The Social-Engineer Podcast

In this episode, Chris Hadnagy and Ryan MacDougall are joined by industry professional, Marcus Sailler to discuss his experience as the red team information security manager at Capital Group. Marcus shares some great tips on creating a successful security team and how you can prevent it from becoming the "No Police". They also go over the recent changes in the industry, including how big hacks have increased security awareness in the general public.    00:09 – Introduction to the new Security Awareness Series  01:28 – Introduction to Ryan MacDougall  Phishing as a Service (PHaaS)  Vishing as a Service (VaaS)  Social-Engineer.com  02:32 – Introduction to Marcus Sailler  04:20 – How Marcus got into information security  06:08 – Recent changes in the infosec industry- How a big hack increases security awareness  12:09 – How a red team and security awareness team can collaborate to enhance security  14:25 – Introduction to Capital Group  16:17 – Coming up with relevant attacks for a global company  18:08 – How a security team can avoid becoming the “No Police”  21:39 – Why it’s better to build a blue team first  22:24 – The importance of attitude and ego for a red teamer  25:04 – How a red team benefits from partnership  26:53 – Emulate the bad guy, but remember to be good  29:18 – Steps corporations should implement now  30:58 – Some of Marcus’ most respected industry professionals  Chris Hadnagy  David McGuire  Jason Frank  Jeff Dimmock  David Kennedy  Amanda Berlin  Ian Coldwater  Rachel Tobac  34:47 – Marcus' book recommendations  Sizing People Up: A Veteran FBI Agent's User Manual for Behavior Prediction  The 5 Love Languages: The Secret to Love that Lasts  39:18 – Marcus' contact info  LinkedIn  Twitter  14:38 – Outro  Social-Engineer.org  Social-Engineer.com  The Innocent Lives Foundation    SEVillage: The Human Hacking Conference  Human Hacking Book Website  Human Hacking Book Amazon  Clutch  Chris on Twitter  Social-Engineer on Twitter   

In this special episode, Chris Hadnagy joins Maxie Reynolds to talk about the amazing stories and useful lessons contained in Chris’s new book: “Human Hacking: Win Friends, Influence People, and Leave Them Better Off for Having Met You”. Listen as Chris delves into the process of making “Human Hacking” and shares the awesome story behind its inception. Maxie and Chris also discuss the importance of empathy especially when it comes to hacking humans.   Chris a global security expert and master hacker. He is the founder and CEO of Social-Engineer, LLC, the creator of the popular Social Engineer Podcast, website, and newsletter, and designed “Advanced Practical Social Engineering,” the first hands-on social engineering training course and certification for law enforcement, military, and private sector professionals.     00:09 – Introduction to Maxie Reynolds   02:13 – Introduction to Christopher Hadnagy’s brand-new book: “Human Hacking: Win Friends, Influence People, and Leave Them Better Off for Having Met You”  02:51 – Human-hacking is a skill that can be used in everyday life by everyday people  04:19 – What it means to “Leave Them Better Off for Having Met You”  05:50 – “The martial art of the mind” and how a malicious person could use it for harm  07:39 – Empathy and why it is so important when hacking humans  09:21 – Showing empathy while amygdala hijacked  11:40 – Empathy is more than just putting yourself in someone else’s shoes  14:15 – Empathy is often hierarchical  16:33 – The power of “I’m sorry”  18:02 – Why understanding the meaning behind someone’s actions is so important  21:48 – Accuracy of the stories told in the book  24:15 – The process of co-authoring the book with Seth Schulman  26:43 – The amazing story of how the book came to be  31:16 – How to fight the isolation and social awkwardness brought by technology and, more recently, COVID-19.  34:46 – Giving your feedback on the book  36:20 – A distillation of the “Advanced Practical Social Engineering” course, made applicable to everyone  40:50 – Socially engineering the world’s best rock band  43:51 - “Quick Fire Questions”:  44:04 – Chris's favorite story in the book  45:04 – Is there a stage in child development where less empathy is shown?  46:10 – Would the new book have helped teenage Chris?  48:01 – Is it as nicer to feel empathy yourself or receive it from someone else?  49:49 – Balance is required when teaching empathy.  51:19 – How we can all better our communities by learning to “Win Friends, Influence People, and Leave Them Better Off for Having Met You”  53:35 – Chris's book recommendations  Without Conscience: The Disturbing World of the Psychopaths Among Us  Antifragile: Things That Gain from Disorder  The Dictionary of Body Language: A Field Guide to Human Behavior  54:56 – Outro  Human Hacking Book Website  Human Hacking Book Amazon  Maxie on Twitter  Chris on Twitter  Social-Engineer on Twitter  SEVillage: The Human Hacking Conference  Social-Engineer.org  Social-Engineer.com  The Innocent Lives Foundation    Clutch   

