Transatlantic Cable Podcast: Recent Episodes
Kaspersky
Kaspersky Lab’s security experts discuss recent news and give their advice on the topics of computer and smartphone protection.
Episode 365 kicks off with discussion around Donald Trump’s recent courting of the crypto world. From there talk moves to Mozilla’s recent decision to enable Privacy Preserving Attribution (PPA) by default – and that’s got some in the EU worried.
To wrap up the team discuss two stories related to A.I – first around Microsoft suggesting that omnipresent AI companions will soon be a thing, and second how AI is now capable of completing CAPTCHA quicker, and more efficiently than any human. How the tables have turned.
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- Crypto world hoping for Trump election win
- Mozilla Faces GDPR Complaint Over New Firefox Tracking Feature
- Microsoft: 'ever present' AI assistants are coming
- AI just made a mockery of CAPTCHA and that’s bad news for real people
Episode 364 kicks off with a chat around the recent furore around Telegram’s problem with unsavoury content. Following that, the conversation moves to a story that might concern people who rely on TOR (The Onion Router), as it’s been disclosed that German police managed to de-anonymise data coming out of an exit node, in order to track and arrest owners of an illegal site.
To wrap up, the team discuss news that delivery robots have been acting erratic, with some cases of them running over pedestrians, seemingly on purpose. Finally, to close conversation turns to Tamagotchi’s and their seeming imminent return.
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- Telegram will now provide some user data to authorities
- Police Broke Tor Anonymity to Arrest Dark Web Users in Major CSAM Bust
- Delivery Robot Knocked Over Pedestrian, Company Offered ‘Promo Codes’ to Apologize
- A Tamagotchi comeback? Toy gets first UK store as global sales double
Episode 363 kicks off with a discussion around moderation on the popular messaging service, Telegram. From there the team move to discuss how one person managed to siphon off over $10 million from the likes of Spotify and Apple using bots to stream music.
To wrap up the team discuss two stories, the first looking at how the Democrats in America are using “brain rot” videos, and the second looks at the seedy underworld of stolen mobile phones.
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- Telegram reportedly ‘inundated’ with illegal and extremist activity
- Musician charged with $10M streaming royalties fraud using AI and bots
- Kamala Harris Campaign Experiments With Ads for an Audience With “Brain Rot”
- Thieves snatched his phone in London - it was in China a month later
Episode 362 of the Kaspersky podcast kicks off with discussion around Brazil’s controversial decision to ban Elon Musk’s X platform. From there the team discuss a story from the BBC around the theft of a voice actors voice, which was used on an A.I platform.
To wrap up the team discuss how scammers are looking to use sextortion tactics in order for you to cough up bitcoin and Apple’s big problem around ‘face swap’ apps and pornography.
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- Top Brazil court upholds ban of Musk's X
- A tech firm stole our voices - then cloned and sold them
- Sextortion Scammers Try to Scare People by Sending Photos of Their Homes
- Apple’s Huge “Dual Use” Face Swap App Problem Is Not Going Away
Episode 361 of the Transatlantic Cable podcast kicks off with news around the right to switch off in Australia. From there the team talk about privacy – specifically if you should have to pay to have online privacy.
To wrap up, the team discuss how and why a popular game has attracted so much online attention.
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- Australians get 'right to disconnect' after hours
- Should you have to pay for online privacy?
- Blockbuster Chinese video game tried to police players - and divided the internet
Episode 360 of the transatlantic cable podcast kicks off with news that Nvidia are on the receiving end of a class-action law-suit, alleging that they scraped YouTube videos without creators’ consent. From there, the team discuss news around Taylor Swift AI images being shared by Donald Trump and an additional story around how photography is quickly being swamped by generative A.I.
To close, the team discuss a story around how your humble television is being invaded by advertisers.
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- Nvidia Sued for Scraping YouTube After 404 Media Investigation
- Swift Could Sue Trump Under State Law for Fake AI Endorsement
- The AI photo editing era is here, and it’s every person for themselves
- Your TV set has become a digital billboard
Episode 359 kicks off with discussion around the recent riots in the U.K. and how the UK government is looking to leverage facial recognition to combat trouble makers. From there, the team discuss a strange story concerning how police forces in the U.S were able to locate a criminal via a lock-screen picture left at the scene of a crime.
To wrap up the team discuss news that artificial intelligence is being leveraged to help find the ‘next Olympians’ – however, results may vary.
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- Keir Starmer says facial recognition tech is the answer to far-right riots
- Cops Used Facial Recognition on Lost iPhone Lock Screen to Find Post Office Robbers
- The AI tech aiming to identify future Olympians
Episode 358 of the Transatlantic Cable Podcast kicks off with news of American Cybersecurity firm KnowBe4 getting duped by a North Korean hacker who successfully when through their HR checks and secured employment! Deepfake bullying being used by children on Snapchat. X/Twitter’s AI bot Grok is now reading your tweets, however there is a fix and we show you how to protect yourself. We close out the episode with news of a data breach at HealthEquity affecting 4.3 million people.
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· North Korean hacker gets employed at US Cybersecurity firm
· Deepfake bullying
· Grok AI reading public tweets
· HealthEquity data breach
Episode 357 of the Transatlantic Cable Podcast kicks off with news of the Telegram zero-day vulnerability that went unnoticed for 5 weeks, as well as further CrowdStrike woes with threat actors targeting companies with fake fixes. From there Ahmed & Jag go on to discuss a potential hacktivism hit on Disney in response to Disney’s embrace of AI, and finally wrap up with Elon unveiling human-like robots.
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· Telegram zero-day allowed sending malicious Android APKs as videos
· Fake CrowdStrike fixes target companies with malware, data wipers
· Disney investigating massive leak of internal messages
· Musk says Tesla to use humanoid robots next year
Episode 356 of the Transatlantic Cable Podcast kicks off with news around the AT&T ‘mega-breach’. From there the team discuss two stories related to AI – the first looks at how AI is being used to help doctors detect early-onset Alzheimer’s; the team then talk about how K-Pop are looking to use artificial intelligence to write songs and create artwork.
The final story discusses how legendary artist Bob Dylan has banned smart-phones in his upcoming gigs – just how that will pan out is anybody’s guess.
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- AT&T says hackers stole records of nearly all cellular customers' calls and texts
- New AI tool could be game-changer in battle against Alzheimer's
- Will K-pop's AI experiment pay off?
- Bob Dylan to bring 'phone-free' tour to Edinburgh
Episode 355 of the Transatlantic Cable podcast begins with news that Ticketmaster’s recent data breach is creating more trouble for them than previously thought. Moving from Ticketmaster to TikTok, the next story covers a disturbing new trend on the social media platform, where a “mob attack led by middle schoolers” tormented teachers.
To wrap up the team discuss news that Japan has finally “won the war on floppy discs” – surprisingly, Japan is one of the very few countries to be slower than most with the move to digital work.
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- Ticketmaster Hackers Leak 30K Ticket Barcodes, Share Counterfeit Tutorial
- Scalpers Work With Hackers to Liberate Ticketmaster's ‘Non-Transferable’ Tickets
- First-known TikTok mob attack led by middle schoolers tormenting teachers
- Japan declares victory in 'war' on floppy disks
Episode 353 of the Transatlantic Cable podcast kicks off with an ‘interesting’ story involving Microsoft, real-time software recording and sex-toy retailers. To go into more details would just be a spoiler. From there, the team talk about how Facebook are the next business to face EU’s DMA (Digital Market’s Act) legislation.
To wrap up conversation moves to how residents in local town meetings across America were being terrorised by people ‘zoom bombing’ calls and town meetings. The final story revolves around Google’s Threat Analysis Group (TAG) thwarts over 10,000 attempts by Chinese influence operators.
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- Lawsuit Claims Microsoft Tracked Sex Toy Shoppers With 'Recording in Real Time' Software
- Facebook and Instagram’s ‘pay or consent’ ad model violates the DMA, says the EU
- 'Local Residents' Terrorizing City Council Meetings Were Actually Overseas, Feds Allege
- Google Thwarts Over 10,000 Attempts by Chinese Influence Operator
Episode 353 of the Transatlantic Cable podcast kicks off with news around ransomware attacks, both in the UK and the US. From there, the team discuss updates around the EU’s new DMA (Digital Market’s Act) and how Apple could be a test case for record fines, if they’re found to have abused their market position.
To wrap up, the team look at how some of the biggest names in music are joining forces to sue start up generative A.I companies, who have alleged that they’re infringing copyright on a massive scale.
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- Don't blame us for people suffering - London hospital hackers
- LockBit Ransomware Claims 33 TB of US Federal Reserve Data for Ransom
- Apple in breach of law on App Store, says EU
- World's biggest music labels sue over AI copyright
Episode 352 of the Transatlantic Cable podcast kicks off with a story concerning generative AI and hackers, with the hackers taking the side of artists (or so it would seem.) From there discussion turns to the US surgeon general calling for ‘warning labels’ on social media, mainly in part due to the worrying rise in young people’s mental health.
To wrap up, the team look at two stories – the first concerning ransomware and hospitals, and the second looking at a recent NHS data breach and black binbags.
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- Hackers Target AI Users With Malicious Stable Diffusion Tool on GitHub to Protest 'Art Theft'
- US surgeon general wants social media warning labels
- Medical-Targeted Ransomware Is Breaking Records After Change Healthcare’s $22M Payout
- Student's flimsy bin bags blamed for latest NHS data breach
Episode 351 of the Transatlantic Cable podcast begins with discussion around Microsoft’s controversial ‘Recall’ feature. Following from there, news turns to discussion around Elon Musk’s frustration around Apple’s decision to include ChatGPT in the upcoming iOS 18.
To wrap up, the team discuss two news stories. The first covers the arrest of 2 suspects in relation to a smishing campaign, and what the police are calling "an illegitimate telephone mast," converted into a "text message blaster." The finals story looks at how a 27-year-old Tamagotchi mystery has finally been solved.
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- Microsoft 'recalls' screenshot feature after outcry
- Elon Musk threatens to ban Apple devices from his companies over Apple’s ChatGPT integrations
- Two cuffed over suspected smishing campaign using 'text message blaster'
- A 27-Year Old Tamagotchi Mystery Has Been Solved
Episode 350 of the Transatlantic Cable podcast kicks off with surprising news that whilst Generative AI tools such as ChatGPT and MidJourney are marketed aggressively, they’re not actually that popular with everyday folk – with just 2% of people in the UK saying they use Gen AI in their day.
From there talk moves to news regarding two large data breaches, both of which were hit by the same group “ShinyHunters”. To wrap up, the team discuss a story around Microsoft’s India X account, which was recently hacked in order to spread crypto scams.
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- AI products like ChatGPT much hyped but not much used
- Ticketmaster hacked. Breach affects more than half a billion users
- Santander staff and '30 million' customers hacked
- Microsoft India’s X account hijacked in Roaring Kitty crypto scam
Episode 349 of the Transatlantic Cable podcast kicks off with a discussion on Microsoft's newly announced Copilot+ feature for personal computers. This feature, touted to give PCs a "photographic memory," raises significant privacy concerns as it can log everything a user does by taking screenshots every few seconds. Privacy advocates fear the potential for exploitation by hackers and the implications of such extensive data collection.
Next, the podcast discusses the recent floods in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, and the rise of AI-generated misinformation during the disaster. The team highlights how false images and videos have been spreading on social media, complicating rescue efforts and public awareness.
The episode then delves into the vulnerabilities of high-end car keyless entry systems. Despite advancements like ultra-wideband communications, a recent demonstration by Chinese researchers showed that the latest Tesla Model 3 is still susceptible to relay attacks, allowing thieves to unlock and steal the vehicle with minimal equipment.
To wrap up, the team discusses the arrest of Lin Rui-siang, who was living a double life as an IT specialist and a dark web drug market operator. Lin, under the alias "Pharoah," ran the Incognito Market, which facilitated over $100 million in narcotics sales before executing an exit scam and attempting to extort users. His arrest at JFK airport by the FBI brought an end to his criminal activities.
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Microsoft’s AI screenshot function is being called a privacy nightmare. Brazil’s flood disaster set off a torrent of AI misinformation. Teslas can still be stolen with a cheap radio hack despite new keyless tech. He Trained Cops to Fight Crypto Crime—and Allegedly Ran a $100M Dark-Web Drug Market.
We kick off with news that Google plan to introduce a new AI tool to help detect if you’re being scammed in a phone call – a boon for those who fall prey to scams. From there the team discuss news that Scarlett Johansson isn’t best pleased about the likeness of ChatGPT’s new voice, which sounds eerily familiar to her own.
To wrap up the team discuss two stories, firstly around how an ‘AI porn-maker’ (yes people, that’s now a job) accidentally leaked his own customer data. The second story centres around BT’s decision to move away from copper-cable landlines in the UK to an all-digital future – and it’s got several people annoyed.
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- Android is getting an AI-powered scam call detection feature
- ChatGPT suspends Scarlett Johansson-like voice as actor speaks out against OpenAI
- Nonconsensual AI Porn Maker Accidentally Leaks His Customers' Emails
- BT scraps digital landline switch deadline
Episode 347 of the Transatlantic Cable podcast begins with news that Dell have been hit by a data breach, however details on the breach are scarce. Following that the team discuss another data breach, this time affecting Europol.
To wrap up the team discuss two stories, the first around Spanish police pulling data on suspects from sources such as Proton mail and Apple. The final story is around Securelist’s latest APT report, looking at Q1 2024.
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- Dell Discloses Data Breach As Hacker Sells 49 Million Customer Data
- Europol Hacked? IntelBroker Claims Major Law Enforcement Breach
- Encrypted services Apple, Proton and Wire helped Spanish police identify activist
- APT trends report Q1 2024
For the 346th episode of the Kaspersky Transatlantic Cable Podcast, Jag and I dive into a handful of stories that tie back to disinformation, privacy, people persisting, before ending with the WTF story of the week (and perhaps year).
We kick things off discussing WhatsApp and encryption, but more importantly how the app’s boss understands that it is being used – even in countries where there are bans on the popular messenger app. From there, we jump into the story from last week that impacts users of DropBox. After covering what it is, we discuss some safety measures that can be used by people using the service.
For our third story, we dive into the world of TikTok. While the US ban may be top of mind, we are actually crossing the world to discuss a recent phenomenon on the app that ties back to North Korea. It isn’t a hack, but rather an odd case of a propaganda song from the country going viral on the popular platform. Who would have thought that disinformation could go viral? But hey, I guess the beat slaps (as the kids say).
After that bit of head scratching, we head back to the US where recent research has shown that phishing sites impersonating the USPS are getting almost as much traffic as the real site. To close things out, we dive into AI and porn. More specifically, a new app being advertised on PornHub that allows anyone with the app to see any person neked, with the help of AI and without consent.
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· Tens of millions secretly use WhatsApp despite bans
· Dropbox says hackers stole customer data, auth secrets from eSignature service
· Why North Korea's latest propaganda bop is a huge TikTok hit
· US Post Office phishing sites get as much traffic as the real one
· Pornhub's Nonconsensual 'Nudify' Ad
Episode 345 of the Transatlantic Cable podcast kicks off with a story from the U.S, where a Pew survey suggested that most American’s feel that social media platforms have too much political power and influence. From there the team discuss news that ChatGPT can hack software vulnerabilities and the U.K becomes the first country in the world to ban simple passwords such as 123456 or ‘password’ for smart devices.
