Beau Friedlander:
Adam.
Adam Levin:
Beau.
Beau Friedlander:
Travis?
Travis Taylor:
Yes.
Beau Friedlander:
Yo man, listen. You really bummed me out, Travis.
Travis Taylor:
Yeah, I hear that a lot.
Beau Friedlander:
No, for real. Something specific. Adam would never have done this to me. I just didn’t want him to think that I wasted my time as much as I do, which is…
Adam Levin:
Wait, Travis, you have something new for me to figure out what to do to Beau so I can make him crazy?
Travis Taylor:
I have a pretty long list, actually.
Adam Levin:
Okay.
Beau Friedlander:
Gosh.
Beau Friedlander:
I want to hear, but maybe this is part of it.
Beau Friedlander:
I sent him GamePigeon, which is an app, an add-on, for SMS messaging. And you can play Battleship on it. So, we could actually go back and forth and we could scream, you sank my battleship, which is fun.
Beau Friedlander:
So, I sent it to Travis. And he, literally, was like, if you ever saw the Howard Stern movie where they throw the frisbee at the…
Adam Levin:
Private Parts?
Beau Friedlander:
And he throws the frisbee at the guy and it just hits him in the head because he doesn’t know how to catch it. That’s…
Adam Levin:
That would be me.
Travis Taylor:
A small bit of background here. I got a link to an app with a one word text, from Beau, on a Sunday night, that just said, “Play.”
Adam Levin:
Awkward.
Travis Taylor:
Yeah.
Beau Friedlander:
Why?
Travis Taylor:
So, given the number of topics we talk about on this show, I would’ve thought that maybe that would be a red flag for most people.
Beau Friedlander:
Did you look to see what it was?
Travis Taylor:
Yeah. It was an app with no real description that I could see.
Beau Friedlander:
It’s super fun. Here’s the deal. So, my kids all play this thing. And I was watching my daughter. This was like in Miracle on 34th Street, if you ever saw it. Santa Claus is watching the girl take her chewing gum out, and he’s like, what’s that? I’ve never seen that before. It’s chewing gum. He gets it in this beard and it’s all very cute and funny, but it was my daughter playing Battleship with a friend of hers via SMS text. I thought that was cool, so I started playing with her. And now I’m a very happy person and you’re missing out, Travis.
Travis Taylor:
Yeah. So, for a little bit more context here, when you click on the link to the app, it doesn’t even have the same name as the link ad on it.
Adam Levin:
You clicked on the link?
Beau Friedlander:
He did, so you lose.
Travis Taylor:
I clicked on the link, which took me to an app, which I did not install.
Adam Levin:
Oops.
Travis Taylor:
But it doesn’t even have a screenshot of the Battleship game on the screenshots of the app itself. Let’s see.
Beau Friedlander:
Oh my gosh. The amount of sand in your underwear is what’s making you so un-fun.
Travis Taylor:
I do not like sand in my underwear, so that’s a valid theory.
Adam Levin:
I do not like green eggs and ham. I do not like sand in my…
Beau Friedlander:
So Adam, would you have done it if I had sent that to you? Or would you have called me have been like, what are you doing?
Adam Levin:
I would’ve called you, because if I didn’t call you, you would send me a text going, “Schmuck.”
Beau Friedlander:
Okay. Now, had I gotten Adam on this game and we were playing it happily right now, and you challenged me, which you did. And then, I said, but dude, it’s been on the Apple App Store for several years, since 2016. What do you say then, Einstein?
Travis Taylor:
No, I looked it up and also saw that it had a bunch of reviews. Even still, if I get a link to an app without any context, I’m not installing it.
Beau Friedlander:
All right. Fair enough. So, did you say green eggs and ham?
Adam Levin:
I totally said green eggs and ham because our next guest has a show called Green Eggs and Dan. He’s an actor, comedian. He’s hosted the Food Network show, Raid the Fridge. Dan Ahdoot.
Beau Friedlander:
Very nice to meet you, Mr. Dan.
Dan Ahdoot:
How are you guys? I am very excited about this.
Beau Friedlander:
Do we know how to say Dan’s last name? I don’t.
Adam Levin:
Ahdoot.
Beau Friedlander:
You don’t?
Beau Friedlander:
I’m sorry…
Adam Levin:
And you know, his slogan, Ahdoot is a real hoot.
Beau Friedlander:
Ahdoot.
Beau Friedlander:
I’m sorry, dude. I apologize.
Adam Levin:
Beau, you’re going to get the boot for messing with Ahdoot.
Beau Friedlander:
I don’t Ahdoot.
Beau Friedlander:
Sorry.
Travis Taylor:
I apologize for them both.
Dan Ahdoot:
Thank you, Travis. I was waiting for you to jump in and put an end to this connery.
Adam Levin:
Welcome to What the Hack, a show about hackers, scammers, and the people they go after. I’m Adam Levin, cyber [inaudible 00:04:21] D.
Beau Friedlander:
I’m Beau Friedlander. I am cyber anchovy.
Travis Taylor:
And I’m Travis, cyber dishwasher.
Beau Friedlander:
That’s messed up.
Beau Friedlander:
So, where are you Dan?
