CTRL+ALT+PWN

“Covering cybersecurity since 2004, I’ve watched the same core scams — impersonation, credential theft, confidence tricks — continually reinvent themselves. What began as crude phishing and identity theft now resurfaces as ransomware, business email compromise, and AI-driven deepfakes. To anyone outside the field, each wave can feel entirely new. Headlines warn of the latest threat, yet few resources step back to explain how these tactics evolve — and what that means for everyday consumers. In CTRL+ALT+PWN, Frank Riccardi brings welcome clarity. He demystifies modern cybercrime and connects the psychology, the tools, and the technology in plain English. This is the kind of contextual, up-to-date understanding consumers have long needed.” —Byron Acohido, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and Editor-in-Chief of The Last Watchdog on Privacy & Security

Frank Riccardi is a cybersecurity and privacy expert passionate about empowering people and companies with the cyber-savvy needed to repel cyberattacks. With twenty-five years of experience in healthcare compliance and privacy, he has led the response to high-profile data breaches and ransomware cyberattacks. Riccardi earned his JD from the Western New England University School of Law and a BS in clinical laboratory sciences from the State University of New York at Stony Brook. He is certified in healthcare compliance by the Compliance Certification Board (CCB) and is the author of Mobilizing the C-suite: Waging War Against Cyberattacks. He lives with his wife in Greensboro, North Carolina.