How a 'Vibe Check' Stopped a Major Cyber Scam: Andy Piazza | Cyber Confessions

Can an emoji save a company from a scam? In this episode of Cyber Confessions, host Caitlin Sarian (@CybersecurityGirl) sits down with Andy Piazza, Senior Director of Threat Intelligence at Palo Alto Networks Unit 42. They dive into the reality that cybersecurity is about real people and their wildest stories, not just code.

Andy reveals a shocking Business Email Compromise (BEC) case where a fraudulent bank transfer was stopped,not by a corporate policy,but because a human noticed an email from a friend didn't have its usual "bubbly" energy, emojis, and exclamation marks. We also explore the "Wage Mold" phenomenon, where North Korean intelligence operators are successfully being hired as remote IT workers inside Western companies.

Inside this episode:
*The "Bubbly" Red Flag: Why a lack of "bubbly" energy in an email exposed a major scam that technical tools couldn't catch.
*The "Wage Mold" Threat: How nation-state actors are infiltrating companies as third-party contractors and full-time employees.
*The Danger of "Vibe Coding": Why the race to build apps with AI is creating security holes in enterprise software.
Jailbreaking LLMs: How scammers manipulate AI chatbots to dump sensitive customer and Salesforce data.

Connect with Caitlin Sarian:
Instagram/TikTok: @CybersecurityGirl
Website: http://cybersecuritygirl.com/

Timestamps

00:00 Intro
00:34 Wage Mold: North Korean operators getting hired in Western IT roles.
01:39 How a missing emoji stopped a cyber scam.
02:58 What happens when North Korea gets in?
04:54 The danger of Vibe Coding and unvetted AI applications.
09:37 How hackers Jailbreak LLMs to dump company data.
11:50 How can we protect ourselves?
17:15 How would you describe what you do to your parents?

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