In episode 136, Chris Hadnagy and Maxie Reynolds are joined by doctor, researcher and microblogger: Osama (Sam) Qurashi. Sam was in the medical field for 15 years until he decided to travel the world and learn about unorthodox forms of psychology from experts in widely varied fields. Find out what Sam learned from these “masters of the mind” and understand how you can apply these lessons in your daily life.      00:32 – Introduction to Dr. Osama (Sam) Qurashi 02:20 – Upcoming events and book release  Human Hacking Book  Human Hacking Conference  2021 Virtual Trainings  The Innocent Lives Foundation  04:09 – How Sam went from psychiatric resident to academic globetrotter in search of “masters of the mind”  09:30 – What Sam learned from The Joke Doctor  11:30 – What Sam learned from The Tea Master  16:00 – Mistakes - The two schools of thought  18:09 – How monkeys and coconuts can help us understand acceptance  20:00 – Linguistic psychology and how emotions are conveyed in Japanese  23:32 – How you can form habits by staying small  25:57 – What The Iceman and The Horse Whisperer can teach us about resistance and force  29:11 – Sam's plan for sharing the knowledge he has acquired  31:59 – What Sam learned from The Pickpocket  36:59 – Why many people fail when trying something new  38:11 – In order to learn something new, you must be able to accept temporary incompetence  39:17 – Avoiding failure is the same as avoiding success  41:39 – How you can improve your self-image by changing your peers   44:19 – What Sam learned from the samurai  46:08 – Sam's book recommendations  The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma  The Wim Hof Method: Activate Your Full Human Potential  Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art  48:43 – Sam's contact info  Instagram  Youtube  Patreon  50:12 – Conclusion  Social-Engineer.org  Social-Engineer.com  Chris on Twitter  Social-Engineer on Twitter  Maxie on Twitter  The Innocent Lives Foundation on Twitter  The Innocent Lives Foundation    Clutch  51:57 – Big podcast announcement!

In this episode, Chris Hadnagy and Maxie Reynolds are joined by social engineering and insider threats expert: Lisa Forte. Learn how Lisa went from fighting terrorists and real-life sea pirates to being an expert on cybercrime and social engineering. Discover how scammers are taking advantage of global uncertainty and understand how to protect yourself from attack.    00:00 – Introduction to Lisa Forte  02:38 – Lisa's path to a career in social engineering  05:27 – The psychology that terrorists use to recruit teenagers  07:52 – Lisa's experience with fighting cyber crime  08:43 – Why Lisa named her cyber security company “Red Goat”  10:23 – The world pandemic made hospitals and their supply chains vulnerable to attack  14:38 – Keep secure by realizing the value of the information you possess   15:41 - How Cyber Volunteers 19 is helping to save lives by making hospitals secure. (twitter)  21:25 – Ego suspension is a required skill for a good social engineer  25:47 – Find someone who gives you honest feedback  27:28 – How Chris deals with harsh criticism  30:27 – New documentary: “hacker:HUNTER Ha(ck)cine” (Part 1) (Part 2)  34:44 – Lisa's Vlog: “Rebooting”  35:44 – Lisa's and Chris’s experience with exposure therapy.   40:00 – How scammers take advantage of global uncertainty  42:37 – Law enforcement has a big disadvantage when fighting cyber crime  45:42: Lisa’s Contact info:  LinkedIn  Website  Rebooting vlog with Chris  Twitter  46:56 – Lisa's Book recommendation  Prisoners Of Geography  50:20 – Outro  Social-Engineer.com    Social-Engineer.org    The Human Hacking Conference  The Innocent Lives Foundation    Human Hacking Book  Phishing As A Service®  Trainings:  Practical Open Source Intelligence For Everyday Social Engineers  11-12 November 2020 - VIRTUAL  Advanced Practical Social Engineering Training  17-20 November, 2020 - VIRTUAL 

