Your Phone is the Key to Your House: A Security Discussion with 360 Privacy | PGA Players' Podcast #20

In this episode, we sit down with Ben Barrontine and Nick Bush from 360 Privacy to tackle one of the most critical yet overlooked aspects of a professional athlete’s career: protecting personal and family security in a digital world. From real-life stories of data breaches to practical steps for safeguarding your inner circle, Ben and Nick reveal how easy it is for sensitive information to fall into the wrong hands—and how small actions can make a big difference. Whether you're an athlete, family member, or simply concerned about digital privacy, this conversation sheds light on the evolving threats and delivers concrete strategies to keep what matters most safe. Tune in for actionable advice, behind-the-scenes insights, and a fresh take on why privacy is your greatest asset off the field.

Chapters
(00:00) Morning Routine and Podcast Introduction
(01:24) Origins and Mission of 360 Privacy
(05:41) Evolving from Physical to Digital Security
(08:06) Protecting Professional Athletes and Their Families
(10:32) Real-World Risks and Family Vulnerabilities
(15:11) Digital Footprint, Social Engineering, and Inner Circles
(19:58) Anonymity Strategies and Device Security
(24:43) Human Nature, Travel, and Situational Awareness
(29:33) Handling Suspicious Communications and Social Media Risks
(41:21) Practical Action Steps and Ongoing Cyber Hygiene

Connect with and follow us
• Website: https://www.athletefamilyoffice.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/awmcapital/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/awmcapital/
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCc1NxpK21N1vKWEExC45YEA
• X: https://twitter.com/awmcapital
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/awmcapital/

Resources
• How to Harden Your iPhone: https://storage.googleapis.com/glide-prod.appspot.com/uploads-v2/f21HC1YA42wW5YnzNd04/pub/ladkJnqX53Z2vOu2F9DQ/iphone_webversion.pdf
• How to Harden Your Android Phone: https://storage.googleapis.com/glide-prod.appspot.com/uploads-v2/f21HC1YA42wW5YnzNd04/pub/d7TpmjOELCi04y3ocm6N/Android%20Hardening%20Guide.pdf

Creators and Guests

Host

Aaron Goldberg

Former Professional Golfer and Private Wealth Advisor, CFP®

What is PGA Players Podcast?

Join Aaron Goldberg, CFP® - a private wealth advisor for AWM Capital and former professional golfer with the Korn Ferry and PGA tours - as he discusses weekly the most important business and financial news professional golfers should know.

Welcome back to the PJ Players Podcast.

Thanks for joining today.

We have two gentlemen from 360
Privacy, Ben Barine and Nick Bush.

Thanks for being here guys.

Thanks for having us.

Yeah, excited for the conversation today.

Uh, a lot of the conversations we have
on this podcast are around the best

players in the world, on the golf side,
but also the best athletes in the world.

How are they converting and
creating talent into value?

And what we want to talk about today
is more on the continue of their,

their talent and value set, uh, side.

And what we're gonna
talk about is security.

Um, maybe not as fun as some of the
other conversations we've had, but

probably the most important it can be.

Yeah, actually some of the conversations
we've had, some of the drills

we've done have been pretty fun.

So, um, but it's probably the
most important conversation we're

gonna have on here today, and I
think it's gonna resonate with.

People that are on the PJ tour,
whether it's the player, the wife,

the agent, um, the family, they
understand what's at risk these days.

But I think it's gonna be great to have
you two give us some context of maybe like

the behind the scenes of what happens.

So.

Why don't one of you guys give
me a little background on 360

Privacy, how y'all started?

That'd be great.

Yeah, so we've been around for
about five years now, six years.

What we do, in short, we remove
people from the internet, right?

So we remove, and not from Facebook, not
from Wikipedia, but if you look up Nic

Bush on Google Home Address, you know,
there's all these websites where it,

you're just, our information is just.

Hemorrhaging, right?

Yeah.

On, on Google.

And so part of our core flag,
our flagship, uh, program

is we remove you from those.

It's called 360 Deletes.

Um, we remove from about 500
websites every single day

just so that someone can't.

Just as easy, easily Google
where you live, right?

Because, and we'll kind of get
into it later, but that there's

this whole convergence now of
physical and cybersecurity.

Yeah.

Because, you know, someone can
find your front door by just doing

a Google, a Google search now.

Um, and so we do that.

We go through, um, we remove
you from the internet.

Um, we do dark web, deep web,
social media monitoring for

doxing, hyper-focused on doxing.

Right.

We'll get into that a little
bit later too, what that means.

Um, but then it, you know, in short,
we, we kind of reduce the risk, right?

Your personal risk, um, whether it's
an organization or a person, we're

reducing the risk of someone doing
physical harm to the person, right?

Yeah.

To, you know, and that's kind of
where, what it all boils down to.

Um, but we actually, you know,
we're all special operations

veterans for the most part.

Uh, we kind of got into this
business because we were the

bad guys at one point in time.

I've, you know, targeted people
like I, I've been on the other side

of it where we're, we're trying
to find the information on it so

we have this unique perspective
of how would the bad guy do it?

Yeah.

You know, what is, what are the,
the, the, um, the bad guys doing now?

Best practices for us and just
kinda reverse engineer it.

Um, 360 Privacy actually
started as a physical security

company here in Nashville.

Okay.

Uh, for, you know, musicians
and high profile individuals.

And we actually used what are now
competitors of us trying to stitch

'em all together 'cause they're, you
know, they're really good programs

for, for me, honestly, and my mom,
you know, I'm not famous or anything.

