I’m not a fan of Sacha Baron Cohen because I don’t find him funny; for the most part, I can’t get over how mean-spirited he is and how much damage it does to others. However, his recent Showtime show does provide some meaningful cringeworthy lessons that showcase just how easily fooled people can be. Just like a phishing or spear phishing attack, he uses his target’s vanity and desire to be sociable against them. In this case, he isn’t stealing their money, but he is destroying their reputation and massively reducing the value of their brand.
This just showcases the breadth of the exposure, as it ranges from trying to empty your bank account to destroying your ability to earn a living to using you to steal your company’s intellectual property. With the web and electronic transfer, folks don’t even need to be on the same continent to do you or your firm damage. And, when it happens, people are often too embarrassed to admit they were duped.
You can watch some of his...(continued)