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- Social media companies have too much political power, 78% of Americans say in Pew survey
- Could ChatGPT be the next big cybersecurity worry
- 'Admin' and '12345' banned from being used as passwords in UK crackdown on cyber attacks
Episode 344 of the Transatlantic Cable podcast kicks off with news that Grindr is being sued or sharing sensitive user data with third-parties. From there the team talk about news from the U.K, which shows that a third of 5-7 year old children already have their own mobile phones.
To wrap up, the team talk about news that Meta AI is now inserting itself into Facebook group chats, but it doesn’t always go to plan.
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- Grindr sued for allegedly revealing users' HIV status
- Ofcom: Almost a quarter of kids aged 5-7 have smartphones
- Meta's AI tells Facebook user it has disabled, gifted child in response to parent asking for advice
Episode 343 of the Transatlantic Cable podcast begins with news that Instagram is testing a tool to help tackle ‘sextortion’, or intimate image abuse. Following that, the team discuss how criminals are increasingly using A.I to defraud consumers out of their money.
The last two stories look at X and ransomware. The first story focuses on how X is automatically removing “twitter” from URLs, providing scammers with a real opportunity – finally, the last story looks at how some ransomware gangs are trying their luck at calling the front desk of businesses, to try to leverage payment out of them – however, it doesn’t always go to plan.
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- Instagram to test new tools to fight so-called sextortion
- Criminals ramp up social engineering and AI tactics to steal consumer details
- X automatically changed 'Twitter' to 'X' in users' posts, breaking legit URLs
- Ransomware gang’s new extortion trick? Calling the front desk
Episode 342 of the Transatlantic Cable podcast focuses on political news this week, kicking off with a story that China is being accused of using AI-generated content, in order to sow discontent in the upcoming American election. From there the team look news that YouTube is being accused of complacent in blocking malicious videos advertisements in the upcoming Indian elections.
To wrap up, the team look at news that a spear-phishing / honey trap campaign is being orchestrated in UK parliament, with several members confessing to being targets – but who’s behind the attacks?
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- China Using AI-Generated Content to Sow Division in US
- YouTube failed to block disinformation about Indian elections
- UK minister confirmed as 12th target in Westminster ‘honey trap’ scandal
Episode 341 of the Transatlantic Cable podcast kicks off with news that a data broker leak has revealed sensitive data about people who visited the infamous island. From there, the team discuss news that the UN peace keepers are being told to shore up their cyber-defences, after warnings that nation-state attackers are actively looking to target them.
To wrap up the team discuss look at a story which is itself baffling: one of the world’s most wanted men is leaving restaurant reviews on Google, and has done for the last 5 years. The second story is around Elon Musk’s Nuralink project, with the first ever patient using the tool to play Mario Kart with his dad.
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- Jeffrey Epstein’s Island Visitors Exposed by Data Broker
- UN Peace Operations Under Fire From State-Sponsored Hackers
- Investigation finds Christopher Kinahan Sr left ‘digital trail’ of Google reviews
- I’m world’s first Neuralink patient
Episode 340 of the Transatlantic Cable podcast kicks off with news that the EU is investigating META, Apple and Google for “uncompetitive practices”. Additionally, the US government has gone ahead and levelled a lawsuit against Apple, for what they see as “monopoly” behaviour with their hardware.
To wrap up, the team discuss two stories, the first around China and UK government hacking concerns and how age-verification for adult sites could actually be a bad thing in the long run.
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- Apple, Meta and Google to be investigated by the EU
- US sues Apple for illegal monopoly over smartphones
- Beijing behind cyberattacks on UK MPs and peers, deputy PM to warn
- The Dangers of Age Verification
Episode 339 of the Transatlantic Cable podcast kicks off with news that several employees in TikTok were caught covertly spying on Forbes journalists. From there, the team talk about a new cooperation between governments to better tackle spyware and news that the FTC is looking at the upcoming Reddit IPO and AI training data.
To close out the podcast, the team discuss news that ‘at least 900’ websites built using Google’s FireBase cloud database may be leaking sensitive user data.
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- TikTok Spied On Forbes Journalists
- Finland, Germany, Ireland, Japan, Poland, South Korea added to US-led spyware agreement
- FTC investigating Reddit plan to sell user content for AI model training
- 900+ websites and expose millions of passwords via Firebase
Episode 338 of the Transatlantic Cable podcast kicks off with the story of the year (so far) as some people see it – the Kate Middleton / photoshop mix ups. Is it really as big a deal as some believe it to be, or is it just a silly mistake?
From there the team discuss news that South Korea have developed a tool to help scan images for deepfakes, but will it be useful enough to be of any use? Additionally, the team talk about the Play ransomware gang and will GDPR shut down WorldCoin?
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- Kate photo withdrawn by five news agencies amid 'manipulation' concerns
- South Korean Police Develops Deepfake Detection Tool
- Worldcoin hit with temporary ban in Spain over privacy concerns
- Play ransomware leaked 65,000 government documents
In this special episode of the Transatlantic Cable Podcast, we engage in a thoughtful conversation with guests Genie Gan and Ekaterina Burdova about the pivotal topic of Women in Technology, coinciding with the celebration of International Women’s Day.
Throughout the episode, the panel delves into various aspects of empowering women in STEM fields, touching on strategies for governmental and academic institutions to foster greater female participation, community-driven initiatives aimed at providing support and encouragement, and corporate measures to promote gender diversity and create inclusive workplaces. Additionally, the discussion explores the influence of media representation, citing examples like "The Queen’s Gambit" and its impact on shaping perceptions of female protagonists in male-dominated spheres.
Emphasizing the significance of representation for aspiring female leaders, the guests also discuss ways to serve as role models for young girls interested in pursuing careers in technology. Furthermore, the conversation highlights the importance of mentoring programs in women's professional development, as well as the challenges and strategies for maintaining a healthy work-life-family-education balance.
Ultimately, the episode aims to challenge myths surrounding women in tech and inspire meaningful change within the industry.
Episode 336 of the Transatlantic Cable Podcast begins with news that Tumblr and WordPress are set to begin selling user data for AI training. From there the team talk about META’s decision to begin helping assist the EU in combatting fake news and disinformation on their platforms.
To wrap up, the team talk about LockBit’s resurgence and a truly bizarre Wi-Fi password scanning tool.
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- Tumblr, WordPress Announce User Data Sales for AI Training
- Meta unveils team to combat disinformation and AI harms in EU elections
- Back from the dead: LockBit taunts cops, threatens to leak Trump docs
- Cybersecurity enthusiast collects Wi-Fi passwords using homemade device
Episode 335 of the Transatlantic Cable Podcast kicks off with news that Apple are already preparing for a post-quantum world with their latest iMessage update. From there the team discuss criticism around Google’s ‘woke’ AI picture issues.
Following that, the team wrap up with two stories, the first around Air Canada’s chatbot giving incorrect refund advice to a customer, and a spoon-bending magician says he was paid to create a fake Biden robocall.
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- Post-quantum iMessage: the next step in privacy protection
- Google to fix AI picture bot after 'woke' criticism
- Air Canada must honor refund policy invented by airline’s chatbot
- A magician says a Democratic op paid him to make the fake Biden call
In today’s episode of the Transatlantic Cable podcast, the team look at news that companies at the fore-front of generative AI are looking to ‘take action’ on deceptive AI in upcoming elections. From there, the team discuss news that the Canadian government is set to take action against devices such as Flipper Zero, in an apparent fight against criminal activity.
To wrap up, the team discuss news that international police agencies have taken down LockBit – the infamous ransomware gang. Additionally, the team discuss a bizarre story around Artificial Intelligence, blue aliens and job applications – yes, really.
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- Big tech vows action on 'deceptive' AI in elections
- Feds Want to Ban the World’s Cutest Hacking Device
- UK leads disruption of major cyber-criminal gang
- Service Jobs Now Require Bizarre Personality Test From AI Company
Episode 333 of the Transatlantic Cable Podcast dives into news that a site called ‘OnlyFakes’ is offering deepfake photo ID – the team also stay on the AI bandwagon with the next story which talks about the recent furore around illicit AI generated Taylor Swift images.
From there the team discuss two final stories, the first around a virus that was released onto the Valhiem gaming Discord channels, causing havoc as it was spread. The final story looks at a recent Interpol campaign, dubbed ‘Operation Synergia,’ which resulted in 31 arrests and over 1,300 C2 (command and control) servers being taken down.
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- Inside the Underground Site Where ‘Neural Networks’ Churn Out Fake IDs
- Taylor Swift deepfakes spark calls in Congress for new legislation
- Valheim Discord servers locked after hacker releases virus
- Interpol operation Synergia takes down 1,300 servers used for cybercrime
Episode 332 of the Kaspersky Transatlantic Cable podcast kicks off with news that, after the recent AI generated sketch, George Carlin’s estate has decided to pursue legal matters against the creators. From there, discussion turns to Mozilla’s worry about Apple’s new browser rules and British law makers question the legality of live facial recognition.
To wrap up, the team discuss news around the recent 23andMe data breach. If you like what you heard, please consider subscribing.
- George Carlin’s Family Takes This AI Bullsh*t to Court
- Mozilla says Apple’s new browser rules are ‘as painful as possible’ for Firefox
- British lawmakers question legality of live facial recognition technology
- 23andMe data breach: Hackers stole raw genotype data, health reports
Episode 331 of the Transatlantic Cable podcast kicks off with news regarding “the mother of all data breaches”, consisting of some 26 billion (yes, really) user names. From there the team discuss fake Biden robocalls and a swearing customer chatbot.
To wrap up, the team talk about the latest craze sweeping the gaming world – PalWorld.
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- ‘Mother of all breaches’ data leak reveals 26 billion account records stolen from Twitter, LinkedIn, more
- The Biden Deepfake Robocall Is Only the Beginning
- DPD error caused chatbot to swear at customer
- 'Pokémon with guns' sells 5m copies in three days
Episode 330 of the Transatlantic Cable podcast kicks things off with talk around the potential for A.I poisoning, which could allow malicious actors to turn AI chatbots into ‘sleeper agents’. From there the team talk about eBay and a truly bizarre story involving spiders, cockroaches and death threats, as well as China’s crackdown on casino’s, which has led to an underground boom in crypto-casinos.
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- AI poisoning could turn open models into destructive “sleeper agents”
- Defending reality: Truth in an age of synthetic media
- eBay pays $3m fine in blogger harassment case
- China’s gambling crackdown spawned wave of illegal online casinos
The latest episode of the Transatlantic Cable podcast kicks off with Stuxnet – yes, after 20 plus years, we’re still talking about the infamous malware. From there, the team discuss news that artists and journalists are looking to collectively sue OpenAI around copyright theft – let’s see how that turns out.
To wrap up, the team discuss fake news on Twitter X via stolen gold-check mark accounts.
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- Dutch man sabotaged Iranian nuclear program without Dutch government's knowledge
- More non-fiction authors are suing OpenAI and Microsoft
- Experts: 5% Chance AI Kills Us All
- Fake and Stolen X Gold Accounts Flood Dark Web
The latest episode of the Transatlantic Cable podcast kicks off with news that the EU are the next major governmental body to impose AI regulations, as countries around the world race to stay ahead of the technology. From there, the team discuss news that the BBC were able to make a version of ChatGPT which was capable of writing spam and phishing emails.
From there the team discuss Securelist’s story of the year: Generative A.I and it’s impact on cyber-security.
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- EU agrees landmark deal on regulation of artificial intelligence
- ChatGPT tool could be abused by scammers and hackers
- Story of the year: the impact of AI on cybersecurity
The latest episode of the Transatlantic Cable podcast kicks off with news that hackers are paying to gain access to hotel booking[.]com portals. The hack is apparently so lucrative, they’re now advertising for access on the dark web. Additionally, the team discuss new content restriction laws being discussed in the U.K, with news that photo I.D may be required to access certain sites.
Additionally, this week the team sat down with Vidit Gujrathi, Chess grandmaster and Maher Yamout, Lead Security Researcher at Kaspersky to talk about Chess, cyber-security and how the two are more connected than you might think.
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- Booking[.]com hackers increase attacks on customers
- UK porn watchers could have faces scanned
The latest episode of the Transatlantic Cable podcast begins with news that General Electric are investigating claims of a data breach, found it was found that an attacker was selling access to the business for just $500. From there, the team discuss how U.S police forces are returning $9 million in seized crypto assets back to victims of ‘pig butchery’ scams.
To wrap up the team discuss how to stay safe online with tools like Duck Duck Go and Brave and they also sit down with David Emm to discuss APT predictions for 2024.
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- General Electric investigates claims of cyber attack, data theft
- US cybercops take on 'pig butchering' org, return $9M in crypto
- Cyber-attack leaves home sales in limbo
- How to Make Your Web Searches More Secure and Private
- Advanced threat predictions for 2024
The latest episode of the Transatlantic Cable podcast kicks off with two stories around, you guessed it: Artificial Intelligence. To kick things off, the team discuss news that YouTube are testing a tool, allowing selected users to create audio from musicians. The second story focuses on YouTube’s decision to force creators to label when AI content is used in their videos.
Following that, the team also look at an insightful story around hacking and drug smuggling and how QR codes were (once again) leveraged by criminals in order to dupe victims out of their cash.
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- YouTube tests AI tool that clones pop stars' voices
- YouTube Now Requires Creators To Label AI Content
- How a Hacker Helped Cocaine Traffickers Infiltrate Europe’s Biggest Ports
- Woman targeted in £13k railway station QR code scam
The latest episode of the Transatlantic Cable podcast kicks off with META (aka, Facebook and Instagram) will now require political advertisers to mark when they use deepfakes. From there, the team discuss how META and Google are being sued for “spying” in Irish courts.
To wrap up the team discuss two final stories – the first around the Royal ransomware gang siphoning off over $200M in ransom payments and the second on the recent cyber-attack against DP World – a port operator in Australia.
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- Meta requires political advertisers to mark when deepfakes used
- Meta, YouTube face criminal spying complaints in Ireland
- Royal ransomware asked 350 victims to pay $275 million
- Port operator gradually restarting operations around Australia after cyber-attack
The latest episode of the Transatlantic Cable kicks off with news that fans of the Bored Ape Yacht Club reported severe eye burn from a recent event held in Hong Kong. From there the team discuss how to store your bitcoin passwords on VHS cassettes and how AI could potentially be used for ill-gotten gains on the stock market.
The team close by discussing how a small town in America has connected all their CCTV cameras into one giant surveillance tool – and it has some privacy advocates concerned.
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- ApeFest Attendees Report Severe Eye Burn
- No One Will Find My Bitcoin In This Copy of Perfect Dark for the N64
- AI bot capable of insider trading and lying
- AI Cameras Took Over One Small American Town
In this episode, we cover Australia's SBS allowing ad opt-outs on its streaming service, exploring SBS's multilingual history and its ad-funded model. We then dive into the use of emojis in passwords, discussing their pros and cons. The podcast also delves into Meta's announcement of an ad-free subscription for Facebook and Instagram in the EU, EEA, and Switzerland. Wrapping up, we discuss the increasing resemblance of long AI conversations with ChatGPT to the interactions depicted in the movie "Her." Join us for this tech-packed episode!
