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Episode 107 Show Notes – Happy Thanksgiving

/in /by

Hey there, it’s time for episode 107 of the UNSECURITY Podcast!

Just when you think you can’t get any busier…

You get busier.

Maybe if I learned to say “no” a little more often. My dilemma is 1) mostly brought on by myself and 2) is a blessing. It’s better to be busy than to have nothing to do, especially when you’re helping people. I’m grateful.

Short introduction today. Too much going on to elaborate much (for now).

On to the show notes…

This is Evan, I’ll lead the discussion today, and these are my notes…

SHOW NOTES – Episode 107

Date: Tuesday November 24th, 2020

Episode 107 Topics

  • Opening
  • Catching Up
    • What’s new?
    • “Information Security @ Home”
  • Happy Thanksgiving
    • What are your grateful for?
    • What’s different this year?
    • What’s the same?
    • Holiday shopping tips for EVERYONE
  • News
  • Wrapping Up – Shout outs
Opening

[Evan] Hey there! Thank you for tuning in to this episode the UNSECURITY Podcast. This is episode 107, the date is November 24th 2020, and I’m your host, Evan Francen. Sadly, Brad won’t be joining me today. He’s out of commission fighting a bout of labyrinthitis. The prognosis is good, so we expect him to be back soon!

So, this means you’re all stuck with me. I’ll do my best to provide some value for your ears and brain.

Quick Catchup

[Evan] The catchup time is a little different without Brad, so I’ll just give you a quick recap of what I’ve been up to.

Topics:

  • 4th quarter is notoriously busy, like VERY busy, for us. Everyone is running at 100% capacity right now, which is good, but also stressful.
  • Security Sh*t Show – this is live on YouTube every week; Thursday nights at 10pm CST.
    • Last week Chris Roberts and I did the Paqui One Chip Challenge online with a couple fans.
    • We also unveiled a new sticker (see below). If you’d like one, just subscribe to the Sh*t Show YouTube channel and let us know.

  • Information security hobbies – I’ve been working on a Raspberry Pi home network security device, including Kismet, pfsense, and Pi-hole. More to come on this next week.
  • Maybe another thing or two.

Transition

Happy Thanksgiving!

[Evan] Originally, Brad and I were going to continue our discussion about information security at home, then I realized that this is Thanksgiving week! Instead of talking about our original topic, I’m going to talk about protecting yourself (and your family) from holiday shopping scams. For many Americans, Friday marks the beginning of the holiday shopping season, and it’s important for all of us to be careful! Lots of things have changed this year, it is 2020, but some things haven’t. The scammers are still scamming, and a most of the scams are the same this year as they’ve been in years past.

Some interesting stats/information:

  • 61% of Americans have already started holiday shopping (before Thanksgiving)
  • 22% of Americans start their holiday shopping on (or after) Thanksgiving
  • 15% of Americans start their holiday shopping in December
  • 2% of Americans start their holiday shopping in January (hopefully for next year)
  • Last year:
    • $730 billion was spent on holiday shopping
    • $135.5 billion was spent holiday shopping online
    • $71.3 billion was spent holiday shopping using a mobile device
  • Online holiday shopping (in terms of dollars spent) is expected to increase by 35.8%

More online shopping coupled with the fact that most of us are more distracted (than ever), means attackers could have a heyday.

Opportunity + Distraction = Success (for scammers)

Tips to protect yourself and your loved ones (we will make this into a checklist soon):

Most important – situational awareness. It’s the umbrella for all other protection activities/behaviors.

  1. Ship to a secure location – avoid shipping to places where merchandise could sit unattended and insecure for long periods.
  2. If you decide to use a mobile app for shopping, use official retailer apps only.
  3. Don’t save payment card (debit or credit) information in any shopping accounts
  4. Using Apple Pay or Google Pay for payments wherever it’s available.
  5. If you’re unfamiliar with a retailer, do your research before buying. Make sure the site and retailer are legitimate.
  6. Don’t rush to purchase at the lowest price. Slow down and think about security risks first.
  7. Never make purchases on public Wi-Fi – Never.
  8. Use a VPN when shopping (or doing anything sensitive) online.
  9. Always use strong passwords and a password manager.
  10. Check security and/or privacy policies, especially for retailers you’re unfamiliar with.
  11. A legitimate retailers will NEVER ask for your Social Security number, so don’t give it out.
  12. Make purchases with credit cards over debit cards.
  13. Make purchases with prepaid debit cards over credit cards or regular debit cards.
  14. Review all your accounts and bank statements regularly. You should be doing this all year.

Please be careful this holiday season. DO NOT let scammers steal ANY of your joy or hope!

