Welcome to the Layer 8 Podcast season 5! This season we’ll have conversations with social engineers and OSINT investigators who will tell their stories. We hope you enjoy them. 


Layer 8 Podcast

<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/kirbyp/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferer">Kirby Plessas</a> is an OSINT pioneer, US military veteran, business owner, board member, is <a href="https://osmosisinstitute.org/osc/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferer">OSC certified </a>and podcast host. Kirby was an Arabic linguist in the military who started sharing what she knew with team members in a newsletter and it grew from there. She is the founder of the <a href="https://plessas.net/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferer">Plessas Experts Network</a> which offers training, classes and webinars in OSINT investigations. She also co-hosts the <a href="https://osintcocktail.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferer">OSINT Cocktail</a> podcast where they talk about investigations and techniques seen in movies and television shows.

Episode 131: Kirby Plessas and the PEN

<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/craigmtaylor/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferer">Craig Taylor</a> is the founder and CEO of <a href="https://cyberhoot.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferer">CyberHoot</a> a security awareness company that focuses on positive reinforcement and gamification. Craig studied psychology and used that knowledge when creating CyberHoot, which he offers for free. Craig also set up a challenge specifically for listeners of the Layer 8 Podcast, if you&#39;d like to test your ability to identify a phish and the parts of a phish quickly. It&#39;s even free! You can try that out here: <a href="https://cps.cyberhoot.com/hootphish-challenge/?hash=65199056c6edbc93f2755078a5b15743 " target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferer">https://cps.cyberhoot.com/hootphish-challenge/?hash=65199056c6edbc93f2755078a5b15743 </a>There will be a leaderboard, and you can check your status on the leaderboard here: <a href="https://cps.cyberhoot.com/hootphish-challenge/shared-results/?hash=8b7f346b97c7dd027215d741f0ae36fb " target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferer">https://cps.cyberhoot.com/hootphish-challenge/shared-results/?hash=8b7f346b97c7dd027215d741f0ae36fb </a>This free challenge will end on May 31, 2025.

Episode 130: Positive Reinforcement and Gamification in Security Awareness with CyberHoot

<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/tim-farmer-osc-2ab537162/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferer">Tim Farmer</a> is the OSINT Training Lead for Dark Blue at <a href="https://www.caci.com/darkblue" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferer">CACI</a>. He performs investigations along with teaching OSINT classes with a focus on the deep and dark web. (Don&#39;t know the difference? We discuss that in this episode.) Tim has his own podcast with Chris, titled <a href="https://theosintoutput.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferer">The OSINT Output</a>. Tim has achieved the OSC certification from Osmosis Academy and will be presenting at the <a href="https://layer8conference.com/schedule/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferer">Layer 8 Conference</a> this year with a talk titled "Deanonymizing Dark Web Hidden Services: Capitalizing on User Mistakes and Querying Internet of Things Databases"

Episode 129: Tim Farmer - Deanonymizing the Dark Web

<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/dorota-kozlowska/" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">Dorota Kozlowska</a> is a social engineer and penetration tester for <a href="https://www.blackhillsinfosec.com/" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">Black Hills Information Security</a>. She has her own podcast which can be found on <a href="https://www.twitch.tv/womaninredpresents" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">Twitch</a> and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbYQ92aMkW1WyP_JjLhuPcw" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">YouTube</a> and recently presented at the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sESh2CCVCW0" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">Disobey</a> conference in Finland. On this episode, she talks about how to get into social engineering as a job, some techniques for elicitation, what skills one needs to be a social engineer and the all-important sympathy vs. empathy.

Episode 128: Dorota - The Woman In Red

Sho Luv, aka <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/leonjohnson/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferer">Leon Johnson</a> is a ninja, a hacker, a penetration tester and a computer security expert. Leon has performed all types of testing engagements and has mentored many other aspiring pentesters. On this episode, Leon talks about what it takes to be a tester along with some of his own stories of social engineering engagements and his thoughts on being a Black man while doing covert entry engagements. If you want to try your hand at the hacker box Leon created, titled Mr. Robot, have at it: <a href="https://sholuv.net/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferer">https://sholuv.net/ </a>

Episode 127: "I Am Your Permission" - Leon Johnson

How does a man living in England trace the history of Compton, California and the evolution of gangs across the country? And then evolve to tracking financial crimes? By using his OSINT skills! In this episode, <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/brett-r-7945011aa/" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">Brett Redman</a> the Head of Intelligence at <a href="https://blackdotsolutions.com/" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">Blackdot Solutions</a> takes us through where he started with tracking this information and also some discussion of OSINT differences between the US and UK, with an emphasis on investigational ethics.

Episode 126: Brett Redman - History of West Coast Gangs

<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/oliebrown/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferer">Olie Brown</a> is a self-described hacker and the creator of the penetration testing company <a href="https://www.consolecowboys.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferer">CC Labs</a>. In this episode, Olie tells us of some social engineering exploits he has pulled off with some very simple techniques. He also stresses the social in social engineering with his tips on how people can get started and how to get better at social engineering. He also talks about why he is constantly learning and hasn&#39;t slowed down.