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· Meta to offer ad-free subscription in Europe in bid to keep tracking other users
· Australian video-streamer lets users opt out of ads for burgers, booze, and betting
· Life-hack of the day: emoji passwords
· People are speaking with ChatGPT for hours, bringing 2013’s Her closer to reality
In this special edition of the Transatlantic Cable, we sat down with Igor I. Kuznetsov, Director of Global Research & Analysis Team to talk about Operation Triangulation, including:
How Kaspersky researchers found the intrusion Why was Triangulation so bad? Who were targeted by the attack?
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The latest episode of the Transatlantic Cable kicks off with news that Okta has suffered a data breach from unknown attackers. The attackers were able to get hold of sensitive HAR files. The 1Password breach was also related, but 1Password are stressing that sensitive user info was not affected.
From there the team look at a story around Microsoft’s A.I tool integration into Teams, and Google’s update to Chrome, which means better privacy and security for all users.
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- Okta suffers a security breach
- 1Password discloses security incident linked to Okta breach
- Microsoft's new AI assistant can go to meetings for you
- Google Chrome may be getting a new privacy feature
The latest episode of the Transatlantic Cable kicks off with news that X has started a trial in selected countries, charging users $1 a year in order to access the platform. The official reason for the move is to cut down on bot activity, but some say that it’s a step too far. From there, the team discuss a fascinating story around how some businesses have outsourced training A.I’s to workers, for pennies.
The final two stories look at a vulnerability in CISCO’s IOS XE software (classed as a 10 out of 10 for severity) and how hackers are already looking to leverage it, and another story around how scammers are using a fake emergency tool in order to spread malware.
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- Musk thinks spammers won't pay $1 a year
- Millions of Workers Are Training AI Models for Pennies
- Over 10,000 Cisco devices hacked in IOS XE zero-day attacks
- SpyNote Android malware spreads via fake volcano eruption alerts
The latest episode of the Transatlantic Cable kicks off with news that Sony have are the latest victim in the MoveIT vulnerability campaign. From there, the team discuss how NATO, the military alliance, was recently hit by a databreach.
To wrap up, the team discuss the data leak at 23andMe, the DNA sequencing company, as well as how Fortnite is being leveraged by oil businesses.
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- Sony Confirms Second Data Breach in Months
- Hackers advertise sale of 23andMe data on forum
- 'Gay furry hackers' brag of second NATO break-in
- Fortnite Influencers Push Shell’s Propaganda on Kids
We’re kicking off a mini-series on the Transatlantic Cable Podcast, where our crew dives into the world of critical infrastructure with the team from Industrial Control Systems (ICS) research team to talk about research, new developments and upcoming events.
The very first episode the team sit down with Evgeny Goncharov and Vladimir Dashchenko to talk about some of their latest research. The first piece of a look at data for Industrial Control Systems for H1, whilst the second was a deep dive into upcoming Internet Of Things threats for 2023.
If you’d like to hear more about this, be sure to subscribe.
- Overview of IoT threats in 2023
- Threat landscape for industrial automation systems. Statistics for H1 2023
The latest episode of the Transatlantic Cable kicks off with news that NFTs are pretty much value-less. Following that, the team discuss a recent story around Tom Hanks deepfakes flogging a dental plan. The two final stories include news around the recent Sony hack and, “is Google altering your search results?”
Also included in this week’s episode is a teaser to the upcoming ICS podcast, with special guests Evgeny Goncharov and Vladimir Dashchenko from the Kaspersky ICS team.
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- 95% of NFTs now totally worthless, say researchers
- Tom Hanks warns dental plan ad image is AI fake
- How Google Alters Search Queries to Get at Your Wallet
- What we know about the Sony PlayStation LAPSUS$ attack
The latest episode of the Transatlantic Cable kicks off with talk around the crypto-exchange, JPEX and how they’re being investigated by local authorities. From there, discussion turns to an AI enabled backpack from Microsoft (yes, really), Spotify refusing to ban A.I generated music and fake celebrity nudes are being used to promote a popular shopping site.
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- Hong Kong investigates influencer-backed crypto exchange
- Microsoft patents bizarre AI-powered backpack
- Spotify will not ban AI-made music, says boss
- Fake celebrity photo leak videos flood TikTok with Temu referral codes
Episode 316 of the Kaspersky Transatlantic Cable Podcast kicks off with news that Microsoft suffered at the hands of a data leak, this time a whopping 38TB (yes, terabytes). From there the team look at the recent ransomware attacks against Casino’s in the United States and news that a notorious hacker is trolling the F.B.I.
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- Microsoft worker accidentally exposes 38TB of sensitive data
- Okta Agent Involved in MGM Resorts Breach, Attackers Claim
- Caesars paid millions in ransom to cybercrime group prior to MGM hack
- One of the FBI’s most wanted hackers is trolling the U.S. government
Episode 315 of the Kaspersky Transatlantic Cable Podcast kicks off with a possible U-turn from the British government and end-to-end encryption. From there discussion moves MGM resorts being hit by a cyber-attack.
Following on from that, discussion moves to Microsoft’s odd decision to add pop-up ads for Edge into Windows and a supermarket in the UK had to recall a brand of snacks, as the website on the packaging led to a, shall we say, ‘not very child friendly’ website.
Also, there’s a discussion with David Emm, security researcher in GReAT about Q2 IT Threat Evolution report from Securelist.
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- Government denies U-turn on encrypted messaging row
- MGM Resorts: Slot machines go down in cyber-attack on firm
- IT threat evolution in Q2 2023
- Microsoft is using malware-like pop-ups in Windows 11 to get people to ditch
- Lidl recalls Paw Patrol snacks after website on packaging displayed porn
Episode 314 of the Kaspersky Transatlantic Cable Podcast starts with news that another the infamous Lapsu$ is now behind bars. The gang were responsible for some of the more audacious hacks of 2022, including Rock Star games, Uber and even Nvidia. From there discussion moves to news that CLOP are continuing to distribute stolen data from their attacks.
To wrap up, the team look at publication from 404 Media which dives into the murky world of credit header theft and a stalkerware application dubbed ‘WebDetective’ was recently hacked, with all their server data being deleted.
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- Lapsus$: Court finds teenagers carried out hacking spree
- Clop Ransomware Group Leaks Data of MOVEit Victims
- The Secret Weapon Hackers Can Use to Dox Nearly Anyone in America for $15
- A Brazilian phone spyware was hacked and victims’ devices ‘deleted’ from server
In Episode 313 of the Transatlantic Cable Podcast, the team look at a new supply-chain attack with the majority of victims being in the Hong Kong area along with news that Google have introduced their first ‘Quantum Resilient FIDO2 security key’ – something that sounds like it’s from a science fiction novel but is very much real and could be standard security practice in a few years’ time.
To wrap up the team look news that Duolingo has suffered a data breach, with over 2 million users data leaked, and a positive news story around Interpol – with the international service arresting 14 suspected cyber criminals, accused of stealing over $40 million in Africa.
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- Google Introduces First Quantum Resilient FIDO2 Security Key Implementation
- Interpol arrests 14 suspected cybercriminals for stealing $40 million
- Scraped data of 2.6 million Duolingo users released on hacking forum
- A New Supply Chain Attack Hit Close to 100 Victims
In Episode 312 of the Transatlantic Cable Podcast, we delve into how cybercriminals exploit hacked websites, particularly WordPress-based ones, for phishing. Discover their tactics, risks involved, and signs of such attacks. We also uncover phishers' strategies, from hacking sites to evading detection, along with concerns about AI hiring tools. Additionally, we discuss the rise of AI chatbots in HR, covering efficiency gains, bias concerns, legislative actions, and motivations behind their adoption. Lastly, we highlight a cyberattack on the UK's Electoral Commission in 2022, accessing voter data, raising privacy concerns despite no impact on electoral processes.
We kick off Episode 311 of the Transatlantic Cable Podcast by talking about how Mexican cartels are using the US government's CBP One app to help immigrants make their way through Mexico to the US borders. Then, we're heading over to Finland, where they've seen a crazy increase in ransomware attacks ever since they joined NATO. And hey, ever wondered why Google guzzled up a whopping 5.6 billion gallons of water last year? We've got the scoop on that too! Wrapping things up, we'll dive into the world of hacking, as a sneaky group of North Korean hackers managed to break into the computer networks of a major Russian missile developer.
· Mexican cartels exploit US government's CBP One app
· Finland sees fourfold spike in ransomware attacks since joining NATO, senior cyber official says
· GOOGLE IS USING A FLABBERGASTING AMOUNT OF WATER ON AI
· North Korean hackers breached top Russian missile maker
The latest edition of the Transatlantic Cable begins with discussion around Elon Musk, Twitter X and WeChat – is Elon trying to pivot the social media app into an ‘everything app?’ From there, the team talk about the Home Office in the U.K looking into facial recognition technology for the retail sector.
To wrap up the team discuss two stories, the first around the Lazarus group being implicated in a recent crypto heist and the other around Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II and a worm virus.
- WeChat: Why does Elon Musk want X to emulate China's everything-app?
- Home Office secretly backs facial recognition technology to curb shoplifting
- Lazarus hackers linked to $60 million Alphapo cryptocurrency heist
- Hackers are infecting Call of Duty players with a self-spreading malware
The latest edition of the Transatlantic Cable kicks off with worrying news around the Mastodon social network – from there the team discuss some A.I related news – the first story around World of Warcraft A.I generated news stories and the second around James Cameron’s thoughts on A.I.
To wrap up, the team discuss news around Apple’s decision to ‘slam’ the U.K’s upcoming surveillance-bill proposals.
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- Stanford researchers find Mastodon has a massive child abuse material problem
- Warcraft fans trick AI article bot with Glorbo hoax
- James Cameron on AI: 'I Warned You Guys in 1984 and You Didn't Listen'
- Apple slams UK surveillance-bill proposals
The latest edition of the Transatlantic Cable podcast focuses mostly on AI, with an opening salvo of stories, the first is news that the FTC are opening an investigation into Open AI and ChatGPT. From there, discussion moves to a worrying story around artificial intelligence and the recent writers and actors strikes.
To wrap up, there are two stories, the first dedicated to AI and the growing voices raised against it and, would you use a facial recognition service if it meant less time waiting in line to board a train?
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- FTC investigates OpenAI over data leak and ChatGPT’s inaccuracy
- The Black Mirror plot about AI that worries actors
- The Last Word on AI and the Atom Bomb
- Eurostar launches world’s first walk-through biometric corridor for rail travel
The latest edition of the Transatlantic Cable begins with news that a U.S judge has ruled that the United States government must limit its contact with social media networks. From there discussion moves to news that the U.K government is trying to push through new legislation to enable it to essentially break end-to-end encryption – privacy groups are, as you’d expect, concerned.
The last two stories look at news around the ‘snooper’s charter in France and should parents hide their kids faces on social media – Mark Zuckerberg thinks so.
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- Biden officials must limit contact with social media firms
- E2E encryption: Should big tech be able to read people's messages?
- New French laws dubbed a 'snoopers' charter'
- Zuckerberg hides his kids' faces on social and experts say you should do the same
The latest edition of the Transatlantic Cable begins with talk around a Microsoft data breach. However, details are thin on the ground and Microsoft are denying that there’s been a leak. From there talk moves to news around Google’s update to Chrome and a breaking story that centres around PornHub and the EU. Lastly, the team talk about the recent changes to Twitter.
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- Microsoft denies data breach, theft of 30 million customer accounts
- 3 Billion Chrome Users Are About to See This Privacy Sandbox Pop-Up
- Pornhub Is Being Accused of Illegal Data Collection
- Confusion at Twitter continues over Elon Musk's tweet limits
The latest edition of the Transatlantic Cable begins with discussion around Android phones accidentally dialling emergency services in the U.K. From there, discussion moves to malware-laced malware games and law-makers in the U.S share concerns around Alphabet’s relaxing of ‘fake-news’ policies.
To wrap up the team look at discussions around A.I and jobs – is a machine really going to swipe your job?
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- UK police report epidemic of Android false emergency calls
- Malware-Laced Mario Fan Game Will Turn Your Computer Into an Unwitting Crypto Miner
- Lawmakers slam YouTube for overturning policy banning election misinformation
- The workers already replaced by artificial intelligence
Episode 304 kicks off with news that U.S government agencies are also affected by the recent CLOP gang as they’re also using the affected MOVEit software. From there the team also discuss the most recent flaws in the MOVEit software and urge users to update.
Following on from that, there’s an interview with Ghislaine Boddington about the newly released Fast Forward audio series from Kaspersky; Apple’s fight with Apples (yes, really) and the team wrap up with talk around OpenAI’s seemingly contradictory statements on AI regulation.
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- US government agencies hit in global cyberattack
- MOVEit Customers Urged to Patch Third Critical Vulnerability
- Apple Is Taking On Apples in a Truly Weird Trademark Battle
- OpenAI Lobbied the E.U. to Water Down AI Regulation
Episode 302 of the Transatlantic Cable kicks off with discussions around the Clop ransomware gang issuing ultimatums to affected businesses. From there the team look at how ChatGPT is being used to create mutating malware which is capable of evading EDR; how a newly discovered malware dubbed ‘DoubleFinger’ is being used to steal crypto and another crypto-related story, this time around advertising crypto in the U.K.
To wrap up the team look at a story around how a Nintendo Switch was used by the FBI to track a missing teenager, who was later found 500 miles from home.
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- BBC, BA and Boots issued with ultimatum by cyber gang Clop
- ChatGPT creates mutating malware that evades detection by EDR
- Sneaky DoubleFinger loads GreetingGhoul targeting your cryptocurrency
- Crypto: 24-hour cooling-off period included in ad overhaul
- A Nintendo Switch Helped Rescue A Missing Teenager 500 Miles From Home
The team kick off episode 302 with news that cyber attackers have hit a pay-roll company in the U.K, affecting hundreds of thousands of victims. From there, the team talk about Apple’s latest hardware and is it game over for Metaverse?
Moving on, the team talk about scammers trying to defraud students and the FTC fine Ring for previous security breaches.
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- Hackers raid British Airways and BBC in cyber attack
- Mark Zuckerberg unveils new metaverse product despite claims VR world is ‘dead’
- Instagram seller quoted me £500 for a GCSE paper
- FTC Orders Ring to Pay $5.8 Million in Refunds For Surveilling Customers
Episode 301 kicks off with Wired article exposes the China-backed Volt Typhoon Hack, a menacing cyberattack that poses a severe threat to critical infrastructure in the United States. With a specific focus on Guam's power grid control systems, this breach underscores the vulnerability and potential ramifications of such targeted attacks, Moving to New York county where they are still dealing with ransomware eight months after attack. Prepare for a fascinating journey down the Australian motorway as we explore an intriguing. We delve into an article from news.com.au that unravels an unusual phenomenon involving "passengers" like no other. Something extraordinary is afoot, and our curiosity is piqued as we seek answers to the perplexing question: What could possibly be amiss on this Aussie motorway?
Would you use ChatGPT to write your legal defense? Well one lawyer did, let’s see how it ended.
