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Title Story

No Blank Pages

On Thanksgiving, I challenged you to turn your phones off for a full day. A clean break from the chatter. Who actually did it? If your hand just went up, good. If not, stay with me. That simple act of friction is the heart of what follows.

For years, I’ve warned about a creeping danger dressed up as convenience. Generative AI writes your emails, drafts your essays, and spins out almost anything you ask for with lightning speed. Helpful on the surface. But convenience always hides a cost, and this one hits us at the foundation of what makes us creative.

I’ve written about this in past issues. Generative AI suffocates creativity. Real creativity begins in the panic of a blank page demanding something only you can give. You stare at it. You wrestle with it. Eventually your mind sparks, catches, burns, and suddenly the impossible becomes a paragraph. There’s a reason we authors talk about chasing the first sentence. It’s the first agonizing moment that activates everything else.

When a machine hands you that first line instantly, your brain never strains. The mental weightlifting never happens. You shift from inventor to editor.

So why do we keep turning to AI? because our magnificent minds are built for efficiency. They always have been. The wheel, the loom, the steam engine, the microchip. History is one long tale of humanity outsmarting work. GenAI is simply the newest and most seductive. Pair it with the endless drone of social media and you get a perfect storm. We’ve traded the quiet joy of a good book by the fire or a warm hammock in the backyard for hours of scrolling that leaves us empty.

The real danger isn’t dystopian robots rising up with glowing eyes. The danger is that we stop rising up ourselves. In my upcoming book Spies, Lies, and Cybercrime, I warn about a moment when there are no blank pages left. When every idea comes pre-formatted, spell-checked, smoothed out before it ever touches our minds. Without struggle, thought stagnates. Creativity pools in shallow corners instead of flowing like a river.

Here's my new challenge:

Pick up a notebook and write twenty minutes longhand. Feel the resistance. Read something challenging without letting a machine summarize it. Give yourself thirty minutes of quiet without a device.

I’m not a luddite telling you to reject technology. I’m asking you to remind your brain that the spark is still there, waiting to fire if you let it work.

If you shut your phone off on Thanksgiving, you’ve already had a taste of that clarity. If you didn’t, give yourself one day this week to try again.

You may be surprised how loud your own mind becomes when you let it speak first.

Cybersecurity Breach of the Week

The Apple Call Scam

The popcorn was already popped. The blankets were pulled tight. Pajamas on, lights low, and the family gathered for what had been promised all week: the new season of Stranger Things. Only one problem. Dad couldn’t get the Apple TV to open Netflix. The spinning wheel of doom mocked him from across the room. His daughter sighed. His son asked whether they could just “watch it on the iPad.” His wife gave him the look every spouse knows well: just make it work.

Dad did what every frustrated parent eventually does. He reached for his phone to call Apple Support. And that’s when the phone rang.

The caller ID said “Apple Support.” The logo was right there. The number was correct. It felt like divine intervention. He answered immediately.

A calm, professional voice told him there had been suspicious activity in his iCloud account. There might have been a breach. His Apple TV issues, the representative explained, were likely connected. They needed to “verify” his account to fix the problem. Just his Apple ID and password. Maybe a verification code or two.

Dad didn’t hesitate. The family was waiting under warm blankets, and Netflix stood between him and mutiny. So he handed the scammer the keys to his digital life.

The truth, of course, was far darker. Caller-ID spoofing made the fake call appear authentic, right down to the logo and the official number. And once he gave up his credentials, the scammers walked straight into his iCloud account.

Apple later confirmed what cybersecurity pros have been warning for months: unsolicited calls—no matter how real they look—are traps. Apple will never ask for your password or verification codes. If a call comes in that you didn’t request yourself, the safest move is to hang up.

Dad eventually got Netflix working. But not before losing control of the one account that holds everything from photos to backups to the digital breadcrumbs of his entire life. The family got their show. The scammer got the breach of the week.

Protect Yourself—Starting Today

My new hub, PROTECT, is now live at ericoneill.net/protect and it’s built for anyone who wants to stop cybercriminal scammers cold. It’s fast, practical, and drawn straight from the playbook I used hunting spies for the FBI.

Inside, you’ll get the exact steps to take the moment your accounts are compromised, how to lock them down before criminals get in, and how to spot the scams hitting elders, teens, and anyone with a pulse and a Wi-Fi signal. There’s even a crash course on beating deepfakes—because they’re cheap, everywhere, and entirely too convincing.

If you want the full battle manual, that’s in Spies, Lies and Cybercrime.

If you want to start protecting yourself right now? Begin here: ericoneill.net/protect

Now—on to this week’s tip.

Cybersecurity Tip of the Week

FBI Warning: Stop Account Takeover Scams

This week’s threat: a fast-growing Account Takeover scam the FBI is sounding the alarm on.

Cybercriminals are impersonating banks and credit unions through texts, emails, fake websites, and even spoofed phone numbers that look legitimate. Their goal is simple: trick you into handing over login credentials or one-time passcodes. Once they have those, they reset your password, lock you out, and empty your accounts—often laundering the money through crypto wallets before you even notice the balance changed.

Some scammers go further, posing as law enforcement and claiming your information was used to buy firearms or commit fraud. It’s all theater designed to rattle you into compliance.

Act Like a Spy Hunter.

✔️Never share passcodes with anyone. Real institutions will not ask.

✔️Use bookmarks for financial sites and avoid clicking links in search results or emails.

✔️Always verify unexpected calls by hanging up and dialing the official number yourself.

✔️Watch your accounts for missing deposits or strange withdrawals.

✔️Use strong, unique passwords and keep multi-factor authentication turned on.

Want weekly spy-level tips? Subscribe to this newsletter and dig deeper at ericoneill.net/protect.

Get the Book: Spies, Lies, and Cybercrime

Thanks to all of you, my book, Spies, Lies, and Cybercrime, is an instant national bestseller and an Amazon #1 Bestseller.

If you haven’t already, please buy SPIES, LIES, AND CYBERCRIME. If you already have, thank you, and please consider gifting some to friends and colleagues. It’s the perfect holiday gift!

📺 Leave a 5-star review on Amazon or on Goodreads.

📖 Get a Signed copy.

🎤  I’m on the road doing speaking events. If your company or organization is interested in having me talk about the book, or you know of someone who is, book me to speak at your next event.

Appearance of the Week

I stopped by the Cyber Crime Junkies podcast last week to pull back the curtain on my years as an FBI ghost. We dug into the real story behind catching Robert Hanssen, one of the most destructive spies this country has ever seen, and traced how betrayal in the shadows has evolved into the modern world of cybercrime.

If you want to understand the insider threats that can bypass even the strongest defenses, and how a single compromised trust can trigger a catastrophic breach, watch below. This is the side of cybersecurity most people never see… but absolutely need to.

AI Trend of the Week

Marge Simpson gives some advice for the best holiday gift to keep your family safe from Spies, Lies and Cybercrime.

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