Dan Ahdoot:
I am in Los Angeles right now. I’m in my bedroom. I don’t know how detailed you want it. Sitting…
Adam Levin:
Well, okay, now this is… Yeah. All right.
Dan Ahdoot:
Yeah. I don’t know how salacious a podcast this is.
Beau Friedlander:
I was going for geography, but bedroom’s good. And what do you do in your bedroom… No. What do you do in LA, Dan?
Dan Ahdoot:
So, I’m a comedian. I’m a writer. I’m an actor. I host a show on the Food Network called Raid the Fridge. I act on a couple shows. A little bit of everything. I’m in the show Cobra Kai right now. You guys can see me in that.
Adam Levin:
And you have that wonderful podcast, Green Eggs and Dan.
Dan Ahdoot:
I do have a wonderful podcast. Thank you, Adam. Yes. It’s a food podcast where I interview celebrities based on a picture of what’s inside their actual fridge. It’s a very fun podcast.
Beau Friedlander:
So, I actually wouldn’t mind an example. Right now, in my refrigerator, I have a few of those Spanish anchovies with garlic and some bad oil.
Adam Levin:
Ew.
Beau Friedlander:
And then, I have some hummus.
Travis Taylor:
Yeah. Gross.
Beau Friedlander:
Guys, I’m talking here. We have some hummus. And I have like three or four Marcona almonds. What can I make?
Dan Ahdoot:
I mean, I love all that, actually. One of my favorite snacks… And I know you guys are anchovy haters, but anchovies are, A, one of the most delicious foods ever. And B, 90% of the time that you’ve had it, you haven’t known that you had it, and you were like, why is this dish so delicious? And the answer is usually anchovies.
Beau Friedlander:
Bingo.
Dan Ahdoot:
Especially in pasta sauces because they melt in. You don’t even see them. There’s no fishy flavor.
Beau Friedlander:
If they can make it right.
Adam Levin:
Well, this show, because it’s cyber, we talk about fishing a lot, so anchovies, I get.
Dan Ahdoot:
Yeah.
Travis Taylor:
Yeah, yeah. Anchovies also ruin a pizza.
Beau Friedlander:
No…
Travis Taylor:
As far as I’m concerned.
Dan Ahdoot:
Well, anchovies on a pizza are a little aggressive in terms of the anchovy. You’re having a straight anchovy. I love anchovies on their own. And Beau, I would say, for you, the snack that I usually make when I have nothing else in my fridge, which it seems like you have nothing going right now, is I usually have some bread. I will toast some bread. I always have butter. Put a big slab of butter on, and then just put raw anchovies on top of that. Oh my God. Nothing, to me, is better than that.
Adam Levin:
Beau and I used to share an office in New York City. We are now separated by the entire country because Beau would do things like he would fry cheese, which I love cheese, but people were running, screaming out of the…
Beau Friedlander:
It’s called toasted cheese.
Adam Levin:
He would also walk in with just a pat of butter and eat the pat of butter.
Beau Friedlander:
Good butter.
Adam Levin:
Not to mention, take almonds, and just… The word wasn’t drizzle, the word would be, drown them with oil.
Dan Ahdoot:
I mean, this all sounds… I’m team Beau here.
Beau Friedlander:
Team Beau.
Dan Ahdoot:
I feel like Beau and I… I’m into strong flavors. And I feel like Beau is as well.
Beau Friedlander:
I’m going to tell you something now…
Adam Levin:
That was definitely a strong flavor.
Beau Friedlander:
Listen.
Beau Friedlander:
I resemble that comment. Now, listen, I will tell you one thing, that Travis, you need to shut up right now because… No, and I mean that in a nice way, because I’m trying not to…
Dan Ahdoot:
Poor Travis hasn’t said anything.
Beau Friedlander:
Aw.
Travis Taylor:
Yeah.
Beau Friedlander:
But he said something. He did. Travis, what did you say about anchovies and pizza?
Travis Taylor:
They’re an abomination. It should be illegal.
Beau Friedlander:
Okay. Now, I’m going to tell you that I’m going to take you one of these days to a place called Best Pizza in Brooklyn. And Best Pizza makes a grandma slice that is the most vibrant thing on earth. And the reason, I asked him. The reason is, he puts a tiny little bit of anchovies in the sauce before he…
Dan Ahdoot:
Wow.
Beau Friedlander:
Right? And it makes it bright as can be. And you’d never know it was in there. Never.
Travis Taylor:
Yeah. That’s totally fun. You can incorporate it. I know it has the umami flavor and all that other sort of thing, but just straight anchovies taste like…
Beau Friedlander:
Salt.
Travis Taylor:
Yeah. It tastes like fishy salt. And it’s just too much.
Beau Friedlander:
Dan, help me out here. Come on.
Adam Levin:
It’s kind of like caviar.
Beau Friedlander:
No.
Adam Levin:
Eaten by the Pomeranians, or whatever.
Beau Friedlander:
Dan, Dan. Go get them.
Dan Ahdoot:
Look, I feel like, here’s the thing. You have to slowly get Travis on board. It’s kind of like when people love a frappucino or a very sugary, milky coffee, and you want to end up weaning them off so they can have really good coffee.