Um, but for the high profile
people, there was not a solution.

Where, you know, one, you didn't
have to do, do like a power of

attorney or driver's license.

Mm-hmm.

It was super cumbersome to get enrolled.

But then also, you know, the, they would
only remove from a quarter of the sites.

You know, they would kind of do
that top layer, very consumer base.

And so we started
stitching a bunch of other.

Solutions together just to kind
of see if we can, you know,

we, we needed this to happen.

Um, and in, uh, 2019, Adam, our CEO and
founder, he kind of just said, screw it.

You know, let's, let's just build
it, you know, build our own nice.

And so we built our own algorithm.

We built our own solution.

DevEd everything in house.

Everything's here in Nashville.

And it's purely because we've sat in
your seat as the manager, whether it's

physical security, you know, whatever.

We, we moved into the digital space.

And created a solution because there
just wasn't anything out there.

Right?

Yeah.

Needed to be end to end, needed to be,
have like high touch customer service.

Um, and it's just, we've been
rocking and rolling ever since.

That's, that's great.

I mean, that's, you see some of the best
companies built that way where you're

endemic to this space, but you see
the problem set or, Hey, how do we put

these three or four companies together?

But there's still a
missing link there, right?

Yeah.

Why don't we build something that
encompasses everything together?

Mm-hmm.

One point of clarification, you said
you guys were on the bad guy side.

Yeah.

To be very clear, the bad guy
side for the United States.

Yes, that's right.

Going after the opposite.

We were the bad guys.

Targeting the bad guys.

Yes, exactly.

Okay.

Just wanted to clarify that.

A good clarifying statement there.

Uh, um, and I've heard some really
cool stories that we won't get

into here 'cause we probably can't
say it publicly, but, uh, yeah.

If you ever get in a room with these
guys, they, they can tell a story.

So, um, that's great.

I mean, just hearing the background
of how it started from the physical

to now, like kind of the digital side.

Uh, how about now, like, what is the,
the main focus, if you're gonna go

have a conversation with a new, let's
say, let's be very specific, right?

I know you work on the, the
corporate side as well, and that's

a big part of your guys' business.

But for who we're talking to today,
the, the professional athlete.

You start working with a
professional athlete family, like

what does that service look like?

Like what are you physically and
digitally doing for them that's

going to help protect them?

I think the conversation immediately
starts with, you know, we help

keep them their private lives.

Private.

Yeah.

Right.

You know, that's kind of the, the
step in the door without getting

into the weeds and the technology.

Um, but it's making sure that
their lives stay private and

they, they keep ownership of it.

Yeah.

Right.

You know, we will get into it a little bit
later too, of how we live in this life of,

you know, resentment and how, you know,
and entitlement and our, our information.

It's not ours anymore, right.

It's, it's in the ether.

It's on, on the internet, social
media, whatever it may be.

But then you have, you know,
Nick here who actually works with

the athletes and gets down into,
like, puts hands on devices Yeah.

And kind of talk through some of the
stuff that we do for the, for our clients.

Yeah.

So a lot of it is, uh, focused
around education, like educating

the client on best practices, uh,
some trends that we're seeing as far

as, uh, the threat landscape goes.

Okay.

Um, but a lot of it is focused on
reducing their digital footprint.

Yeah.

Which reduces the attack surface.

So.

Uh, providing the, the best practices,
uh, showing them, for example, the phone

going through the hardening on the phone.

Um, the intent is not to turn
this phone into a paperweight.

It's a smart phone.

We want it to do the smart things, uh,
but there's a better way, uh, in a safer

way to carry it around your pocket.

Mm-hmm.

Um, and then just some online
tendencies and habits that.

Especially a family.

Yeah.

With teenagers maybe
that have a device now.

Um, some things that they
can change a little bit.

That's not necessarily a lifestyle change,
but it's an easy enough adjustment that's

gonna keep the family a lot safer online.

Yeah.

No, that, I mean, when you guys
showed, walked us through some of the

security settings on the phone and like
what gets tracked by different apps,

it's, it's mind blowing to see it is.

I think by fault, they're just,
they're designed to share as

much data as they possibly can.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Maybe go through a little bit of
like, what if that information

falls into the wrong hands?

What can happen?

Well, so specifically speaking to
professional athletes, their, their

schedules are public information.

Yeah.

Right.

So if I, um, know, for example,
a neighborhood that they

are potentially living in.

Maybe, I don't know the exact house.

Um, for, for my piece, when I show,
you know, go visit these clients,

the education part that I was talking
about, identifying, making sure they

understand like, hey, if you have your
network as your name and I don't know

which house is yours, but I slow roll
through the neighborhood, and then that

wifi network pops up with your name.

Now I know exactly where you live.

Yeah.

Um, but.

The the PII removal piece, that, that
personal information, the home address,

the phone number, the email, all of
those data points are things that

somebody can aggregate and then show
up to the house on the front porch.

Show up while the athlete is gone for,
you know, a week or two at a time.

Yeah.

Depending on the schedule.

And it's not a risk elimination, right?

No, it's, it's mitigation
minimization because we are, I

mean, it's 2025, almost 2026.

Like there's, there are things
on the internet that's just

not gonna be able to take down.

Right.

Yeah.

We all have had social media.

There's, but.

We can definitely take back
control of your data, right?

