Transatlantic Cable Podcast

In this week’s episode of the Kaspersky Transatlantic Cable podcast, Ahmed, Jeff and I are back around the virtual round table to talk all things cyber.

We kick this week’s episode off with the news that Interpol are urging countries to unite against the ransomware pandemic. From there, we look at how a hacker going by the alias ‘integra’ is offering 26.99 bitcoins (nearly $1 million USD at the time of writing) for zero-days and undetectable RATs (remote access Trojans).

From there, we look at a recently patched SolarWinds vulnerability and news that Tencent (a Chinese gaming behemoth) is looking to use facial recognition software to stop children playing past a certain time. To close, we discuss the recent news around the Right to Repair movement in America and Europe.

Direct download: KL_Podcast_210.mp3
Category:technology -- posted at: 7:19am EDT

This week on the podcast, Jeff’s on vacation, so Ahmed and I tackle some thorny cybersec issues on our own.

We start with news that EA’s billion dollar franchise, Apex Legends, faced hacking concerns from gamers about the state of TitanFall, Respawn’s first foray into the FPS genre. From there, we move on to news that Google has taken the ban-hammer to some developers who placed Trojans inside their apps to scrape Facebook credentials.

Other stories this week include discussion about APT28, aka Fancy Bear, targeting governments around the world, plus an exclusive chat with Kaspersky security researcher David Emm about the recent REvil attacks.

Direct download: KL_Podcast_209.mp3
Category:technology -- posted at: 5:31am EDT

 

For the 208th episode of the Kaspersky Transatlantic Cable podcast, Dave’s gone missing, and Ahmed and I debate whether it is leisure or if something more nefarious is going on. We don’t quite get to the bottom of it, but we do cover a wide array of topics, from a political sex tape leaked on OnlyFans to PS3 leaks and ransomware in US schools.

 

We start with the electoral scene in New York state, where a user on Onlyfans and Twitter leaked a BDSM video of politician Zack Weiner and a partner. Both platforms took down the video and banned the user, but the reply from Weiner is what caught our attention as a standup response to a truly personal doxing.

 

From there, we have to mention Ahmed’s complete quiz game dominance. Sadly, I am not able to overtake David’s massive lead, and we move on to a story of PS3 hacking for online gaming.

 

In the next segment, I sit down with Kurt Baumgartner to discuss the latest on school ransomware in the United States, the government reclaiming funds from ransomware crooks, and more. We continue with news of a potentially new scraping of data from 700 million LinkedIn users before closing out with a new government joining Have I Been Pwned.  

 

 

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Direct download: KL_Podcast_208.mp3
Category:technology -- posted at: 10:45am EDT

Welcome to the 207th edition of the Kaspersky Transatlantic Cable podcast! This week, Dave, Ahmed, and I chat about a number of topics — and we also have some changes to our big board of quiz points.

We kick things off with a pair of stories about AI and surveillance. The first is from the UK, where AI can now tell authorities if people were adhering to social distancing guidelines. The next is about a Chinese company using smile recognition for employees entering the office. Smile for the camera.

After a short break for a tip from Ahmed, we’re on to the first round of the week’s quiz game. I won’t spoil it here, but let’s just say there is a bit of a shocker. Following the fun, we get back to business, discussing recent APT activity from the Persian-speaking Ferocious Kitten group with researchers Mark Lechtik and Aseel Kayal.

After the interview, we look at the insecurity of America’s water facilities before wrapping up with a discussion of consent and the COVID-19 app in Massachusetts.

Direct download: KL_Podcast_207.mp3
Category:technology -- posted at: 6:29am EDT

This week, Jeff, Ahmed, and I kick off episode 206 of the Transatlantic Cable podcast with a discussion about Ireland’s change in stop and search law, including a new law allowing police to force people to unlock digital devices such as phones and tablets.

From there, we move on to further discussion of ransomware and the recent G7 talks, with US President Biden seeking tougher stances on ransomware gangs. We also touch on the JBS meat processing company’s recent decision to pay ransom to REvil.

To wrap up, we talk about the recent EA hack and Facebook’s singing about WhatsApp privacy cred in a new advertisement.