Travis Taylor:
Don’t me you put anchovies in your frappuccinos.
Dan Ahdoot:
No, you don’t put it in.
Travis Taylor:
Okay.
Dan Ahdoot:
You just swim it through and then pull it out.
Beau Friedlander:
All right. I’m done. That’s gross.
Travis Taylor:
Yeah.
Adam Levin:
Excuse me while I use the restroom for minute.
Beau Friedlander:
No.
Beau Friedlander:
Okay. No, I did that, and it was really good, especially if you wrapped the anchovy in a pat of butter first.
Dan Ahdoot:
Oh yeah.
Beau Friedlander:
Anyway…
Adam Levin:
But, lest we digress.
Beau Friedlander:
Oh.
Adam Levin:
You’re here today to tell us a very interesting story. And we’re all ears on this one, so tell us how this all started.
Dan Ahdoot:
Okay. So…
Dan Ahdoot:
Couple years ago, I had some friends coming over for dinner. And I was going to go cook for them because, as you guys know, I’m a big foodie. And I’m driving back from the supermarket, and I suddenly start getting all these emails. Hey, just confirming you’re trying to change your LinkedIn password. Just confirming you’re trying to change your Google password. Just confirming you’re trying to change your Facebook password. And I get these emails once in a while and I always think it’s someone just fishing for a password, so I just ignored it. Right? And then, I got home. And I’m cooking, and my buddy, Matt Goldich, texts me and he says, Hey, I think your Twitter’s been hacked. And I go onto my Twitter and, lo and behold, every 10 seconds, an awful, dumb song lyric is just being spat out onto my Twitter. It’s like, Owner of a Lonely Heart, much better than an Owner of a Broken Heart. Mm-bop, Mm-bop. It’s just like nonstop.
Beau Friedlander:
Owner of a Lonely Heart’s a good song. I don’t know.
Dan Ahdoot:
That’s a good one. That’s a good one. They weren’t all bad.
Travis Taylor:
[inaudible 00:11:07] intro of your bands.
Adam Levin:
See, that would actually be me on my Twitter account, so, therefore, I wouldn’t notice anything different.
Dan Ahdoot:
Well, for me, you have to understand. For a comedian especially, Twitter is very important. I’ve gotten a lot of business out my Twitter account. It’s your way to promote yourself. I have a verified check mark. It’s a big deal for me. It’s important. So, I start freaking out and I can’t get into my Twitter. I’m locked out of my Twitter account. So, I contact Twitter and it says, someone’s going to get back to you. They have a form response. It’s like, someone’s going to get back to you within five to seven days.
Adam Levin:
Don’t you feel the love? Five to seven days.
Dan Ahdoot:
Yeah.
Adam Levin:
That’s pretty instant for them. Yeah.
Dan Ahdoot:
Five to seven days. For me, that would ruin my life. Like this thing… Just 20 seconds of this, I was already hemorrhaging followers.
Beau Friedlander:
Five to seven days is crazy.
Dan Ahdoot:
Yeah.
Adam Levin:
There was a survey that if you took social media away from people, I think 60 or 70% of them said that they would be suicidal pretty much by the first 15 hours or 20 hours.
Dan Ahdoot:
Yeah. Exactly. That’s what their plan is, just to hope that you commit suicide so that they don’t have to help you.
Dan Ahdoot:
So, I’m freaking out. I’m like, what am I going to do here? And then, I get a call from an unknown number and I’m assuming it’s Twitter. And so, I pick up, I’m like, hi, this is Dan. And I hear on the other line, yo, is this… This is Dan Ahdoot?
Dan Ahdoot:
I was like, yeah, who’s this?
Dan Ahdoot:
He’s like, yo, Hey, what’s up man? It’s me. I’m your hacker.
Dan Ahdoot:
And I was like, what?
Dan Ahdoot:
He’s like, yeah, I’m the guy who’s got your Twitter.
Adam Levin:
Dude.
Beau Friedlander:
Okay. Is this like an old guy, a young guy?
Dan Ahdoot:
Young. Young guy. And I’m like, what do you mean? And he just didn’t say anything. And I was like, well, can I get it back?
Dan Ahdoot:
And he’s like, yeah. That’s why I’m calling you, so we can figure out something that works out for both of us.
Dan Ahdoot:
And I’m like, oh my God, you’re extorting me for my Twitter account?
Dan Ahdoot:
And he’s like, whoa, don’t use that word. It’s not extortion. I just want you to pay me money, and then I’m going to give you your Twitter account back.
Adam Levin:
It’s a creative partnership.
Beau Friedlander:
So, a creative partnership that’s going to cost you like 10 grand.
Dan Ahdoot:
That’s what I’m thinking. I’m like, holy cow. Well, first of all, I’m like, all right, before we get into the contract negotiations, how do I know the person that I’m on the phone with right now is the person who’s in control of my Twitter.
Beau Friedlander:
It was Adam.
Dan Ahdoot:
And he goes, oh, that’s a good question. Hold on one second. And he starts typing and I hear typing. And he goes, yeah, it looks like your password for everything is Trek 11111.
Beau Friedlander:
True story?