To where, again, someone can't just Google
where your house is or walk through the

neighborhood and look for what the wifi,
if it's your last name, or, um, you

know, we had a very unfortunate incident.

You talk about the family, right?

Yeah.

There's a lot, oftentimes with
athletes, there's, it's always focused

on the athlete, but really the,
the, the victims are oftentimes the

families because maybe they're not
on the road, they're back at home.

Um, and so focusing some of what we
do here on the holistic family mm-hmm.

As a unit, um, it was a very unfortunate
incident where, uh, an individual, you

know, their phones were set up improperly.

They, they were using, you know,
a very easily guessable password.

Um, and, and someone was able to gain
access to, uh, this individual's phone.

Um, and you know, as Apple,
we all, I love Apple 'cause it

all, it talks to one another.

It's an ease.

It's always like this, this balance of,
of, of, uh, usability and, and security.

But because, uh, this person's child
had a MacBook, uh, that was issued

by the school, well then it was on
the family share plan on the phone.

Well then that individual now
knows where the kid goes to school.

Yeah.

And showed up to the school and.

Gave the, the, the child a
note saying like, Hey, make

sure you give this to your dad.

Right?

Like it's, it's just mind blowing how
these things, just because you know,

you don't have two factor on you have an
easy password or if you, you know, one

of my favorite, you know, the security
questions, um, one I've seen over the,

over the years is, you know, what was
my least favorite vegetable as a child?

You know what, what, what can you imagine?

Take a guess.

I mean, I'd say 80% of people
are gonna say broccoli.

Broccoli.

Yeah.

Boom.

That was literally the answer.

And they were, you know, it wasn't
hacking these days isn't like this, you

know, this super spy type thing, like
that broccoli, like that's hacking.

You know?

And so social engineering, uh, is much
more prevalent now than anything else.

And so it's just being able
to put up walls mm-hmm.

And protect your, your family, uh, from.

Little bitty things like that.

Yeah.

'cause it's, it's kind of
like a, you know, a lock on

your bike, you know the chain.

Right.

If someone really wants to steal your
bike, they're just gonna go cut the chain.

Yeah.

And so you just wanna make sure
that it's tough enough to where

that person, you know, maybe just
too much time and resource, he's

just gonna go to the next bike.

Yeah.

Right.

So that's kind of, you know, where we're
focusing on and building plans around

is one, giving back, you know, control
of your information to the client.

But then two, putting up actual safeguards
so that someone can't just roll up to

your house or give your child a note.

Right.

So, yeah, I mean that's an extremely
scary, uh, situation, obviously.

Yeah.

And we wanna prevent that or do
everything you can to mitigate that.

Mm-hmm.

Um, are there other situ, I mean,
that's the physical side, like Right.

What about talking 'em through like
stealing social security numbers?

Yeah.

And like, uh, I don't know,
opening up bank accounts or trying

to make, you know, fraudulent.

Yeah.

Charges, that type of thing.

Yeah.

So we have, we talked about doxing
earlier a little bit, right?

So we, you know, every week now
there's a new data breach, right?

There's a new this, new that.

And so this doxing or this, this, uh,
the ability to get your information

on, on the dark web, deep web or when
the breaches, all that information

is stuff that you would use to
fill out a credit requests, right?

Or fill out for a new credit card.

And so it's just as easy.

Now with AI to be able to either spoof
somebody's name or face or, and if you

just have just enough information, you're
gonna be able to beat some of these

security questionnaires or the person
on the phone who, you know, it's not

malicious, they're just doing their job.

Yeah.

And then the next thing you know, you're
out however much money or, and oftentimes.

What we've seen, especially with athletes,
you know, there, there are things in

place to either prevent it or they're
gonna get their money back eventually,

but it's just, it's the reputational harm.

It is a, you know, kind of a
pain in the butt to, to do,

and so that it's just a hassle.

And so there's, yes, to your point,
there's the physical security

aspect of it, but then there's, you
know, what is your, you the asset?

Is it, what are you worried about?

Is it reputation?

Is it financial?

All of these things stem from.

You know, your information
being out there.

Yeah, I mean I think that reputation's
one thing and obviously we all wanna

be aware of that, but the, the time
and headache, I mean, big part of like

my job, a big part of the job around
a professional athlete is really high

level of expertise, but also really
high level of convenience to let that

person perform at the highest level.

And if they're dealing with, you
know, they got a hundred thousand

dollars fraudulent charge that yeah,
hopefully we get it back or they

get it back, that type of thing.

But it might take six months.

Yeah.

Like the amount of.

Yeah, just brain capacity that's
being used for that to deal with it.

It's just that much less focus on
performing at the highest level

where they might make 10 x that.

Exactly.

Um, and that's the difference.

So yeah.

I mean, I guess you brought up a
good point when it's not just the

specific athlete, it's the whole
family and the surrounding people

that are in their inner circle.

Mm-hmm.

I remember, you know, some of the
stories you've told me in the past, like.

When you guys were going after a
high level target or asset mm-hmm.

Back in the military, it was typically
somebody in their inner circle.

Yeah.

Yeah.

You get to them through not
necessarily that exact person.

Mm-hmm.

Um, how, how big, tight, or big
of a circle should that security.

Uh, sped or like bolded for,
I'll let you jump in there.

I usually, what I say is whatever
they're comfortable with Yeah.

They're their immediate ecosystem.

Yeah.

Spouse, kids.

There's a live-in grandmother, you know.

Mm-hmm.

An executive assistant or
personal assistant, somebody

that has access to your records.