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· China Hacks US Critical Networks in Guam, Raising Cyberwar Fears
· New York county still dealing with ransomware eight months after attack
· ‘This has never happened’: Something is odd about these Aussie motorway ‘passengers’
· A lawyer used ChatGPT for legal filing. The chatbot cited nonexistent cases it just made up
Episode 300 kicks off with a bang, with discussion around Meta’s record breaking fine for sending EU citizens’ data to the United States. From there discussion moves to A.I and fake ChatGPT apps on mobile stores. The team also discuss news around Neeva’s closure, the search engine that asked for a donation instead of selling your search-history – is there really no room for innovation in the search market? It seems not, sadly.
To wrap up the team sat down with Victor Sergeev, incident response team lead in SOC at Kaspersky to talk about his recent work with IOCs and ChatGPT.
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· Meta fined $1.3 billion & ordered to stop sending European user data to US
· Generative AI that can change anyone’s race is probably not a great idea
· ChatGPT Scams Are Infiltrating the App Store and Google Play
· Neeva: Ad-free search engine shuts down
· IoC detection experiments with ChatGPT
Episode 299 of the Transatlantic Cable Podcast kicks off with discussion around photo-manipulation apps (aka: filters) on social media. Should they be banned or regulated? From there, discussion moves to news that a entrepreneurial 23 year old has created an AI version of herself which will be your girlfriend for $1 per minute.
Moving swiftly onwards, the team then look at a story from the United States, as Wendy’s looks to A.I to help them with drive-through orders. Finally, to wrap up, the team look at a story from China and a man in the Gansu province was recently detained for allegedly using ChatGPT to generate a fake story about a train crash.
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· Should social media face-altering filters be regulated?
· A 23-year-old Snapchat influencer used OpenAI’s technology to create an A.I. version of herself that will be your girlfriend for $1 per minute
· Wendy's Is Bringing a Google-Powered AI Chatbot to Its Drive-Thru
· China reports first arrest over fake news generated by ChatGPT
Episode 298 of the Transatlantic Cable kicks off with news that ChatGPT recently suffered a data-breach, raising concerns about the amount of information we hand over to the AI chatbot. From there, the team discuss a recent story around QR scams in South Korea – be careful what you scan, is always good advice it seems.
Moving on from QR codes, the team spoke to Seongsu Park about the infamous Lazarus group’s recent activities. To wrap up, the team looked at two final stories, one around hackers impersonating META and Google on Facebook and another story around how social media and dating apps have become a hotbed for scammers.
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For the 297th edition of the Transatlantic Cable Podcast, Ahmed and I discuss a lot of stories that center around the hottest topic on the social web – AI.
Our first story takes a look at how a company is now offering Deep Fakes for under $200… we opine about what could go wrong. From there, we jump over to recent news of Geoffrey Hinton quitting Google.
The move from Hinton is on the heels of him questioning the uninhibited growth and development of AI – without looking as to what could go wrong. While this adds fuel to the fire, we stop our cynicism of AI and look at some research from our colleagues at Kaspersky. In this research, our team takes a look at whether or not ChatGPT can successfully determine phishing links.
To close out the podcast, we discuss a FYI for folks in term of some zero days actively being used on major tech companies and why you need to patch now.
If you liked what you heard please do consider subscribing, below are the stories we discussed in case you would like to dive deeper.
· Tencent Cloud announces Deepfakes-as-a-Service for $145
· After Quitting Google, ‘Godfather of AI’ Is Now Warning of Its Dangers
· What does ChatGPT know about phishing?
· Apple issues Rapid Security Response update for iOS 16.4.1, macOS 13.3.1
Apple, Google, and Microsoft Just Fixed Zero-Day Security Flaws
Episode 296 kicks off with news that Oasis may be reforming – except not really. Turns out some boffins have figured out how to use A.I to create new Oasis music. Unsurprisingly, UMG (Universal Music Group) aren’t too happy. From A.I to A.I, the next story looks at the evolution of Google’s Bard bot and following that there’s discussion around the U.K government’s decision to build their own super-computer, with the purpose of, you guessed it, artificial intelligence.
To wrap up, the team discuss a story about Twitter’s recent problems around verification status.
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- Musicians threaten to make Oasis 'Live Forever' with AI
- Google Bard introduces new features for generating and debugging code
- UK.gov gathers up £100M for AI super-models
- Twitter gives fake Disney account verified status
Episode 295 of the Transatlantic Cable kicks off with discussions around LLM (Large Language Model) A.I regulations however, is it a case of too little, too late? From there the team talk about a concerning case of attackers using deep fake audio to try to extort money out of a victim.
Following that, there’s yet more discussion around A.I, including news that a fake photograph has won a prestigious photography award, and is the hacking of LLM A.I the start of something new in the cybersecurity world?
Additionally, we also have an interview with Marc Rivero, Senior Security Researcher at Kaspersky to talk about his upcoming webinar entitled “Be aware of ransomware TTPs: applying MITRE to ransomware campaigns”.
If you like what you heard, please consider subscribing.
· ‘We have to move fast’: US looks to establish rules for artificial intelligence
· AI clones child’s voice in fake kidnapping scam
· Sony World Photography Award 2023: Winner refuses award after revealing AI creation
· The Hacking of ChatGPT Is Just Getting Started
Episode 294 of the Transatlantic Cable Podcast kicks off with news that some Samsung staff have shared sensitive technical information with ChatGPT. Following that a critical story around Tesla cars oversharing video feeds and are Twitter circles broken.
To wrap up, the team discuss how A.I is now capable of breaking passwords faster than ever before and Apple’s announcement of two zero-days currently being targeted by attackers.
If you liked what you heard please do consider subscribing.
· Samsung Employees Leaked Confidential Data to ChatGPT
· Tesla workers shared sensitive images recorded by customer cars
· Twitter Circles Is Broken, Revealing Nudes Not Meant For The General Public
· Study shows how fast AI can crack your passwords; here’s how to protect yourself
Apple warns of two zero-days under attack
For the 293rd episode of the Kaspersky Transatlantic Cable podcast, we are down to a two-man booth as both Dave and Jag are away on vacation. To kick things off, Ahmed and I take a look at a story that pulls the curtain back on one of the web’s most notorious websites – 4Chan. We were kind of shocked when we saw who was one of the benefactors and am pretty sure that you will be as well.
We then climb out of the cesspool before falling into a story on a scam targeting taxpayers. From there, in the third story we look at a positive case for AI – yes, you read that right, we are positive on AI for once on the podcast. In this story, a university student uses AI to help get her out of a ticket.
The happy stories end there, as our next tale looks tragically at the use of airtags for vigilante justice in Texas. If you read the headline below, you know the story. To close things out, we talk about Elon Musk’s weird move of adding the Dodge Coin logo to Twitter, replacing the very familiar bird.
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· Famed Japanese Toy Company Good Smile Has Reportedly Propped Up 4chan for Years
· Emotet malware distributed as fake W-9 tax forms from the IRS
· York student uses AI chatbot to get parking fine revoked
· Texas man uses Apple AirTag to track down person who stole his truck, then kills him: Police
Twitter replaces logo with doge as Musk seeks Dogecoin lawsuit dismissal
Episode 292 of the Transatlantic Cable Podcast is here! This week, the team talk about aggressive AI and how the DEA have turned Apple AirTags into a surveillance tool against criminals.
Moving on, the team discuss recent news that Nvidia’s CTO thinks that crypto-currencies don’t “bring anything useful for society” – pretty bold words for a business that sold GPU cards to crypto-miners just a few years ago. To wrap up, discussion moves onto how the US is looking to block the use and sale of commercial spyware – however, there’s a pretty big catch.
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· Microsoft's Bing AI Now Threatening Users Who Provoke It
· The DEA Quietly Turned Apple’s AirTag Into A Surveillance Tool
· Cryptocurrencies add nothing useful to society, says chip-maker Nvidia
· President Biden kind of mostly bans commercial spyware from US govt
Episode 291 of the Transatlantic Cable Podcast kicks off with news around OpenAI’s recent decision to reduce the amount of information it’s sharing about how ChatGPT is trained, causing some to worry that it’s no longer as open as originally designed.
From there discussion moves to a recent story around the DEA (Drug Enforcement Administration) in America and hackers looking to leverage DEA’s internal toolset. Following that, news around hacked crypto ATMs and a new story from Securelist around a newly discovered APT group, CommonMagic.
This episode also includes a discussion with Susi O’Neil from Kaspersky’s Brand Activation Studio to talk about their upcoming audio mini-series called “Insight Story.” The series aims to help business leaders better understand digital tech such as AI, Metaverse and much more. To listen to episode one, you can tune in here.
If you liked what you heard, please consider subscribing.
· OpenAI co-founder on company’s past approach to openly sharing research: ‘We were wrong’
· Inside the DEA Tool Hackers Allegedly Used to Extort Targets
· General Bytes Bitcoin ATMs hacked using zero-day, $1.5M stolen
· Bad magic: new APT found in the area of Russo-Ukrainian conflict
Please accept our apologies for the audio in places - we've done what we can to clean it up - back to normal scheduling next week!
Welcome to the 290th episode of the Kaspersky Transatlantic Cable podcast. In this episode, we kick things off with a discussion on how ransomware gangs are taking new leaps to extort money. Spoiler alert - you aren’t going to like it one bit. From there, we jump into a discussion surrounding the booming black market in China for access to ChatGPT.
We continue the discussion looking at how a fitness app led a researcher to discover the home and walkabouts of a former top aid to Joe Biden. To close out the episode, we look at how banks’ voice as a password is not secure.
If you liked what you heard, please consider subscribing.
· Ransomware Attacks Have Entered a ‘Heinous’ New Phase
· A booming illicit market for OpenAI’s chatbot shows the huge potential, and risks, for Chinese generative AI
· AllTrails Data Exposes Precise Movements of Former Top Biden Official
· How I Broke Into a Bank Account With an AI-Generated Voice
In episode 289 of the Transatlantic Cable, the team look at four new stories to tempt your earbuds. This week kicks off with news that TikTok are implementing a 60-minute time limit for users under 18.
Following that, discussion moves to further developments around FTX, this time about their missing $9 billion. To wrap up, we discuss news around Call of Duty players taking back Black Ops III from hackers and bots and more news around the recent LastPass data breach.
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- TikTok sets 60-minute daily screen time limit for under-18s
- FTX Confirms $9 Billion in Customer Funds Vanished
- Gamers are fixing a video game ‘taken over’ by hackers
- LastPass says employee’s home computer was hacked and corporate vault taken
The latest episode of the Transatlantic Cable sees the team starting out with news around Signal and their refusal to weaken encryption for the U.K government. Following that, the team move onto discussions around Meta and National Center for Missing and Exploited Children’s (NCMEC) campaign to help people with the spread of minors' intimate images online.
To wrap up, the team discuss SnapChat A.I chat bots and LockBit’s attack against the U.K’s Royal Mail service.
If you liked what you heard, please do consider subscribing.
· Signal would 'walk' from UK if Online Safety Bill undermined encryption
· LockBit leaks 44GB of Royal Mail's data and sets fresh £33 million ransom
· Meta supports new platform preventing spread of minors' intimate images online
· Snapchat is adding OpenAI chatbot capabilities for the new My AI feature
The latest episode of the Transatlantic Cable starts off with news that GoDaddy, one of the largest web hosting services was hacked back in 2020 and the attackers were able to gain access to the back end of millions of websites, helping them to push malware and steal credentials.
Moving from there the team look at news of the recent remove of SMS 2FA (two factor authentication) from Twitter, sparking a fierce debate in the infosec world. There’s also discussion around spam bots in Instagram and the (final) death of Internet Explorer 11.
The team was also lucky enough to chat to David Emm, principle security researcher at Kaspersky about new research around kids attitudes to fraud and security online.
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- GoDaddy says a multi-year breach hijacked customer websites and accounts
- Twitter to charge users for text-message authentication
- Why Are ‘Porn Stars’ Liking Your Instagram Stories?
- RIP Internet Explorer: Microsoft Kills Off Legacy Browser
The latest episode of the Transatlantic Cable kicks off once again with a discussion around A.I – this time, looking at how it could soon be used by musicians to help them create music – but concerns grow that it could one day be used to create music (much like it can now be used to create art). From there the team discus how a pair of developers have created an A.I that generates lifelike police portraits sketches, and it’s got privacy and civil liberty experts worried.
Moving away from A.I to something more concrete, the team talk about the recent proposal from the U.K government to ban the use and sale of encrypted phones – often used by criminals to circumnavigate prying eyes.
- David Guetta says the future of music is in AI
- Developers Created AI to Generate Police Sketches
- UK Proposes Making the Sale and Possession of Encrypted Phones Illegal
- Reddit Confirms It Was Hacked—Recommends Users Set Up 2FA
Episode 285 of the Transatlantic Cable kicks off with yet more news around A.I and the ever-interesting topic of ChatGPT. However, this time, the discussion starts with regulation and the CTO of Open AI believes that it’s inevitable. Moving from that to a more quirky story, still involving A.I however: a small team have used AI to create a never-ending Seinfield episode, streaming over on Twitch – sadly at the time of writing, it appears to have been shut down, but it still raises interesting questions around content creation, human creativity and what A.I will bring (or take away) from the table.
Moving away from A.I to more cyber-security related news – the team discuss the closure of Exclu, an encrypted mobile phone company that enabled criminals to chat without fear of snooping, however the Dutch police were already inside the systems.
To wrap up, the team talk about a recent story around the FBI’s changing approach to ransomware, with the recent Hive takedown.
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· The Creator of ChatGPT Thinks AI Should Be Regulated
· Dutch Police Read Messages of Encrypted Messenger 'Exclu'
· AI has been generating an endless Seinfeld episode
· Hive takedown illustrates FBI’s evolution towards victim-recovery efforts
Episode 284 kicks off with a story that is going to surprise no one: over 50% of smart appliances are not connected to the internet, which is a surprise to only the manufacturers – it seems people aren’t really convinced by Wi-Fi enabled refrigerators or washing machines, it seems.
Moving on from that, the team discuss news that AI audio is becoming a problem, with AI company ElevenLabs saying that they’re going to start clamping down on troublesome audio recordings – but has Pandora’s box already been opened? Staying with AI, the team also look at a story breaking from China, with Baidu set to launch their own version of ChatGPT.
To wrap up, the team discuss a rather odd story involving pet fish, Pokemon, PayPal and credit cards…. We’ll leave the rest up to your imagination.
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- Appliance makers sad that 50% of customers won’t connect smart appliances
- AI Voice Firm Clamps Down After 4chan Makes Celebrity Voices for Abuse
- China's biggest search engine is to set launch a ChatGPT rival in March
Pet fish playing Nintendo Switch run up bill on owner’s credit card
Episode 283 kicks off with the recent (good news) story that ransomware gangs earnings are down by quite a bit from last year – turns out that people are starting to treat backups properly and are refusing to pay – great news for 2023! Following that, the team look at troubling news, this time from the crypto-currency world, with a story looking at the recent collapse of Genesis.
