Matt Scheurer - A.K.A. The InfoSec Rock Star

Students: Spring 2026, unless noted otherwise, sessions will be virtual on Zoom.

Lies, Telephony, and Hacking History

Aug 26, 2026

Episode #918

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MP4 Video Size: 291.1MB

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Abstract

You may find yourself attending a CERIAS Security Seminar, and you may ask yourself "Well, how did we get here?" Once upon a time, not long ago, there was no cybersecurity industry or careers. This talk transports attendees on a retrospective journey through time to highlight the advancements which paved the way here. We further explore historic attack vectors to understand how they relate to the cyberattacks of today. Topics include when Social Engineering first intertwined with technology following previous milestones in telecommunications. Our expedition highlights the technological origins of Phone Phreaking, Computer Hacking, Social Engineering, and how these activities relate to modern attacks. The speaker pulls out numerous hardware relics from the past to show attendees and demo them throughout this presentation. Come learn about what the underground phone phreak and early computer hacker scenes were like, and get ready for some "Show & Telecom"!

About the Speaker

Matt Scheurer is the show host of the ThreatReel Podcast, and Vice President of Computer Security and Incident Response in a large enterprise environment. He has many years of hands-on technical experience. Matt is an official "Hacking is NOT a Crime" Advocate, serves on the Advisory Board for the Warren County (Ohio) Career Center "Information Technology and Cybersecurity" program, and also volunteers as a technical mentor for the Women's Security Alliance (WomSA). He has presented numerous Information Security topics at countless technology meetup groups, and prominent Information Security conferences, including keynotes at the Cybersecurity Collaboration Forum Cincinnati Leadership Exchange, the Information Security Summit in Cleveland, Queen City Con (0x1, 0x2, and 0x3) in Cincinnati, and SecureWV in Charleston. He is awarded with delivering lifetime conference Keynote Addresses at Queen City Con. Matt is also a 2019 comSpark "Rising Tech Stars Award" winner, named a "Top 12 Hacking Influencer" by Bishop Fox in 2023, and awarded a "Black Badge" for continuous community engagement at Queen City Con in 2024.

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