8th Layer Insights

This is an episode about the battle for truth. As disinformation, misinformation, malinformation, and conspiracy theories seem to be hitting epidemic levels, how can we help each other determine what is real and what is fake? How can we help people who are falling down conspiracy rabbit holes? And what roles do technology companies, governments, and ordinary citizens play?

Perry Carpenter speaks with acclaimed cybersecurity expert, Bruce Schneier, disinformation experts, Samantha North and Allie Wong, and conspiracy theory researcher, Mick West. In this episode, we also hear from Peter Leyden from Reinvent and Eli Periser, author of The Filter Bubble.

Learn more about our guests here:

• Bruce Schneier - Internationally renowned security technologist, author, and speaker. You can find Bruce's website here.
• Allie Wong - VP of Mis/dis/mal-information, Response and Resiliency, Limbik; Consultant, United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research. (LinkedIn)
• Samantha North - Disinformation researcher and consultant. (LinkedIn) Co-Founder: North Cyber Research (website)
• Mick West - Skeptical investigator and retired video game programmer. Creator of the websites Contrail Science (website) and Metabunk (website). Author of Escaping the Rabbit Hole: How to Debunk Conspiracy Theories Using Facts, Logic, and Respect (link). Personal website (link).

Special thanks to Reinvent for allowing use of audio.

References:

• http://reinvent.net/events/event/how-we-can-pop-the-filter-bubble-with-eli-pariser/
• https://reboot-foundation.org/study-social-media-poor-judgment/
• https://reboot-foundation.org/is-there-a-fake-news-generation/

Recommended Books (Amazon affiliate links):

• Escaping the Rabbit Hole: How to Debunk Conspiracy Theories Using Facts, Logic, and Respect by Mick West.
• Click Here to Kill Everybody: Security and Survival in a Hyper-connected World by Bruce Schneier.
• The Filter Bubble: How the New Personalized Web Is Changing What We Read and How We Think by Eli Pariser.
• Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman.
• Why Are We Yelling?: The Art of Productive Disagreement by Buster Benson.
• The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion by Jonathan Haidt.
• Transformational Security Awareness: What Neuroscientists, Storytellers, and Marketers Can Teach Us About Driving Secure Behaviors by Perry Carpenter.

Music and Sound Effects by Blue Dot Sessions & Storyblocks.

Artwork by Chris Machowski.

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Ever wrestled with the fact that people often make horrible security decisions even though their employers have security awareness programs in place? It's often because we assume that being aware of something should naturally result in better behavior. Well... that's not the case. This episode takes a deep dive into the knowledge-intention-behavior gap where we are confronted with three realities of security awareness. And those realities lead us to the realization that we need to focus on behavior.

Guests for this episode are all leaders in the fields of Behavioral Science. They are, BJ Fogg, Ph.D., author of Tiny Habits: the Small Changes that Change Everything, Matt Wallaert, author of Start at the End: How to Build Products That Create Change, and Alexandra Alhadeff, co-author of Deep Thought: A Cybersecurity Story.

Guests:

• BJ Fogg, Ph.D.. -- Behavior Scientist & Innovator at Stanford University. (Personal website) Author of Tiny Habits: The Small Changes That Change Everything. (Amazon link)
• Matt Wallaert -- Head of Behavioral Science at frog (a Capgemini company). Author of Start at the End: How to Build Products That Create Change (Amazon link)
• Alexandra Alhadeff -- Behavioral Scientist & Product Manager at The Fabulous. (Personal website)

Notes & Resources:

• BJ Fogg testimony to the 2006 US Federal Trade Commission about the dangers of persuasive technology.
• Fogg Behavior Model
• About Nudge Theory
• Multiple examples of Nudging
• Great catalog of Dark Patterns
• Ideas42 cybersecurity-related behavioral science research.
• Deep Thought: A Cybersecurity Story, by Ideas42.

Recommended Books (Amazon affiliate links):

• Tiny Habits: The Small Changes That Change Everything, by BJ Fogg, Ph.D.
• Start at the End: How to Build Products That Create Change, by Matt Wallaert
• Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness, by Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein
• Inside the Nudge Unit: How Small Changes Can Make a Big Difference, by David Halpern
• Evil by Design: Interaction Design to Lead Us into Temptation by Chris Nodder
• Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman.
• Transformational Security Awareness: What Neuroscientists, Storytellers, and Marketers Can Teach Us About Driving Secure Behaviors by Perry Carpenter.

Music and Sound Effects by Blue Dot Sessions & Storyblocks.

Artwork by Chris Machowski.

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Risk is a funny thing – our minds are constantly looking for risk, scanning our environments and our available choices. And sometimes we do a great job at anticipating and avoiding risky situations. But that doesn’t mean that we are universally good at dealing with risk. In fact, we can be downright appalling at considering and avoiding risk.

In this episode, we explore the concept of risk, why we're so bad at understanding it, and the steps we can take to improve. Perry speaks with four risk experts who will help us understand the ups and downs of how we evaluate risk. We’ll touch on everything from Black Swans to Grey Rhinos to risk frameworks, risk equations, inbuilt risk in the design of computing interfaces, and more. Featuring Michele Wucker (author of The Grey Rhino and You Are What You Risk), Christian Hunt (Founder of Human Risk), Dr. Arun Vishwanath (Founder and Chief Technology Officer of Avant Research Group), and Matt Stamper (Chief Information Security Officer and Executive Advisor at EVOTEK and co-author of the CISO Desk Reference Guides vol1 & vol2).