Moving from crypto to the world of fake news, a recent study has shown that the reason people share fake news is perhaps more complex than previously thought. To wrap up, the team discuss concerning news around ChatGPT and exams, with a professor running the AI through an exam for Medical Licenses and Business Degrees and it turns out it can pass them both. Should teachers and professors be worried? Time will tell it seems.
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- Cyber-crime gangs' earnings slide as victims refuse to pay
- Crypto lender Genesis files for bankruptcy
- Study reveals the key reason why fake news spreads on social media
- ChatGPT Is Passing Tests Required for Medical Licenses & Business Degrees
Episode 282 kicks off with new research from Which? Showing that ‘smart’ technology might not be as smart as we’ve been led to believe – their research shows that most devices stop receiving updates from 2 years, even thought the device has a suggested life of 10 – it seems more work needs to be done. From there the team look at two stories around A.I, the first on the media sensation, ChatGPT and how some people are looking to use it for malware creation, and the second looking at a chat A.I program that has become (and I’ll quote from the article here) “too horny”.
In the middle of all this, I sat down with Evgeny Goncharov, head of ICS CERT at Kaspersky to talk to him about upcoming ICS APT predictions for 2023.
Following that, the team discuss news that Norton LifeLocker password manager has been breached, those affected are being urged to update and change their passwords as quickly as possible.
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- ICS cyberthreats in 2023 – what to expect
- ICS cyberthreats in 2023 – what to expect Securelist report
- Smart appliances could stop working after two years, says Which?
- Armed With ChatGPT, Cybercriminals Build Malware And Plot Fake Girl Bots
- Replika Users Say the Chatbot Has Gotten Way Too Horny
- NortonLifeLock warns that hackers breached Password Manager accounts
The first episode of 2023 of the Transatlantic Cable Podcast kicks off with news around the “recent” Twitter hack – emphasis on recent as the data was actually siphoned from Twitter back in 2021, but has only recently come to light – timing is everything it seems.
From there, the team look at news that the Web3 industry lost a whopping $4 billion to crypto-fraud last year – apparently, this is good news as the previous year it was a colossal $8 billion. Staying with crypto, the next story dives into the recent news around the closure of CryptoZoo – a game created by internet star, Logan Paul. The premise of the game allowed users to ‘breed and share’ unique NFT creatures, all whilst earning cryptocurrency.
To wrap up, the last story looks at more news around crypto, this time looking at news that U.S. bank Silvergate saw $8 billion in crypto withdrawals, most near the tail end of 2022.
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- More than 200 million Twitter users’ email addresses leaked by hackers
- The Web3 industry lost billions to crypto fraud last year
- YouTube star Logan Paul apologizes for CryptoZoo project failure
- US bank Silvergate hit with $8bn in crypto withdrawals
The final episode of the year brings some pretty big stories for the Transatlantic Cable team. Kicking off this week, discussion starts with a troubling story about democracies and spyware – in particular, how others are leveraging the malicious software to try to subvert democratic countries. Moving from that, the team look at the big news of the week, with word that Twitter users have voted to remove Elon Musk as CEO of the troubled social network. However, even if he is removed as owner, he’ll still have overall sway of what goes on the network.
From there, discussion moves to security vulnerabilities in BrickLink – Lego’s official second-hand and vintage marketplace for LEGO bricks. According to Bleeping Computer, a vulnerability could have, “allowed an attacker to take over members' accounts, access and steal personally identifiable information (PII) stored on the platform, or even gain access to internal production data and compromise internal servers.” Thankfully, the flaws have since been fixed.
To wrap up, the team discuss a recent story about Epic Games – which has recently been fined $520 million (yes, half a BILLION dollars) for privacy violations, and what the FTC calls “dark patterns,” in order to “trick millions of gamers into making unintentional purchases.”
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- Spyware's threat to democracies
- Twitter users voted Elon Musk out. But CEO or not, he’ll still call the shots
- LEGO BrickLink bugs let hackers hijack accounts, breach servers
- Epic Games to pay $520 million for privacy violations, dark patterns
Episode 279 of the Transatlantic Cable kicks off with a troubling story about purported Chinese hacker group, APT41 attacking and stealing US Covid relief payments, to the cool tune of $20 million. Whilst details are thin, concerns are being raised around just how much of the nearly $800 billion was actually used by people in need.
From there the team move onto discussions around North Korea’s Lazarus group, with details around a malicious app, designed to siphon off people’s crypto-currency. After that, discussion moves to concerns that independent journalists in El Salvador are looking to sue the NSO Group for spying.
The final story looks at news around LastPass and their recent data breach.
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- Hackers linked to Chinese government stole millions in Covid benefits
- Hackers use new, fake crypto app to breach networks, steal cryptocurrency
- Pegasus spyware was used to hack reporters’ phones
- LastPass says it was breached — again
Episode 278 of the Transatlantic Cable kicks off with news that the previous Twitter hack, back in 2021 is now much larger than initially suspected. Not great news for the already troubled social media site. From there, the team discuss recent news that nightclub owners in Miami are struggling with slumping sales after the recent crypto-crash – it appears many crypto advocates moved there to spend their hard-earned coins, but are now having to tighten their belts.
Staying in the crypto-currency world, the next story looks at yet another crash with BlockFi moving into receivership. Is this the crypto bubble bursting? Time will tell, it seems.
To wrap up, a story for all the Apple fans out there, with news that Apple appears to be tracking its user’s, even if those users have asked them not to. Concerning? Possibly – especially considering that they made privacy a key focal point of their recent advertising campaigns.
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- Hackers Release Millions of Twitter IDs and User Info for Free
- Miami nightclub owners are struggling with slumping sales after losing top-spending crypto clientele
- Crypto firm BlockFi files for bankruptcy after FTX collapse
- Apple Is Tracking You Even When Its Own Privacy Settings Say It’s Not
Episode 277 of the Transatlantic Cable only really has two topics of discussion this week. The first, and probably most prominent is the sale and consequent that happened over on Twitter. Twitter threads across the globe are blanketed in a sea of #RIPTwitter and #Twitterdeath, but what is the actual real possible outcome? Following that, the team take a look at the other big story of the week, with the recent implosion of the FTX crypto-exchange – including a story (only possible in 2022, it seems) where Twitter users are being duped out of their crypto by a deepfake of Sam Bankman-Fried.
Additionally, sandwiched between the two topics of discussion is an interview with Professor Dr. Dennis-Kenji Kipker - Professor for IT Security Law at the University of Bremen, to talk about IT security predications for the coming year. To learn more about his work, head here.
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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
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
Episode 268 of the Transatlantic Cable kicks off with a rather bizzare (and that’s putting it lightly) story about a chess master tournament, cheating and beads that go where the sun don’t shine, so to speak. Let’s just say if you want to learn more, check the link below. Following that bombshell, discussion returns to familiar ground, this time talking about the Grand Theft Auto VI hack and subsequent data-breach.
After all of that, David sat down with Evgenia Ponomareva from the Kaspersky Operating System team to talk about KOS and the automotive industry – specifically how KOS can integrate into the rapidly digitizing automotive market.
To wrap up, the discussed how anti-vax groups are going underground and using carrot emojis in order to evade censorship. The final story looks at a hack of the IHG hotel chain and how the hackers ended up deploying a wiper ‘for fun.’
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- Following ‘Anal Bead Scandal,’ Chess Master Rematch Ends in Resignation
- GTA 6 source code and videos leaked after Rockstar Games hack
- Anti-vax groups use carrot emojis to hide Facebook posts
- IHG hack: 'Vindictive' couple deleted hotel chain data for fun
Episode 268 of the Transatlantic Cable kicks off with a rather bizzare (and that’s putting it lightly) story about a chess master tournament, cheating and beads that go where the sun don’t shine, so to speak. Let’s just say if you want to learn more, check the link below. Following that bombshell, discussion returns to familiar ground, this time talking about the Grand Theft Auto VI hack and subsequent data-breach.
After all of that, David sat down with Evgenia Ponomareva from the Kaspersky Operating System team to talk about KOS and the automotive industry – specifically how KOS can integrate into the rapidly digitizing automotive market.
To wrap up, the discussed how anti-vax groups are going underground and using carrot emojis in order to evade censorship. The final story looks at a hack of the IHG hotel chain and how the hackers ended up deploying a wiper ‘for fun.’
If you liked what you heard, please do consider subscribing.
- Following ‘Anal Bead Scandal,’ Chess Master Rematch Ends in Resignation
- GTA 6 source code and videos leaked after Rockstar Games hack
- Anti-vax groups use carrot emojis to hide Facebook posts
- IHG hack: 'Vindictive' couple deleted hotel chain data for fun
Episode 267 of the Transatlantic Cable kicks off with the slightly concerning news that Facebook engineers (apparently) don’t know what happens to your data inside Facebook. After that rather worrying story, the team move over to discussing an intriguing story looking at boffins from the National University of Singapore and Yonsei University, who have found a way to detect if your laptop is secretly recording you, all via electromagnetic waves.
Moving on, the team shift focus to discuss a recent spat of gym thefts in London – now, hang on, I hear you cry – what has this got to do with cybersecurity? Well, it turns out that the perpetrator is using a very unusual ‘hack’ in order to allow themselves access to victims’ bank accounts. We won’t spoil the details here, but it’s all tied to your mobile phone (hint: make sure you lock down your phone when you’re not near it).
To wrap up, the podcast closes with a story around a recent recovery of some $30M USD from the recent Axie Infinity hack. Now, whilst that’s a good thing, considering Lazarus managed to swipe nearly $600M USD, it does somewhat seem like a drop in the ocean.
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- Facebook Engineers Admit They Don’t Know What They Do With Your Data
- Boffins build microphone safety kit to detect eavesdroppers
- How is a thief taking thousands from London gym-goers?
- US Government Recovers $30M From Crypto Game Axie Infinity Hack
Episode 267 of the Transatlantic Cable kicks off with the slightly concerning news that Facebook engineers (apparently) don’t know what happens to your data inside Facebook. After that rather worrying story, the team move over to discussing an intriguing story looking at boffins from the National University of Singapore and Yonsei University, who have found a way to detect if your laptop is secretly recording you, all via electromagnetic waves.
Moving on, the team shift focus to discuss a recent spat of gym thefts in London – now, hang on, I hear you cry – what has this got to do with cybersecurity? Well, it turns out that the perpetrator is using a very unusual ‘hack’ in order to allow themselves access to victims’ bank accounts. We won’t spoil the details here, but it’s all tied to your mobile phone (hint: make sure you lock down your phone when you’re not near it).
To wrap up, the podcast closes with a story around a recent recovery of some $30M USD from the recent Axie Infinity hack. Now, whilst that’s a good thing, considering Lazarus managed to swipe nearly $600M USD, it does somewhat seem like a drop in the ocean.
If you liked what you heard, please consider subscribing.
- Facebook Engineers Admit They Don’t Know What They Do With Your Data
- Boffins build microphone safety kit to detect eavesdroppers
- How is a thief taking thousands from London gym-goers?
- US Government Recovers $30M From Crypto Game Axie Infinity Hack
Episode 266 of the Transatlantic Cable kicks off with news that TikTok has had a data-breach. However, all is not as it appears, as digging into the details it appears that the breach may not be as clear cut as it first appears. Following that, the team look at a story concerning Samsung and a confirmed data-breach – Samsung are asking affected people to secure their accounts and reset passwords.
From there, discussion moves to a story around Instagram, having just been on the receiving end of a whopping €405 million fine, due to the exposure of children’s data online.
To wrap up, the team look at a story from the Guardian looking at ‘doom scrolling’ which is defined as ‘the tendency to be glued to bad news [which] can spark a ‘vicious cycle’ that interferes with our lives.’
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- TikTok denies reports that it’s been hacked
- Samsung says a data breach revealed some customers’ names, birthdays
- Instagram fined €405m over children's data privacy
- Doomscrolling linked to poor physical and mental health, study finds
Episode 266 of the Transatlantic Cable kicks off with news that TikTok has had a data-breach. However, all is not as it appears, as digging into the details it appears that the breach may not be as clear cut as it first appears. Following that, the team look at a story concerning Samsung and a confirmed data-breach – Samsung are asking affected people to secure their accounts and reset passwords.
From there, discussion moves to a story around Instagram, having just been on the receiving end of a whopping €405 million fine, due to the exposure of children’s data online.
To wrap up, the team look at a story from the Guardian looking at ‘doom scrolling’ which is defined as ‘the tendency to be glued to bad news [which] can spark a ‘vicious cycle’ that interferes with our lives.’
If you liked what you heard, please do consider subscribing.
- TikTok denies reports that it’s been hacked
- Samsung says a data breach revealed some customers’ names, birthdays
- Instagram fined €405m over children's data privacy
- Doomscrolling linked to poor physical and mental health, study finds
Welcome to the Transatlantic Cable - a podcast that dives into hot topics in the security news and industry each week. We start off this episode with an Ex-Twitter exec blowing the whistle, alleging reckless and negligent cybersecurity policies! Moving on to Lloyd’s of London. will require its insurer groups globally to exclude catastrophic state-backed hacks from stand-alone cyber insurance policies starting next year. From Securelist we give you Ransomware updates & 1-day exploits. And for our funny story of the week Janet Jackson song from 1989 declared a cybersecurity vulnerability for crashing hard drives! We finish off with how attackers can steal your credentials and how you can prevent it.
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Welcome to the Transatlantic Cable - a podcast that dives into hot topics in the security news and industry each week. We start off this episode with Airbnb rolling out new anti-party tech to prevent unapproved gatherings. Then, we move to asset managers on alert after the recent 'WhatsApp' crackdown on banks! We also discuss the chief executive of Norway’s sovereign wealth fund, which has warned that cybersecurity has overshadowed any other concerns about the markets in recent years. Then we finish off with Daniel Kelley, who was convicted and sent to prison for his involvement in a high-profile cyberattack on TalkTalk in 2015 trying to be a Whitehat.
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Welcome to the Transatlantic Cable - a podcast that dives into hot topics in the security news and industry each week. We start off this episode with hacking Starlink! It cost a researcher only $25 worth of parts to create a tool that allows custom code to run on the satellite dishes. Then we move on to 7-Eleven Denmark, where a ransomware attack was behind the closure of 175 stores in the country on Monday!
Then, we discuss the spyware scandal spreading through Europe. Finally, we end with the potential threat in your browser and what dangers innocent-looking extensions hold for users.
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Episode 262 of the Transatlantic Cable kicks off with news that Twitter recently suffered a data breach, with an estimated 5 million users affected, the cause is being blamed on a zero-day. From there the team stay with social media as they discuss a story around Meta and their latest invention – a chatbot. There’s a slight problem in that it has become racist. Staying on the Meta train, the next story looks at a lawsuit being filed against Meta, saying they have been ‘harvesting’ data from hospital sites.
In between the stories and quizzes, the team this week were lucky enough to sit down with Sergey Petrukhin from Kaspersky to talk about KHCS – Kaspersky Hybrid Cloud Security, and why it’s great for protecting your business cloud endpoints.
Moving onto the final few stories, we stay with social media as the UK government makes a swift U-turn, creating, then quickly closing, their very first TikTok account. To wrap up, discussion turns to recent news around Tornado Cash, the controversial crypto mixer, and recent sanctions from the United States government.
