Cybersecurity Tips From a Master of Deception Turned Consultant
Frank Abagnale, the infamous impostor from Catch Me If You Can, says computer crooks have no compassion.
Frank Abagnale was a notorious impostor. He wrote Catch Me If You Canabout his exploits. After doing time he became a security consultant to the U.S. government. His book Scam Me If You Can: Simple Strategies to Outsmart Today’s Rip-off Artists is out this month.
Abagnale
PHOTOGRAPHER: CHRIS RATCLIFFE/BLOOMBERG/BLOOMBERG
The cybersecurity battle can seem like a losing one—is it?
Every breach, without exception, happens because somebody in that company did something they weren’t supposed to do or somebody failed to do something they were supposed to do—hackers don’t cause breaches, they take advantage of them. Equifax [Inc.] didn’t fix its tech, it didn’t update patches, so the hackers got millions of pieces of data.
So this falls mostly on companies to fix?
It falls squarely on the company that is not putting proper procedures in place and not training its people. Companies must do a better job of educating employees and making sure they understand that the most important job they have is keeping the information entrusted to them by their clients, customers, and citizens safe, whether they are the CEO or the janitor.
Isn’t technology part of the problem?
Yes, but that’s also companies not doing what they’re supposed to. Most of the technology that goes through to consumers, the companies never follow through—they want to get it out fast. Most don’t develop a device—like the voice-activated assistants—and then say, “Now, before we put this in the marketplace, how do we build it to block hackers?”
How would you try to persuade Americans suffering from hacking fatigue to protect themselves?
We’ve all had our identity stolen. I have. I mean, more than 1 billion IDs have been stolen in the U.S., and there are only 240 million people—so we know hackers have the data. Will they ever get around to using it? Maybe not. Many scams are ones you can prevent by just knowing what to listen and look for. In every scam, no matter how sophisticated or how amateur, there are two red flags: I’m going to ask you for money—wire me the money immediately—or I’m going to ask you for information—what’s your Social Security number? Knowing this can prevent a lot of scams.
What’s one thing we should be doing but aren’t?
Until last September, only eight states allowed you to freeze your credit for free. It had become costly and timely, especially for seniors. Congress passed a law prohibiting the credit-monitoring companies from charging to freeze credit. That’s not going to stop a hacker from getting your information from Capital One [Financial Corp.], but it will keep scammers from getting your name and using it to open a bank account in your name, get credit in your name, buy a car in your name, get a mortgage in your name, get medical treatment in your name, get a job in your name, or commit a crime in your name.
Who’s most vulnerable?
Statistically, millennials fall for more scams, but seniors lose more money. Most scams, when we look at the statistics, aren’t reported. The smartest people in the world are scammed, so it’s nothing to be ashamed of. If you don’t tell anybody—a senior might think, I don’t want to tell my daughter, because she’ll take away my independence—nothing will be done, and it doesn’t help.
Total security is a fantasy, right? Is it possible?
It’s not, and the reason is because you cannot have convenience and security at the same time. People tend to want convenience, and they don’t want to give it up.
Scams have changed a lot since your con man days. What’s one of the biggest changes?
You know, in the old days, the con man, the con woman, had a little bit of compassion. Today, no emotion enters into it because con artists never see their victims—it’s data on the internet. I was 16 when I started as a con man, I had no fear. But as I got older, my conscience started to bother me. I used to walk into the bank and cash a forged check. Then, as I got older, I’d say, “I hope the teller won’t lose her job,” and that started to bother me. If I had been doing that today, over the internet, never seeing them, I don’t think I would have felt that way.
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Frank Abagnale, the infamous impostor from Catch Me If You Can, says computer crooks have no compassion.
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