PODCAST · technology
8th Layer Insights
by Perry Carpenter | N2K Networks
Get ready for a deep dive into what cybersecurity professionals often refer to as the "8th Layer" of security: HUMANS. Welcome to 8th Layer Insights (8Li). This podcast is a multidisciplinary exploration into how the complexities of human nature affect security and risk. Author, security researcher, and behavior science enthusiast Perry Carpenter taps experts for their insights and illumination. Topics include cybersecurity, psychology, behavior science, communication, leadership, and more.
Episodes
-
Cognitive Heists series #7: The Trojan Gift
Hey folks! It's been a few weeks, but now the gift is here. :) It's the 7th installment of the "Cognitive Heists" series. This one is titled, "The Trojan Gift." 🎁 Not all traps look like traps. Some arrive with a bow on top. The Trojan Horse is the oldest example. But today, the gift often looks...
-
Cognitive Heist series #6: The Shill
Some cons don’t succeed because of the smooth-talking seller. Instead, they succeed because of the crowd. Enter The Shill -- a hidden accomplice pretending to be just another customer, audience member, or lucky passerby. They're in the crowd, acting as a 'normal' audience member... all with the...
-
Cognitive Heist series #5: The Long Con
Welcome to Deceptive Minds - An audio newsletter about how we are fooled, how we fool ourselves, and what we can do about it. This one is all about "The Long Con." When the lie moves in next door. Not every con kicks down the door. Some knock politely, charm their way inside, and stay for dinner....
-
Cognitive Heist series #4: The Ghost - Panic, Urgency, and the Speed of Deception
👻 New Deceptive Minds issue: Cognitive Heist series issue #4 -- The Ghost The ghost doesn’t break in. It doesn’t even exist. It just panics you into acting-- fast, unthinking, exposed. This issue explores one of the most dangerous tools in a scammer’s toolkit: urgency. We unpack: 🧠 The…
more -
Cognitive Heists series #3: The Call Is Coming from Inside Your Mind
📞 The Call Is Coming from Inside Your Mind Welcome to #3 of the "Cognitive Heists" series. The Voice in Your Head -- Authority, Audio Deepfakes, and the Power of a Familiar Voice In 2019, a UK energy firm received a call. The voice on the other end sounded exactly like the CEO of their German...
-
Cognitive Heist series #2: The Bait Man
Welcome to part 2 of the Cognitive Heist miniseries: The Bait Man 🗝️ He doesn’t pick the lock. 🚪 He doesn’t sneak in the back. 🪝 He just leaves something shiny on the ground and waits for you to pick it up. Enter "The Bait Man": the scammer who lets your own curiosity or greed do all the work....
-
Cognitive Heists series #1: The Insider -- Trust by Proximity, not Proof
🕵️♂️ New Deceptive Minds mini-series: Behind the Scams (Cognitive Heists) 🕵️♂️ They didn’t pick the lock. They didn’t sneak in through the vents. You held the door open for them. This week’s issue kicks off a new 10-part series: Cognitive Heist—a deep dive into the psychological exploits…
more -
Narrative Armor: Why Some Stories Become Immune to the Truth
When it comes to deception, everything is about story. And the stories people cling hardest to are ones that aren't solely about information... they are about self-protection. They explain the world. They spark emotion. They reinforce identity. And once we believe them, we don’t just share…
more -
Repeat Until Real
Hey Friends! This is one of the most important issues so far -- please share! Ever find yourself believing something… just because you’ve heard it enough? That’s the Illusory Truth Effect at work. "Illusory Truth" is the cognitive glitch that makes repetition feel like credibility. In this issue…
more -
Truth Hurts. So We Lie.
Ok. This one's pretty uncomfortable. It's about the lies we tell ourselves and why we believe them. We all like to think we’re rational. But the truth is, our minds are masters of defense... not just against deception, but against discomfort. In this issue, I explore the mental machinery behind...
-
The Costume of Truth: Why We Trust the Logo, the Lab Coat, and the Lanyard
Not all deception hides in the shadows. Some of it walks right in — wearing a badge, a clipboard, or a lab coat. In the latest issue of Deceptive Minds, I explore one of the most powerful tools in the scammer’s playbook: credibility theater — the subtle art of looking legitimate enough to bypass...
-
Feel First, Think Never: Your Emotions Are the Exploit
If it made you panic, rage, or rush… it probably bypassed your cognitive defenses. In the latest issue of Deceptive Minds, I dig into the dark cognitive malware of emotional hijacking: how scammers, manipulators, and even well-meaning voices use fear, urgency, outrage, and hope to short-circuit...
