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In This Issue
Title Story: We used to want our MTV. Now we get TikTok, Instagram, and algorithms designed for outrage. What’s the cost of a society manipulated by feeds instead of curated culture?
Cybersecurity Tip of the Week: Have you ever second-guessed connecting to “free Wi-Fi”—or learned the hard way?
Cybersecurity Breach of the Week: Do you think AI-driven identity theft will hit schools the hardest, or is this just the beginning?
Appearance of the Week: If you could ask one behind-the-scenes question about the FBI, what would it be? Join me at my book launch party!
A.I. Trend of the Week: Make your own Pop Mart 3D blind box collectible figure with AI (and check out mine!)
Title Story
I Want My MTV!
The headlines hit like body blows—terror, assassinations, shootings, chaos. I’ve done a week of news hits and every reporter asks me the same question: What do we do?
Here’s the truth: I don’t know. I don’t have answers for America’s division, for violence that feels more random every week, or for the madness that stalks our streets, schools and workplaces.
When I was a kid in the 80s, we wanted our MTV. The music videos were curated; the culture delivered in digestible hits. We rode bikes, met friends at the mall, and the biggest algorithm in our lives was a VJ deciding what played next. Terrorism was something that happened “over there.” The world felt lighter, even when it wasn’t.
Today, we don’t want MTV—we get TikTok, Instagram, and feeds engineered for outrage. Algorithms don’t curate; they manipulate. Instead of shared culture, we get chaos on demand. What’s the cost? A society more divided, more anxious, and more vulnerable.
I can’t rewind us to the 80s, no matter how badly I want my MTV. But I can do this: expose the spies, decode the cybercriminals, and show you how to fight back in the only arena I understand intrinsically—the digital battlefield. If we can’t control the chaos, we can at least control how prepared we are.
And speaking of preparation—that’s exactly why I wrote Spies, Lies, and Cybercrime. To lighten the angst, I’ll be giving away a copy every week from now until the book is released on October 7. All you have to do is be subscribed to this newsletter and leave a comment. That’s it. Easy.
Oh—and the first review is already in. Booklist calls Spies, Lies, and Cybercrime “masterful.” From the September 1 issue:
Most of us are familiar with the ‘Surface Web’… while the ‘Dark Web’ is home to an underground marketplace offering illicit items. Experienced cybercriminals like Lockbit can utilize ransomware to extort exorbitant sums from large companies, whereas a budding hacker might target a lovelorn person in a lonely-hearts scheme… At the FBI, O’Neill tangled with opponents like Robert Hanssen, the biggest mole in bureau history. As O’Neill deftly attests, taking proper precautions can limit, if not halt, the damage wrought by unscrupulous cybercriminals. His masterful book serves as an important guide for individuals and companies committed to avoiding an epic misstep.
Not a bad start for a spy hunter’s second big swing. Don’t miss out on your chance to win a free copy! Subscribe and leave a comment to enter. Your chances of winning are way better than Powerball! And read on for an opportunity to join me at my book launch on October 7 at the International Spy Museum in Washington DC!
Cybersecurity Tip of the Week
The Evil Twin
In my new book Spies, Lies, and Cybercrime, I tell the story of a coffee shop where free Wi-Fi wasn’t free at all. A neighbor set up a fake “evil twin” router with a name almost identical to the café’s real network. Dozens of customers clicked without thinking, and for weeks the imposter quietly siphoned logins, banking credentials, and private messages. Victims didn’t realize until identity theft cases piled up. Investigators later discovered the attacker had been reading their internet traffic like an open book.
That’s the danger of an evil twin: a cloned Wi-Fi hotspot designed to trick you into connecting. Once you do, cybercriminals can intercept everything—logins, credit cards, emails, even session cookies that let them hijack accounts without your password. It’s a man-in-the-middle attack hiding in plain sight.
These traps show up in coffee shops, airports, hotels, libraries—even airplanes. In fact, Australian police charged a man last year for running an evil twin attack mid-flight, stealing data at 30,000 feet.
How to Stay Safe
Ask before you connect. Confirm the right Wi-Fi name.
Look closely. Evil twins may differ by just one character.