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- Twitter: Someone Exploited a Zero-Day to Access User Data
- Another lawsuit claims Facebook scraping data from hospital sites
- It took just one weekend for Meta's new AI Chatbot to become racist
- UK Parliament closes TikTok account after China data warning
- US sanctions crypto mixer Tornado Cash used by North Korean hackers
After a brief hiatus, the team are back together again talking all things cyber-sec. This week’s episode kicks off with a story around the Brazilian rainforest and NFTs (yes, really). Following that, the team discuss a recent story around Seth Green and his recent hacked Bored Ape NFT – turns out it wasn’t a solitary attack and was part of a much broader attack on NFTs and crypto.
After the two NFT stories, the team dive into something more serious this week, looking at the arrest and subsequent trial of the ex-CIA hacker who famously dumped data (aka: Vault 7) onto Wiki-Leaks. Astonishingly, that story is now over 5 years old.
To wrap up, the team discuss a returning story of the bitcoin advocate who is (still) desperately trying to dig up a waste disposal site, all with the aim of recovering a hard-drive with his wallet key on. All we can say is, good luck.
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- Brazilian prosecutors probe company over Amazon forest NFT sale
- Seth Green NFT Theft Part of Multimillion-Dollar Scam Campaign
- Ex-CIA Hacker Convicted for ‘One of the Most Damaging Acts of Espionage in American History’
- Missing hard drive could fund Newport crypto hub
For the first time in what feels like a long time, the team are fully reunited to discuss this week’s topics. They kick things off with news that more and more hospitals are under attack from ransomware. From there, the team discuss a strange story about an MP in Australia who’s been handed a ‘lifetime ban’ on Facebook for letting her account get hacked.
After that, the team take a brief hiatus so that Elena Molchanova from our business development team can talk about Security Awareness training – a new offering from Kaspersky to help train staff in cybersecurity compliance.
Getting back on track, the team close out the podcast with two related stories about TikTok – the first around growing concerns in the West around the data harvesting that the app performs, and the second looks at a worrying story on how some parents are looking to leverage their children for likes and shares.
If you like what you heard, please do consider subscribing.
- Hacking of US hospitals highlights deadly risk of ransomware
- MP faces lifetime Facebook ban after hackers posted porn on page
- TikTok has been accused of ‘aggressive’ data harvesting
- TikTok moms are removing videos of their children
For a second-straight week, we have a short-handed booth for the Transatlantic Cable. With Ahmed and Dave off, Jag and I share the mic for the first time as a duo.
To kick things off, we discuss how the Lazarus group leveraged a fake job interview into a $600M hack into Axie Infinity. From there, we head into a partial code share from Vice on the Anom app. For those who may forget this was a “secure phone” system that was orchestrated by the FBI to draw in criminals doing illicit activities.
Our third story is quite the head-scratcher as a “CEO” has been arrested for selling counterfeit CISCO equipment to companies and government entities. The curious part was not just that it was fake equipment, but it was something that was sold on eBay and Amazon. We then head to India where a flood control system has been hit with ransomware. What makes this a bit worse is that the region is now under monsoon season. To close out the podcast, we head to San Francisco where Cruise has seen some issues with the autonomous cars stopping and causing traffic havoc.
If you liked what you heard, please consider subscribing and sharing with your friends. For more information on the stories we covered, see the links below:
- A Fake Job Offer Reportedly Led to Axie Infinity's $600M Hack
- This Is the Code the FBI Used to Wiretap the World
- CEO Arrested for Selling $1 Billion in Fake Cisco Hardware on Amazon, eBay
- Ransomware attack hits Goa’s flood monitoring system; demand crypto as payment
- Cruise’s Robot Car Outages Are Jamming Up San Francisco
Episode 258 of the Transatlantic Cable kicks off with discussions around the Lazarus group, more specifically the new attack being attributed to them. From there, discussion moves to talk around some crypto-exchanges sharing “geo-tracking” public information with ICE (the United States Immigrations and Customs Enforcement agency). Moving to the penultimate story, which looks at an NFT-themed restaurant which (believe it or not) has stopped accepting crypto-payments due to the market crash.
Finally, to wrap up the team discuss news coming out of China about a potential data breach which could possibly (if true) be one of the largest in the world (nearly 1 billion.)
If you liked what you heard, please consider subscribing.
Episode 257 of the Transatlantic Cable kicks off with discussions about a concerning story of hacking airplanes and cargo ships – is it possible or just FUD? From there the team discuss news about an office man in Japan (not much more is known about this mysterious gentleman) who went out for a drink after work and proceeded to lose a USB memory stick with data on over half a million city residents. Talk about a hangover.
From there, the team discuss a new age-verification method for Instagram involving selfies and concerns grow for Covid tracking apps that are pivoting away from tracking diseases to broader health related topics.
If you liked what you heard, please consider subscribing.
Hackers can bring ships and planes to a grinding halt.
Japanese man loses USB stick with entire city's personal details
Instagram: Video selfies trial to verify age of teens
How Covid Tracking Apps Are Pivoting for Commercial Profit
Episode 256 of the Transatlantic Cable kicks off with discussions around NFTs, crypto currency and Bill Gates. From there the team talk about news coming out of the United Kingdom around cookies – it seems that the U.K government is keen to make some changes to current cookie legislation, but will this be a win for businesses or consumers? Following that there’s discussion around ‘BidenCash’ – an underground site making waves by trying to give away stolen credit card information.
In addition to this, Dave recently sat down with Boris Larin, from Kaspersky’s GReAT, to talk to him about his recent work modding Metal Gear Solid 2, allowing a true 3rd person perspective camera – something that wasn’t possible in the original game.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AGGNfOq8u3o
If you liked what you heard, please consider subscribing!
- Bill Gates says crypto and NFTs are ’100% based on greater fool theory’
- Can crumbling cookies sweeten UK data-protection plans?
- New 'BidenCash' site sells your stolen credit card for just 15 cents
Episode 255 of the Transatlantic Cable kicks off with discussions around stalkerware, in particular a piece of software that’s been found leaking photos and other personal data on its website. From there, the team discuss a story around the US government tapping travel companies in order to track suspects.
As we move on, discussions get a tad more ethereal, shall we say. First up is talk around how it might be possible (in the next 10 years or so) to digitally replicate yourself online – as to why you’d want to do this is anybody’s guess. To wrap up, the team discuss a recent (potentially massive) story about a Google engineer who was recently put on paid leave from the company as he believes one of its AI programs has become sentient.
If that’s whet your appetite for more stories like this, be sure to subscribe!
Android Stalkerware ‘TheTruthSpy’ Exposing Images of Children Online
U.S. Gov Ordered Travel Companies To Spy On Russian Hacker And Report His Whereabouts
Why you may have a thinking digital twin within a decade
Google engineer put on leave after saying AI chatbot has become sentient
Let’s face it. We all love Twitter, no matter how much we get mad with the platform or its direction. Well, it seems that the future owner of the platform, Elon Musk, has his own issues.
In the opening of this week’s episode of the Kaspersky Transatlantic Cable podcast, Ahmed, Jag and I dive into Elon’s battle with Twitter over the bots, as well as his threats of walking out of the deal that he agreed upon to buy the platform.
From there, we jump over to CoinBase, where the company is using a technology for employees to evaluate other employees for their performance in everyday interactions and meetings. Yes, you read that right – what can possibly go wrong?
For the second-straight week, the Bored Ape Yacht Club is a point of discussion. Much like last week, we are chatting about a phishing scheme that saw NFTs stolen after a Discord server was compromised.
For our fourth story, we discuss an account from a reporter who saw his name used as part of a pump-and-dump crypto endeavor without his knowledge. To close things out, we look at how water companies are seeing an issue getting cyber insurance.
If you liked what you heard, please consider subscribing and sharing with your friends. For more information on the stories we covered, see the links below:
- Elon Musk threatens to walk away from Twitter deal
- Coinbase is reportedly testing out having employees rate each other in an app with a thumbs up or thumbs down after meetings and other interactions
- Bored Ape Yacht Club Discord compromised in $357,000 NFT phishing attack
- They used my identity to flog a doomed cryptocurrency – and then things got weird
- Water companies are increasingly uninsurable due to ransomware, industry execs say
To kick off the 253 edition of the Kaspersky Transatlantic Cable podcast, Ahmed, Jag and I discuss our most recent whipping-boy topic – NFTs.
In particular, we discuss how Seth Green’s new project may be in jeopardy, because he clicked on a phishing link. This in turn saw the actor lose a number of the NFTs in his digital wallet to thieves and then were resold. From there, we discuss security issues related to app-enabled automobiles. There is some debate as to whether or not these apps are even needed.
We then sit down with a member of our product team to discuss the latest in cloud security. The third story on the docket discusses the latest with hackers claiming that they have stolen a database of Verizon employee numbers.
To close out the pod, we talk about the weird new ransomware group in India that is requiring people to conduct acts of kindness or goodwill to get their data unlocked. These actions range from paying medicine to buying kids food – yeah, as you can see, kinda a weird flex.
If you liked what you heard, please consider subscribing and sharing with your friends. For more information on the stories we covered, see the links below:
- Someone Stole Seth Green's Bored Ape, Which Was Supposed To Star In His New Show
- What’s wrong with automotive mobile apps?
- Hacker Steals Database of Hundreds of Verizon Employees
- Ransomware group forces victims to 'pick any 5 poor children' and buy them KFC
Welcome to episode 251 of the Transatlantic Cable. This week, the team look at some of the more ‘interesting’ stories in the cybersecurity world.
To kick things off, Dave and Ahmed look at a, seemingly, good news story – about the closing down of the ransomware gang, Conti. However, things aren’t quite as they appear. From there they move to a story that has to be read to be believed – it involves banks, ransomware and phalluses. We will leave the link at the bottom if you want to read that one for yourselves.
From that bombshell, the team move to a more concerning story around farming equipment and hackers and how facial recognition and AI are slowly becoming more and more regulated – good news? You decide.
If you liked what you heard, please do consider subscribing.
- Conti ransomware shuts down operation, rebrands into smaller units
- National bank hit by ransomware trolls hackers with dick pics
- Global food supply chain at risk from malicious hackers
- Lawmakers Urge FTC to Investigate ID.me and its Facial Recognition Tech
- Clearview AI fined £7.5m for illegally using images of Brits scraped from online
Welcome to episode 251 of the Transatlantic Cable. This week, the team look at some of the more ‘interesting’ stories in the cybersecurity world.
To kick off this week’s episode, the team look at a recent story suggesting that San Francisco Police are looking at ways to leverage the ‘always recording’ feature of driverless cars to their advantage – including for investigation leads. From there, the team discuss a recent blog looking at modern warfare, in particular how most military devices today are connected to the internet – is that a risk?
Moving on, the trio dissect a recent story looking at how malware could be uploaded to an iPhone whilst it’s powered off – however, there’s a caveat with the story that takes a little of the sting out of it. To wrap up, they look at recent research from Kaspersky around the shape of ransomware and how it’s perceived by business executives.
If you like what you heard, please do consider subscribing.
- San Francisco Police Are Using Driverless Cars as Mobile Surveillance Cameras
- Hacked drones and busted logistics are the cyber future of warfare
- Researchers devise iPhone malware that runs even when device is turned off
- Ransomware is much more than just a buzzword
Welcome to episode 250 of the Transatlantic Cable. This week, the team look at some of the more ‘interesting’ stories in the cybersecurity world.
Kicking things off, the team take a look at a story suggesting that the NFT world is imploding, with the article saying that NFT sales have declined by a whopping 92% from the highs of last year. From there, the team look at a more concerning story around recent NFT / crypto hacks, saying that in April 2022 alone, hackers managed to siphon off $370 million from crypto exchanges and NFT platforms.
Moving away from the world of crypto, the team discuss the recent happenings in Costa Rica after a recent hack from the Conti group left much of the government disabled. The country has since declared a national emergency to try to tackle the ongoing problems with the attack.
To wrap up, they look into movies with a discussion around The Batman’s main antagonist (no spoilers!), and why he’s a more modern take on an old villain.
If you liked what you heard, please do consider subscribing!
- NFT sales ‘have declined 92% since their peak’
- Crypto Hackers Stole More Than $370 Million In April Alone
- Costa Rica declares national emergency after Conti ransomware attacks
- Terminally Online Batfans Have Fallen for Paul Dano
Welcome to episode 249 of the Transatlantic Cable. This week, the team look at some of the more ‘interesting’ stories in the cyber-security world.
To start, Dave and Jeff look at a concerning story, regarding REvil – the infamous ransomware gang that was, until recently, thought to be shut down. The story looks at signs that all might not be as it seems and there’s rumblings that the gang may be about to make a return. From there, they discuss a story around a DeFi hack and how the platform, Fei Protocol is offering a cool $10 million to return the stolen funds.
From there, things get decidedly strange – the first story, looks at stalking using Apple AirTags – something that’s becoming increasingly common. The next story takes a look at recent news that Russia and America are training dolphins for underwater missions (there’s a reference to Austin Powers here, I know it) and the final story looks at how hackers could potentially do harm through the hacking of “love” robots. Yes, really.
If you like what you heard, please do consider subscribing.
- REvil ransomware returns: New malware sample confirms gang is back
- Rari Fuze hacker offered $10M bounty by Fei Protocol to return $80M loot
- Tennessee family visiting Disney World says Apple AirTag used to track them
- Russia deploys trained dolphins at Black Sea naval base
- Could Hackers Program Sex Robots To Kill?
Welcome to episode 248 of the Transatlantic Cable. In this week’s episode Dave and Ahmed look at some of the more unique or interesting stories to come out of the tech / info-sec world.
To kick things off, they look at a breaking story about how BAYC (Bored Ape Yacht Club, to you and me) is reeling after a hack on their Instagram account led to the theft of quite a few NFTs.
From there, they look at how an actor’s guild is getting increasingly concerned about AI and deep-fakes, calling for reform. Following that, they look at a concerning story around fake reviews and how the US government is looking at legislation to try to tackle rampant fakery.
Wrapping up, they look at news from Google showing that 2021 was a ‘banner-year’ for zero-day exploits and their usage.
If you liked what you heard, please consider subscribing.
- Thief steals $1 million of Bored Ape Yacht Club NFTs with Instagram hack
- Actors launch campaign against AI 'show stealers'
- 'My negative online review was blocked'
- Google: 2021 was a Banner Year for Exploited 0-Day Bugs
Welcome to episode 247 of the Transatlantic Cable, where we talk about all the recent info-sec related news you might have missed this week.
To kick off, the team look at a story around NFTs – in recent weeks, the overall trading volume of non-fungible tokens has dropped dramatically, but that didn’t faze the owner of Jack Dorsey’s first tweet – who was asking for $48M, however initial trading suggested it would only reach $6,800 – not great. From there, Dave and Ahmed move on to a more disturbing story around a hack of the DeFi platform, Beanstalk – and how it happened is more mind-boggling than you could ever think.
Moving onwards, the team look at a recent story that suggests that North Korea is behind the hacking of a gaming platform and RaidForums, the once popular criminal forum, was shuttered in a joint effort by the FBI and Europol.
To close out the episode, they look at some hopeful news as the experts over at Kaspersky have managed to create a decryptor key for the Yanluowang ransomware.
