See the full episode above or on LifeLock’s Youtube channel here.

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For more information, or to book Mr. Levin, please contact us at press@adamlevin.com.

The post Adam Levin Presents “Navigating Today’s Digital Threat Landscape” appeared first on Adam Levin.

Here’s what to expect from 2025:

• The AI arms race will continue to heat Up: Companies are scrambling to incorporate AI into their software offerings and services (to sometimes dubious ends), and cybercriminals have followed suit. Expect to see increasingly sophisticated phishing attacks (say goodbye to poorly-written emails), automated credential stuffing, target profiling and deepfakes. Cybersecurity companies are actively deploying AI to block these attacks, so expect to see an ongoing escalation between AI-based offense and defense.
  
  Check out our What the Hack podcast episode about AI-based cybercrime here.
  
• Your security measures will be hacked: 2024 saw a major hacking incident against Ivanti VPN devices, which could have potentially compromised systems connected to critical infrastructure as well as the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Agency (CISA). Security measures such as firewalls, VPNs and password managers might protect customer data, but the slightest weakest link in their defenses could lead to wide-scale attacks on the level of the SolarWinds breach.
  
  Check out our What the Hack interview with CISA Director Jen Easterly here.
  

• Your cryptocurrency wallet will be attacked: Thanks to the incoming Trump presidency’s promise of crypto-friendly policies (as well as his new apparent BFF Elon Musk’s heavy investment in them), cryptocurrency values are spiking. The transferability and anonymity of cryptocurrency and the relative difficulty of recovering it once stolen, combined with record highs in their value mean that the already sophisticated crypto schemes out there will escalate.
  
  Check out our What the Hack interview with Solana cryptocurrency head of strategy Austin Federa here.
  
• Your children will be targeted on social media: While the elderly have been long-standing targets for cybercriminals and scammers of all kinds, the latest generation of digital natives that grew up hyper-connected on social media during the Covid epidemic makes for easy pickings for theft, extortion, catfishing, and worse, often with tragic results. Keep a close eye on your children’s social media usage in 2025: Given the difficulties in passing legislation to protect them online, it’s bound to get more prolific.
  
  Check out our What the Hack episode with U.S. Senators Marsha Blackburn and Richard Blumenthal about the Kids Online Safety Act here.

If this list sounds overly pessimistic, it isn’t: The threats the average person online faces, regardless of their age or income, is only increasing. Do yourself a favor and up your cybersafety game in 2025.

The post Scams, Hacks, and AI: What to Expect in 2025 appeared first on Adam Levin.

Here are some tips to keep your holiday season fun:

• Double check the URL of the website: This may seem obvious, but the internet is crowded with domain names seeking to take advantage of common typos leading users to sketchy sites. Before you try to buy anything online, check and double-check the URL of the website. Amazon.cm, Amzon.com, Amazzon.com, for example, could easily be a scam storefront.
  

• Do some background research: There are plenty of websites that aren’t attached to big box stores or monolithic corporations that depend on holiday sales to stay in business. Unfortunately, it can be difficult to distinguish between small businesses and scam websites. A little bit of research can help: Do a quick online search of the store you’re planning on ordering from (an easy tip is to look up the name of the site and “scam”). Check to see if they have a working phone number, a physical address, customer reviews, or anything else that helps prove that the website in question is attached to an established business.
  

• Click links in emails and texts with extreme caution: Anyone who does their holiday shopping online is familiar with the bombardment of shipping notifications, email campaigns, and order confirmations. It’s all too easy for a scammer to send a text or email with information about an online purchase that leads to a scam website, or worse, downloads malware to your device. Double-check the sender’s email address or phone number before clicking on any links and never provide personal or financial information unless you’re 100% positive that you’re dealing with an actual business.
  

• Don’t overshare on social media: People tend to post everything from travel plans to wishlists on social media during the holidays. Don’t be like those people. Any information you share online can provide scammers the information needed to craft finely-tuned emails and communications scam you. If you insist on posting, set your privacy settings to not allow the general public to see your posts.
  