Right?

Yeah.

Um, you know, are is just as important
as the, the individual because what I,

what I've found over the years is, you
know, whether it's the athlete or the.

High profile individual, they're
usually much more aware and cautious

and they know what they're doing.

But there's someone in that ecosystem
who their awareness is very low.

Right?

Yeah.

And that's, they're the soft target.

That's the weekly, yeah.

And you know, typically it's, it's
an EA or it's an estate manager or

somebody like that that has access to
everything, but they don't have the

awareness, like Ben said, or, um, the
training or you know, the, just the.

Yeah.

Understanding that the threat is there
and they are probably the, the issue that

a lot of people run into is that they
think like, oh, I'm not important enough.

Yeah.

So nobody's coming after me.

Um, but that's exactly why we
would go after that person.

Yeah.

Because they have that mindset.

Yeah.

Or if I had a nipple for every time
someone said, I don't have Facebook.

I'm not on the internet.

Yeah.

You know?

It's like, well, you have a
phone, you have a credit card.

You know, every time you swipe your credit
card, that data is being sold on the

back end, not maliciously for additional
revenue from all of these companies.

And so, and it is not illegal.

Right.

And that's what's crazy.

That's what's crazy about it.

It's just, you know, data is the new
oil and it is a thriving business.

Um, and so if it's left on
checks, it can be very dangerous.

Yeah.

I think, you know, and
I'm not trying to jump.

Around too much.

But this is, it's, it all relates,
you know, what we've seen in the news,

a lot of the break-ins at mm-hmm.

You know, N-F-L-M-L-B-N-B-A Player Houses,
and I think it's in the news because

these guys all do press conferences after
their games or midweek press conferences.

And so it comes out, you
know, from the inner circle.

A lot of golfers have had
the same issue lately.

Mm-hmm.

Over this past year, two years.

What can they, you know, we've talked
a little bit about, hey, how do we

get our, our home address off the web?

You know, from our standpoint, like
we, anytime a player or one of our

clients is gonna buy a new home, like
we're setting up privacy trust or

making sure that it's bought within
an LLC that doesn't tie back to them.

What are some other things they can do
when, hey, the whole world knows if.

Let's say they live in Florida
and the whole world knows they're

playing in California that week.

Mm-hmm.

And then, and they're playing signed
up to play the next two weeks.

So, hey, they might be gone for a month.

What can they be doing to make
sure that they're mitigating

their risks as much as possible?

Um, one,

people tend to find this funny,
it's, you know, with Uber or GrubHub

or any of these delivery services.

Which you use when you're out.

You don't have to put your real name.

Yeah, right.

That's people, you know.

There's not like, you know, and even
security questions, you know, people,

there's not a security question.

Police, like, you don't have
to tell the truth on those.

You just have to have the answer.

Same thing with, you know, these
apps and things that you're

getting delivered or using.

You know, you don't need to put, I highly
suggest all of our ultra high-net-worth

and high profile individuals do not put
your first name, last name, or anything.

And one, it's going to sever that
tie on the data brokers and mm-hmm.

You know, all that.

But just from a, just from a personal
standpoint, you know, if you put.

You know, insert Hall of
Famer, household name.

Yeah.

On the delivery or, or whatever it may be.

That person delivering it is
looking at it, thinking like,

oh my gosh, I'm about to meet.

Yeah.

Tom Brady or, or whoever, tiger
Woods, whatever it may be.

You know, you, you don't have to do that.

I actually, we, I gave a class to
one of our, our, our athletes, and

now I'm on my phone at the autofill.

I actually put Batman on it and
had something delivered to the

office while we were talking.

I actually forgot to change it.

And then it was a couple days later,
I had something delivered and the

guy was like, this is for, uh, Mr.

Batman.

So, you know, you don't
have to have it on there.

And that's something that's so easy
for people to, to change and then it

directly affects their day to day.

But yeah, I think, um, just
trying to anonymize mm-hmm.

Yeah.

The aspects of their life in any way.

Is extremely helpful and
extremely beneficial.

Having a healthy sense
of skepticism as well.

Yeah, so like not connecting your
phone to open wifi, um, just, uh,

understanding that not everything out
there is for your, in your best interest.

Right.

If it's free, it's typically not.

Yeah.

This is America.

If it's free, you are the product.

Right.

They're taking something from you, uh,
generally and so, like for instance,

when athletes are, are, are traveling.

You know, um, almost every phone and,
uh, cellular, uh, uh, network and, and

subscription comes with wifi, right?

Yeah.

You know, like you create a hops hotspot.

Um, and so one, you know, treat
your, your devices like you would

the keys to your house, right?

Yeah.

You would not go to some random
person on the street that you didn't

know and say, Hey, here's my keys.

Can you hold these for an hour?

Don't plug your phone in to
something that you don't own or

know to charge or to use the wifi.

Right.

But think of the damage you can
do just from logging into things.

And that's one of the mindset shifts
I try to get all of our clients.

Mm-hmm.

Is like, you need to treat your
phone and your devices like an

extension of you and your family.

And be like, your keys to your car,
you know, you wouldn't leave the

house and not only leave the door
unlocked, but leave it wide open.

Yeah.

Right.

So you wanna kind of have that same
mentality with, with all of your devices

because it's, everything's there.

Yeah.

One of the things you guys showed us
was even, like, I never really thought

about plugging to charge my phone.

Mm-hmm.

The USB stick into something when really
that the reason that USB outlet is made

is the transfer data not to change.