In this episode, Chris Hadnagy and Ryan MacDougall are joined by distinguished professor: Elizabeth Loftus. Listen in to understand the vulnerabilities in human memories and how they are sometimes exploited. Learn to defend against attacks on your memory and how this info can be applied in the information security industry.   00:01 – Introduction to Elizabeth Loftus and her research on the malleability of human memory.  01:41 – Elizabeth's reasoning for researching human memory.   03:12 – What our faulty memory means for eyewitness testimonies.  04:20 – How the phrasing of a question can distort someone's memory.   06:27 – Is it possible to verify the accuracy of a memory?  10:34 – Trying hard to remember something can sometimes lead to the creation of a false memory.  11:22 – Elizabeth's experience with the trial of George Franklin.  14:13 – How can we protect ourselves from having our memories modified?  14:21 – The similarities between preventing false memories and preventing scams.   20:40 – “What the heck is going on in the world of Social-Engineer: COVID Style.”  Practical Open Source Intelligence For Everyday Social Engineers  11-12 November 2020 - VIRTUAL  Advanced Practical Social Engineering Training  17-20 November, 2020 - VIRTUAL  The Human Hacking Conference - Orlando, FL March 11-13, 2021  2021 Training Schedule  Book: Human Hacking: Win Friends, Influence People, and Leave Them Better Off for Having Met You  Website: social-engineer.com  Website: social-engineer.org  25:43 – How hypnosis therapy often generates false memories.   30:21 – How to protect yourself from having your memories altered.  32:58 – The prevalence and impact of misinformation on social media.  38:30 – Elizabeth’s website, Ted Talk and books.  Elizabeth F. Loftus’ UCI School of Social Ecology Website  Ted Talk at TedGlobal 2013  Books by Elizabeth  39:44 – Elizabeth’s book recommendations.  Mistakes Were Made (but Not by Me)  41:50 – Outro   Social-Engineer.org    Newsletter  Framework  Blog  Social-Engineer.com    The Innocent Lives Foundation    The Innocent Lives Foundation on Twitter  The Human Hacking Conference   The Human Hacking Conference on Twitter   Human Hacking Book  Chris on Twitter    Social-Engineer on Twitter   Social-Engineer on Facebook  Social-Engineer on LinkedIn  Social-Engineer on Instagram   Social-Engineer on Slack 

In this episode, Chris Hadnagy, Shelby Dacko and Jonathan Miller discuss many ways to improve your skills as a communicator. Learn the importance of observing the information your own body gives you. Hear their experiences with being amygdala hijacked, and how you can have your own superhero moment.   00:07 – Introduction to Shelby Dacko, Human Risk Analyst for Social-Engineer.  00:44 – Introduction to Jonathan Miller and his experience resolving conflict without violence.   02:06 – How to focus on nonviolent communication in violent circumstances.   04:18 – How to engage in productive conversation by respecting other’s opinions.   06:24 – Become a better communicator by paying attention to introspective sensations.  10:33 – How a 1984 GMC Vandura and a potato helped Jonathan become a communications expert.  14:48 – Why most people pay no attention to the way they communicate.  18:58 – Announcements:  Human Hacking: Win Friends, Influence People, and Leave Them Better Off for Having Met You  Virtual Advanced Practical Social Engineering - 17-20 November, 2020  The Human Hacking Conference - Orlando, FL March 11-13, 2021  HHC SE Pentest Track – Day 2 – Vishing (Curt)  Advanced Practical Social Engineering – Orlando 13-16 April, 2021  Masters Level Social Engineering – Orlando, Fl 10-14 May, 2021  Advanced Practical Social Engineering – Bristol, UK 15-18 June, 2021  Social-Engineer.com  23:35 – How to become self-aware of the way you communicate.   25:08 – How to Deal with Defensiveness and Defensive People in Conversations  26:09 – How an amygdala hijack can trigger a defensive response and how you can work to fight it.  42:56 – Defensiveness creates more defensiveness.  44:29 – Jonathan's contact info, podcast and social media links.  Press Kit: http://bit.ly/JMPressKit Website: https://www.mindfulcommunication.me Mindful Communication Podcast: https://anchor.fm/podcast-863ccb8 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/millerdjonathan/  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mindfulcommunication/ Tough Talks Made Easy: https://bit.ly/ToughTalksMadeEasy Code: social50  Article: How to Deal with Defensiveness and Defensive People in Conversations  46:39: Jonathan’s book recommendations.  Difficult Conversations: How to Discuss What Matters Most  Nonviolent Communication: A Language of Life  Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind  48:01 – Outro  Chris on Twitter    Social-Engineer on Twitter   Social-Engineer on Instagram    Social-Engineer.org    Social-Engineer.com    The Human Hacking Conference   The Human Hacking Conference on Twitter   The Innocent Lives Foundation    The Innocent Lives Foundation on Twitter 

