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Tim Medin joins me on this podcast to talk about his journey to starting the pentesting company Red Siege. He gives advice to pentesters who might be thinking of going out on their own to weigh the pros and cons. From there we discuss some of the pentesting strategies that have emerged over the last couple years. And we then go on to discuss how Covid has changed the infosec landscape with folks working from home. You can say hi to Tim at @TimMedin on Twitter. Check out the videocast of this episode!

Daniel Creed shares stories of the meandering journey of his career from studying music in college to becoming the Global Director of Information Security at Transunion. He’s seen a lot of things in his day (including getting shot in Peru taking down nefarious bank executives amongst other fascinating stories). We talk about the role of human psychology in cyber crimes as well as pentesting. And we also talk about the Zero Trust model many companies are taking in this post Covid era where work from home has become ubiquitous. If you enjoyed hearing from Dan, feel free to connect with Dan on Linkedin. Check out the videocast of this podcast!

It’s not everyday you get the chance to chat with a courageous genius like HD Moore. In this episode, we talk about HD’s youth spent dumpster diving for computer parts and how those early days tinkering and building influenced the creation of Metasploit and what HD is up to now with Rumble. We talk about Project Sonar and all of the legal ramifications and threats that came as a result of that project. We also talk about an interesting paper he wrote in 2010 about monetizing Metaspoit and all of the hoops he had to jump through in that adventure. He’s really been one of the courageous architects of what the security industry has become. You can find him @HDMoore on Twitter and @hdm on github. Check out the videocast!

On this episode Amy Upthagrove and I discuss how to make music by programming it with Sonic-Pi. We review music code she created and if you want to watch what we’re referencing you can watch the episode here: https://youtu.be/cEo-jx1fJM8 . Sonic-Pi is a fascinating program and Amy shares with us the knowledge she’s learned. You can find Amy and her Field Guide for Sound we reference on her website https://amyupthagrove.com/. You can find her on twitter @amyupthagrove.

Dr. Sudesh Kannan AKA Dr. K joins me on this episode of the podcast to discuss hacking your brain in these uncertain times to find peace, joy and love. Dr. K has been practicing mindfulness and mediation for 30+ years and is the author of more than 25 publications and is co-author of the book “How to Beat the Heart Disease Epidemic among South Asians”. What is most amazing about Dr. K is his energetic and generous spirit. He meets you where you are and helps his students through their pain and anxiety through love and kindness. In this episode we discuss ethical hacking in the security world as an analogy to hacking your brain using meditation in these uncertain times. You can find a more detailed article about this podcast on Dr. K’s blog here. If you are interested in working with Dr. K on finding peace, joy and happiness, send him a message through his meditation-magic website. Check out the videocast of this episode at https://youtu.be/aKPz8wDx1_g

Beaches, Bunni3, and Johnny Xmas from Radio Statler join me on this episode of the podcast. We talk about Radio Statler’s journey since they started the radio program at HOPE as well as the state of cons during covid. We journey to the depths of ocean waters to discuss dolphin mating habits. We talk a lot about what to expect from Radio Statler this year. For 9 days (that’s 216 hours) Radio Statler will be hosting their radio show during the virtual HOPE conference. Tune in at radio.hope.net between July 25 – August 2, 2020. Follow Radio Statler on Twitter for updates. Check out the VideoCast of this podcast!

On this episode, I talk with Hamilton Souther, an ayahuasquero (ayahuasca shaman) talking to us from the jungle of Peru. I visited Hamilton’s Blue Morpho Ayahuasca retreat in Iquitos, Peru back in 2008. Hamilton tells his story about how he came to the jungle of Peru and found his ayahuasca apprenticeship, the tools of the ayahuasquero, and tales from the spirit world. We talk a lot about consciousness hacking and tools you can use to find your spirit guides to find your path and hack your own consciousness. You can follow Hamilton on Facebook and check out Blue Morpho Worldwide Community Facebook Page to immerse yourself in the community. Check out Blue Morpho at BlueMorphoretreats.world and Source Independent Entertainment’s Youtube Channel.