Yep.

And so just even having like a, an adapter
to remove the data transmission part

of it, and it's, it that's a little bit
more down, you know, the tinfoil hats

of, you know, everyone's out to get me.

However, the reality is is, you know,
the, that is a very easy targeting vector

for people, especially at airports.

Yep.

Around hotels where you
have transient people.

You know, I just, I
just wouldn't trust it.

Right.

You know, there, there are data,
um, blockers that you can use.

Um, but just like the best thing is
just use the traditional plug, you know?

Yeah.

Um, because to your point, you know
that that's meant to transfer data

and you don't know what's coming in
or out of, behind that wall, so Yeah.

Yeah.

I mean, a lot of these guys and
families, they're either staying

in hotels for weeks at a time.

Yeah.

Or a lot, a lot more Airbnbs.

Mm-hmm.

And I think the initial trust is, oh,
once I'm inside that door, it's safe.

Right.

That's not necessarily the case.

And again, to be very clear, like
we're not trying to scare everybody.

Right.

We're trying to like No, absolutely.

Just awareness.

This is like 98% of the
time you're in a good spot.

Yeah.

But being realistic that as a
high profile athlete you are at

a bigger, higher target risk.

Mm-hmm.

And so, yeah, we don't need
to put the tinfoil hat on.

Yeah.

We don't need to wrap
ourselves in bubble tape.

Yeah.

But we do need to make sure that if
there's little things we can be doing

to protect ourselves and not be.

As you say, like metaphorically
handing our house keys.

Yeah.

To anybody that's walking around.

Then let's try and take those steps.

And there's this study too, I think it's
called the Truth Default Method, or TR

Truth Default Theory, where like humans,
we trust people more than we should, and

we also lie more than we think we do.

And so there's this weird gray
area where, to your point, like

as soon as you walk into that
Airbnb, you're like, oh, I'm safe.

Yeah.

You know, like, oh.

No one would, you know, why
would someone target me?

Or, you know, we just, you don't get in
that mindset and you trust that person and

you, we just really shouldn't, especially
in those, in those situations, because

unfortunately, the, the harsh reality is
there's, you know, unstable people out

there that do, you know, crazy things.

Maybe it may not be malicious too,
maybe it may have good intentions, but

still, you know, you just wanna have
a good, healthy sense of skepticism

and awareness when you're traveling.

Um, just because our life is, you know,
meant everything around us is meant to

take data and to take things, right?

Yeah.

Where we don't really have to.

Yeah.

I mean, to your point, it may
not be, that person may not think

they're doing it maliciously.

Right.

It may just be a super fan.

Exactly.

It really wants to meet you and really
wants to be around you and like, thinks

that, to your point earlier, like the
entitlement factor of like, hey, he's a,

he's a professional golfer, he's on tv.

I should be allowed to go up to him
and say hi and shake his hand and it

doesn't matter, there's a rope up and
he's in the middle of his practice run.

Right.

Or that he just walked into his hotel and
expects to have some sense of privacy.

Yeah.

I watched him come in, I'm
gonna follow him up the elevator

and go knock on his door.

Like not okay.

Yeah, obviously, but it's some
of those things that we're

trying to be able to Yeah.

You know, use an alias like kind of,
and a little bit goes a long way,

fictitious story that, you know,
like almost an alternate truth.

Mm-hmm.

Of like, Hey, here's the fake.

Alias and story that I can use for all the
security profiles and that type of thing.

And this is, I mean, 100% is like, you
can scratch this as long as you want.

It's just gonna get bigger
and bigger and bigger.

Yeah.

Um, but you know, just to have
some, anything you do is gonna

be better than 99% of America.

Right?

Yeah.

Like just these individ, like if you
just switched up the apps on your

phone, or two factor authentication,
like that little bit of effort goes

so far because nine times out of 10.

To your point, it's not malicious,
maybe a super fan, but as soon as

they feel resistance and they're
like, oh, this person, it's too

hard to, to get close to 'em.

Yeah.

They're just going to pivot to someone
who doesn't have anything in place.

Right?

Yeah.

So this, the smallest amount of effort
actually goes the longest way because 99%

of the time, they're going to choose the
path of lease resistance when it comes

close to gaining access or getting close.

What, what, at least what I found.

Yeah.

And, and most of those little changes
that can be made are essentially

unnoticeable to, to the user, you
know, to the, to the individual.

Yeah.

So because our, our whole intent is
always to, um, provide the least amount

of disruption in their day to day.

Mm-hmm.

Um, not require any necessarily
lifestyle changes or anything like that.

Just very simple little changes that
can be made that most likely the

person next to them hasn't done.

Yeah.

Um, so they're all automatically
gonna be a harder target Yeah.

Than the person, you know,
their neighbor, for example.

Yeah.

No, I mean, I think your, your metaphor
or your example of the bike, like if

you have a locked bike and there's
a bike next to that's not locked.

Yeah.

They're probably just gonna
take the other bike, right?

They're not gonna take the time to go
get bolt cutters, come back, risk the

chance of getting caught, like let's,
you know, path of least resistance.

So trying to just make it a
little bit more difficult.

Yeah.

All the heavy lifting, you know,
to, we do, you know, the removal,

uh, all of that, you know, that's
kind of the reason why we do it, is

because again, we sat in your shoes.

We've been on the other side
from a management perspective.

You know, as soon as
something becomes cumbersome.

Yeah.

Especially with high profile individuals,
they're just not gonna do it.