Episode 125: Olie Brown of Console Cowboys

<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/danilov-d/" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">Dmitry Danilov</a>, aka <a href="https://bsky.app/profile/soxoj.bsky.social" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">Soxoj</a> is an OSINT investigator and CPO for <a href="https://sociallinks.io/" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">Social Links</a>. In this episode, we talk about his <a href="https://soxoj.substack.com/" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">Substack</a> where he shares his methodology and his incredibly helpful "<a href="https://soxoj.substack.com/p/the-4p-method-how-to-quickly-find" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">4P Method</a>" of doing investigations. We also talked about some of the tools he works with and created, which you can find in his github: <a href="https://github.com/soxoj" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">https://github.com/soxoj</a><ul> <li><a href="https://soxoj.com/" target="_blank">https://soxoj.com/ </a></li></ul><ul> <li><a href="https://t.me/soxoj_insides" target="_blank">https://t.me/soxoj_insides</a></li></ul><ul> <li><a href="https://github.com/soxoj/maigret" target="_blank">https://github.com/soxoj/maigret</a></li> <li>Presentation at LeHack: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0yQRf0Mx-hc" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0yQRf0Mx-hc</a></li></ul><ul> <li><a href="https://sociallinks.io/products/sl-crimewall" target="_blank">https://sociallinks.io/products/sl-crimewall</a></li></ul>

Episode 124: Soxoj - OSINT on ICQ, His Substack, Tools and More!

<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeff-tomkiewicz/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferer">Jeff Tomkiewicz</a>, aka <a href="https://bsky.app/profile/gfk.bsky.social" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferer">The Gh0stface Killer</a> is a social engineer who is employed but a health services company. He will also be teaching a pretexting workshop at the Layer 8 Conference! You can find out more about that here: <a href="https://layer8conference.com/training-at-layer-8-conference-2025/ " target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferer">https://layer8conference.com/training-at-layer-8-conference-2025/ </a>
In this episode, we learn how Jeff moved from the military to becoming a social engineer where he does red team engagements for his company. He also penned a great article about social engineering and pretexting here: <a href="https://heyzine.com/flip-book/8467826462.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferer">https://heyzine.com/flip-book/8467826462.html </a> 
Let&#39;s talk covert entry, vishing, phishing and how to get into the field with Jeff!

Episode 123: Jeff Tomkiewicz and His Pretexts! 

<a href="https://www.myosint.training/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferer">My OSINT Training</a> is a company created by Griffin (<a href="https://bsky.app/profile/hatless1der.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferer">@hatless1der</a>) Glynn and Micah (<a href="https://bsky.app/profile/webbreacher.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferer">@webbreacher</a>) Hoffman. Their goal was to create affordable high quality OSINT training, and they&#39;ll be offering that at the Layer 8 Conference in June! You can <a href="https://layer8conference.com/training-at-layer-8-conference-2025/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferer">sign up today</a> for their class! 
In this episode, we also spoke about the National Child Protection Task Force (<a href="https://ncptf.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferer">NCPTF</a>) and how Micah and Griffin conduct investigations along with how others can help and how ethics play a huge part in their investigations. Griffin also runs a hugely popular page of OSINT tools at <a href="https://start.me/p/DPYPMz/the-ultimate-osint-collection" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferer">The Ultimate OSINT Collection </a>

Episode 122: My OSINT Training with Griffin Glynn and Micah Hoffman

Get your ticket to the Layer 8 Conference on June 14, in Boston!
In this episode, we're joined by <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/dutch-osintguy/" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">Nico Dekens</a>, aka <a href="https://bsky.app/profile/dutchosintguy.bsky.social" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">Dutch_OSINTGuy</a> where he talks about lessons in OSINT including the value of operational security, ethics and classes he teaches. He also tells us about his 5W1H method of performing an investigation. We also discussed some blog posts he wrote for <a href="https://shadowdragon.io/blog/author/nicodekens/" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">ShadowDragon</a>, including one about <a href="https://shadowdragon.io/blog/peer-pressure-and-heightened-emotional-states-in-osint-investigations/" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">OSINT on people in heightened emotional states</a>.

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Layer 8 Podcast

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Layer 8 Conference

#131

Episode 131: Kirby Plessas and the PEN

#130

Episode 130: Positive Reinforcement and Gamification in Security Awareness with CyberHoot

#129

Episode 129: Tim Farmer - Deanonymizing the Dark Web

#128

Episode 128: Dorota - The Woman In Red

#127

Episode 127: "I Am Your Permission" - Leon Johnson

#126

Episode 126: Brett Redman - History of West Coast Gangs

#125

Episode 125: Olie Brown of Console Cowboys

#124

Episode 124: Soxoj - OSINT on ICQ, His Substack, Tools and More!

#123

Episode 123: Jeff Tomkiewicz and His Pretexts!

#122

Episode 122: My OSINT Training with Griffin Glynn and Micah Hoffman

#121

Episode 121: Dutch OSINT Guy