry yeah no it's

fine and this is what this is why i

wanted to bring you because you've been

with me uh on this route and i remember

we talked about passwords and i was the

one who told you stop

putting those passwords they could be

hacked in a heartbeat remember

and you know there are always here we

can just tell you that there are a lot

of people to remember complex uh

passwords and create create them like a

story method

uh or do like acronyms or the loki music

where you create a scene based on

location you know

uh like um

i like uh

uh what do you call it

i scream

from uh starbucks on bloor

and bloor on dixie for example so these

are like some stuff that you can easily

remember and you can shift like uh

capital letters small letters with with

special characters and you can remember

it's not it is not that complicated if

you thought about it besides don't use

the same password everywhere that is

that is very important

yes i agree

yeah so

these are also steps to protect yourself

from from uh from social engineering

it's like when you receive something an

email or text message first of all be

cautious see what the source is is it is

it is it does it look like the source

that they send it from or does it look

suspicious spilling errors sometimes

spilling terrorists

is not sometimes spelling errors are not

because they have they're stupid or

they're doing errors no because they

want to get away from detection of the

ai detection so that they do those

spilling errors so that they will avoid

uh detection by ai now

anything that asking for an urgent

action might be

suspicious

also links we just talked about the

links that they were sent from cra and

all of these things through our text

messages and all remember that

uh check the from address so if it says

adobe.com and you just uh have this this

adobe logo look at this the the address

that comes is it come from something at

adobe.com

or not and of course if someone asks you

for a personal information

you should be skeptic without thinking

you know

uh that's that's you know like i think

this is like very very uh basic stuff

right and here's the other another stuff

to do from that what scammers and social

engineers are doing to you they also

they always request for something of

value of you they also want to keep the

matter of secret or privacy like oh you

have someone who died from your uh

relatives in kenya or whatever so just

keep it secret because there's a lot of

money in it they need to take you an

urgent action like now and just pay us

like 150 for the fees and then you will

get the millions

from your inheritance and they approach

you from a position of authority like if

you're an executive or a lawyer or a

software mechanic or something like that

so all of those are signs to look at so

that you know that this might be a

social engineering attack

now um

ai how can ai help this ai now can

detect deep fake videos we know what

deep fakes are it can you take fake

reviews it can detect back doors and

man-in-the-middle attacks it could

detect malware downloads and email and

attachment many of the antivirus are

using ai for that they can detect

phishing and spearfishing emails so ai

can help

way more than we can and we should also

invest in ai researchers into into doing

that um that was it i need you jim to

tell us like this is how you can

communicate with me and jim i need you

to have like um

we have like about

three minutes i want you to just tell

tell somebody about the experience

of learning that stuff uh through the

years

you know well at the end of the day um

yes you know wasn't a thing that i was

interested in

now the reason i was is i like to learn

and

you know the

the area for that was becoming prevalent

in the media

and uh you know i like to you know like

i said hashem i've known her for five

years but

it was on my own terms hisham never said

oh you gotta learn no it's just my own

terms so

uh the one thing i'll be honest with you

is the covers of these books are just

insane

like targeted as like a grenade you know

the weapons of mass destruction you know

is uh uh you know it's a skull you know

it's like

it's a it's a skull with uh you know

crossbows

um but at the end of the day is i think

we have to be more aware

of what's happening and you know there's

great books out there there's

documentaries there's solid information

out there and it's only a lot to be more

aware of myself

and uh so that's why for me uh if you're

loved to read there's lots of great

books you can watch movies uh on you

know whatever streaming service you have

so um that's what the thing is but it's

also to be

conscious

that the world is changing um you know

i've been teaching social media for a

long time this added another toolbox for

me too for people to understand it

better we talked about in our podcast we

talked about privacy we talked about

crypto we talked about misinformation

these topics are still important look

what happened with facebook ladies and

gentlemen this is very fresh

so

um that is why uh i've done it and i

continue to do it

and i think i encourage you that to

implore you

that um

this is information that's out there

your local library your local bookstore

go and learn more about it because your

information at the end of the day your

information is your information for a

reason

i think we have to be that and one more

thing that i'd like to really um think

is yes

be careful using public wi-fi

especially it's very important so with

that i appreciate thank you michelle for

having me on today and just be more

aware and composite of when you're using

yeah so i guess what jim is trying to

say because he doesn't come from a

technical background if i can do it you

can do it right okay and

all right that works yeah awareness is

the key it doesn't matter what industry

you are in this is a this is a public

awareness i believe now everybody has to

know it

uh so thank you jim for being here and

give our audience uh your own

personal experience into this thank you

everybody for being here you can contact

me or jim through our twitter accounts

or anything you can find us everywhere

and uh

this is this is it for this session and

we're gonna take your questions