Dan Ahdoot:
True story. And I’m like, oh my God. And look, here’s the thing. It’s very jarring to have someone repeat your secret password to you. To hear it out loud in the world.
Beau Friedlander:
Did you say secret password?
Dan Ahdoot:
Yes.
Beau Friedlander:
Guys. I sense a challenge here. Travis, would you direct Mr. Ahdoot to his computer and a website please?
Travis Taylor:
Yes. I suggest going to, Have I Been Pwned, that’s pwned.com.
Dan Ahdoot:
Shut up.
Beau Friedlander:
Yeah.
Travis Taylor:
Then, slash passwords.
Dan Ahdoot:
Oh my God. Hold on. I’m freaking out.
Travis Taylor:
Sorry. Was that Trek with four ones or five ones?
Dan Ahdoot:
Trek with five ones.
Travis Taylor:
Five one… Oh no.
Adam Levin:
Dan, have you ever heard of this site before?
Dan Ahdoot:
No, I have not. Wait. So, what am…
Adam Levin:
It’s going to become your new best friend, or maybe not.
Travis Taylor:
Trek with four ones has been compromised and seen 83 times.
Dan Ahdoot:
Wow.
Travis Taylor:
But with the five ones, that’s been seen three times before.
Travis Taylor:
So, just a little bit of background here for, have I been pwned. We’ve discussed it a few times on the show. It’s a really great resource for telling you how many times and where your email address, phone number, and password have been compromised. It’s run as a nonprofit service, but it has literally billions of records that have been breached or lost in data breaches or leaked online and, more recently, law enforcement all around the world has started providing this site with data that they find in the case of a data breach. So, it’s a pretty comprehensive way to see how many times you’ve been hacked online.
Dan Ahdoot:
Oh my God. All right. So, I’m putting in the passwords that I’ve used and seeing whether or not they have been breached.
Beau Friedlander:
And?
Dan Ahdoot:
The Trek one, the one that the kid got, yes, has been breached. My other new ones have not been breached yet it seems. And if you’re listening to this, please don’t see that as a challenge. Please just let me be.
Beau Friedlander:
Can we look and see… You don’t have to tell us, but can you look and see where the one that the kid had was breached?
Dan Ahdoot:
Wait, so these are all the sites that it got breached on?
Beau Friedlander:
Yeah.
Travis Taylor:
Yep.
Dan Ahdoot:
Whoa.
Beau Friedlander:
So, what do you think? LinkedIn, I’m thinking, seems like the best bet. Was there any Link…
Dan Ahdoot:
I think LinkedIn because the first email that said someone’s trying to change your password was from LinkedIn. Scary stuff.
Beau Friedlander:
So, we probably know how the kid got it. So, the kid calls you up and he asks you for what? He puts his pinky to the corner of his mouth, and he asks for, what is that number usually?
Dan Ahdoot:
I was preparing myself. I was like, he’s going to say like 10k or 5k because he sees that I’m verified or whatever. And I’m like, so how much do you want for this?
Dan Ahdoot:
And he goes, let me look at your numbers. Let me look at your account. Yeah. I’ll do it for a hundred bucks.
Beau Friedlander:
A hundred dollars?
Dan Ahdoot:
And I was like…
Adam Levin:
Humanitarian. You got hacked by a humanitarian.
Dan Ahdoot:
I was like, cool. I’ll give you a hundred bucks. But I was like, well, how do I know that… First of all, I was offended. I was like, that’s all my account is worth? Is a hundred bucks?
Beau Friedlander:
Did he really say a hundred bucks, and you were just like, oh, that sounds reasonable.
Dan Ahdoot:
Yeah, basically.
Beau Friedlander:
Huh.
Beau Friedlander:
Now wait a second. Travis, how much do you think, the record that this kid had, how much did it cost him on the dark web? If that’s where he got it.
Travis Taylor:
Less than a penny.
Beau Friedlander:
Oh, okay. So, he’s making a good turn on that penny.
Adam Levin:
Nice. Nice. IRA.
Travis Taylor:
Yeah. Especially with LinkedIn, that breach was so big. It just got passed around and it got added to a whole bunch of collections that, some of which cost money if you want to access them, but a lot of them are just free.
Beau Friedlander:
But so, you had like a Woody Allen moment. You’re like, what do you mean a hundred dollars?
Dan Ahdoot:
Yeah. I was like, that’s it? That’s all I’m worth? And then, we had this weird interaction where I was like, all right, well, how are we going to do this? How are we going to make the exchange?
Dan Ahdoot:
And he was like, you Venmo me a hundred bucks and I’ll give you your account back.
Dan Ahdoot:
And I was like, no. How do I know you’re going to give me my account back after I Venmo you?
Dan Ahdoot:
And he’s like, no, man. That’d be messed up. I wouldn’t do that.
Dan Ahdoot:
I’m like, oh, suddenly you’re moral and you’re ethical.
Beau Friedlander:
It’s not messed up to hack you?
Dan Ahdoot:
Yeah.
Dan Ahdoot:
Then I was like, well, why don’t we do this? I’ll Venmo you 40 bucks, you gave me my account back, and then I’ll Venmo you the other 60 bucks.