On this episode, Janine Ayana Watkins AKA Winner joins me to discuss her new book Sonder Lives: Here Lies Sonder Light. It’s a fascinating sci-fi novel about an amnesiac Marsean who is piecing together her memories about her mission when she came to Arth. In this episode, we talk about the writing process, inspiration, some hacks on how to write a novel, some of the creative satiric tools she uses to play with language to get the reader to think about things in a new way. We reflect on some of the concepts in the book in light of the Black Lives Matter movement. You can follow Janine Watkins on Instagram @ninja_9ine. We also discuss the notion of astral projection as she was playing with telepathy as a communication aspect and I mentioned the Monroe Institute, an organization focused on helping people navigate astral realms. I was searching for the name Joseph McMoneagle a Monroe institute contributor, who Richard Thieme mentioned on Episode 7 of the CypherCon Podcast in regards to an interview he did with Joseph and his contribution in using remote viewing for military operations and UFO exploration. VideoCast of this Episode 36 can be found at https://youtu.be/yTtyJZzkF20

On this episode, I interview my good friend and journalist, Geoff Davidian about his most recent article When the Truth is a Lie, an Image is an Ethical Selfie. We talk a bit about this article and the state of journalism today as well as his work with Project Censored. Then we dive into how to acknowledge our own programming. Geoff challenges us to hack our consciousness using Krishnamurti’s framework of observing where our thoughts come from and acknowledge that our thoughts mostly arise from programming we received our whole lives.

Trenton Ivey and Sean Peterson did it! They created what hackers have been talking about for years – the first VR Con (that we know of)! This conversation blew my mind and I hope it blows yours away too! It’s been Trenton’s dream for a long time to do VR Con and when COVID hit and all the cons were cancelling or going video, Trenton knew this was the time to make it happen. When he told Sean about his vision, Sean was all in and they discovered Alt Space VR  and immediately met event organizers and knew that it would be a viable platform to create a Con-like experience in VR while allowing a 2D experience for those who don’t have a headset. This podcast will take you through their journey in ramping up a 1500 person Con in a matter of weeks. You’ll learn about the worlds available in Alt Space and how they incorporated it all to have speakers, spaces to meet people, play bags and basketball, have after party concerts and much more. Welcome to the OASIS. If you want to be a part of this community they’re doing a monthly meetup – check out their Discord and Infosec OASIS website for details. You can say hi to them on twitter @infosecoasis, @SeanThePeterson, and @TrentonIvey. Check out the VideoCast at https://youtu.be/i8DDVFrefJ4

On this episode I have the honor of chatting with int eighty, half of the hip hop duo DualCore (dualcoremusic.com). We talk about the music making process, a few songs from their latest album Downtime, how he went from a hacker to a hacker rapper headlining DEFCON parties and different CONs everywhere, and the inspiration that led to the hit hacker track Hack All the Things. Find DualCore music on Spotify, iTunes, Google Play, Bandcamp or wherever you get your music. Say hi to them on Twitter @dualcoremusic.

On this episode I chat with Mike Kavka AKA Shecky on the state of security, hiring for security, as well as trying to get your foot in the door if you want to get into security. As bonus you’ll also hear the story about how Mike became Shecky. You can find all things Shecky on Twitter @siliconshecky or on his website siliconshecky.com. 

