The Amplitude of Tech
Have You Secured Layer 8? TierPoint Talks Social Engineering and Human Risk Management
Attackers aren't breaking into your network anymore. They're logging in, using stolen credentials, MFA fatigue, and a well-timed call from "IT" to exploit the one layer no firewall can protect: your people. In this episode, Shawn sits down with Alicia Leone, Security Sales Specialist at TierPoint, and Dustin Larmeir, Vice President of Information Security Engineering at TierPoint, to unpack how social engineering attacks prey on human instincts like default to trust, deference to authority, and urgency. They cover the spike in nation state attacks on edge infrastructure, why paused zero trust security projects need a second look in the age of agentic AI, how LinkedIn oversharing hands attackers a roadmap, and why a no-shame reporting culture is the backbone of effective human risk management. If you're a CIO or CISO wondering whether security awareness training alone is enough, this conversation makes the case that it isn't, and shows you what to build around it. What You'll Learn: Why nation state actors are targeting edge network infrastructure, and what TierPoint's honeypots revealed How attackers are shifting from breaking in to logging in, and why long dwell times are the real danger How agentic AI workflows create a new attack surface that can be hijacked and turned against you Why "layer 8," the human layer, remains your biggest security risk no matter how good your tools are How social engineers exploit default to trust, authority, and urgency to bypass rational judgment What MFA fatigue attacks look like in practice, and why paused zero trust projects need revisiting How employee LinkedIn profiles can give attackers a detailed map of your security stack Why a no-shame reporting culture matters more than perfect phishing awareness