Use a VPN. Encryption makes stolen traffic worthless.
Disable auto-connect. Don’t let your device choose for you.
Favor your phone. A cellular hotspot beats public Wi-Fi.
Evil twins exploit convenience. Don’t hand over the keys—practice a little digital street smarts and you’ll be acting like a spy hunter in no time at all.
Cybersecurity Breach of the Week
Ghost Students
Last season’s hit scam? AI ghost employees—phantom hires who stole paychecks and benefits without ever showing up to work. The sequel is here, and it’s even bigger: AI ghost students.
Here’s the plot: scammers steal your identity, enroll “you” in online classes, and pocket the financial aid. AI bots keep up appearances by cranking out just enough homework to fool the system. Meanwhile, real students are locked out of classes, schools lose millions, and victims are left holding surprise student loan bills.
One woman only learned she was a “student” when federal investigators knocked on her door. Another discovered bot-written essays submitted under his name. Imagine opening your mail and finding out you owe $9,000 in tuition to a college you never applied to.
Identity theft used to be about credit cards. Now AI lets criminals spin up entire fake lives—your name, your Social Security number, your debt. And once the scam works in education, you can bet it’ll spread elsewhere.
Act like a spy hunter. Protect yourself:
Check your credit reports.
Lock down your Social Security number.
Treat unexplained loan or aid letters as red alerts.
Document everything—it’s your evidence.
Ghost employees. Ghost students. What’s next? With AI in the wrong hands, the scam never stops—it just evolves.
Appearance of the Week
To celebrate the release of Spies, Lies, and Cybercrime, we’re doing this launch in style—at the only place that makes sense: The International Spy Museum in Washington, D.C. This is a FREE event for my newsletter readers, but space is capped at just 150 seats. Once it goes public, it will fill up fast.
📅 Event Details
Spies, Lies, and Cybercrime with Eric O’Neill
Date: Tuesday, October 7, 2025
Time: 6:30–8:00pm ET
Location: International Spy Museum, Washington, D.C.
Tickets: Free — registration required
On launch night, I’ll share where espionage collides with AI-driven cybercrime and give you practical steps to protect yourself by thinking like a spy hunter. Copies of Spies, Lies, and Cybercrime will be available for purchase and signing after the program.
This evening means the world to me—and I’d be honored to celebrate it with the readers who’ve been with me every step of the way.
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A.I. Trend of the Week
Remember when collectible toys meant tearing into mystery blind boxes, hoping for that rare figure? AI is taking the concept to a whole new level.
Here’s the prompt I used to create the 3D blind box collectible figure in the hidden edition style of Pop Mart below (replace my descriptions with your own - and hope your AI can spell!):
Create a realistic 3D blind box collectible figure in the hidden edition style of Pop Mart. The figure should feature a cute, chibi-like proportion, with a large head and small body, designed to resemble a sleek “Spy hunter” archetype. Give the character boyish good looks, athletic build, dark brown hair, and hazel eyes, dressed in spy-inspired fashion.
Place the figure inside a premium transparent blind box with a bold red, black, and gold color scheme. Include collectible lifestyle accessories such as sunglasses, a hardback book with striking orange-and-yellow lettering, and a stylized badge.
On the side of the box, add an illustrated portrait of the character, with their name displayed in stylish gold script at the top right and bottom front of the box.
Display the boxed figure on a clean white tabletop, with a softly blurred modern boutique shelf environment in the background. Use soft, polished, realistic lighting to mimic a professional commercial product photoshoot, highlighting the figure and packaging with elegance.
Closing Note
The threats keep evolving—from evil twins to ghost students—but so can we. That’s why I write this newsletter: to help you think like a spy, spot the con, and stay one step ahead.
And remember—the countdown to Spies, Lies, and Cybercrime is on. I’ll be giving away a copy every week until launch day on October 7. All you have to do is stay subscribed and leave a comment.
If this issue made you think, share it with a friend or colleague who could use a little digital street smarts. And as always—your thoughts, stories, and questions keep this community sharp. Drop a comment, and let’s keep the conversation going.
Stay safe, stay sharp,
Eric
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