Dan Ahdoot:
And he was like, well, how do I know you’re going to Venmo me the other 60 bucks?
Dan Ahdoot:
I was like, dude, you’re the criminal here. Not me.
Adam Levin:
You don’t trust me? What’s the matter?
Beau Friedlander:
You guys are funny. I mean, both of you are funny at this point.
Dan Ahdoot:
I was like, what’s your deal? Like, this is what you do for a living?
Dan Ahdoot:
He’s like, yeah, man. Everyone’s got to have a hustle.
Dan Ahdoot:
I’m like, relax with the hustle talk. You’re like a computer nerd.
Dan Ahdoot:
And he basically said that he goes after people who have verified accounts because he knows that they care about their accounts. And, also, cops aren’t really going to go after someone who’s like a small time hacker, so he can just kind of get away with it.
Beau Friedlander:
Do you know how old he was?
Dan Ahdoot:
Yeah. So, here’s the funny part. So, I give him the money. He gives me my account back. And I’m like, how old are you?
Dan Ahdoot:
And he’s like, I’m not going to tell you, but I’m somewhere between the age of 12 and 14.
Dan Ahdoot:
I’m like, oh, okay. So, you’re 13. Got it.
Beau Friedlander:
Oh my God. He’s so cute. I love him.
Dan Ahdoot:
He goes, you need to get a lot better about your passwords, man. Like you have the same password for everything.
Dan Ahdoot:
I’m like, I don’t need a lecture right now, but I asked him what I could do.
Dan Ahdoot:
And he was like, yeah, you literally just have to come up with a random, alpha numeric combination and have it written down analog on paper and have it in your nightstand. Like that’s the only way.
Dan Ahdoot:
I was like, all right. And then, I was like, did you get into my Instagram?
Dan Ahdoot:
And he goes, let me check. And he goes onto my Instagram. Now it was a Friday. Right? And the day before it was Thursday, and I had done a Throwback Thursday post of me as this character, Falafel Phil, which was a character that I actually played on a Disney show for like six years. And it was this pretty huge hit show.
Speaker 1:
It’s what my great-grandfather married my great grandmother in. It was a tight squeeze, but she looked beautiful.
Dan Ahdoot:
But anyway, he sees this, and he’s like, yo, why you got a picture of Falafel Phil on your Instagram?
Dan Ahdoot:
And I was like, I am Falafel Phil.
Dan Ahdoot:
And he goes crazy. He’s like, what? You’re my childhood, man. I love Falafel Phil. You literally gave me all the joy. When I was growing up, I had such a rough childhood. And I’d watch Falafel Phil and it would make me laugh so much.
Dan Ahdoot:
I was like, so am I getting my money back?
Dan Ahdoot:
He’s like, no, but still. He’s like, I think we should be friends or something. He’s like, let me be your internet security guy, and if you ever need anything, I’ll be there for you.
Dan Ahdoot:
And I was like, all right. Fine. So, I had his number and I was like…
Beau Friedlander:
Wait, wait, wait. Mr. Ahdoot. You didn’t make him cry even a little bit? Like you hacked Mr. Falafel?
Dan Ahdoot:
He didn’t care. He had a completely different set of ethics. I feel like hackers just live in a… To them, it’s more of a chess game than they’re doing something really awful.
Travis Taylor:
Did he get any other accounts than Twitter and Instagram?
Dan Ahdoot:
So, he didn’t get into Instagram because I have a different password for that, but he got into Twitter. He got into LinkedIn. I think he got into Hotmail.
Adam Levin:
He didn’t get into your Gmail though, right?
Dan Ahdoot:
No Gmail.
Adam Levin:
Good.
Dan Ahdoot:
I also started… I hadn’t been doing two step verification until then.
Adam Levin:
Yep.
Travis Taylor:
Did he encourage you to do that? Or…
Dan Ahdoot:
I think he did. Yeah.
Travis Taylor:
Wow.
Dan Ahdoot:
But I feel like I hear that they can get around that too somehow.
Travis Taylor:
Did he give you any other tips?
Dan Ahdoot:
No. I mean, he told me to use different passwords. And I’ll tell you the truth. For, let’s call it, the month after that, I started to get serious about my passwords, but fast forward to now, it’s the same. I have literally one password that could just take me out.
Dan Ahdoot:
We’re back to work.
Adam Levin:
Not a good idea. You don’t want to see random song lyrics show up again.
Dan Ahdoot:
I mean, it could have been a lot worse, right? I mean, he could have been posting like porn or whatever and just like really hemorrhage my followers quickly.
Adam Levin:
Dan, what inspired you to go back to one password?
Dan Ahdoot:
Okay. The main issue for me is that I use Chrome and I use Safari. And then, I have this on my phone. They store them, but then it’s stored on one browser, but not on the other browser. So, it’s not all in one. I haven’t found the perfect way to centralize all this. I actually wish that they could just check my retinas out for everything. Like prick my blood, get my blood to let me… Like I’m down for anything that is literally my facial recognition or whatever. I don’t care about my privacy like that. But if there was a better way.
Beau Friedlander:
Can I ask why you don’t care about your privacy that way?
