How Hacks Happen
Many Worlds Productions
Hacks, scams, cyber crimes, and other shenanigans explored and explained. Presented by your friendly neighborhood cybersecurity gal Michele Bousquet.
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Top 10 How Hacks Happen Episodes
Goodpods has curated a list of the 10 best How Hacks Happen episodes, ranked by the number of listens and likes each episode have garnered from our listeners. If you are listening to How Hacks Happen for the first time, there's no better place to start than with one of these standout episodes. If you are a fan of the show, vote for your favorite How Hacks Happen episode by adding your comments to the episode page.
Equifax Breach
How Hacks Happen
05/15/21 • 71 min
When consumer reporting agency Equifax was breached in 2017, the records of over 140 million people (more than half the adults in the USA!) were stolen. Years later, we take a closer look at the mistakes Equifax's security team made, how hackers leveraged a compromised Equifax web page to gain access to logins, passwords, and dozens of additional databases, and how they got the stolen data out of Equifax's network through a flawed router setup. We wrap up what you can do to keep yourself safe from identity theft as a result of this and other breaches.
Resources for this episode:
- Website where you can check if your identity was compromised in the Equifax breach
- Business Insider: Literally everyone should be thinking about suing Equifax. September 2017.
- U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Government Reform: The Equifax Data Breach. December 2018.
- CHINESE PLA MEMBERS, 54th RESEARCH INSTITUTE - The fellas charged with the Equifax breach, now on the FBI's wanted list.
- United States Government Accountability Office Report to Congressional Requesters
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Social Media Smoke: Andrew Tate and The Real World
How Hacks Happen
04/16/25 • 26 min
Why is Andrew Tate so popular with young men? With his sports cars and his obvious wealth, Tate has built a significant following out of his admittedly silly 'alpha male' rants. But behind the flashy lifestyle lies a web of controversy, including serious criminal charges. From promising young men financial independence and all the women they can handle, to the humiliations of a pro-trans hack and getting slapped down by a teenage girl on Twitter, the wild world of Andrew Tate is about as crazy as it gets.
Resources
- The Guardian: Inside the violent, misogynistic world of TikTok’s new star, Andrew Tate
- Daily Dot: Hackers breach Andrew Tate’s online university—obtain chat logs and leak data on 800,000 users
- Pro-trans rights hackers target Andrew Tate’s The Real World website
- Andrew Tate’s University Hacked: Chat Logs and Leaked Data of 800,000 Users
- Forbes: Andrew Tate’s Online University Hacked—800,000 Users Exposed
- Rolling Stone Magazine: Greta Thunberg Doesn’t Care About Andrew Tate’s Cars — But Has an Idea of What They’re Overcompensating For
- Andrew Tate / Greta Thunberg Tweet War Part 1
- Andrew Tate / Greta Thunberg Tweet War Part 2
- BBC News: 'Boys formed Andrew Tate club in school' - teacher
- New York Times: ‘Brainwashing a Generation’: British Schools Combat Andrew Tate’s Views
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NFTs, Fraud, and Crazy Cats
How Hacks Happen
04/03/24 • 17 min
What is an NFT, and why would anyone want to buy one? There are lots of reasons why someone might buy a certified JPG or other NFT, but there's no guarantee your NFT will increase in value or even retain the value you paid for it. In this episode, host Michele Bousquet talks about different kinds of NFTs on the market, how they compare to physical art items, and how fraudsters have found a rich source of free funds in NFT theft.
Sources:
- Joey Mars website
- Investors sue Sotheby's, Justin Bieber, Hilton among others as NFT prices crash
- Seth Green’s Bored Ape NFT Got “Kidnapped"
- NFT Price Floor - Bored Ape Yacht Club
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I Got Scammed! The White Van Scam
How Hacks Happen
09/27/23 • 9 min
Well, it finally happened: I got scammed! I bought a high-end projector at a price that was too good to be true, because it wasn't true. Don't fall for the White Van scam!
White van speaker scam on Wikipedia
The Art and Math of Cryptography at Amazon.com
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F12 is Not a Crime! Except in Missouri.
How Hacks Happen
05/24/23 • 9 min
In October 21, 2021, Josh Renaud, a reporter for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch newspaper, privately alerted a government authority that their website had vulnerabilities. In response, the governor of Missouri, Michael L. Parson, brought charges against the journalist for "hacking." This story would be hilarious if it wasn't true. Update: In July 2022, Josh Renaud was awarded The National Press Club press freedom award for his work.
