John Sileo

Savvy Cybersecurity in a World of Weaponized A.I.
Artificial Intelligence makes hacking your organization easier. Generative A.I. models evolved from ChatGPT give novice cybercriminals free tools to code malware, create adaptive ransomware, and author sophisticated phishing emails around the clock. Deepfake videos imitate people in power to manipulate your performance, profits and reputation while disinformation campaigns blur the lines of trust. And quantum computing is about to render current defenses nearly useless. Are you prepared? While technology is also part of the solution, it is not the primary answer to the quiz. In this keynote, cyber expert John Sileo leverages his experience of losing everything to cybercrime to bridge the security gap between human beings, technology and rapidly emerging threats.

The Hacker’s Blacklist: Critical Cybersecurity Threats & Solutions
To avoid becoming the next disastrous data-breach headline, you must foster a healthy culture of security that addresses both the technological and human elements of data defense. Change happens when you create energy and buy-in among the people who handle your mission-critical information. When it comes to the latest data security threats, you can’t possibly do everything—but you must do the right things. This cybersecurity training crash course forges a high-level, non-technical path through the often-confusing web of human decision making, cyber defense, mobile technology, IoT, social media and cloud computing—critical components of your success. This highly-interactive presentation builds on John’s experience losing everything to cybercrime, continues with a live hacking demo of an audience member’s smartphone and ends with an actionable Roadmap of Next Steps.

C-Level Cybersecurity: Building a Bulletproof Culture of Security
Security awareness starts at the top. Cybercriminals lust for your corporate data. Competitors bribe your disgruntled employee for a thumb drive full of confidential files. Social engineers exploit your executives’ social media profiles – a veritable “how-to” guide for network security access. Hackers “sniff” unprotected IP addresses and cloud traffic you didn’t even know existed. Cyber extortionists encrypt your mission-critical data and demand a ransom. In the meantime, you end up the next disastrous headline – reputation damaged, customers fleeing. Cybercrime and corporate data breach are a huge financial cost and legal liability to organizations. This does not have to be your fate. As a leader, you must learn to cope with a wide range of cyber threats with little to no technical background, limited resources and almost no lead time. The answer lies in your preparation and strength of culture. This presentation aims at leaders looking to imbue their culture with security strategies from the boardroom to the break room. John leverages his work with clients like the Pentagon and Schwab to help you develop a prioritized punch list of critical action items.

Think Like a Spy: Personal Identity Theft Protection
Identity theft training is no longer optional. Every move you make in the digital world can be tracked, hacked, recorded and exploited. Threat sources like smartphones, the Internet of Things (IoT), wearable technology, cloud computing, and social media have shifted the competitive landscape in favor of cyber-savvy users with strong identity theft training. Due to the power of personally identifying information (PII) and the rapid rate at which information is being compromised, we must leverage the very latest prevention tools to protect everything from our Social Security numbers to bank accounts, from passwords to confidential emails. John delivers these identity theft countermeasures in a highly interactive, disarmingly humorous presentation inspired by his personal loss of more than $300,000, his business and two years of his life to data theft. In Think Like a Spy, John focuses specifically on identity theft prevention tools that apply to every individual in your audience.

The Art of Human Hacking: Social Engineering Self Defense
Anti-fraud and social engineering training only work when your people experience it in person. Human beings can be the weakest link or the strongest competitive advantage in the security and profitability of your information assets. But people are the most commonly underutilized, least expensive weapon in your fight against cybercrime. Social Engineering Training too often fails because of Death by PowerPoint. Fraud training needs to be engaging and interactive to be effective. To put it simply, this session makes security fun, so that it sticks. In this continually-interactive session, John goes deep into social engineering tools and tricks used to separate you from your critical data. By building System-1, Reflex-Based Awareness around how tools like social media, trust shortcuts, ego-stroking, greed appeals, and cortisol flushing enable social engineers, John will dramatically reduce the human element of your threat footprint. By the time John finishes his entertaining closing story, your audience will be fully empowered to detect and deter social engineering, fraud, and deception.

The Heart of Good Cybersecurity Starts With the Human Beings that Help it Flourish—or Fail.
To avoid becoming the next disastrous data-breach headline, you must foster a healthy balance between computer security and human behavior. Cybersecurity isn’t just about spending more money on shinier technology – it’s about nudging your entire team beyond awareness and into action. It’s about creating energy and buy-in among the people who handle your mission-critical information every day. When it comes to the latest data security threats, you can’t possibly do everything—but you must do the right things.

This cybersecurity keynote crash course forges a high-level, non-technical path through the sometimes confusing web of cyber security threats, human decision making, network security, mobile technology, the Internet of Things, social media and cloud computing—critical components of your business success. This highly-interactive presentation begins with John’s story of losing everything to cybercrime and ends with an actionable roadmap of cyber defense next steps to protect the information that drives your organization.

What are Ransomware Attacks and Why Are They Exploding?
Let’s start with the basics: What is a ransomware attack, anyway? Put simply, a ransomware attack occurs when a type of malicious software, called malware, is downloaded onto any single computer in an organization’s network. Typically, this occurs when one employee unwittingly clicks on a malicious link and thrusts the company into attack-mode.

Once the malware has been downloaded, hackers are free to roam about your systems and wreak havoc unchecked. The culprit behind the ransomware attack often blocks access to data or every computer system in the business, usually by encrypting it, until a ransom has been paid. In the latest cases, hackers also threaten to publish the breached data if they don’t quickly receive the ransom. The prospect of destructive news headlines, reputation damage and fines for data exposure are often compelling enough to convince the victim company to pay up without seeking out the advice of a cybersecurity expert.

2021 proved to be not only the most dangerous, but also the most costly year on record for ransomware attacks. There were upwards of 700 million attempted ransomware attacks in 2021, a figure that beats last year’s totals by a whopping 134%. Curious as to what led to such a spike in ransomware attacks?

A blend of geopolitical and cybersecurity factors is to blame. For one, global organizations have become increasingly reliant on digital infrastructure, like the cloud-based computing that exploded in usage with the rise of remote work. Not to mention, today’s payment methods are simply more friendly to criminals — crypto currencies like Bitcoin are essentially untraceable once a ransom is paid, letting cybercriminals off the hook.

What You Should Know About Ransomware Attacks in Coming Months
Though you’re prepared with a basic definition of ransomware, vocabulary alone won’t exactly protect you in the case of cyber attack. The key is to move beyond awareness to action. To better prepare, here is some of what you can expect of ransomware attacks in 2022.