- Man who paid $2.9m for NFT of Jack Dorsey’s first tweet set to lose almost $2.9m
- Beanstalk cryptocurrency project robbed after hacker votes to send themself $182M
- North Korean hackers target gamers in $615m crypto heist – US
- Raidforums marketplace shut down in global operation
- How to recover files encrypted by Yanlouwang
Welcome to episode 246 of the Transatlantic Cable - we start off this episode from Isle of Wight, where its Council's electric vehicle chargers were hacked to show a porn site! Then we move to Shanghai, where the latest lockdown comes with a creepy robot creature scuttling through the empty streets. Also, Bored Apes goes Hollywood with a Coinbase-produced movie trilogy.
Also, some good news for cryptocurrency fans as the UK Treasury has announced that it will regulate some cryptocurrencies as part of a wider plan to make the UK a hub for digital payment companies. Lastly, we finish the episode from the U.S. where scammers use a puppy face to steal from their victims.
- https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hampshire-61006816
- https://boingboing.net/2022/04/05/with-shanghais-latest-lockdown-comes-this-creepy-robot-creature-scuttling-through-the-empty-streets.html?
- https://www.coindesk.com/business/2022/04/11/bored-apes-go-hollywood-with-coinbase-produced-movie-trilogy/
- https://www.bbc.com/news/business-60983561
- https://www.theverge.com/2022/4/11/23019726/google-puppy-fraud-aarp-scammer-basset-hound-dog
Our streak of a two-man booth for the Kaspersky Transatlantic Cable podcast, with Ahmed and Jeff kicking things off in the cryptocurrency world.
More specific, we discuss some proposed legislation in the EU that would remove a level of anonymity for all transactions. While we have some fun with the topic, this is something that has been brewing and will be an interesting topic to follow. From there, we discuss Borat – unfortunately not the Sacha Baron Cohen flick – a new RAT making the rounds in criminal circles.
For our third stories, we put on our tinfoil hats and talk about some new patents from the US Navy that, well let’s face it, sound a lot like alien technology. To close out the podcast, we discuss the metaverse and a newish system that seems a lot like a
If you liked what you heard, please consider subscribing and sharing with your friends. For more information on the stories we covered, see the links below:
- EU draft law adds security checks to all crypto transactions
- Borat RAT: Multiple threat of ransomware, DDoS and spyware
- S. Navy Has Patents on Tech It Says Will ‘Engineer the Fabric of Reality’
- The Metaverse Has Bosses Too. Meet the ‘Managers’ of Axie Infinity
Episode 244 of the Transatlantic Cable, Dave and Ahmed look at some of the more unusual infosec stories doing the rounds. Starting out, the team look at one of the more well read stories of the week, which focuses on the arrest of the alleged mastermind of the Lapsus$ gang. Following that, Dave and Ahmed move to a story that might have Honda owners concerned, as a PoC hack shows how hackers are able to break into their cars.
The final stories focus on the NFT / metaverse world, with the first looking at a recent purchase from Snap (yes, the company that owns SnapChat) which involves augmented reality and mind-control (yes, really). The second story focuses on recent news that Yuga Labs (the company behind BAYC or the Bored Ape Yacht Club NFTs) has teased news around a new game their working on, which will, no doubt, lean heavily on NFTs and apes. Time will tell if it’s a success or not.
If you like what you heard, please do consider subscribing!
- Lapsus$: Oxford teen accused of being multi-millionaire cyber-criminal
- Honda bug lets a hacker unlock and start your car via replay attack
- Snap buys brain-computer interface startup for future AR glasses
- Bored Ape Yacht Club's New Metaverse Shows NFTs Are Evolving
Episode 243 of the Transatlantic Cable kicks off with the teams (current) favourite topic: NFTs. The first story focuses the news that WinAmp (remember them?) is auctioning off their original skin as an NFT, with the majority of the proceeds going to charity. The second story looks at Heineken’s response to the NFT craze. The final story talks about the recent news that NFTs are now trending down 80% of their current price – has the bubble burst?
Following on from that, the look at news coming out of Australia that will force ‘finfluencers’ (financial influencer) to become accredited, or risk a fine or even a jail term for offering financial advice.
To wrap up, the team look at news of a dangerous new ransomware, LokiLocker, which threatens to delete your master boot record if you don’t cough up the dough.
If you liked what you heard, please consider subscribing. PS - please accept our apologies for the poor audio quality this week!
- The original Winamp skin is selling as an NFT
- Even Heineken thinks its new metaverse 'beer' is a dumb publicity stunt
- NFT sales plummet by 80% and trigger the 'great NFT sell-off'
- Influencers in Australia risk jail for breaking finance tips rules
- This new ransomware threatens to wipe Windows PCs if its victims don't pay up
Welcome to the Transatlantic Cable - a podcast that dives into hot topics in the security news and industry each week. Episode 242 of the Transatlantic Cable starts with Conti ransomware gang’s internal chat logs, day-to-day operations leaked. Then we jump to a REvil ransomware gang update as a member was extradited to U.S. to stand trial for Kaseya attack!
And then a surprising return of Limewire! But now it's selling NFTs! And the NFT frenzy continues when a $1 million clipart rock NFT accidentally sold for less than a cent.
To finish today's episode we talk about Roblox, where apparently players are mining cryptocurrency and then automatically exchanging that for Robux, Roblox's in-game currency. And finally how cybercriminals are stealing from children on Roblox, the gaming platform worth $68 billion!
- Working for a ransomware gang is surprisingly mundane, according to these leaks.
- REvil ransomware member extradited to U.S. to stand trial for Kaseya attack.
- Limewire is back from the dead - and it's selling NFTs.
- NFT Collector Accidentally Sells $1 Million Drawing Of Rock For Less Than A Cent.
- Roblox Players Are Mining Crypto Just to Get Robux.
- How Roblox ‘Beamers’ Get Rich Stealing from Children.
Episode 241 of the Transatlantic Cable kicks off with two ransomware stories. The first looks at what happened when two ransomware gangs attacked the same victim, at the same time. The second looks at the recent news around Samsung and Nvidia, allegedly hacked by the Lapsus$ gang.
From there, the team talk about NFTs and the metaverse, with the first story sure to raise the frustrations of petrol-heads as an artist blew up a $250,000 Lamborghini to create NFTs to sell digitally – yes, we’re scratching our heads on that one as well.
The other NFT / metaverse stories look at an NFT vending machine in New York and WingStop filing a multi-class trademark to enter the metaverse and sell virtual chicken wings.
To wrap up, the team look at a story around Second-Life and plans to add tax to most in-game items.
Episode 240 of the Transatlantic Cable crash lands with 3 stories on NFTs. The first looks at a recent attack on NFT site OpenSea, which was the target of a phishing scam – the total damage is reported to be close to $2 million. The second story is around the EU and its drive to ‘de-anominize’ crypto payments. The final NFT/crypto-related story looks at how a university in South Korea is exploring how to turn faeces into cold hard crypto.
To wrap up, the closing story is around the U.S.’s drive to tackle spyware in and around its shores, with recent arrests in Mexico. If you liked what you heard, please consider subscribing!
- NFT Investors Lose $1.7M in OpenSea Phishing Attack
- EU wants to completely ban anonymous payments with crypto assets
- South Korean toilet turns excrement into power and digital currency
- The US Crackdown on Spyware Vendors Is Only Beginning
When you think you have seen it all, the Internet comes back and proves you wrong. That is also the case when it comes to this week’s episode of the Transatlantic Cable.
To start off the podcast, Ahmed, Dave and I discuss a new problem that Roblox is facing. Now, we aren’t talking bugs or trivial threats, but rather some adult conversations and content happening on the platform for kids. While the company notes that there are problems that they are going to address, it still begs to the question as to HOW and WHY this is happening. From there, we stay on the question of WHY as another platform has some seedy happenings. In this case, we discuss a sexual assault on the Metaverse.
https://youtu.be/-H_zeJ2c3Eg
From there, we revisit the topic of Apple’s Air Tags that we discussed two episodes back. It seems they are adding more safety measures in place for users to protect themselves from unauthorized tracking. Our final story of the episode looks into the hackers who are helping users who’ve forgotten their digital wallet passwords access their “missing” cryptocurrency.
If you liked what you heard, please consider subscribing and sharing with your friends. For more information on the stories we covered, see the links below:
- Roblox: The children's game with a sex problem
- Woman recalls 'gang rape' in metaverse; concerns grow over making VR platforms safe from sexual predators
- Apple moves to stop AirTag tracking misuse
- ‘Hackers helped me find my lost Bitcoin fortune’
For the 238th episode of the Transatlantic Cable, Dave, Jeff and Ahmed peruse some of the more interesting cyber-related stories of the week. They start by looking at a light-hearted story around Facebook’s metaverse, weddings and Covid.
From there, they focus on two cryptocurrency stories. The first one looks at a notorious influencer who allegedly scammed his followers out of $500,000 via a rug-pull, and now won’t return the funds. The second story is perhaps a little more light-hearted as it looks at recent research that suggests having ‘crypto’ or ‘NFT’ in your dating profile gives you the edge in the dating scene – call me sceptical on this one.
The last two stories look at North Korea. The first is an interview with an alleged hacker who says they took down North Korea’s internet (all of it); and the second, from the BBC, looks at a UN report suggesting the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) is using stolen crypto to fund their nuclear missile program.
Read all the stories below 👇
➡️ My big fat digital wedding: Couple plan India's 'first metaverse marriage'
➡️ Notorious YouTube Streamer Stole $500,000 From Fans In Crypto Scheme
➡️ Owning cryptocurrency may make you more desirable on the dating scene
➡️ One American Hacker Suddenly Took Down North Korea’s Internet
➡️ North Korea: Missile programme funded through stolen crypto
For the 237th episode of the Kaspersky Transatlantic Cable podcast, Ahmed and I ask Dave to dive back into the NFT sea for a pair of stories, both of which center around OpenSea.
The first story comes to us from Vice where Joseph Cox looks into an issue where NFTs may be running third party code without the user’s awareness – in some instances obtaining a IP address for people viewing an NFT. The second story discusses a bug in OpenSea where hackers are able to buy NFTs for previous prices and then flip them for more – all without the current owner’s knowledge.
We then shift focus to Apple to discuss the company’s new response to Air Tags being used for stalking purposes. The question is though, why wasn’t this safety guide already around?
https://youtu.be/jjt9Qx9MBPk
We then jump into the metaverse and debate whether or not this is something that the world really needs to happen. To close out the podcast, we discuss Signal’s new move to incorporate anonymous payments into their future products.
If you liked what you heard, please consider subscribing and sharing with your friends. For more information on the stories we covered, see the links below:
- This NFT on OpenSea Will Steal Your IP Address
- OpenSea Bug Opens Platform To Hack
- Apple unveils AirTag safety guide amid stalker fears
- Big Tech Needs to Stop Trying to Make Their Metaverse Happen
- How Signal is playing with fire
To kick off the latest edition of the Kaspersky Transatlantic Cable podcast, Ahmed and I ask Dave the status of his Covid-19 NFT. Unfortunately, he was too busy recovering from the actual virus to create his own NFT.
However, we stay on the topic of NFTs for a pair of articles. The first is with our friends on Twitter and how users can now have their profile picture be of an NFT that they have purchased. If that wasn’t enough, we then head to Britain where Julian Lennon is selling off some Beatles historical relics, well at least a digital version of them. While we debate the merits of the auction, we head into another story that is not really up for debate. Instead, we discuss a move from the Russian Federation to ban cryptocurrencies.
From Russia, we head back to the UK where lawmakers are taking the battle to weaken encryption to a new level. In a new campaign, those attacking encryption are using the guise of weakening encryption to protect the children. To close out the podcast, we discuss a report of rising fear within the ransomware community following the REvil arrests.
To start off this week’s episode of the Transatlantic Cable podcast, Ahmed, Dave, and I talk cryptocurrency. Unlike most of our chats on the digital currency, we focus on the criminal aspect of it.
More accurately, our conversation centers on a new report of the nearly $400 million North Korea is alleged to have stolen in the past year. We have some fun going through the report, but we also discuss its implications.
Staying in the world of cybercrime, we then discuss the further-ranging implications of an FBI honeypot operation that involved rather more “anonymous” phones than initially reported.
Our third story heads over to Eastern Europe, where Russia’s FSB has arrested members of the REvil gang after getting good intel from the FBI. This story has been a long-time coming but is also somehow surprising.
We then head to a weird story that might as well have come from The Quibbler. A lawsuit claims that Facebook, being free, is a monopoly. Of all the things to sue Facebook over! Ahmed and I have a bit of fun at David’s expense with this story. We close out the podcast with a pair of stories discussing some more bad news for the world of NFTs.
With the New Year firmly behind us, Dave, Jeff and Ahmed start to look at some of the more quirky stories of the last few days in the latest episode of the Transatlantic Cable.
To kick things off, we look at the roller-coaster that is the price of bitcoin (and to a larger extent, crypto prices in general) and wonder how much further things can slide, from there we discuss the recent news that SEGA isn’t going to pursue NFTs (for now) due to the negative feedback from gamers. Following that, we look at a story that beggar’s belief: it involves passing wind, NFTs (Non-Fungible Tokens) and thousands of dollars – no, I’m not making this up – go check it out yourself with the link below.
From there we look at a story that hackers are trying to penetrate U.S government institutions by posting USBs loaded with malware in the hopes that employees will insert them into computers to find out what’s inside.
Also on this week’s episode is an exclusive interview with Fabio Assolini and Santiago Pontiroli from Kaspersky GReAT to talk about financial predictions in 2022.
Don't forget you can follow us on Twitter @Kaspersky!
Happy New Year and welcome to the first Transatlantic Cable podcast of 2022. With Dave still out, Ahmed and I take on this episode as a two-man show.
To kick things off, we reflect on the Christmas holiday and this year’s “it” toy, the Chatter Bluetooth Telephone from Fisher-Price. This toy is pretty cool, and it lets users actually talk with it over Bluetooth. Unfortunately, the connection is not as secure as one would hope.
From there, we head to the world of mobile chat apps for a story about a malicious downloader tied to Telegram and people downloading from unofficial sources.
The third story we talk about has to do with Spiderman No Way Home — no spoilers here, just the predictable malware, this time of the crypto-mining variety.
To close out the podcast, we discuss a new vulnerability affecting some people who connect to Apple HomeKit.
This week on the Transatlantic Cable podcast, our good friend Ahmed is a bit under the weather, so we return temporarily to our original podcast line-up.
We jump right in with the story everyone’s been talking about: Log4J. We start out with an overview of what is going on there and then hop into a second story about botnets leveraging the vulnerability. After that, we discuss a case of fat fingers causing an NFT to be sold for $3,000 — sounds like no big deal, but it was valued at $300,000. Once that cheap sales went through, the item was flipped for a whole lot more money. Talk about a whoopsie.
From there, our discussion shifts to Instagram. Prior to its grilling by the US Congress, the social network announced some changes to the platform. The changes aim to improve users’ experiences and avoid some of the associated harms such as bullying, damage to self-image, and more. Dave and I debate a bit whether it’s just a PR stunt or something that will really benefit society.
Our fourth story has us diving into a lawsuit Google filed against some hackers. The problem is that it appears largely symbolic.