And so one money well spent and then
two, just getting in that mindset of

like the little things that matter
and then let us take on those big

projects while the athlete goes back
to doing what they get paid for.

Right.

You know?

Yeah, exactly.

Giving them back not only the
the, the mental space and clarity.

But also it's going to immediately
impact whatever they're doing, you

know, they're getting paid to do.

Yeah.

I think we've, like with our clients
that, and you know, working with

you guys with some of our clients
over the years, like we've had some

interesting to say the least stories.

Yes, yes.

Um, I think maybe even just share a
little bit of like, in certain situations,

like what's the best thing to do?

Like I.

Hm.

Won't name client, but they thought
they were getting, you know, they

thought they had an intruder.

Mm-hmm.

Call the cops first, right?

Yeah.

First line of defense.

Yeah.

Like, let's be very clear,
unless you have private security,

like, yeah, call the cops first.

Um, but what about like, you get a
weird text or a weird phone call.

Mm-hmm.

That's like kind of
stalker-ish, that type of thing.

What, what are kind of
some best practices there?

So again, if I could encourage people,
just get into the mindset of, of.

Holding on and controlling your
information, because what'll happen

is, you know, you get this cognitive
tunneling where you'll get on a call

and they're gonna start asking you these
questions, and then you don't have time

to, to think, or, and it's just easier.

Uh, my, my, my birthday is, yeah, oh
four, you know, you know, and before

you know it, you've started giving this
information, and that is a tactic, right?

Mm-hmm.

And so what I tend to tell
people is take a breath.

Um, if it is a sense of urgency, whether
it's a phone call or a text message

and they're gonna try to scare you into
it, that's kind of a red flag, right?

Never give out your information if you
get a random phone call that you're not

expecting, um, also ask for the reference
number and then hang up, and then go

to the website and call their number
and say, Hey, I just got a phone call.

Nine times outta 10.

You'll be able to find out if
it's a real conversation or not.

Um.

And then, you know, I think too from,
you know, from our mutual clients and,

and, and others in this world, uh, social
media is a big part of their lives.

Yeah.

Right?

Um, and so there's some very
small things you can do.

We were talking about before
we've started recording Yeah.

Of, you know, if you're doing an
interview and it's being broadcast

to millions of people, ensure
that whatever's behind you isn't.

You know, personal, right?

If there's families of your, or photos
of your family or you know, whatever

background, or if you're doing something
on social media for content, just be aware

that there are people out there that will
pay attention to the backyard or the fence

posts and be able to, you know, put that
together and, and find you physically.

So there's just some little bitty
things to be aware of that can

make again, the biggest difference.

Yeah.

Um, and again, when those phone
calls, it's like, take a breath.

Right.

Unless it is an intruder
in your house, for sure.

Call the cops.

Yeah.

But other than that, generally take
a breath and then take an action.

Right?

Yeah.

Don't, if there's a sense of
urgency, that's what they want.

Take a breath, call you
guys, call us, whatever.

Find a trusted resource Yep.

Um, to take that print on.

And that's, you know, nine times outta
10 that's gonna clear everything up.

Yeah.

And always, always verifying
through a separate.

Source, you know?

Right.

So whether it's the phone call or
the text message, um, maybe it seems

legitimate, maybe it's just kind of
weird, you know, not really sure.

Um, just take a different avenue to,
to confirm, uh, whether that's going

through, go directly to the website
or if you get the text message, call,

whatever the, the, the number is, you
know, through, uh, official sources not.

Don't go through the text message.

Yeah.

Don't click the the link.

Don't click the link in the message.

So, and worst case scenario, take
a screenshot and send it to a bus.

Yeah.

Like that's, I mean, there, it's getting
pretty creative the way that it, they're

sending stuff out and I, AI for Yeah.

I mean, the days of, of getting an
email that looks like a 5-year-old

wrote the email or long gone, um,
you know, AI has changed the game

dramatically when it comes to phishing.

Mm-hmm.

Um, they're, they're doing massive.

Phishing campaigns now where they're
sending the same text message to

thousands of numbers at the same time,
just to see what sticks, you know?

Yeah.

Hoping somebody will bite.

Absolutely.

They're, they're waiting for you to
present yourself as a soft target, right?

Yeah.

You know, you're not, it's not you,
you, they don't know who you are.

You're just a number on a spreadsheet.

But if you reply to that and you engage
with it, and you present yourself

as being a soft target, you're now
gonna make it to the next level.

And that's when it will get more personal.

Yeah.

You know, and so if you, again, just the
bare minimum, you know, you're, they're,

they're gonna focus on other people.

I think to your point, a lot of times
they try to make it look semi-urgent.

Yes.

Or semi like, not dangerous from
the message, but like, hey, like

this needs to be responsible.

Yeah.

Responded to you, otherwise you're
gonna get some sort of penalty or owe a

lot more money or something like that.

It's like, oh shoot.

Like I need to act.

Right now, from March to May,
the amount of phone calls that

go out saying this is the IRS.

Yep.

Talking about your taxes, you're
just like, oh my goodness, I

thought I, you know, whatever.

Yeah.

But they're, what they're doing is they're
hoping that they're gonna call somebody

who's, you know, driving down the road.

There's four kids crying, you know,
they're, you're like the cognitive

tunneling, and they're just like,
and so, you know, we just need,

can you verify this information?

And you got everything else going on,
and you're like, yeah, here's my day

to like, what, what is this again?

Yeah.

