Cyber News: Iran Attacks, Greyware, and Backdoor Code
What if the tools protecting your organization were the ones compromising it? In this episode of The Audit, co-hosts Joshua Schmidt, Eric Brown, and Nick Mellem — joined by IT Audit Labs team member Samuel Cala live in the St. Paul studio — unpack a wave of cybersecurity stories that all converge on one unsettling […]
Your Social Security Number Has a Lock—Are You Using It?
You already know to watch out for IRS scams—but do you know how to lock down your Social Security number before someone uses it? In this episode of SipCyber, Jen Lotze visits Clouded Coffee on 7th St. in St. Paul, MN, sipping a bright caramel salty dog latte, to unpack a quiet but powerful identity […]
The “Accidental” Venmo Payment That Drains Your Account
The moment money shows up unexpectedly, most of us want to do the right thing—send it back, fix the mistake, move on. That's exactly what scammers are counting on. In this episode of SipCyber, Jen Lotze visits Hamlin Bread inside Oxford's historic Covered Market to unpack one of the most deceptively simple scams circulating right […]
Cognitive Surrender: How AI Weaponizes Human Psychology
A $25 million wire transfer. A fake CFO. An entire executive team that didn't exist. This is what modern cybercrime looks like — and your firewall won't stop it. In this episode of The Audit, co-hosts Joshua Schmidt, Eric Brown, and Nick Mellum sit down with James McDowell — forensic psychology expert, cybercrime researcher, and […]
Tax Season Is Scammer Season: What You Need to Know
Trust is the thing scammers exploit most—and tax season hands it to them on a silver platter. In this episode of SipCyber, Jen Lotze visits The Mixing Jug, a hidden courtyard gem in Marlow, England, and draws a powerful parallel between the quiet trust of a neighborhood coffee shop and the misplaced trust that costs […]
Stop Being Tracked: Phone Privacy Tips That Actually Work
Your phone isn't eavesdropping—it's doing something far more calculated. In this episode of SipCyber, Jen Lotze visits Meta Coffee and Bookstore in Anoka, MN, where the warmth of an old-school wooden bar and a quiet cup of herbal tea set the stage for one of the most common digital mysteries people experience: why does an […]
Surviving a Cardiac Event: Biometric Data and the Risks Nobody Talks About
What if the device keeping you alive was also a cybersecurity vulnerability? That’s not a hypothetical — it’s Victor Barge’s reality. In this episode of The Audit, IT Audit Labs’ Global Delivery Director Victor Barge shares the story of his sudden cardiac event and the life-saving defibrillator now implanted in his chest and the eye-opening […]
The Quiet Data Collector in Your Pocket
Your phone is never fully asleep—and most people have no idea what's running quietly in the background. In this episode of SipCyber, Jen Lotze visits Compassion Coffee in Anoka, MN—a nonprofit built on second chances—and draws a powerful parallel: just like the unseen systems keeping a coffee shop running smoothly, your devices are constantly working […]
AI Is Already Inside Your Kids’ World—Are They Ready?
A third-grader mishearing a Paul Simon song just delivered the most important cybersecurity lesson of the year. In this episode of SipCyber, Jen Lotze stops into Conscious Cup Coffee in Crystal Lake, IL—home of the salted hazelnut latte that turned her into a coffee lover—to talk about what it really means to raise a generation […]
Secret Service Agent Reveals Undercover Cyber Ops
What does it take to go undercover with international cybercriminals — with no backup, no safe house, and no script? In this episode of The Audit, Richard LaTulip, Field CISO at Recorded Future and former U.S. Secret Service agent, pulls back the curtain on three years of undercover operations spanning Thailand, Dubai, Macau, and China. […]