In this episode, Chris Hadnagy and Stephanie Paul introduce multiple different methods that can be used to become a better communicator and social engineer. They go into the practice required in changing the way you communicate and share some amazing experiences of people who were able to do so. They also go over how an unmotivated person can gain the ambition to accomplish their goals.   01:10 – Introduction to Stephanie Paul.  01:58 – Training people to be effective storytellers: How Stephanie came up with the idea.   05:24 – Analyzing the applicability of social engineering principles in other fields.  07:01 – The YOU method.  13: 50 – Driving the CAAR method.  15:19 – How an unambitious person can motivate themselves by changing their value system.  22:55 – Announcements:   New social-engineer.com website  Advanced Practical Social Engineering Training  Master's Level Social Engineering  The Human Hacking Conference - 11-13 March, 2021  Clutch  The Innocent Lives Foundation   24:41 – How you can improve as a person and social engineer by getting to know yourself  29:04 – Improve by shifting your communication energy  32:30 – Improve by utilizing humor  35:30 – Improving your communication requires practice  40:49 – Stephanie's contact info, courses and book.  The “WHYGUIDE” To Story Hacking  Apply for Stephanie's Online Training  Stephanie's Social Media: Twitter  Facebook  LinkedIn  Instagram stephaniepaulinc.com 42:40 - Stephanie’s book recommendations  #Values: The Secret to Top Level Performance in Business and Life  The Source: The Secrets of the Universe, the Science of the Brain  The Ellipsis Manual: analysis and engineering of human behavior  Truth and Lies: What People Are Really Thinking  Louder Than Words: Take Your Career from Average to Exceptional with the Hidden Power of Nonverbal Intelligence  Limitless: Upgrade Your Brain, Learn Anything Faster, and Unlock Your Exceptional Life  Chris on Twitter   Social-Engineer on Twitter  Social-Engineer on Instagram   Social-Engineer.org   Social-Engineer.com   The Human Hacking Conference  The Human Hacking Conference on Twitter  The Innocent Lives Foundation   The Innocent Lives Foundation on Twitter 