• Beware of too-good-to-be-true sales offers: Yes, online retailers will often give large discounts on their products over the holidays, but they’re not running charities. Steer clear of any discount or sale that seems outlandishly inexpensive, especially if it’s not on a well-established site. If you see an ad for a website offering PS5s or iPhones at a massive discount, it’s likely to be a scam designed to capture your payment information. 

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While this move came as little surprise given Meta’s voracious data-mining of internet users within and outside of its sprawling ecosystem, it was the final straw for many visual artists. Having already seen AI-based artwork and imagery reduce demand for graphic design and professional photography, it now seemed that their own work could be processed and synthesized into competing products.

Compounding their frustration was that Meta had only informed users in the EU and UK of their plans to adhere to their stricter privacy laws and provided a means to opt-out. For everyone else, any content posted since 2007 was fair game. 

“This puts artists in an impossible position,” wrote Bella Bakeman in an op-ed for the Detroit Free Press. “Now, they must decide if continuing to use Meta apps, including Instagram and Facebook, where they’ve cultivated a following is worth AI stealing their intellectual property.” 

Many visual artists have announced their intention of leaving Instagram for other visual platforms with more intellectual property protections. One of the most popular, Cara, jumped from 50,000 users to over 700,000 in the first week of June 2024 alone and has since crossed the million user mark. 

Cara’s stance on AI is stated bluntly on their website: “We do not plan to host AI art unless the rampant ethical and data privacy issues around datasets are resolved via regulation.”

While the ability of users to switch platforms when one becomes problematic (see: Elon Musk and Twitter) seems like a win for the open market on the internet, it also comes at a steep cost for artists on Instagram. Starting from scratch means losing followers, which can take years to build. Artist-centric apps like Cara may offer more protections to their users, but having a network almost solely populated by other artists drastically cuts down on their changes for exposure to wider and more general audiences.

There’s also the question of the financial stability of newer platforms. The massive influx of users to Cara meant an equally massive increase in the costs needed to maintain it: Cara founder Jinga Zhang announced that their hosting costs ballooned from $2000 / month to $100,000 in a single week in July.  

App providers regularly struggle to monetize their services, raising the possibility of Cara a) shutting down and leaving artists to find another network or b) Cara needing to change its policies to cover its costs.

In either case, the AI gold rush for user data and content has yet again raised the adage: “If you’re not paying for the product, you are the product.” 

The post Are Creatives Fleeing Instagram Due to AI? appeared first on Adam Levin.

In this week’s Tinfoil Swan, Travis is pretty sure there are scam PACs out there, and he wants to make sure you don’t fall for them.

“What the Hack with Adam Levin” is available wherever you get your podcasts. If you like it, consider rating us on your favorite podcast service or writing a review. It really helps people find the show.

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This week’s Tinfoil Swan takes a look at subscription email bombing, specifically as it relates to Beau’s recent experience of being bombed in aid of credit card fraud.

“What the Hack with Adam Levin” is available wherever you get your podcasts. If you like it, consider rating us on your favorite podcast service or writing a review. It really helps people find the show.

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We talked to Holmes in this week’s episode about her strange predilection for scamming scammers and her new book, Keanu Reeves Is Not In Love With You: The Murky World of Online Romance Fraud. The Tinfoild Swan has some not to be missed advice for parents on a very serious topic: Sextortion.

“What the Hack with Adam Levin” is available wherever you get your podcasts. If you like it, consider rating us on your favorite podcast service or writing a review. It really helps people find the show.

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This week’s Tin Foil Swan dives into the sunk cost fallacy and the role it plays in scams.

The post Carina Follows Her Heart Into a Crypto Scam appeared first on Adam Levin.

Check out the episode for an object lesson in how even the cyber-savviest among us can still fall prey to internet-based skullduggery, and what you can do to stay safe no matter how distracting your worklife may be.

This week’s Tin Foil Swan explores why hostile nation-states invest in misinformation and disinformation. (Spoiler alert: Because it works.)

“What the Hack with Adam Levin” is available wherever you get your podcasts. If you like it, consider rating us on your favorite podcast service or writing a review. It really helps people find the show.

Read the transcript here.

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