The Impact of AI on Scamming with Ran Levi

The thought of your computer getting a virus implies something biological, but the fear of infection is real. Are there prevention techniques that you need to be implementing now? Today's guest is Ran Levi. Ran has been podcasting since 2007 and started with a podcast regarding history and technology. He is the co-founder of PI Media LTD, helping other people do podcasts. He is the editor and host of the popular podcast Malicious Life that tells the stories of the histories of cyber security with commentary by hackers, security experts, journalists, and politicians.

Show Notes:

• [1:02] - Ran is a podcaster from Israel and he shares his background and podcast beginning.
• [2:18] - Through podcasting, Ran was asked to begin another podcast about cyber security which was a topic he was passionate about.
• [4:36] - Knowledge is important but the stories are the key to an impactful podcast.
• [5:56] - In the early days, pirating games and media was commonplace and through personal experience, Ran became very interested in the history of cyber security.
• [7:03] - Cyber security professionals are used to the idea of autonomous software, but for the public at large this is a weird idea.
• [8:50] - The terms used in cyber security suggest something biological and can be confusing.
• [10:45] - People have rediscovered how to create and replicate computer viruses hundreds of times over the decades.
• [12:54] - Computers and emotions intersect when it comes to scammers and viruses.
• [13:35] - Ran shares one of his favorite cyber security history stories from Israel.
• [14:48] - The feeling of anonymity is something very appealing about the internet.
• [16:08] - One of Ran's favorite interviews was with Steve Wozniak.
• [18:25] - Some hackers decide to go commercial.
• [20:14] - Ran shares the wildest story revolving around the Equifax breach.
• [22:02] - AI has extreme potential and we haven't seen its impact yet in cyber security.
• [23:31] - The human element is sometimes easy to detect a scam, but when AI learns to scam, things can get scary.
• [25:41] - Right now, the script or content from AI is written by people.
• [26:33] - You can easily gather a lot of information about almost anyone.
• [29:04] - Ran says never to trust an organization with your information.
• [30:06] - Working on his show and writing his book has created some level of cynicism.
• [31:20] - Things used to be a lot more "fun" online without being as fearful of being hacked.
• [32:28] - Scam calls are not as common in non-English speaking countries.
• [34:42] - Social media isn't evil. But the scammers are using organizations like Facebook and others to help them gather the data they need to scam you.
• [36:47] - For many companies, client data is a liability.
• [40:05] - For every modern company, information is their lifeblood.
• [42:03] - Ran shares the story of, as a newer employee of a company, he was able to get into systems he shouldn't have been able to access.

Thanks for joining us on Easy Prey. Be sure to subscribe to our podcast on iTunes and leave a nice review.

Links and Resources:

• Podcast Web Page
• Facebook Page
• whatismyipaddress.com
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• Easy Prey on LinkedIn
• Easy Prey on YouTube
• Easy Prey on Pinterest
• Ran Levi on Twitter
• Malicious Life Podcast