SipCyber - Presented by IT Audit Labs

AI doesn't just help defenders anymore—attackers are using it to study you before you ever know you're a target. 
In this episode of SipCyber, Jen Lotze sits down at Forgotten Star Brewing in Fridley, MN—a former WWII manufacturing facility built on a legacy of doing things right—with a rare seasonal Maibock in hand, and a sharp warning about how AI is quietly transforming phishing attacks into something far more dangerous: emails that look exactly like everything else in your inbox. 
Key Topics Covered: 
How attackers use AI to map relationships and mimic writing styles inside your organization 
Why 91% of successful cyberattacks still start with an email 
Advanced email filtering tools (Harmony, Abnormal) and what they actually do 
What you can do if you don't have enterprise-level protection at home 
The simple habit—verify outside the email—that can stop even sophisticated attacks 
This isn't about fear. It's about the one pause that changes everything. 
🍺 Featured Spot: Forgotten Star Brewing, Fridley, MN (Formerly a WWII boiler room—and yes, the Maibock is worth the wait.) 
Don't let a "normal-looking" email cost you everything. Subscribe for weekly cybersecurity insights delivered from the best local spots across the country—and share this with anyone who uses email at work. 
#AIPhishing #CyberSecurity #EmailSecurity #PhishingAttack #InfoSec #SipCyber #AIThreats #CyberAwareness #SocialEngineering #DigitalSafety #EmailHacking #CyberDefense #ForgottenStarBrewing

Your photos are talking behind your back — and most people have no idea. 
In this episode of SipCyber, Jen Lotze stops into Profit Coffee in North Charleston, SC — a thoughtfully designed space where even the milk choices signal awareness — and unpacks a privacy habit you probably never knew you needed. Inspired by a fisherman friend who screenshots every photo before sending it, Jen breaks down what's quietly hiding inside the images you share every day. 
Key Topics Covered: 
What photo metadata is — and why it matters for your privacy 
How a single image can reveal your home, your routines, and your location history 
The simple screenshot trick that strips hidden data before you share 
How to disable location tagging in your camera settings in under a minute 
Why awareness — not paranoia — is the most powerful privacy tool you have 
You're not oversharing on purpose. You're oversharing by default. One small setting change fixes that. 
☕ Featured Spot: Profit Coffee, North Charleston, SC 
Think privacy is complicated? It doesn't have to be. Subscribe for weekly cybersecurity tips from the best local spots across the country — and share this with someone who still sends photos straight from their camera roll. 
#PhotoPrivacy #Metadata #CyberSecurity #DigitalPrivacy #InfoSec #SipCyber #DataPrivacy #OnlineSafety #CyberAwareness #PrivacyTips #LocationData #EXIF #PhotoSecurity #CyberTips #DigitalSafety

You assume your messages are private. But what if that assumption is the vulnerability? 
In this episode of SipCyber, Jen Lotze settles in at Estuary in St. John's Island with a wheat ale and unpacks a quiet but significant shift in how two of the world's biggest social platforms handle your private conversations. Instagram is walking back end-to-end encrypted DMs—meaning the platform can once again read, scan, and analyze your messages. And TikTok? It never offered that protection to begin with. 
This isn't about paranoia. It's about knowing what "private" actually means in 2025—and closing the gap between how things feel and how they actually work. 
Key Topics Covered: 
What end-to-end encryption is—and why Instagram just stepped away from it 
Why TikTok DMs were never as private as users assumed 
The real trade-off between platform safety and personal privacy 
How your "private" messages can be accessed, reviewed, and analyzed 
Why assumption is the most common cybersecurity vulnerability 
☕ Featured Spot: Estuary, St. John's Island 
Think your DMs are private? Subscribe for weekly cybersecurity awareness delivered from coffee shops and breweries—and share this with someone who needs a reality check on their social media habits. 
#Privacy #SocialMediaPrivacy #Instagram #TikTok #Encryption #CyberSecurity #DataPrivacy #SipCyber #InfoSec #DigitalSafety #OnlineSafety #EndToEndEncryption #MetaPrivacy

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 Claddagh Coffee on 7th St. in St. Paul, MN, sipping a bright caramel salty dog latte, to unpack a quiet but powerful identity protection tool most people have never heard of: E-Verify Self Lock. 
The connection between tax season scams and this free SSN protection tool is closer than you think. Scammers don't need to break in—they just need you to move too fast. Jen walks through exactly how that gap gets exploited, and what a simple 10-minute setup can do to close it. 
Key Topics Covered:  
What E-Verify Self Lock is and how it works  
Why your Social Security number is the #1 target in identity theft  
How urgency and polished design are weaponized to earn digital trust  
The difference between trust in the physical world vs. the digital world  
Step-by-step: how to set up SSN protection directly and safely 
Trust builds slowly in real life—but online, it shows up instantly. A clean graphic, a confident voice, a sense of urgency. Scammers know this. Now you do too. 
☕ Featured Coffee Shop: Claddagh Coffee, 7th St., St. Paul, MN 
🥤 Jen's Order: Caramel Salty Dog Latte 
Ten minutes is all it takes. Subscribe for weekly cybersecurity tips delivered from coffee shops across the country—and share this with someone who thinks identity theft won't happen to them. 
#IdentityTheft #SocialSecurityNumber #EVerify #CyberSecurity #ScamAwareness #IdentityProtection #DataBreach #SipCyber #InfoSec #CyberSafety #TaxScams #DigitalSafety #OnlineSecurity

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 now: the Venmo overpayment fraud. 
From accidental transfers to online selling setups and fake "upgrade" emails, these scams share one common ingredient—urgency. And the antidote is surprisingly simple: a pause. 
Key Topics Covered: 
How the "accidental payment" scam works—and why it's so effective 
The overpayment trap targeting people selling items online 
Why Venmo's refund system can be weaponized against you 
The fake Venmo business account upgrade scam 
The one rule that protects you: never send money back yourself 
The same trust that makes peer-to-peer payment apps feel friendly is what makes them a prime target. A single pause between notification and action can be the difference between keeping your money and losing it. 
☕ Featured Spot: Hamblin Bread, Oxford Covered Market, Oxford, UK 
Don't let a scammer turn your good instincts against you. Subscribe for weekly cybersecurity insights from coffee shops and bakeries across the globe—and share this with anyone who uses Venmo, Zelle, or Cash App. 
#VenmoScam #CyberSecurity #ScamAwareness #DigitalSafety #SipCyber #OnlineFraud #PaymentScams #Phishing #InfoSec #PeerToPeerPayments #FinancialFraud #CyberAware #SocialEngineering