Episode 276 of the Transatlantic Cable kicks off with the US Department of Justice that revealed it seized $3.36bn (£2.9bn) of Bitcoin last year which was stolen from an infamous darknet website.

Then, How Twitter users are using the platform's new Elon Musk era changes to impersonate official video game companies.

Moving on, we look at the advanced threat predictions for 2023. And FTX investigating possible hack hours after bankruptcy filing! We wrap up with Canadian food retail giant Sobeys hit by Black Basta ransomware!

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Episode 275 of the Transatlantic Cable kicks off with a 26-year-old Ukrainian man awaiting extradition from the Netherlands to the United States on charges that he acted as a core developer for Raccoon malware. Then, bad news from Dropbox as it disclosed a security breach after threat actors stole 130 code repositories after gaining access to one of its GitHub accounts using employee credentials stolen in a phishing attack. Moving on, Liz Truss is on her fourth new mobile phone number since July as security services battle to protect her from being further compromised by foreign powers. We wrap up with a notorious Instagram influencer from Nigeria who has been jailed for more than 11 years in the U.S. for his role in an international fraud syndicate.

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Episode 274 of the Transatlantic Cable kicks off with a story that has wide ramifications if it goes ahead. The EU has finalised plans for their DMA, or Digital Markets Act, which would open up things such as app stores and messenger apps to third-parties – in effect, it would enable users (eventually) to install app stores from competing services on their devices.  However, how it will work in practice is anybody’s guess right now.

From there, the team talk about a recent story around crypto-currency and Matt Damon – hint folks: don’t take financial advice from actors.  From there, the discussion moves to news around a Chinese propaganda service, allegedly being run inside USA, in an attempt to disrupt the midterms. To wrap up, the team talk about news that the Biden administration have issued new cybersecurity requirements for rail operators, in an attempt to shore up cyber-security in critical industries.

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• New EU law could open up messaging and app buying
• Here’s How Much Money You’ve Lost If You Took Matt Damon’s Crypto Advice One Year Ago

Episode 273 of the Transatlantic Cable kicks off with 65,000+ companies' data being leaked! As Microsoft confirmed, a server misconfiguration caused the leak. Then, the discussion moved on to Netflix. The streaming service is changing its policy on password sharing – and will start charging people to share accounts. You can also now turn your crypto coins into cocktails as the first Metaverse nightclub opens in Dubai! And finally, concerns rise around TikTok as it denies the rumor that it could be used to track US citizens.

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What are NFTs, why are they so much a topic of debate right now and why is Ivan Kwiatkowski from Kaspersky's Global Research and Analysis Team (GReAT) so critical of them and blockchains? 

We sat down with him recently to talk about his thoughts on this, the recent Ethereum merge (and why he thinks it ultimately won't solve the underlying problems with crypto), scaling issues inherent in blockchain and much more. 

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Episode 272 of the Transatlantic Cable kicks off with a report into gaming and gamers attituded towards everything from work / gaming balance and cheating - if you're interested in the gaming space, be sure to check it out.  After that, the team discuss the recent news that Kanye West (aka: Ye) is purchasing the controversial social platform, Parler.

After those stories, discussion moves onto an interesting story around the hunt for Wikipedia's disinformation moles - a fascinating story that is well worth checking out. To wrap up, the team talk about a story from the Register looking at how crime gangs are now able to leverage nation-state malware thanks to leaks and hacks, and defenders such as banks need to shore up their defences.

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Performance addicted: exploring gamers’ priorities

Kanye West agrees to buy conservative social media platform Parler

Banks face their 'darkest hour' as malware steps up, maker of antivirus says

The Hunt for Wikipedia's Disinformation Moles

Episode 271 kicks off with talk around a recent story suggesting that a third of children have adult social media accounts, in an attempt to access the full version of social sites.  From there discussion moves over to talk about TikTok and third-party tracking – something readers with long memories will remember that Facebook Meta has been doing for quite some time already. 

To wrap up, the duo discusses two stories around crypto, the first around Kim Kardashian and a crypto pump and dump and a story around a married couple who were accidently sent $10M in crypto instead of $100.

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• A third of children have adult social media accounts
• Kim Kardashian pays $1.26m over crypto 'pump and dump'
• TikTok is tracking people on sites across the web—even if they don’t use the app
• Couple mistakenly given $10.5m from Crypto.com thought they had won contest

Over the past few years, the notion of ethics has come up quite a bit within cybersecurity circles. One of the leading voices, has been my colleague, Ivan Kwiatkowski.

Earlier this year, he gave a talk called Ethics in Cyberwar Times at the Pass The Salt conference:

I sat down with him and Anastasia Kazakova of our public affairs department for a special edition of the Kaspersky Transatlantic Cable podcast to discuss the presentation, as well as:

• Ethics: what does this mean in the cyber context? What questions should we ask ourselves?
• The concept of attackers paying defenders
• The increasing role for inter-state competition, and how such a competition makes the work of researchers harder

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Episode 270 of the Transatlantic Cable kicks off with Apple taking a pot-shot at Meta, with Tim Cooke stating that “I’m really not sure the average person can tell you what the metaverse is” – fighting talk, indeed.  From there, discussion moves to a confusing story about Bruce Willis and his digital twin – apparently he’s licensed it to a third-party, but things are somewhat more confusing than they first appear.

After that, the team discuss another story, this time focusing on the Lapsus$ gang and how they’re seemingly able to run circles around enterprise security.  To wrap up, the team talk about the recent demise of Google’s Stadia experiment.

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• ‘I’m really not sure the average person can tell you what the metaverse is’
• Bruce Willis denies selling rights to his face
• The Dire Warnings in the Lapsus$ Hacker Joyride
• Stadia died because no one trusts Google

Episode 269 of the Transatlantic Cable kicks off with news that Interpol is after the CEO of the failed cryptocurrency firm, Terra. Originally cited as a potential star in the crypto-world, Terra fell in the recent crypto-crash. After that, the team move on to a more disturbing story around NFTs and terror groups – it seems these groups are looking to leverage NFTs in order to raise funding.

Moving away from the crypto/NFT space, the team look at a developing story around the recent Uber and Rockstar hacks, with news coming out of the UK that somebody has been arrested. Finally, to wrap up the team look at a news story from “down under” and the telco giant, Optus, which has recently been hacked and data breached.

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• Interpol seeks arrest of failed crypto-firm boss
• Terror groups may turn to NFTs to raise funds and spread messages
• Likely Uber Hacking Suspect, 17, Arrested By City Of London Police
• Australia phones cyber-attack exposes personal data