Dan Ahdoot:
Why? Because I feel like either way we’re all screwed and they’re going to find it out if they really wanted to. So, I’m okay for just letting it all hang out. I’m not going to put a piece of tape over my webcam. I do TSA clear. I’ve done 23andMe. Everyone’s got my genetic information if they want to find it.
Adam Levin:
Yes, we were going to discuss your blood type later, but we’ll get to that.
Adam Levin:
So, Travis, password managers, right?
Travis Taylor:
Right.
Adam Levin:
We are fans of password managers. And password managers are capable of being multi-platform and multi-browser or not?
Travis Taylor:
Most definitely the better ones. The ones that you pay for. It’s something that will work on most major web browsers. You can also put it on your iPhone or Android phone or what have you. So, you can sync up your passwords across all of your devices, and then be able to unlock that just with one password. Make it harder than Trek 111 to do, but they’re pretty easy. And they’re really not that expensive, especially for the peace of mind you get. I think that would definitely cost less than that hundred bucks you had to pay to get your account back there.
Dan Ahdoot:
Really?
Travis Taylor:
Yeah.
Dan Ahdoot:
Got it. That’s the thing, with all these services, I’m scared too. Like what if they get a data breach? And then, I don’t know.
Adam Levin:
Some of them have had breaches, but the level of encryption they use is so high that you can’t do anything with the passwords.
Travis Taylor:
That’s right. Yeah. If that happens, typically, if someone gets access to the passwords, they’re heavily encrypted in a way that would take like thousands of years to be able to crack it. So, that sounds like a good solution for you because, again, they tend to be easy to use. You only really have to set it up once. And then, once you do that, you don’t have to deal with that Safari Chrome issue that you’re talking about because that is pretty frustrating.
Adam Levin:
Just don’t forget the password to your password manager because that becomes more difficult.
Dan Ahdoot:
So, the password manager will come up with its own passwords? Is that…
Adam Levin:
Yep.
Travis Taylor:
Yep.
Dan Ahdoot:
Okay. Got it. So, I don’t have to come up with any other passwords ever again?
Adam Levin:
Nope.
Dan Ahdoot:
I just need that one that unlocks the whole thing.
Adam Levin:
That’s it.
Travis Taylor:
Right.
Dan Ahdoot:
That sounds reasonable.
Travis Taylor:
Yeah. It’s super convenient, but the main thing that we always say is, if the password manager is free, then that is most likely a trap of some sort.
Dan Ahdoot:
Oh my God.
Adam Levin:
Then, you’re the product.
Dan Ahdoot:
So, then I’d have to basically go into, let’s say, Instagram, and change my password to whatever this password manager says it should be and then have it all under the umbrella? Is that…
Travis Taylor:
Yeah. It’ll usually just give you a little prompt to help walk you through it. It’s not a super techy process fortunately.
Beau Friedlander:
Now, let me ask you, did your hacker, this nice young man who hacked you, did he help you with changing your passwords? And does he like store them for you now? Or…
Dan Ahdoot:
No.
Beau Friedlander:
Sorry.
Dan Ahdoot:
He wouldn’t even tell me his real name. Hacker Tom was what he told me his name was.
Beau Friedlander:
Hacker Tom.
Dan Ahdoot:
And I used him again because the next day another person tried to get money off of me. And I called him and I was like, what should I do? And he was like, yeah, no, don’t worry about it. I already took care of you. No one’s going to come after you.
Dan Ahdoot:
I was like, all right.
Adam Levin:
I passed the word. He’s under my protection.
Dan Ahdoot:
Yeah. Exactly.
Adam Levin:
What would it take you to take this password thing more seriously? What is the scenario that were it to happen would make you change your habits?
Dan Ahdoot:
Being on this podcast.
Dan Ahdoot:
So, I’ll answer that with what I’m most fearful of. And I guess…
Adam Levin:
Spiders?
Dan Ahdoot:
Besides spiders, the things that I’m most fearful of are, obviously, banking, is number one. Obviously. But then, it’s my social media stuff, which I’ve already seen hacked. And then, also, my email, my Gmail, and stuff. Not having access to email is probably the worst thing that could happen to me. And if paying… How much do these guys charge a month? The password people.
Travis Taylor:
It depends. Again, I can run you through the options.
Beau Friedlander:
But Travis, I was wondering… I mean, it’s a fair question Dan asks because my password… I do use a password manager. I know you don’t Travis, but I do. And Travis has a system too, Dan. And he can talk about that with you. He might be able to talk about that right now, but some people use systems. Some people use password managers. Mine? It’s not cheap, Travis. And it definitely comes out to more than a hundred bucks a year.
Travis Taylor:
One I’m looking at right now that’s fairly well reviewed, if it’s just for yourself, it’s $3 a month.
Dan Ahdoot:
That’s worth it.
Beau Friedlander:
I’m getting so ripped off. Oh my gosh.
Dan Ahdoot:
That, to me…
Travis Taylor:
Again, there are different levels of protection. Different levels of ease and quality and everything like that, but three bucks a month is not really that bad.
Beau Friedlander:
I have 1995 prices. Damn.
Travis Taylor:
Wow.
