For episode 748 of the BlockHash Podcast, host Brandon Zemp is joined by Brian Oakes, an IT escalation engineer, early crypto miner, and author of Undermined, a gripping firsthand account of losing over $150 million in cryptocurrency through a devastating SIM swap attack.

Since his last appearance on BlockHash, Brian has been targeted in a second hack that wiped him out of crypto entirely—adding an even darker and more urgent chapter to his story. Through raw honesty, sharp insight, family resilience, and hard-earned perspective, Brian speaks openly about cybersecurity, corporate negligence, data privacy, and the emotional toll of surviving digital theft. His story is part financial thriller, part cautionary tale, and a wake-up call for anyone living in today’s connected world.

Want more of the story? Get the Undermined book: Amazon Link

📣 This episode is brought to you by Sumsub.

Sumsub is a leading full-cycle verification platform purpose-built for the crypto industry, chosen by 8 out of 10 of the biggest global exchanges. It helps VASPs, exchanges, and DeFi platforms prevent fraud, stay compliant, and scale globally. From instant KYC and KYB to automated crypto transaction monitoring, as well as full Travel Rule compliance. With over 1,800+ VASPs in their Travel Rule ecosystem, their no-code platform adapts to evolving threats, market demands, and global regulations.

Trusted by over 4,000 clients in fintech and crypto, Sumsub combines blockchain intelligence, identity verification, and behavioral fraud detection in a single orchestration layer. This allows you to screen, score, and monitor at every step of the customer journey without adding friction for trusted users.

You can learn more about Sumsub at https://sumsub.com

Check out Sumsub’s YouTube channel here: https://bit.ly/SubscribeToSumsub

⏳ Timestamps:

(0:00) Introduction

(1:13) Who is Brian Oakes?

(3:23) Hacked again?

(7:16) Security to combat growing sophistication of bad actors

(12:05) Multi-sig and 2-factor authentication

(13:06) How to make crypto wallets more secure

(14:57) Crypto is too complex for normal people

(17:07) Sumsub

(17:51) New threats to crypto in 2026

(20:19) AI is learning from us

(22:07) AI landscape and impact on data security

(26:35) How do we protect user data better?

(35:43) How to keep up with Brian Oakes

🎙 Brian Oakes & Undermined Links:

🔗 Website: https://undermined.com/

🔗 Amazon: https://a.co/d/0au7tib2

🔗 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brianoakes/

🔗 X: https://x.com/undermined2020

🔗 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/people/Undermined-in-2020/61572589676220/

🔗 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/underminedin2020/

📢 Disclaimer:

None of our content constitutes, nor is intended to act as financial advice. It’s important to always do your own research and due diligence before making any investment decision. Digital Assets and Cryptocurrencies are highly volatile and carry a considerable amount of risk.