-
Too Easy to Be True: The Fluency Trap and the Lie That Slides Right Past You
Some lies try hard to fool you. Others just make it easy for you to believe them. That’s the danger of cognitive fluency: the simpler something feels, the more likely we are to think it’s true. In the latest issue of Deceptive Minds, I explore: Why fake documents with grainy photos often seem…
more -
The Plausibility Effect
Hey friends, Let’s start with a weird truth: People don’t fall for things because they’re true. They fall for things because they’re plausible. That’s the dark magic of deception — it doesn’t need to be airtight, or flawless, or even particularly clever. It just needs to feel true enough.…
more -
👁️ Look Here: Why Every Great Deception Starts with Stolen Attention
Welcome to issue #3 of Deceptive Minds: a newsletter about how we are fooled, how we fool ourselves, and what we can do about it. In this week's episode: 🚨 Your attention is under attack! 🚨 From WWII rubber tanks to 2023’s phantom Paris bedbugs, the first strike of any scam is the same: steal...
-
Artifacts of Deception (Deceptive Minds - issue #2)
Hey friends! Here's issue 2 of Deceptive Minds: a newsletter about how we are fooled, how we fool ourselves, and what we can do about it. 🔥 Since starting this newsletter last week, we're already closing in on 3,000 subscribers to the print edition! 🔥 Huge thanks to everyone who's jumped in...
-
Deceptive Minds (the audio experience): Issue #1
Hey listeners, Perry Carpenter here. Yeah, it's been a while since I've posted this feed, but I've got something exciting that I think you'll be interested in. It's the audio version of a newsletter that I recently started. The newsletter is called Deceptive Minds, and it's all about how we are...
-
The FAIK Files | Holiday Special: AI Safety Update
Note: We're posting Perry's new show, "The FAIK Files", to this feed through the end of 2024. This will give you a chance to get a feel for the new show and subscribe to the new feed if you want to keep following in 2025. Welcome back to the show that keeps you informed on all things artificial...
-
The FAIK Files | The Butcher Will Scam You Now
Note: We're posting Perry's new show, "The FAIK Files", to this feed through the end of the year. This will give you a chance to get a feel for the new show and subscribe to the new feed if you want to keep following in 2025. Welcome back to the show that keeps you informed on all things…
more -
The FAIK Files | AI Gone Wild: Worrisome Leaks, Misguided Conspiracies, and More
Note: We're posting Perry's new show, "The FAIK Files", to this feed through the end of the year. This will give you a chance to get a feel for the new show and subscribe to the new feed if you want to keep following in 2025. Welcome back to The FAIK Files--- the show about artificial…
more -
The FAIK Files | A Hunch about Hutch
Note: We're posting Perry's new show, "The FAIK Files", to this feed through the end of the year. This will give you a chance to get a feel for the new show and subscribe to the new feed if you want to keep following in 2025. Welcome back to The FAIK Files— the show about artificial intelligence...
-
The FAIK Files | Consciousness, Scams, & Death Threats
Note: We're posting Perry's new show, "The FAIK Files", to this feed through the end of the year. This will give you a chance to get a feel for the new show and subscribe to the new feed if you want to keep following in 2025. Happy FAIKs-giving everyone! Welcome to the newly renovated and...
-
FAIK Miniseries (sneak peek) | Chapter 3: The Mindset and Tools of a Digital Manipulator
This is Part Three of a ten-part miniseries exploring Perry Carpenter's latest book, FAIK: A Practical Guide to Living in a World of Deepfakes, Disinformation, and AI-Generated Deceptions. Each episode kicks off with a dramatized reading of the "Whispers from the Static" vignette that opens the...
-
FAIK Miniseries (sneak peek) | Chapter 2: New Frontiers of Deception: AI and Synthetic Media
This is Part Two of a ten-part miniseries exploring Perry Carpenter's latest book, FAIK: A Practical Guide to Living in a World of Deepfakes, Disinformation, and AI-Generated Deceptions. Each episode kicks off with a dramatized reading of the "Whispers from the Static" vignette that opens the...
-
FAIK Miniseries (sneak peek) | Chapter 1: The Eternal Battle for the Mind
This is Part One of a ten-part miniseries exploring Perry Carpenter's latest book, FAIK: A Practical Guide to Living in a World of Deepfakes, Disinformation, and AI-Generated Deceptions. Each episode kicks off with a dramatized reading of the "Whispers from the Static" vignette that opens the...
-
Digital Mindhunters
In this conversation, Perry sits down with Dr. Bilyana Lilly to discuss her new book Digital Mindhunters (Coming Oct 30) and the intersection of cybersecurity, disinformation, and AI. She describes the narrative structure of her book, navigating a world of cyber threats and influence operations,...
