HTS Conference and Expo

Lunch, Platinum Speakers: Fortinet, Sure, Gold Speakers:CODED, Barracuda

Keynote Speaker: Brett Johnson

From Internet Godfather to Leading Security Expert - Cybersecurity, Online Crime & Identity Theft

Known as the “Original Internet Godfather” for his exploits as one of the first cybercriminals, Brett Johnson’s life reads like a Hollywood film script, and his story of crime serves as a lesson for fraudsters and the law enforcement officials who hunt them down.
After being placed on the United States Most Wanted List, captured and convicted of 39 felonies, he escaped prison. Captured again, Johnson served his time and accepted responsibility. He now advises the FBI and corporate America about how to understand a virtual underworld that he helped create.
“Those 39 felonies had to do with refining a lot of the different online financial crimes we see today, from account takeovers, credit card fraud, phishing schemes and tax return identity theft,” he told John Gill, J.D., CFE, ACFE vice president – education, at the closing session of the ACFE Global Fraud Conference.
Johnson’s life of crime began at the age of 10 years old when he first shoplifted food from K-Mart. Encouraged by his mother, he soon advanced to stealing clothes and toys. By the time Johnson was in his 20s, he had dabbled in charity fraud, money laundering, document forgery and other crimes.
Yet it wasn’t until the 1990s when eBay started, and the Beanie Baby craze took off, that Johnson discovered the potential behind internet fraud. He posted a photo of the popular royal blue Beanie Baby called Peanuts on the auction site. He didn’t own it, but he convinced a buyer to send thousands of dollars and then sent her a cheap knock-off. The victim of course complained — vehemently — but finally relinquished.
“That was my first lesson of cybercrime, and to this day the lesson remains” Johnson said. “If you delay a victim long enough, a lot of them get so exasperated they finally throw their hands in the air and walk away. You don’t hear from them again.”
Cybercrime has its appeal, explains Johnson. Not only is it lucrative, but unlike other crimes, fraudsters can avoid close contact with the victim making it easier to ignore the pain suffered by those they have duped. “You never have to face your victim,” he said. “You can compartmentalize your online life. Online I do all this stuff, but in real life I am a good guy.”