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Ethical Hacker Demonstration on 60 Minutes – Must Watch

This past Sunday, 60 Minutes in the U.S. aired a segment titled, “Ethical hacker scams 60 Minutes staffer to show how easy digital theft is.”

The thirteen-minute segment examines how easily senior citizens (and others) are duped over the phone by hackers.

But, what was most compelling was when the ethical hacker “… used an A.I. powered app to mimic my voice,” as the reporter said.

Watch the ethical hacker convince the reporter’s 60 Minutes assistant to tell her (the ethical hacker) the reporter’s passport number over the phone.

Scary stuff!

How did the hacker do it?

First, the hacker spoofed the assistant’s cell phone number (which she found online) so that when the assistant received the hacker’s call, the reporter’s first name appeared on the assistant’s caller I.D.

Second, the hacker used an A.I. mimicking app to sound like the reporter.

Rachel Tobac, CEO of Social Proof Security, conducted the demonstration that begins about eight minutes into the 60 Minutes report.

Highly recommend you watch this report and visit the Social Proof Security website.

Rachel Tobac can also be found on LinkedIn.

DisclaimerIPProbe.Global is a service to the professional IP community. While every effort has been made to check the information in this blog, we provide no guarantees or warranties, express or implied, regarding the content provided in IPProbe.Global. We disclaim all liability and responsibility for the qualification or accuracy of representations made by the contributors or for any disputes that may arise. It is the responsibility of the readers to independently investigate and verify the credentials of such persons and the accuracy and validity of the information provided by them. This blog is for general information only and is not intended to provide legal or other professional advice.

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Ron Alvarez is an IP investigations and protection consultant and writer in New York City. He is a former NYPD lieutenant where he investigated robbery, narcotics, internal affairs, and fine art theft cases. Ron has since coordinated the private investigation of international fraud and money laundering cases, as well as IP-related investigations and research involving the four pillars of IP: copyright, patents, trademarks, and trade secrets. Ron is a graduate of the FBI National Academy and earned a B.A. in Government and Public Administration from John Jay College of Criminal Justice in Manhattan. He has written a number of articles for various investigative publications, as well as published "The World of Intellectual Property (IP) Protection and Investigations" in November 2021.

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