Transition

[Evan] Alright. That’s that. On to some news…

News

[Evan] Always plenty of interesting things going on in our industry. Here’s a few stories that caught my attention recently:

Wrapping Up – Shout outs

[Evan] That’s it for episode 107. Gonna give my shout outs…

[Evan] Thank you to all our listeners! Send things to us by email at unsecurity@protonmail.com. If you’re the social type, socialize with us on Twitter, I’m @evanfrancen and Brad’s @BradNigh.

Lastly, be sure to follow SecurityStudio (@studiosecurity) and FRSecure (@FRSecure) for more things we do when we do what we do.

That’s it! Talk to you all again next week!

UNSECURITY Podcast – Episode 95 Show Notes

/in /by

I don’t have any words to describe 2020. COVID-19, social justice events (George Floyd, Black Lives Matter, protests, riots, etc., etc.), economic issues, the election cycle, and on and on. This is going to be a helluva year to recap come December, and it’s a helluva year to remember (or forget).

One thing that struck me this morning is the fact that it’s already the last day of August. With everything going on this year, I might be grateful it’s flying by.

Despite all the craziness, there’s been good things too. The family time has been great, we’ve gotten a ton of work done around the house, Chris Roberts, Ryan Cloutier and I started the Security Shit Show, business is relatively good, and the optimist in me says the future looks bright.

Well, let’s get on with the show, shall we? I’m (Evan) leading the show this week, and these are my notes.

SHOW NOTES – Episode 95

Date: Tuesday, September 1st, 2020

Episode 95 Topics

  • Opening
  • Catching Up
  • What has this crazy year done for information security?
  • News
  • Wrapping Up – Shout outs
Opening

[Evan] Good morning listeners! My name is Evan Francen, the date is August 31st, and this is episode 95 of the UNSECURITY Podcast. I’m your host today, and joining me is my good friend Brad Nigh. Good morning Brad!

[Brad] Brad’s a nice guy. He’ll say “hi” or something.

[Evan] For our listeners who were expecting our show to come out yesterday, we’ve switched things up. We are recording the shows on Tuesday mornings now due to crazy schedules with getting kids ready/off to school and other things. For the time being, we’ll be recording on Tuesday mornings and releasing the podcast around noon.

Catching Up

[Evan] Same thing each week man. We start by catching up. New listeners might not know that we originally started the UNSECURITY Podcast so that you and I could find an hour each week to catch up with each other. So, let’s catch up! What’s new with you?

Quick discussion about last week, the weekend, or whatever else comes to mind.

  • How’s family?
  • New stuff at home or at work?
  • How’s work?
  • Anything got you excited or ticked off?

[Brad] Things and such probably…

[Evan] Things and such probably too…

[Evan] Good to catch up with you man. Let’s hope this is a great week!

Transition

What has this crazy year done for information security?

[Evan] Obviously, there’s lots going on in the world this year. It was about six months ago (March) when our reaction to the COVID-19 pandemic flipped the world on it’s head, at least that’s what it was like around here. For many, COVID-19 is old news, and people are tired of talking about it. I don’t want to talk about COVID-19 as much as I want to discuss how our reaction to it has affected information security.

COVID-19 Information Security Effects

[Evan] I remember the day like it was yesterday, March 16th. This was the day we closed our physical office at FRSecure and SecurityStudio. Let’s talk about how information security has changed since then and what we think the future of information security will look like.

COVID-19 & Information Security Discussion

[Evan] May 25th and 26th are also days I remember well. May 25th was Memorial Day and it started off like any other Memorial Day. I was camping with my family, and being a military family, we were honoring those who gave their lives while serving our country. It wasn’t until May 26th that I heard the news about George Floyd. Things haven’t been the same since. I’m not going to use our time to discuss social justice issues, but I want to discuss how the events of May 25th have affected our profession (information security).

Social Justice Issues & Information Security Discussion

NOTE: We know that social justice and racism are very sensitive topics. We will discuss these issues only in how we think they relate to information security. This DOES NOT mean anything more, and please DO NOT read anything more into it.

[Evan] This is a year like no other, that’s for sure. I’m hoping and praying that love will prevail. Great discussion Brad! Let’s move on to some news topics.

News

[Evan] Yay! Newsy things. Here’s some news I thought was interesting:

Wrapping Up – Shout outs

[Evan] Sheesh. Thinking maybe we should have done an episode on insider threats! Maybe next week, eh Brad?

[Brad] Cue the Brad.

[Evan] Well, that’s about it folks. Episode 95 is almost in the can. Brad, you have a shout out to give?

[Brad] We’ll see if he does.

[Evan] We’re very grateful for our listeners and we love hearing from you. Send us messages by email at unsecurity@protonmail.com or check us out on Twitter, @UnsecurityP.

If you wanna socialize with me or Brad directly, we dare you! I’m @evanfrancen, and Brad’s @BradNigh. We work for people and if you want to follow those people, SecurityStudio is @studiosecurity and FRSecure is @FRSecure.

That’s it, talk you all again next week!