In this episode Chris Hadnagy and Chani Simms reveal the secrets to becoming a better communicator and breaking into the InfoSec industry. They discuss the challenges women often face and how they can be overcome. They also go over the ways a newcomer can contribute to a more experienced team.  00:05 – Introduction to Chani Simms and Her Experience as a Woman in the InfoSec Industry  01:09 – Chani's TEDx Talk: “Stop chasing the magic security box”  01:19 – How Chani Got into the Infosec Industry and Started Her Own Pentesting Company  04:53 – Chani's Experience with Hacking, Forensics, Auditing, Risk Management, Consulting and as a Virtual CISO for Multiple Companies  08:08 – The Prevalence of Women in the Sri Lankan Tech Industry  10:47 - Chani Simms has been recognized as one of the "Top 50 Most Influential Women In Cybersecurity 2019" by SC Media UK  11:25 – Chani's Reason for Starting SHe CISO   13:13 – Chani Shares her Experience with Receiving the Awards  17:14 – Chani Gives Advice to People Looking to Become Successful in this Industry  20:10 – How to Deal with Feelings of Inadequacy in Order to Add Value to a Team  23:15 – Upcoming Virtual Trainings and Human Hacking Conference Signups  1-4 August, 2020 – Advanced Practical Social Engineering – Virtual Training  11-13 March, 2021 – The Human Hacking Conference  The Innocent Lives Foundation  Clutch   25:10 – How a Newcomer to a Field can Still Add Value to a Team  29:33 – How to Work with Unkind People in the Workplace  31:09 – How to Accept Valid Criticism and Become a Better Communicator by Suspending Your Ego  37:03 – Chani's Contact Info and More Info About SHe CISO  LinkedIn  Twitter  SHe CISO Website  SHe CISO Bootcamp  41:09 – Chani's Book Recommendations  Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus: The Classic Guide to Understanding the Opposite Sex  The Definitive Book of Body Language: The Hidden Meaning Behind People's Gestures and Expressions  45:04 – Conclusion and Outro  Chris on Twitter  Social-Engineer on Twitter   The Human Hacking Conference on Twitter  The Innocent Lives Foundation on Twitter  Social-Engineer.org  Social-Engineer.com  The Human Hacking Conference  The Innocent Lives Foundation  Social-Engineer on Instagram   

In this episode, Chris Hadnagy and Dr. Vyv Evans discuss the widespread use of emoji and how it can help fill the gap between text and face-to-face communication. Emoji has the ability to add tone and expressions to text that it would otherwise be lacking. In in a single picture, they can express complex ideas that would otherwise require many words to convey.   00:10 - Introduction to Dr. Vyv Evans and his Work on Emoji  01:37 - Brooklyn Teen Was Arrested for Threats Made with Emoji  03:52 - The 2 Main Functions of Language   06:12 - In Real World Scenarios, Communication Utilizes Multiple Channels  07:55 - Tone of Voice Can Change the Meaning of Our Words  09:05 - Gestures Can Change the Meaning of Our Words  10:59 - Emblems are nonverbal signals that can be translated directly into words.  12:50 - The Meaning of Emoji Can be Affected by Group or Cultural Factors  15:45 - The Rebus Principle is Used to Represent Abstract Words with Pictograms, Like Emoji  18:16 - Upcoming Virtual Trainings and Human Hacking Conference Signups.   19:58 - The Differences Between the Emoji System and Language  22:46 - Emoji Helps Text Catch Up with the Tone and Kinesics Found in Spoken Face-to-Face Interaction  23:20 - Survey Done by Match.com Corelates the Use of Emoji to Increased Sexual Activity  24:38 - Emoji Makes Us More Effective Communicators in the Digital Space  26:09 - The Angry Jerk Phenomenon and How Emoji Can Help  27:35 - Why Visuals are Important to Communication  29:23 - The 😂 (Tears of Joy) Emoji Was Oxford Dictionary’s “Word of the Year” in 2015 31:05 - How Text Can Accidentally Convey the Wrong Tone  32:10 - Emoji Can Complement the Meaning of a Word   33:32 - Nonverbals are a Vital Component to Communication  35:47 - Discussing Whether a Decrease in Vocabulary May Have Contributed to the Creation of Nonverbal Communication and Emoji  41:26 - Vyv’s Contact Info  Website: https://www.vyvevans.net/  Twitter: https://twitter.com/VyvEvans  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vyv-evans/  42:23 Vyv’s Books   https://www.vyvevans.net/books  The Emoji Code: The Linguistics Behind Smiley Faces and Scaredy Cats 42:44 Vyv’s Book Recommendations  Because Internet: Understanding the New Rules of Language 

Episode Highlights: Mark shares his thought on being inauthentic. How he started in the nonverbal world and how he got engaged in writing books. Discusses being dyslexic, but reading images and creating images and critically thinking about images was easy for him. Key Points: Do not mistake truths from facts they are not the same. If you tell a story and you massage some of the facts you sometimes get a stronger clearer truth from the story. People first need to think that it's valuable then believe that its true, so they go and use it.   Resources Mentioned: www.truthplane.com The Dictionary of Body Language by Joe Navarro (book) The Ellipsis Manual by Chase Hughes (book) Truth and Lies: What People are Really Thinking Mark Bowden (book)