Direct download: KL_Podcast_206_320.mp3
Category:technology -- posted at: 5:36am EDT

This week on the Transatlantic Cable podcast, Jeff, Ahmed, and I look at how the DarkSide gang was able to use an old VPN account to breach the Colonial pipeline network. Moving on, we also chat about two related stories, including one in which lawmakers try to force companies to disclose attacks and one about the FBI reclaiming some of the $4.4 million ransom DarkSide has collected.

We also discuss a story about Apple AirTags, which the company is planning to update based on fears that stalkers could use them to track victims. Finally, we have an interesting discussion about daters adding COVID vaccine stickers to their dating app profiles.

Direct download: KL_Podcast-205_128.mp3
Category:technology -- posted at: 6:58am EDT

We open the show with a hidden gem of a crime. British authorities thought they were pursuing a cannabis operation only to find a mining operation. The next story is a look at the FBI integration with Have I Been Pwned and some new site features worth looking into.

After that, I sit down with Rainer Bock of our team at Tomorrow Unlocked to learn about their latest — some cool videos are on the way, including an interactive one on Carbanak. Unfortunately, we also have to discuss the latest from SolarWinds and why the problem may not be going away as soon as we’d all like.

Direct download: KL_Podcast-204-128.mp3
Category:technology -- posted at: 10:59am EDT

Dave and I cover a lot of ground this week on the Transatlantic Cable podcast, from how obscure movies are holding up to surviving COVID-19, plus SolarWinds and more.

We kick off the show with the latest on SolarWinds — not media speculation but straight from the horse’s mouth. In this article, our old colleague Dennis Fisher recaps a talk given by Sudhakhar Ramakrishna, SolarWinds CEO, on the attack and what they have learned. Then, heading across the pond, we reflect on three years of GDPR and the biggest fines levied to date.

For our third story, we take a look at Conti ransomware’s recent attacks on first responder and healthcare institutions. After that, Robby Cataldo, the managing director of Kaspersky North America, joins us to discuss RSA 2021, Cataldo’s bout with COVID-19, and how businesses have had to adapt to the pandemic. To close things out, we look at the fallout from a breach at Air India.

Direct download: KL_Podcast_203_20210526.mp3
Category:technology -- posted at: 5:50am EDT

Welcome to episode 202 of the Kaspersky Transatlantic Cable podcast. While much of the cyberworld will be juggling sales pitches and panels at RSA, we’re focusing on stories that will have more of an immediate impact on your security needs.

We open the episode discussing the latest with DarkSide. Are they dead? Did they hit Toshiba?

Moving along, we discuss the reemergence of Fin7 and its posing as a legitimate cybersecurity research firm. Staying on the topic of crime, but in sunny Brazil, the LatAm arm of our Global Research and Analysis team (GReAT) takes a look at an emergent financial Trojan called Bizarro. I chat with Fabio Assolini from the team to see why people should care and why the region is such a hotbed of financial crime.

Then it’s the latest in the DC Police vs. Babuk. It seems police tried to negotiate a ransom, but the crooks were not too interested. We then take a look at the need for patching at home and the office with Maria Namestnikova of GReAT Russia.

To close out the podcast we discuss a new texting scam involving deliveries in the UK and a lot of money lost.

Direct download: KL-Podcast_202.mp3
Category:technology -- posted at: 10:48am EDT

Episode 201 of the Kaspersky Transatlantic Cable podcast is the extended podcast we teased last week. More changes will come, but this will be a recurring theme and length.

For our first story, Dave and I take a look at yet another cryptoscam involving Elon Musk, whose hosting of Saturday Night Live netted scammers nearly $100K. Come on, Internet friends, we can do better. These scams are just a 2021 version of your cousin the Nigerian prince.

From there, we jump over to a ransomware hit on an entire city: Tulsa, Oklahoma. Staying on the topic of ransomware, Ivan Kwiatkowski joins us from the European arm of GReAT to dive a bit deeper into the interconnected ecosystem of ransomware. One could be forgiven for thinking it’s simply one big attack, but there’s a bit more here than meets the eye.

For our next story, we head to the world of 2FA, where Google is pushing another, more secure, form of the authentication to select users with the goal of eventually reaching all users.

Closing out the news portion of the podcast, we take a look at the latest in the saga of ransomware hitting the Colonial Pipeline in the USA. It’s clear a lot has yet to emerge. To close out the podcast, we chat with Dmitry Galov about the darknet component of ransomware.

Direct download: tcp_201_-_Copy.mp3
Category:technology -- posted at: 5:55am EDT