Silicon Prairie Cyber Services' Blog

Buckle up, and prepare yourself for the dark side of technological progress because AI is no exception to the rule. Imagine a world where scammers wield the power of AI to create mind-boggling deepfakes, exposing you in compromising situations. These sextortion scams have reached a whole new level of maliciousness. Let me shed some light on two prevalent ways these scams are executed: Picture this: someone close to you possesses naked pictures of you and shamelessly uses them to manipulate you into doing something you'd rather avoid. It's a terrifying thought, especially considering the perpetrator's familiarity with you. OR Picture receiving a random email that boldly claims to have a treasure trove of your intimate photos. Your disbelief drives you to click the link, only to realize you've fallen into a trap. As a result, your online accounts and even your beloved devices become vulnerable to compromise. I worked several sextortion cases in the FBI; some were your ave

 They say being a Jane of all Trades is a bad thing, but I have to disagree. This phrase is typically used to describe someone competent in a wide range of skills but not an expert in any one. When used positively, it describes a versatile and adaptable person. When used negatively, it describes a person who isn’t much good at anything.   If I weren’t a Jane of all Trades, I never would have discovered vital evidence in a terrorism case in the FBI. The problem was that the forensic software didn’t recognize hundreds of files and didn’t have file extensions. What could they be? Checking for encryption and steganography and finding none, I had to continue investigating. Due to the size, I wondered if they could be pictures or videos in a new format. Thanks to my photo and video editing hobby, I began tinkering, got the files to open, and discovered many videos containing key evidence. If I didn’t know the different ways to manipulate photos and videos, I might never have viewed the c

Have you heard the song “Victoria’s Secret” by Jax? I love this song not just because it’s catchy but because you can use it to teach about       Body image        Deception       Catfishing        Phishing email        And even Digital Forensics   The song discusses body image issues and the pressure to look good, but then she discovers the secret. What is Victoria’s secret? “Dude, Victoria was made up by a dude!”   Let’s talk about deception. Deception is rampant on the Internet. It’s used in catfishing scams, phishing emails, and millions of other online scams. Deception is used to gain your trust and get you to do things you probably wouldn’t do when you know the scammer’s secret.   Would you have clicked on that link in the email and entered your password if you knew it was a phishing email? Would your Grandma have bought a green dot gift card to pay her electric bill over the phone if she knew that the power company doesn’t call you to demand payment? Wo

  Got catfished? Do this. Break all contact. If you send them a message about ending it, they may pursue you more heavily vs. suddenly ending all contact. Report the profile on the social media platform Report them to the organization and dating site you made contact on If you lost money, report it to your local police department Report it to  https://ic3.gov

Ah, Valentine’s day. The holiday of love is quickly approaching. All this love in the air can only mean one thing, catfishing scams are ramping up. What's catfishing? Fraudsters try to take your money by pretending to be a love interest or playing on your emotions. It normally starts off as a direct message on social media or email, but it even happens on dating websites. A catfish scam can quickly ruin your Valentine’s Day. Not only did you get tricked, emotionally kicked in the gut, you also probably lost a lot of cash. Avoid heartache by watching out for these catfishing red flags: A new social media profile with very few friends They never want to show their face on video or meet in person Super fast expressions of love Sudden Major Expenses - and they ask you to help fund it They were going to finally meet you in person, but now this super horrible thing suddenly happened and they can't. They'll ask you for money to fix their car or pay that doctor's bill!

  Data Privacy week is January 23 – 28, 2023.  What are you doing to increase data privacy awareness in your business? What about at home? If privacy isn’t one of the topics you include in your current cybersecurity awareness program, this is a great reminder to get it added. What’s the point? Privacy is more than an abstract idea that businesses need to worry about; it’s something you as an individual need to be concerned with too. As this week approaches, I want you to think about: Trading privacy for convenience. We ALL do this. That free app, you're trading your data and privacy for the convenience of getting to use that app for free. When an app asks for permission to access some additional info on your phone, do you read what it’s asking for? Or do you simply click yes and move on? You could give away too much information. If that app is asking for too much access, it’s probably best to uninstall that app and save yourself some grief later on. Learn how to manage your privacy