Adam Levin:
Travis, there are, correct me if I’m wrong, but certain companies that offer monitoring services, identity monitoring, that also offer password managers.
Travis Taylor:
Yep. Yeah. In a lot of cases, they’ll even be affiliated with one another. So, even if you’re not getting them both from the same vendor, they’ll still give you a discount.
Adam Levin:
Yeah.
Dan Ahdoot:
Interesting. So, why don’t you use one of these Travis?
Travis Taylor:
Well, I have a system and I run it across a few different things. And I just also have a really weirdly good memory about it and keep a lot of it written down in the nightstand, that sort of stuff. So, I try not to put all my eggs in one basket.
Adam Levin:
Travis is my password manager.
Travis Taylor:
Yeah.
Travis Taylor:
I think one of the other things too, though, is just to keep in mind that, with digital hygiene, most people, or at least half of people, admit to using the same password. And every year, when we see what passwords come out, they actually make Trek 111 look like the most complicated CIA level encryption. I think 1234567 is one of the most common. Password is another one that’s always in the top three and so on. So, you’re certainly not alone in this. It’s the no shame zone as we call it.
Adam Levin:
See, at least in my case, I’m 12345678, so I thought that was…
Beau Friedlander:
But Adam…
Travis Taylor:
One more level of [inaudible 00:30:39].
Beau Friedlander:
Here’s the thing. And this is true. And I don’t know about you guys, but I’m going to just be completely honest. When it comes to like the place where I buy my movie tickets, which I don’t do anymore because of COVID, but when I did, or like parking meters, you know all those apps in cities that have parking meter apps that you need to use…
Adam Levin:
All the ones that have been breached. Yeah.
Beau Friedlander:
Right. So, I figure they have lousy protocols anyway. So, you know what I give them? I give them, ha ha ha ha ha, if they’ll let me. And the reason I give it to them is I don’t care. You want to park on my dime, go right ahead. I’ll figure it out the next time I’m not in Pittsburgh and someone parks there. But that’s been my rule of thumb, when it’s a password that I don’t need to mess with. And that’s why I asked about the Twitter account. I care about my Twitter account. Not enough to give you a hundred bucks, so don’t even think about it, but I care about it, so I protect it reasonably well. But on the things where it doesn’t matter, I don’t care. Am I alone in that?
Dan Ahdoot:
No.
Adam Levin:
No. You’re not really alone, but I think there’s another way you can look at this. Okay. If you’re worried about making a monthly payment, think about health insurance, and think about, you’re willing to pay for health insurance. Well, this is cyber hygiene insurance. It’s kind of annoying, but at the same point, it’s better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it. That’s why it’s really more important to think about this in terms of health because this is your financial health, your identity health, your credit health. All these things are wrapped up in these passwords.
Dan Ahdoot:
Yeah.
Travis Taylor:
And I think the figure is, if your identity gets stolen, it takes people on average about 40 hours to untangle a lot of the damage there. And so, that’s something where just that investment of time, if not money, can be enormous.
Adam Levin:
And in your case, time is money.
Beau Friedlander:
Yeah. But also, Adam, what about if you do get hacked? So, Adam founded this company called CyberScout and it’s worth mentioning here. So, if you do get hacked and you don’t know us well enough to get us on the phone, which you now do, Dan, there are companies that give you a high touch service that sets everything back to normal. Right, Adam?
Adam Levin:
No, they do. And they take care of it for you. In the old days, they would be like, oh, you have a problem. We’re going to send you a tip sheet and hug you and say, goodnight, good luck. And over time, organizations have developed that actually make all the phone calls, write all the letters. When you first alert them you’re having a problem, they will take you to the fraud department of one of the credit reporting agencies and get things in process for you.
Adam Levin:
So, today, you can go to insurance companies, certain financial institutions, more credit unions than banks because they’re more consumer centric, or you can go where you work to your employer. And many of these organizations have programs that will help you through identity incidents. Unfortunately, often, you have no clue these programs are available because a lot of these companies that have these programs are not really good at telling people about the programs.
Adam Levin:
But as part of these programs, there are companies that really will get in there, give you white glove service, attach you to a fraud expert who will work with you, and then, when it’s done, when you come out on the other side, they’ll contact you and make sure you’re okay. And if you have another problem, you can contact the company directly. So, it’s kind of the new world, but it’s an important part of the new world.
Dan Ahdoot:
Yeah. I guess I didn’t even think about identity theft stuff.
Adam Levin:
If they get your email, phone number, password, SIM card, they can then log into your email. They can log into a government website. Pretty soon they have your social security number. They’re signing up for credit cards. It could start as Twitter, but it could go a lot deeper.
Adam Levin:
Perfect example. People will say, I tried to file my tax return with the IRS and I got blocked because somebody was using my social security number and it wouldn’t let me file. So, they deal with the IRS, they get it resolved, they get their pin code, which by the way, everybody can get a pin code from the IRS now, even if they haven’t been compromised. But it can start as Twitter. It can go deeper.
Dan Ahdoot:
True. True.
