About
The photo of me doing the Ronnie James Dio “devil-horns” pose is a deepfake. It took me ten minutes to make with no talent—all I did was upload a photo, tell CoPilot what to do, and voila: a sixty-year-old-ish rockstar is born!
But if I wanted to, I could create a realistic deepfake of anyone—and very likely, so could you, since the tools are available online, waiting for anyone curious enough to try—even those with harmful intentions.
My name is Frank Riccardi, and I'm a cybersecurity and privacy expert passionate about empowering people with the cyber-savvy needed to repel cyberattacks. With 25 years of experience in healthcare compliance and privacy, I’ve led responses to high-risk data breaches and ransomware cyberattacks.
My goal is to help everyday people—whom I call “non-geeks”—protect themselves from financially devastating and soul-crushing cyberattacks that could ruin their lives.
So, I hope you’ll be on the lookout for my next cybersecurity book, scheduled for release in mid-2026. Ctrl+Alt+Pwn: The Hackers Playbook (and How to Beat It) reveals cybercriminals’ hacking tools and dirty tricks and shows you how to protect yourself by exploring cyberattacks that have pwned celebrities, CEOs, and even cybersecurity experts. TV star Seth Green had valuable NFTs stolen in a phishing scam, actress Jennifer Lawrence was the victim of a breach that exposed stolen personal photos, and NFL linebacker Manti Te’o was duped through an elaborate catfishing scheme.
No one is safe from cyberattacks—from the SIM-jacking attack that pwned former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey to cybersecurity expert Troy Hunt, who had 16,000 email addresses stolen from his blog’s mailing list after being tricked in a phishing scam.
Whether it’s conjuring an evil portal with a Wi-Fi Pineapple, encrypting your smartphone with malicious QR codes, or unleashing AI-powered deepfakes, cybercriminals exploit human frailty to steal passwords and launch ransomware attacks.
Hacking seems like digital sorcery, but it’s just technology enhanced by trickery. Ctrl+Alt+Pwn: The Hackers Playbook (and How to Beat It) exposes the scams and technologies cybercriminals use to launch devastating cyberattacks. Hacking is not black magic, but it is a dark art that you can master and counter. So, are you ready to fight back?
Ah, well, yeah—I see you caught the sneaky sales pitch cleverly hidden in my bio!
My bad.
But hey—if a deepfake over-the-hill, bald-headed rockstar can warn you about genuine cyber threats, maybe the message is worth the pwnage.
Stay cyber-savvy, and I hope to see you in the pages of Ctrl+Alt+Pwn!