You know, that's what they're hoping for.

And it's, again, if you can just
take a break, take a pause, verify it

through either a third party or you
know, the, the actual app, you know,

that's gonna go the night and it's
gonna make a night and day difference.

Yeah.

The, the advancement of like,
the technology to do, I mean, I,

this is crazy, like 15 years ago.

Mm-hmm.

And trust me, I was not a high profile
at Target based on my talent, but.

When I was playing, my grandmother
got a phone call mm-hmm.

Of, Hey, Aaron's stuck in jail in Mexico.

I was actually in a different
country, but we need $10,000

wired right now to get 'em out.

And like I'm sure that was a very
popular one and I don't think it even

had anything to do with who I was.

It was just that random, you were
on a list that was on the same

a thousand text message thing.

It was just what they used to do.

That scenario is still relevant today.

Yeah.

But it's, it's even
enhanced because of ai.

Now they're cloning voices.

Mm-hmm.

Um, they're cloning phone number,
they're cloning everything.

So when grandma looks down, maybe your
name is popping up on the caller ID

because they've cloned your phone number.

Mm-hmm.

Um, when she answers and it's your voice,
why would she not believe it's you?

Yeah.

Yeah.

Um, but it's all AI driven.

Crazy.

Yeah.

Uh, one thing you brought up
in that last example that I

think we should touch on is.

You know, in this more like
social media marketing age.

Mm-hmm.

Like especially on the golf side, a lot
of their income comes from endorsements

and there's an expectation of being
a good partner with your sponsors.

And some of that has to do with
a little bit of like inside

look at their personal lives.

Mm-hmm.

But I think there's a right way
to do it and a wrong way to do it.

And like you can give an inside
look your personal life without

giving up any of your privacy.

Uh, may gimme the example we were talking
about before of like a green screen or

like even just not showing, like if you're
gonna, it's okay to maybe show a little

bit of the inside of your house, but don't
show them like the a hundred thousand

dollars hard piece you have or, yeah.

Or don't something.

Do TikTok video in their
front yard with your mailbox.

Or like little bitty things like that
where you, you can make it again, the

biggest difference in the small things.

Um, a green screen, making sure that if
you're doing a video inside the home,

that there's nothing, you know, there's
nothing of value, there's nothing just

gonna make, present yourself as a, as
a soft target, but then just whatever

your level of comfortability is.

Right?

Yeah.

'cause some people, some people are
a lot more comfortable with having

the inside of their homes and maybe
family photos, but if, if that's

something to you that you're worried
about, just taking those additional

steps and making sure that your team.

Prioritizes that when they're
building out the content.

Yeah.

Or you know, whatever
drip campaign like is.

I think nine times out 10, if the
athlete or the person just expresses

that, Hey, I do wanna maintain some
sort of privacy, no team's gonna look

at 'em and say like, well, sorry.

Yeah.

You know what I mean?

Like, I just think that oftentimes
people just don't bring it up

because they don't want to feel.

Like they, um, you know, whether
it's demanding or, you know,

they, they want to, they want
to do it for the brand, right?

Yeah.

They just feel bad for asking.

But again, nobody on that side of the
house is gonna look the other way.

If like you just say, Hey, I'd
like to have some sort of privacy.

Yeah.

Some sort of security.

Um, 'cause we work with a lot of
those teams where it is a balance of

security versus access to the family.

Um, but again.

You know, just being cognizant when
you turn your camera on that there's

probably something behind you.

You know, have a wall behind you, or
if you're making a video, just look at

the, before you post it, look at the
background and see what's, what's there.

Yeah.

If you want it to be like your office,
your trophy, yeah, that's totally fine.

Sure.

Like it's, you know, don't have
your watch cabinet standing there

with your three Rolex, whatever.

Like, just don't, don't
show the targets and Yeah.

And make it that much more of a like.

Gold mine of like, Hey, this is
something that I want to go after

TV trips if I'm the bad guy.

Yeah, exactly.

Yeah.

I mean, it's something as simple as like
a custom fireplace mantle can give away or

can help someone find where that house is.

Um, just by, by reverse it, searching
that image and you know, I mean there's

actually an example where it did happen.

Because of the fireplace mantle.

Yeah.

Uh, and my past real estate
photo, like Yeah, yeah.

Home sale.

There was a, they, this person posted a
photo inside their home and it was up, it

was like around Christmas or something.

It was like stockings or whatever.

Harmless photo.

Harmless photo.

But it was, you know, a
very ornate fireplace.

And so they just took that photo, did a
reverse image search, and there was a,

like a real estate posting to your point.

From previously and all of a sudden
now you know where the person lives.

You know, it's just little bitty
things that, yeah, it's crazy.

Yeah.

I think it's more the, Hey, we're gonna
come to a video shoot for the whole day.

Like they're pretty got, people
are trained a little bit better

now of like, Hey, let's make
sure the privacy stuff needs.

Yeah.

I think the awareness is definitely there.

Yeah.

It's more the like.

The things they're nothing about the
quick like, Hey, I'm gonna do a five

minute interview with the golf channel.

Yeah.

I just need to set up for five minutes.

Or you know, hey, some YouTube mm-hmm.

Influencer, I agreed to do 30 minutes
of like how I get ready for the day.

That type of going live do.

Yeah.

And it's like, oh, not that
many people watch that.

Yeah.

Well that's probably exactly what the,
exactly that guys are looking for because

your guard's down that type of thing.

So That's exactly right.

It shows the backyard shows.