Adam Levin:
It starts with a tax return and people think they got it. And they don’t realize, if they have enough information to file a fake tax return, they have enough information to commit every form of identity theft possible. Opening new accounts, medical identity theft, child identity theft, criminal identity theft, you name it. And sometimes, all that could happen is someone gets access to an existing credit card. And it is amazing how this thing can spiral into something really horrible.
Dan Ahdoot:
Yeah.
Beau Friedlander:
But if you are guests on our show, the good news is Travis will fix you up because he has so much time on his hands to do that, but…
Travis Taylor:
Oh yeah. Scads of time.
Beau Friedlander:
No, but I will also help and Adam will help. We’re available to you. So, if you land on this show, you have a good story, it does mean that you will leave a little more freaked out, but a little more secure, as well.
Adam Levin:
But it’ll be a cathartic experience because you’ll have shared and felt better by sharing because this is the no shame zone.
Beau Friedlander:
Well, the catharsis is all just like in getting rid of any feeling of ease you may have had.
Dan Ahdoot:
Yeah. I know.
Travis Taylor:
I love how we started with a lighthearted romp into anchovies and ended with morbid stories of cyber crime.
Dan Ahdoot:
I know.
Travis Taylor:
And guest terror. Yeah.
Beau Friedlander:
Well, there’s something called… And you should look this up, Dan. I’ll say it in English. I think it’s Jansson’s Temptation. And if you look that up, it’s a Swedish dish, it is basically heavy cream, onions, and the saltiest anchovies you can find, baked with potatoes.
Dan Ahdoot:
I thought this was another site that I can go to and like put my iris in and then it tells me [inaudible 00:37:23]
Beau Friedlander:
No, Jansson’s Temptation. We’re back to fish, baby.
Dan Ahdoot:
My retina.
Adam Levin:
You see, you had me at heavy cream and onions. You lost me at anchovies.
Beau Friedlander:
And potatoes.
Travis Taylor:
Yeah. I need to keep a puke bucket next to the desk here.
Beau Friedlander:
Puke bucket.
Dan Ahdoot:
You guys are missing out on life. I’m telling you.
Beau Friedlander:
Yeah.
Dan Ahdoot:
Travis, you take care of my cybersecurity, I will take care of your palate. I will expand it. I will open it up to new. And where do you live, Travis?
Travis Taylor:
The Pacific Northwest.
Dan Ahdoot:
Okay. I take it all back. It’s not going to happen.
Adam Levin:
As if we haven’t mentioned it a hundred [inaudible 00:37:55].
Travis Taylor:
Yeah. I know.
Dan Ahdoot:
You guys have the best seafood in the whole country.
Travis Taylor:
Yeah, we do.
Beau Friedlander:
And anchovy ice cream, probably.
Dan Ahdoot:
Oh, that’s disgusting.
Travis Taylor:
No, but we have things like Albacore tuna, or Dungeness crab and things like that. Like that’s perfectly acceptable. And why would you eat anchovies when you can actually have like a real fish?
Adam Levin:
But just remember. We have the prince of the palate on today, so let us use this opportunity to learn what we can.
Beau Friedlander:
Yeah. So, prince of the palate, what is the best small ingredient that none of us may be using? What is it?
Adam Levin:
Dust.
Beau Friedlander:
The best, weird, little tiny hack.
Dan Ahdoot:
First of all, it’s funny you say that because I always say anchovies when I’m asked this question, but I would say… I think that the hot new spice that a lot of people should use in their food is something called Togarashi. It’s a Japanese spice blend. And it’s a dry spice. It’s not like a sriracha type thing. It’s like a powdery thing. It is so delicious. It goes well on anything. It is my go-to spice. You can buy it on Amazon or go to a Japanese specialty market, but it is so good.
Travis Taylor:
Yeah. We’re 50 50 now because anchovies are a big no-no, but Togarashi is great. Yep.
Dan Ahdoot:
Yeah. Okay.
Adam Levin:
I love this. Where else can you do a show on cybersecurity and end up with recipes? Oh my God.
Beau Friedlander:
Food hacks are real, man.
Dan Ahdoot:
Food hacks are real.
Adam Levin:
Dan, listen. Awesome. And we’re sorry if we scared you, but hopefully we’ve all learned why password management is really important.
Dan Ahdoot:
I appreciate it guys. Well, thanks for having me. This was really eye opening. And, if anything, it’s just a reminder because I think I’ve gotten a little too complacent.
Beau Friedlander:
Jansson’s Temptation. Make it.
Beau Friedlander:
If you’re a hacker and you’re actually good at what you do, we encourage you to go on Apple Podcasts, create a bot that just likes our podcast over and over and over and over again, since… Well, no. Apple.
Beau Friedlander:
Sorry.
Beau Friedlander:
We don’t really mean that. But what we would like to tell you…
Travis Taylor:
Leave us a five star review on Apple Podcasts.
Adam Levin:
They should tell their friends, their family, their neighbors. They should tell their friends on Instagram, Facebook. Skywriting is a good thing, too.
Beau Friedlander:
What the Hack with Adam Levin is a production of Loud Tree Media.
Adam Levin:
It’s produced by Andrew Steven, the man with two first names.
Travis Taylor:
You can find us online at loudtreemedia.com and on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook at Adam K Levin.