-
Let's talk Social Engineering
In this episode, Perry catches-up with Stephanie (Snow) & JC Carruthers. They talk about social engineering, the DEFCON Social Engineering Community / Village, and share their favorite (and most embarrassing) social engineering stories. Perry also gives a quick update on his recent exploits...
-
What About Ethics?
On this episode, Perry gets to sit down with Ed Skoudis to discuss the simplicity and complexities of cybersecurity ethics. Ed's new book is The Code of Honor: Embracing Ethics in Cybersecurity. Guest: Ed Skoudis (LinkedIn) (Twitter) (Website) Books and References: The Code of Honor: Embracing...
-
Can You Really Tell if Something is Written by an AI?
On this episode, Perry gets to sit down with Jon Gillham. Jon is the founder and CEO of Originality.ai -- an AI content detection platform designed to help website owners, content marketers, writers and publishers hit 'publish' with integrity in the world of generative AI. In this interview, we…
more -
Money Laundering 101: a chat with Investigative Journalist Geoff White
On this episode, Perry gets to sit down with investigative journalist, author, and podcaster, Geoff White. They discuss Geoff's new book, "Rinsed: From Cartels to Crypto: How the Tech Industry Washes Money for the World's Deadliest Crooks", the state of global cybercrime, and (everybody's…
more -
Communicating Complex Topics with Creativity and Passion
In this episode, Perry sits down with award winning cybersecurity author, George Finney to discuss his recent book, Project Zero Trust. This is a broad discussion that hits on the concepts of Zero Trust, George's approach to writing the book, his passion for storytelling, and much more. Guest:...
-
How Rachel Tobac Hacked Me
In this episode Perry Carpenter sits down with Rachel Tobac to debrief after her recent KB4-CON session, "How I'd Hack You Live" where she... well... hacked Perry live. Perry and Rachel explore how age-old deception techniques are being revamped for the digital age. The discussion spans the…
more -
How AI Can Deceive and be Deceived
On this episode Perry sits down with Dr. Matthew Canham to explore ways in which AI can be weaponized against us, and how age old social engineering tactics can be used to trick large language models. Guest: Dr. Matthew Canham (LinkedIn) (Website) Books and References (Books are Amazon Associate...
-
Frame the Future: The Art of Becoming a Futurist
On this episode Perry sits down with Jeremy Treadwell, a people-first technologist and futurist, to get the lowdown on how a futurist approaches the world. Guest: Jeremy Treadwell (LinkedIn) (Twitter) Books and References (Books are Amazon Associate Links and help support the show): YouTube…
more -
How to Scam a Romance Scammer
Welcome to season 5 of 8th Layer Insights! To celebrate Valentine's Day, Perry sits down with Emmy winning reporter Kerry Tomlinson to talk about the time she turned the tables on a romance scammer. Guest: Kerry Tomlinson (LinkedIn) (Website) (YouTube) Books and References: YouTube video: Inside…
more -
Artificial Intelligence: Insights & Oddities
On this episode, Perry celebrates the one year birthday of ChatGPT by taking a look at AI from technological, philosophical, and folkloric perspectives. We see how AI was formed based on human words and works, and how it can now shape the future of human legend and belief. Guests: Brandon Karpf,...
-
Technology and the Law of Unintended Consequences (Encore)
Let's face it. Most of us have a love/hate relationship with technology and technological advances. We dream about the new thing... but when it arrives, we are usually a little disappointed. Many of us also lament the constant erosion of privacy, the changes in social norms, and more. And,...
-
Cybersecurity First Principles w/Rick Howard
On today's show, Perry sits down with Rick Howard to discuss Rick's new book and the concept of "First Principles" as they apply in the domain of cybersecurity. Rick Howard is the CSO of N2K and the Chief Analyst, and Senior Fellow at the N2K Cyber, formerly CyberWire. His past lives include CSO…
more -
OSINT, Curiosity, Creativity, & Career Pivots: A Conversation with Rae Baker
If you’ve been listening to this show for a while, you’ll know that we’ve touched on the topic of Open Source Intelligence (otherwise known as OSINT) several times. It is an area of information security that penetration testing that’s been getting quite a bit of attention over the past several...
-
Conversational Security Awareness: Putting Humanity into Your Human Risk Management Program
Listen in as Perry Carpenter & Dr. Jessica Barker present their joint session, "Conversational Security Awareness" at the SANS Managing Human Risk Summit. ... and stay tuned after the presentation for a quick conversation between Perry, Jessica, and Lance Spitzner (SANS) as they discuss themes…
more -
Blending Awareness, Social Engineering, and Physical Penetration Testing -- A Conversation with Jayson E. Street
On today's show, Perry sits down with Jayson E. Street to discuss his unique blend of social engineering, physical penetration testing, and security awareness. Jayson refers to this as being trained by a simulated adversary. At the heart of Jayson's method is intense boldness in his approach to...