Oh, I'm on a golf course.

Okay.

What golf courses is
it that that's pretty.

Easy to figure out.

Now all of a sudden, I know what your
backyard looks like and oh, I can

just pop that fence and get right in.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

It's, and it's, you know, in this
age now where you are expected

to give out all that information
and, and put all it out there.

Just again, if I could, if I've said it
once, I'll say until we end the show,

you know, for anyone listening, it's
in that, that high profile category.

Just having the smallest amount
of effort of checking the videos,

checking your background, not.

Putting your, you know, the
anonymizing certain things when

you're ordering, like, that's gonna
make the biggest difference in life.

Yeah, no, that's a good point.

Um, I mean, we could
go hours on this Yeah.

And probably scare people.

Yeah.

Straight.

Um, where they never wanna leave their
house and, you know, put up a blockade.

That's not the point.

Again, don't wanna do that.

No.

What, let's, let's give like three
quick, I kind of summarize three

action items, like other than.

You know, if you work with a WM, like,
and you know us, you know, anything

on the finance side is coming from us.

Like, you ever get that random text or
call, your instructions are basically

like, hang up, call me, call whoever your
person is that you deal with directly.

If you're working with 360
privacy, it's very similar.

Like you get something weird like that,
you hang up, you call Nick, or you call

Ben and hey, what should we be doing here?

But for those that aren't necessarily
working with either of us yet, and that's

what they, you know, Hey, I'm interested.

Other than going to like, reach
out to you guys and we'll put

your contact in the show notes.

Yeah.

And, and ours as well.

What's like, what are three quick
summarization of like action items?

Like hardening the phone?

Yeah.

I would say one mindset shift of
just getting the mindset of it.

It's not expected that you have to
give your information out all the time

on every app doing all the things.

One.

And that's super easy to do.

And that's free of charge, right?

Yeah.

Just changing your mindset.

The second thing that I try to tell
everybody is when your phones start

treating your phones like it, the
keys to your car, keys to your house,

because of the access that it has.

And when you are connecting, whether
it's Bluetooth, wifi, or a physically

connecting it to something, ask
yourself these three questions.

Is it yours?

Is it secure?

Is it free?

Right?

If it's free, what did we say?

You wrote the product one
time more often than not.

Is it secure?

Does it have a, does it need a password?

Is it yours?

Like, is it your wifi?

If you can, uh, confidently answer
those, then by all means, that's

something that you should connect
your phone to and be comfortable.

If you cannot, then do not do it right.

There's, there's really
no room for error there.

Um, and then I'll, you know,
if you kick in one Yeah.

And just, uh, it, it's, it's
kind of a blanket thing,

but anonymize where you can.

Yeah.

Um, so whether it's online ordering
or your home network, having the

SSID as your name, like Yeah.

Try to get, get away from, um, tying
every piece of your life to who you are.

Um, and it is just because it's
just, it's gonna go a long way.

Yeah.

Um, trying to, trying to
cut those, those ties.

Yeah.

I, that brings, I mean, even
personally, like, I'm gonna change

it before this podcast goes live.

Mm-hmm.

So I'm okay saying this, but
like, I don't think I ever even

changed the password on my route.

Wifi router.

Yeah.

It came outta the box.

Like it was pretty basic
and just, but it was weird.

So I was like, all right, we'll just
leave it and no one's gonna guess that.

Well, guess what?

I'm sure it's on some database somewhere.

Yeah, absolutely.

Um, yeah, but it'll be
changed in the next 24 hours.

There we go.

As soon as I get home.

Um, and the other thing you were
talking about, Uber Eats and, and

like delivery, that type of thing.

I didn't even think about this,
but like, same with Amazon.

Like, oh, everybody's getting
Amazon packages, everybody

multiple a day probably.

And it's like, yeah, you need to pay
for it with something, but that doesn't

mean that has to be the delivery name.

Exactly.

Yeah.

No, and it's oftentimes the, when, you
know, even when you're buying things, and

I know there's gonna be some outliers,
but when you purchase things online,

most of the time it just has to like
your, it's either the name and zip code

or like the, you don't have to bill
out everything absolutely correctly.

We did a whole experiment on it.

Um, but, but yeah, like little bitty
things like that where you just, you know,

don't put your real information out there.

Yeah.

Perfect.

Uh, and one thing that we can do as
well is we have hardening guides.

You know, we talked about
the phone hardening.

We have a link to the hardening guides,
whether you have like a Samsung or an

iPhone or whatever it may be, that we
can also link, uh, that people want

to go through and, and harden their
phones, you know, after the show.

That'd be awesome.

Yeah, we'll, we'll definitely
attach that and put that out there.

'cause I could probably use a refresh too,
even what we were talking about earlier.

Every time Apple does an update.

Yeah, yeah.

Your settings get reset.

Yeah.

Like that blew my mind.

I was like, oh, I already
hardened my phone two years ago.

Yeah.

Probably not very hard anymore.

Yeah.

So, well, well, thank you guys.

Appreciate you being on, this is
super important and I know it's

gonna generate a lot of conversation,
so look forward to hopefully,

uh, troubleshooting some things.

That's right.

And most importantly, preventing
Absolutely any, you know.

God forbid any physical security
breaches, but even the digital ones

that we wanna try to prevent and
protect everybody's, uh, privacy

and finances and everything else.

So yeah.

Thanks for being on.

Yeah, thanks for having us.

All right.

Thanks a lot.

See you in soon.