Technoculture-on-EuroScientist #8 Patrick Wheeler

Patrick Wheeler is an expert and educator in cybersecurity. He is also the co-founder of Cyberwayfinder, a training program in cybersecurity based in Brussels and Luxembourg: https://www.cyberwayfinder.com

During this interview, we touch on different topics. Below, a selection of questions, quotes, and ideas emerged during the interview. The complete list on: http://podcast.federicabressan.com/pa...

2:02 Patrick talks about #spyware and malicious software that people close to you may install on your phone to collect data about you (for court cases, etc.)

4:24 As we go to a more #digitalHome, the ability to secure our devices (Alexa, etc.) and to lock out people who previously had access to these devices (e.g. spouses) is increasingly difficult and people don't necessarily know how to do that.

4:46 Patrick mentions Tall Poppy, an organization that "helps your employees stay ahead of the online threats that harm their personal lives through security awareness training and compassionate care in case of incidents." See: https://tallpoppy.io

5:10 Patrick mentions the NSO spyware of the NSO Group, that was allegedly running on Jamal Khashoggi's phone at the time he was killed: https://www.nsogroup.com

5:45 Right now, there is a requirement for all software and hardware components sold in Russia to be pre-loaded with specific applications. A similar thing is going on in China, where a quite pervasive #monitoring State is being built, where "everyone is monitored at all times."

6:15 We need to ask ourselves how are we building the kind of #cyberfuture we want to inhabit.

6:27 It's a good thing that Europe is having a public discussion around privacy, with the #GDPR and similar initiatives.

7:03 Will fatally the law always be one step behind the state-of-the-art cybercrime? Patrick says: yes and no.

7:38 Crime is universal, it has been around long before binary came around. We are not coming up with new types of crime, although some nuances we have not seen before.

7:53 Humans commit crime, the computers not so much.

8:01 Crime is now being disintermediated with space, which means that physical proximity is no longer necessary to hurt another person.

8:32 Ill intended people in the cyberspace benefit from a sense of #pseudoanonimity.

9:02 This is one of our biggest challenges: the build the internet we want to live on.

9:30 In order for someone to install spyware on my phone, is it necessary that they get access to my phone for period of time, or can it be installed by myself without me knowing it, for example through a fake link? "Depends on how much you want to pay."

11:07 The question is always: who is "#they?"

11:55 #deepWeb #darkWeb

12:26 #europol #interpol

15:28 What we need to understand to be good #cybercitizens is a fair body of knowledge and a fair amount of practice, and it takes an investment of time.

16:36 Patrick mentions the website "Have I been pwned?," a data breach search website run by Australian web security expert @Troy Hunt, that allows non-technical users to see if their personal information has been compromised: https://haveibeenpwned.com

19:18 I test my personal gmail account on the "Have I been pwned?" website, and Patrick explains the result.

20:21 Patrick and I go through the list of websites that at some point have "lost" the combination of my email and password, like #Dropbox and #LinkedIn.

20:35 "You didn't do anything wrong:" we didn't go on a bad website, we're talking about major platforms like LinkedIn, normal places for people to be. Patrick recalls that recently even #Yahoo got hacked.

20:48 Patrick explains the reason why you shouldn't use the same combination of mail and password on many websites.

21:22 How does Troy Hunt know about these breaches? Is there a log of lost passwords somewhere? Is it up to date?

22:06 "The criminals are very social," one of the best quotes from this interview, along with "criminals are people too" (right after).

24:42 The best person to talk to about the security of your gmail account is #Google.

25:09 Patrick talks about two-factor authentication, and how you should not only think of your sensitive data, but also that of the people that trust you with their sensitive data.

26:26 Politically exposed people and how Google handles their security.

29:30 #cryptoparties

30:02 Cybersecurity after death, or our "digital life after we're gone": how should I secure my digital life?

30:35 Patrick mentions the book "A Beginner's Guide to the End: Practical Advice for Living Life and Facing Death" by BJ Miller (https://www.amazon.com/Beginners-Guid...)

32:11 Patrick tells the story of his cat's Facebook account.

33:50 After I die in the real world, I keep existing in the digital world. Can people hack into dead people's accounts, and what are the consequences?