Today is April 5, two days after CypherCon would have normally ended had it not been due to the COVID-19 Pandemic. Michelle Meas, an infectious disease researcher at Berkley, joins me on this episode of the podcast to discuss all things COVID-19. We talk about what the virus is and the differences between SARS CoV-1 vs SARS CoV-2. We discuss possible treatments and vaccines for the virus as well as the the basic reproductive rate. We talk about what regular folks can do to help out – HINT: STAY AT HOME, you are making a difference. Michelle gave her first talk at CypherCon about Biological weapons, so naturally I asked her if this could be a biological weapon – tune in to find out! Prefer watching this on Video? check out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Z06thLN2yk

EvilMog, of HashCat blesses the CypherCon Podcast with his holy Church of WiFi presence. We talk a wide range of shenanigans he’s involved in from the inception of the Church of WiFi to running pyrotechnics at Burning Man events. He’s one of these people that sets his sights on something and then figures it out, becomes an expert at it, and then executes crazy shit. He’ll be giving a talk at CypherCon 5 about how MS-RPRN Print Spooler service can lead to local admin that can have dire consequences if someone uses it to get into your network and how to defend yourself against it.

Keynote Speaker of CypherCon 5 – 2020, Alyssa Miller, joins me on this podcast to talk about applications security, threat modeling, and imposter syndrome amongst other topics. We talk about some of the best practices around applications security – especially when using open source tools that may have unknown exploits. We dig into vulnerability to discuss imposter syndrome and how to overcome it. Stick around for the end of the podcast where she gives a teaser about her talk on Deep Fakes around elections and the impact on our democracy in general.

Chris and Kris Silvers of CG Silvers Consulting join me on this episode of the podcast and we talk about social engineering amongst other topics. This year (2020) they’ll host the OSINT CTF at Cyphercon. In this CTF you’ll put your internet stalking skills to the test to find volunteer targets based on public information you find on the internet. If you’d like to join this exciting challenge, please sign up prior to CypherCon. Feel free to say hi to them @cgsilvers on twitter. A few other projects and organizations we mention include: The Innocent Lives Foundation, SE Village, Mental Health Hackers, and Hacker Mental Health.

Addie and Whiskr (the Tymkrs)are a couple of amazingly creative people who make the wicked awesome interactive badges at CypherCon. Tune in to get a whiff of what the CypherCon 5.0 Badge smells like. We discuss the inspiration behind prior badges, what it was like to do the DEFCON badges, and how they design the badges for interactive experiences. Addie talks about how she created a device to teach folks about the heart rhythms. When Goetzman discovered the device, he contacted them and asked if they could make a badge for CypherCon 1.0 and the rest is history. We discuss the A511C phone company and if you want to see that get connected to the internet, please check out their project and donate to their patreon.

Robert Reif is a brilliant password cracker. I learn all sorts of stuff about cracking passwords that I never knew about. In this episode we talk about how Robert’s summertime hacker hobby (involves a Wi-Fi pentesting stroller) helped him discover vulnerabilities in wireless routers. We’ve all heard of password best practices, but on this podcast we get the opinion of a world class password cracker. We also discuss Robert’s adventures in DEFCON’s Crack Me if You Can competition. He talks about how with little comparative resources, his team CynoSure Prime was able to stay neck and neck with large teams with a ton of corporate resources at their disposal. We recorded this a few weeks before the competition in summer of 2019, and this year they came in second place right behind Hashcat – you can see from this graph here how they were neck and neck the whole time. You can say hello to Robert at @winxp5421

I enjoyed getting to know Pocket on this podcast. He’s a fun loving social engineering kinda guy. He talks about getting kicked out of BSides to working for BSides. We discuss the DEFCON side con ShabbotCon  that he and his brothers started so that Jews who attend DEFCON have a space to recognize the Sabbath with others in their overlapping communities. We chat about VR, swing dancing, startups, and everything else. You can follow pocket at @p0cket on Twitter.

In this episode I have the pleasure of speaking with Sydney Swaine – Simon, founder of the non-profit Neurotechx, XPRIZE advisor, AI Commons partner and all around interesting human. We talk about his involvement at the Biohacking Village at DEFCON, which leads us to an interesting case study of identifying vulnerabilities in IoT sex toys – who would have thought? We discuss applications of brain computer interfaces and his interest in AI.