- Get the "F12 IS NOT A CRIME" T-shirt
- Original St. Louis Post-Dispatch article: Missouri teachers' Social Security numbers at risk on state agency's website (requires subscription to view)
- Arstechnica article: Emails show what happened before Missouri gov. falsely called journalist a “hacker”
- Governor Parson's Facebook post - Enjoy the comments.
- Missouri State Highway Patrol report
- Fundraising video: Gov. Parson holds fake news accountable. Enjoy the comments.
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The Refund Scam: How it Works
How Hacks Happen
12/16/22 • 9 min
You get an email telling you you've been billed for a product you never ordered, and when you call for a refund, you somehow you get an excess refund and have to send back the difference. Find out how scammers manipulate people into sending them "excess refund money" from a nonexistent refund, and what you can do to keep it from happening to others. Shout-out to YouTuber Kitboga for showing me how this scam works.
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Tor Browser and the Dark Web
How Hacks Happen
10/26/22 • 18 min
What is Tor? In this episode, we demystify the Tor browser and how it relates to the Surface Web, the Deep Web, and the Dark Web. Maybe you want to use Tor, and maybe you don't. But in any case you'll know what it is, and will be able to decide if it's right for you.
Download the Tor browser at the official site
A great read about the dark web at Wired.com
Get the T-shirt! Fly your Tor flag.
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TVU: Staying Safe Through Entertainment
How Hacks Happen
03/04/22 • 17 min
What we can we learn about hacks, scams, and fraud from TV shows and movies? Plenty, as it turns out. Fictional shows, documentaries, podcasts, and other types of entertainment are a treasure trove of knowledge. Don't discount the education you can get about scams, con games, legal proceedings, police procedure, and other aspects of safety, all while being thoroughly entertained.
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The Tinder Swindler: 7 Red Flags
How Hacks Happen
02/20/22 • 17 min
The Tinder Swindler is a fascinating Netflix documentary about a serial romance scammer who took each of his "girlfriends" for more than $100,000 each. In this episode, we look at what we can learn from The Tinder Swindler, going beyond the easy "blame the victim" mentality to show how effective such scams can be, and to point out the individual red flags you should watch out for in any new romance.
Resources for this episode:
- The Tinder Swindler documentary on Netflix
- Tinder Dating Safety Tips
- GoFundMe for Tinder Swindler victims
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Ashley Madison Breach | Replay
How Hacks Happen
11/28/24 • 55 min
With Netflix shining attention on the victims of the 2015 Ashley Madison breach, we're running a replay of our own coverage from 2021 that gets into the dark underbelly that Netflix skipped: lies Ashley Madison told about their services (and their CEO's fidelity), and blackmail attempts from enterprising hacker types. We also put forth evidence that the hacker, who was never caught, is most likely Canadian and a woman.
Resources
- Impact Team Pastebin notice, July 20, 2015: https://pastebin.com/ZGXmk8R9
- Krebs on Security report on breach: https://krebsonsecurity.com/2015/07/online-cheating-site-ashleymadison-hacked/
- Suicides attributed to Ashley Madison breach:
- https://money.cnn.com/2015/09/08/technology/ashley-madison-suicide/
- https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-34044506
- https://toronto.citynews.ca/2013/11/10/woman-hurt-typing-fake-profiles-for-dating-site-20m-suit-alleges/
- https://krebsonsecurity.com/2015/08/ashleymadison-500k-bounty-for-hackers/
- https://krebsonsecurity.com/2015/08/who-hacked-ashley-madison/
- https://krebsonsecurity.com/2015/08/was-the-ashley-madison-database-leaked/
- https://grahamcluley.com/ashley-madisons-leaked-database-available-download-read-this/
- https://grahamcluley.com/ashley-madison-fake/
- https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/the-strange-rise-and-sudden-fall-of-noel-biderman-the-former-ceo-of-ashley-madison/
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FAQ
How many episodes does How Hacks Happen have?
How Hacks Happen currently has 64 episodes available.
What topics does How Hacks Happen cover?
The podcast is about News, Security, Infosec, True Crime, Tech News, Hacking, Podcasts, Cyber Security and Cybersecurity.
What is the most popular episode on How Hacks Happen?
The episode title 'Sneaky Phone Downloads' is the most popular.
What is the average episode length on How Hacks Happen?
The average episode length on How Hacks Happen is 25 minutes.
How often are episodes of How Hacks Happen released?
Episodes of How Hacks Happen are typically released every 11 days, 23 hours.
When was the first episode of How Hacks Happen?
The first episode of How Hacks Happen was released on May 15, 2021.
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