-
How to Fool the White House (Encore)
Hey all! I'm at BlackHat and Defcon this week. If you're there, track me down. I'd love to meet you! This week's episode is an encore of one of my favorites. My interview with James Linton (a.k.a. The Email Prankster). In 2017, James went on a virtual joyride exploiting the ways that people...
-
We are the Champions
There has been a lot of buzz for the past few years about the benefits and importance of establishing security champions programs. These are groups of people in your organization who become vital, responsible, and proactive contributing evangelists to the security culture of your organization. I...
-
Something Wicked This Way Comes: PenTesting Your Environment w/Chad Peterson of NetSPI
On this episode, Perry sits down with Chad Peterson, Managing Director at NetSPI, to discuss the importance of penetration testing. We touch on aspects of social engineering, discussing complex security issues with Boards of Directors, the prevalence of Ransomware, and some of the unique…
more -
Carrots, Sticks, and Culture: The Art and Science of Social Signaling
On this episode, what cybersecurity professionals need to understand about how social signaling and incentives really work. Today's episode features a conversation with Uri Gneezy. In the field of cybersecurity, we are very interested in identifying proactive and positive ways to encourage the...
-
Hacking the Paranormal -- a conversation with Banachek
In this episode, Perry Carpenter sits down with renowned mentalist and skeptic, Banachek. Banachek (Steve Shaw) grew up with a fascination in magic and a frustration with psychic frauds. As a teenager, he contacted magician and skeptic, James “The Amazing” Randi and ended up working with Randi on…
more -
What Cybersecurity Pros can Learn from Star Wars
This week's episode is a late Star Wars ("May the 4th Be With You") celebration. We check out a couple interesting articles about security-related lessons embedded in the Star Wars movies, and Perry sits down with Adam Shostack, author of the new book, Threats: What Every Engineer Should Learn…
more -
Postcards from the Intersection of Cybersecurity and Folklore
Welcome to season 4, episode 1 of 8th Layer Insights! On this episode, Perry speaks with Josiah Dykstra (Senior Fellow, Office of Innovation at the National Security Agency) about the new book he co-authored with Eugene Spafford and Leigh Metcalf. The book is titled Cybersecurity Myths and...
-
Season 3 finale: What's the deal with Authentication, MFA, and Password Managers?
For the last episode of season 3, I thought we'd talk about something that's been in the news quite a lot recently: Authentication and Password Managers. As security professionals, we've decried the password for decades. Multifactor authentication (MFA) has started to gain popularity... but not...
-
Quick announcement and sneak peek of my new show: Digital Folklore
Hey all! An announcement and something special! First, the announcement: Here's your chance to participate in the final episode of 8Li season 3. If you’ve got a question or comment that you’d like me to try to answer or respond to, leave a voice message at https://www.speakpipe.com/8Li. Frankly,...
We're indexing this podcast's transcripts for the first time — this can take a minute or two. We'll show results as soon as they're ready.
No matches for "" in this podcast's transcripts.
No topics indexed yet for this podcast.
Loading reviews...
ABOUT THIS SHOW
Get ready for a deep dive into what cybersecurity professionals often refer to as the "8th Layer" of security: HUMANS. Welcome to 8th Layer Insights (8Li). This podcast is a multidisciplinary exploration into how the complexities of human nature affect security and risk. Author, security researcher, and behavior science enthusiast Perry Carpenter taps experts for their insights and illumination. Topics include cybersecurity, psychology, behavior science, communication, leadership, and more.
HOSTED BY
Perry Carpenter | N2K Networks
CATEGORIES
Loading similar podcasts...
Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does 8th Layer Insights have?
8th Layer Insights currently has 87 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is 8th Layer Insights about?
Get ready for a deep dive into what cybersecurity professionals often refer to as the "8th Layer" of security: HUMANS. Welcome to 8th Layer Insights (8Li). This podcast is a multidisciplinary exploration into how the complexities of human nature affect security and risk. Author, security...
How often does 8th Layer Insights release new episodes?
8th Layer Insights has 87 episodes. Check the episode list to see recent publication dates and frequency.
Where can I listen to 8th Layer Insights?
You can listen to 8th Layer Insights on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts 8th Layer Insights?
8th Layer Insights is created and hosted by Perry Carpenter | N2K Networks.
URL copied to clipboard!