Ep. 97 - The Quantum State of Security / Pete Herzog

In this episode, James sits down with Pete Herzog, co-founder of ISACOM and creator of the OSSTMM — a comprehensive security control testing framework. He shares stories from his early days: hacking cigarettes vending machines to trade for access to computers, building a fake ID operation out of a college gerontology department, and social engineering his way onto the internet before most people knew it existed. But Pete isn't just telling war stories. He reveals how he helps unmask cybercriminals for law firms using metadata and fake account networks, explains why platforms and domain registrars are financially incentivized to protect scammers, and explains why people need help because the FBI won't touch a fraud case under $20 million anymore. From romance scam victims left with no recourse to rethinking where you place resources to secure systems, Pete shares why he thinks security isn't something we build — it's something written into the fabric of the universe, waiting to be discovered.