Guests:

• Michele Wucker
• Christian Hunt
• Arun Vishwanath
• Matt Stamper

Resources & Books:

• Black Swan Theory
• Grey Rhino Events
• Various Risk Equations
• Risk Perception Equation, Freakonomics
• 20 Cognitive Biases That Affect Risk Decision Making, SafetyRisk.net
• Factor Analysis of Information Risk (FAIR) Framework
• The Gray Rhino: How to Recognize and Act on the Obvious Dangers We Ignore, by Michele Wucker
• You Are What You Risk: The New Art and Science of Navigating an Uncertain World, by Michele Wucker
• Why are Humans Bad at Calculating Risk?, Cogency
• Why You're Probably Not So Great at Risk Assessment, NY Times
• Why the Human Brain is a Poor Judge of Risk, Wired
• Humans are Terrible at Assessing Risk, by Kimberly Forsythe
• Why We're Awful at Assessing Risk, USA Today
• CISO Desk Reference Guides vol1 & vol2, by Bill Bonney, Gary Hayslip, Matt Stamper

Music and Sound Effects by Blue Dot Sessions, Envato Elements, & Storyblocks.

Artwork by Chris Machowski.

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This episode is all about creativity: what it is, what it looks like, and what to do when you get stuck. Perry speaks with four experts who have made creating new and interesting things their life's work. Featuring Jack Rhysider (Creator/host of Darknet Diaries), Faith McQuinn (creator of Boom, Margaritas & Doughnuts, and Apollyon), Tom Buck (YouTuber and content creator), and Sam Qurashi (Exploring the Psychology of Everything).

Guests:

• Jack Rhysider
• Faith McQuinn
• Tom Buck
• Sam Qurashi

Resources & Books:

• The No. 1 Habit of Highly Creative People
• Alchemy: The Dark Art and Curious Science of Creating Magic in Brands, Business, and Life
• Seven Techniques For Getting Creatively Unstuck
• The Unusual Habits Of 8 Famous Creative Minds
• The World's Most Creative People Have This Thing in Common
• You Are an Artist: Assignments to Spark Creation
• Transformational Security Awareness: What Neuroscientists, Storytellers, and Marketers Can Teach Us About Driving Secure Behaviors

Additional research by Nyla Gennaoui.

Music and Sound Effects by Blue Dot Sessions, Envato Elements, & Storyblocks.

Artwork by Chris Machowski @ https://www.RansomWear.net/ and Mia Rune @ https://www.MiaRune.com.

8th Layer Insights theme music composed and performed by Marcos Moscat @ https://www.GameMusicTown.com/

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Have you ever noticed how fundamental deception is to the human condition? Deception and forms of social engineering have been with us since the beginning of recorded history. And yet, it seems like we are just as vulnerable to it as ever. But now the stakes are higher because technology allows social engineers to deceive at scale.

This episode explores the psychology of deception, provides a foundation for understanding social engineering, offers a few mental models for exploration and exploitation, and discusses how we can prepare our mental defenses.

Guests:

• Rachael Tobac: (LinkedIn), CEO of SocialProof Security
• Chris Hadnagy: (LinkedIn); CEO of Social Engineer, LLC; Founder of Innocent Lives Foundation; Founder of Social-Engineer.org
• Lisa Forte: (LinkedIn); Partner at Red Goat Cyber Security; Co-Founder Cyber Volunteers 19
• George Finney: (LinkedIn); Chief Security Officer at Southern Methodist University; Founder of Well Aware Security

Notes & Resources:

• CSO Online article on Social Engineering
• OODA Loop
• Understanding Framing Effects
• More examples of Framing Effects
• Harvard Business Review article on the Principles of Persuasion
• A blog series I did on Deception (Part 1), (Part 2).
• PsychologyToday article on Social Engineering

Recommended Books (Amazon affiliate links):

• The Art of Deception: Controlling the Human Element of Security by Kevin Mitnick
• Ghost in the Wires: My Adventures as the World's Most Wanted Hacker by Kevin Mitnick
• Human Hacking: Win Friends, Influence People, and Leave Them Better Off for Having Met You by Chris Hadnagy
• Influence, New and Expanded: The Psychology of Persuasion by Robert Cialdini
• Pre-Suasion: A Revolutionary Way to Influence and Persuade by Robert Cialdini
• Practical Social Engineering: A Primer for the Ethical Hacker by Joe Gray
• Social Engineering: The Science of Human Hacking by Chris Hadnagy
• Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman.
• Transformational Security Awareness: What Neuroscientists, Storytellers, and Marketers Can Teach Us About Driving Secure Behaviors by Perry Carpenter
• Well Aware: Master the Nine Cybersecurity Habits to Protect Your Future by George Finney

Music and Sound Effects by Blue Dot Sessions & Storyblocks.

Artwork by Chris Machowski.

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