For our final story, we head to China, where a man stole more than $20,000 from an ex-girlfriend by unlocking her phone and bank account while she was sleeping — creepy! And to close out the podcast for the year, we offer some tips for anyone who gets new electronics over the holidays.
After a brief hiatus in old Constantinople, Ahmed and I rejoin David just in time for the 131st edition of the Transatlantic Cable podcast.
To kick things off, we dive into The Sandbox metaverse and a sale of land to be the neighbor of Snoop Dogg – yes the dogfather. Believe it or not, one of the NFTs purchased for this digital version sold for a whopping $450K – so yes, you read that right, the cost of a home in many US markets for a plot in the Snoopverse; what a time to be alive.
From there, we head into a look into Facebook’s removal of their self-imposed ban on cryptocurrency ads on their platforms. After a brief quiz break, we jump into a pair of stories that discuss disinformation and what the platforms of Facebook and Twitter are doing to battle it. Spoiler – not enough.
To close out the podcast, we head to the UK, where scammers are using the Omicron variant of Covid-19 to lure people into a phishing scheme.
Welcome to the 230th episode of the Transatlantic Cable podcast. Due to travel commitments, Ahmed and Jeff are unable to attend this week’s episode. Filling in is the ever dependable Jag.
To start, we look at an interesting story look at the Australian government’s impending policy, which will force social media companies to ‘unmask’ online trolls. From there, we look at a story around facial recognition for goats in China (yes, really.)
After that, rather unique story, David sits down with David Emm to talk about the recent Kaspersky GReAT APT review. After that, we look at two stories from the BBC, the first around a crypto currency called JRR Token (no relation to JRR Tolkien, according to the creators) and the final story around a proposed government legislation in the U.K which will ban default passwords on smart devices. Smart thinking.
Welcome to the 229th episode of the Kaspersky Transatlantic Cable podcast. Ahmed, Dave and I start by looking into the world of NFTs.
In this tale, it seems that a pirate site will allow users to download any NFT that has been bought and sold. Please tell me again, how a NFT site can be fooled by CTL-Right Click? From there, we dive into the Metaverse, where Facebook is rolling out their clone of the Oasis.
Now, while they say that the haptic gloves will help make digital handshakes and eliminate business travel, we all know what they are really about… data. For our third story, we discuss how a glitch at Tesla locked some folks out of their autos.
After the Tesla snafu, we jump to an odd story in the US. While there is a lot of weird in the US going on at any given day, this story takes a look at a woman who tried to buy a hitman to kill her ex-husband. Fortunately for him, and unfortunately for her, she used a fake site that then shared her info with the authorities. Now, for a PSA, please check out the site, it is quite comical and anyone who would think that it is legitimate, you have to wonder a bit. We close out the pod looking at a warning from the FBI on potential ransomware attacks tied to the US-Thanksgiving holiday as well as some tips to stay safe online shopping.
Episode 228 of the Transatlantic Cable take a look at some more serious stories this week, including news of REvil arrests.
To begin with, Dave, Jeff and Ahmed jump on news that Twitter “vigilantes” are trying to be good cop, by hunting down crypto-scammers in the DeFi (decentralized finance) world, but not all is as it appears. From there discussion moves onto how, briefly, a scammer was able to hit number one spot in Google for ‘OpenSea’ – which is a legitimate site for the trading of NFTs – be wary of clicking without checking as ever!
Finally, to wrap up the team look at two stories around ransomware, the first around the return of Emotet and the second looking at the recent arrest of an affiliate related to the REvil ransomware gang.
In this week’s jam-packed episode of the Transatlantic Cable podcast, Jeff, Ahmed, and I tackle some prickly topics. To begin, we look at how the FBI is making some serious noise about DarkSide, offering $10 million for the capture of gang members.
From there we have a look at Facebook shutting down its controversial facial recognition system.
After that, it’s two stories about crypto: the first a scam having to do with Squid Games cryptocurrency and the second looking at how the mayor-elect of New York, Eric Adams, has requested his first three paychecks be payable in Bitcoin.
To open episode 226, we hit the road running, discussing a $10 billion hit on social media channels, caused by Apple. In this story, we take a look at the business impact Apple’s app-tracking policy has had on major social networks including Facebook, Snapchat, and more. From there, we discuss Facebook’s change to Meta.
Our third story takes us back to school, with a trip to Harvard, where there is a bit of tomfoolery and black hat SEO going on with the university’s self-publishing system.
After that, we talk about German authorities’ exposing one of the REvil group’s major players. To close out the podcast, we have a weird story involving an Instagram hacker using hostage-style videos for scams.
Welcome back to the Community Podcasts, a mini-series on the Kaspersky Transatlantic Cable podcast. Joining me again as our co-host for this series is Anastasiya Kazakova, a Senior Public Affairs Manager who coordinates global cyber diplomacy projects at Kaspersky.
As a reminder, the Community Podcasts is a short series of podcasts featuring frank cyber diplomacy conversations with cyber-heroes who unite people despite everything – growing fragmentation, confrontation, and cyber threats – there are people who build communities and unite people to work together for the common good. Why are they doing this? And are their efforts working?
For our 4th episode, by Allison Pytlak, the Program Manager for Reaching Critical Will. Reaching Critical Will is the disarmament program of the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF), the oldest women’s peace organization in the world. Reaching Critical Will works for disarmament and arms control of many different weapon systems, the reduction of global military spending and militarism, and the investigation of gendered aspects of the impact of weapons. Allison contributes to the organization’s monitoring and analysis of disarmament processes and its research and other publications, as well as liaises with UN, government, and civil society colleagues.
Over the course of our conversation, we discuss the importance of gender in the international cybersecurity landscape, working with the UN, what the future holds for her and WILPF and more.
With Dave on vacation, our APAC head of social media joins Ahmed and me for this week’s edition of the Kaspersky Transatlantic Cable podcast. A warm welcome to Jag Sharma.
To kick off the conversation, we revisit the topic of REvil — again. This week, we look at the FBI’s infiltration of the ransomware gang and how the new approach differs from the usual. Although of course we discuss the news, we also debate the merits of the live-blogging the gang has been doing as well. From there, Jag gets his indoctrination by fire in one of Ahmed’s famous quizzes.
Moving along, we discuss the need to secure space’s infrastructure. If everyone’s heading that way anyway, best to make it safe. Our third story takes a look at the Squid Game phenomenon and the rise of Joker-infested unofficial apps on the Play Store.
The podcast closes with a story of how AI and a T-shirt led to a man getting a ticket for his automobile. No, you didn’t read that wrong – the AI really thought a woman’s T-shirt was a license plate. But hey, AI is the future, right?
If you liked what you heard, please consider subscribing and sharing with your friends. For more information on the stories we covered, see the links below:
- REvil servers shoved offline by governments – but they’ll be back, researchers say
- FBI, others crush REvil using ransomware gang’s favorite tactic against it
- Space infrastructure and cyber threats
- Squid Game app downloaded thousands of times was really Joker malware in disguise
- Driver fined after traffic camera thinks pedestrian’s shirt is a license plate
To open the 224th episode of the Kaspersky Transatlantic Cable podcast, Ahmed, Dave, and Jeff discuss the targeting of researchers by some state-backed hackers.
We first mentioned this story a few months back, but this week we’re rekindling the debate on researchers being targeted after Twitter banned some phishing accounts. From there, we head into our first quiz — spoiler alert, Dave and I fall victim to Ahmed’s trickery.
We then welcome Maria Namestnikova, head of GReAT Russia, to discuss how parents can educate their kids on using social media securely.
From there, we move on to some REvil weirdness. The gang has seen the keys for its Tor sites stolen and some signs of instability. It’s since gone offline — again!
For our third story, we stay with ransomware, for which US financial institutions report having paid about $600 million in the first six months of 2020.
Then, it’s on to another quiz. We just can’t get enough.
The next item on the docket is a teaser to a podcast coming this weekend with Allison Pytlak of the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) to discuss the need for more gender diversity in infosec. To close out our podcast, we discuss a Wales school system that is enabling facial recognition for kids buying lunch.
We kick off the Transatlantic Cable podcast this week with the recent Twitch data breach. Details are still scarce, but the topic is on the collective lips of the infosec community.
From there, Jeff, Ahmed, and Dave move on to Facebook’s decision to crack down on its marketplace sales of Amazonian rainforest plots. How that will work in practice remains to be seen. Moving on, we talk about Google’s recent decision to send out authenticator keys to more than 10,000 people it identified as hacking risks. Our final story involves the FBI, submarine plans, and cryptocurrency.
We kick off episode 222 of the Transatlantic Cable podcast with a discussion of the recent Facebook outage, including possible causes. Sticking with Facebook, we delve into the whistle-blower story and details being leaked about the social media behemoth.
From there, we move on to concerning news about a recent CoinBase hack involving some 6,000 accounts. Details are scarce, but if you use CoinBase for your crypto, it might be wise to check your account.
Following that, we look at a story about leveraging iCloud to spy on Britney Spears, and a troubling one about hackers hitting a hospital with ransomware and the death of a baby.
Welcome back to the Community Podcasts, a mini-series on the Kaspersky Transatlantic Cable podcast. As always, my co-host for this series is Anastasiya Kazakova, a Senior Public Affairs Manager who coordinates global cyber diplomacy projects at Kaspersky.
As a reminder, the Community Podcasts is a short series of podcasts featuring frank cyber diplomacy conversations with cyber-heroes who unite people despite everything – growing fragmentation, confrontation, and cyber threats – there are people who build communities and unite people to work together for the common good. Why are they doing this? And are their efforts working?
Our third episode includes a chat with Kate Stewart - co-chair of one of the working groups within of National Telecommunications and Information Administration’s cyber-security multi-stakeholder process for Software Component Transparency.
NTIA has years of experience in conducting open, multi-stakeholder processes to help make progress on issues such as finding common ground on cyber-security vulnerability disclosure, developing clear policy guidance on the secure update of IoT devices, and providing more transparency about data collected by mobile apps. But today we will focus on this multi-stakeholder process for Software Bill of Materials (SBOM) or software component transparency.
During our extended conversation, we discuss a wide array of topics from the need for collaboration between the public/private sector, what working with governments has been like, what the future holds for FIRST and incident respondent in general, how to make sure that they remain neutral in cyber ‘firefighting’, and more.
This week on podcast, Jeff, Ahmed and I start off by looking at how Facebook have apparently shelved the idea of an Instagram for children, after mounting pressure from privacy advocates.
From there we look at a bizarre story about involving a hamster and crypto-currency, quickly followed by news from China that crypto is effectively banned in the country.
Moving from there we take a look at two stories from the Washington Post, the first talking, quite concerning story about office workers being put under increased surveillance on their work laptops due to the pandemic, and the second takes a look at why the FBI held back a decryptor key to the recent REvil ransomware attacks.
Also included in this week’s episode is two interviews with GReAT, the first looking at the Story of a Modern Day Rootkit with the research team Mark Lechtik, Aseel Kayal, Paul Rascagneres, Vasily Berdnikov and the second about a possible connection between DarkHalo APT and Kazuar.
This week on the Kaspersky Transatlantic Cable podcast, Ahmed, Dave, and I kick things off with some ransomware. No, it is not another company getting hit, but rather some good news.
In this post from Graham Cluely, victims of REvil ransomware attacks may find some relief — in the form of a universal decryptor for the ransomware. Some victims can breathe a sigh of relief. From there, we jump to a tale involving unlocking AT&T cellular phones. It might seem like a weird news item, but this isn’t a story about unlocking a phone for use on any network; it’s about defrauding a company of more than $200 million.
After a brief quiz that leaves Dave and me stumped, we jump into a conversation about Amazon and the controversial AI in its delivery vehicles.
To close things out, we revisit our discussion of El Salvador’s move to roll out Bitcoin as an official currency. Sadly, a lot of our trollish predictions did come true.
To kick off the 219th edition of the Kaspersky Transatlantic Cable podcast, Ahmed, Dave and I head to Australia.
You see, the app that our friends down under have in place for their Covid Passports is able to be spoofed and the researcher who found it has been ghosted by government officials he reached out to. From there, we jump into the world of gangs and how they are using Instagram for a variety of illicit activities – spoiler many involve guns that would make a Warzone player envious.
After a brief quiz intermission, we get back to the stories and one that involves an interesting mix of crypto and a press release. In this segment, we look at how a press release noting that Walmart would accept Litecoin as a payment method. This news set the price soaring, unfortunately this surge was caused by fake news. Seems that the press release company will need to enlist Mystery Inc as to how it got onto their wires. Our fourth story heads back to Texas for the second week in a row. In this story, it seems that the Texas Right to Life website has inadvertently leaked the resumes of job applicants.
Sticking with the theme of leaking info, we jump into the world of fast food in the UK. You see, McDonald’s seems to have accidentally exposed the password to their VIP winners of the Monopoly contest. Surprisingly, no interns were hurt in their statement on what went wrong. We then close out the podcast debating the toys in Happy Meals
With David on holiday, Ahmed and I are holding down the fort for this week’s Kaspersky Transatlantic Cable podcast.
We open the show with a pair of stories about Apple. In the first, the company is holding off on the rollout of its controversial CSAM — for now. Then, we look at the aftermarket for iPhone chargers, which includes the OMG Cable, a charger with a built in hotspot that steals credentials, and Ahmed continues his habit of making me look dumb with his obscure trivia.
Getting back to our slate of stories, we discuss a new vulnerability in Confluence that further bolsters our “updates are important” stance. (Despite the patch being available, criminals are exploiting this PoC for those who have yet to update their servers.)
From there we head to the infosec drama story of the week, with the ransomware-as-a-service gang. In this story, a former member of the group has leaked the source code for Babuk Locker on a criminal forum. The note attached to the leak is one for the ages, including terminal cancer and the phrase “I will have time to live like a human.”
From there, it’s over to Latin America, where El Salvador has become the first country to embrace Bitcoin, including issuing $30 in the cryptocurrency to users who install the government-backed wallet.
To close out the podcast, we discuss NFTs and a fraudulent Banksy NFT that sold for more than $330,000. In a happy turn of events, the buyer was refunded most of the money.
If you scroll through the headlines in cybersecurity, you will often see topics that grab the readers’ attention. Correct me if I am wrong, but you’ve probably read a lot about State-sponsored APT attacks, ransomware, bug bounty programs, disclosure of 0Days, zero day usage, what color hat a hacker is. While I could go on with topics, I think that we are on the same page.
One of the things that we often don’t discuss when it comes to this topic is what is and what is NOT ethical. Subscribers to the Kaspersky Transatlantic Cable podcast may remember that this was a topic that David and I tapped into with Ivan Kwiatkowski discussed on a podcast a few weeks ago. Over the past few months, Ivan and I have been discussing this quite regularly and decided to hop into the topic in some more depth.
After crossing all the T’s and dotting the I’s with our internal stakeholders, we were able to pull together a crew to discuss and debate some of the topics that play into this space. Our guests included my usual co-host David Buxton, Aseel Kayal and Runa Sandvik – make sure to follow these folks on the Twitter.
During our near 2-hour conversation, we discuss a wide ranging of topics, including:
• Competetive collaboration between infosec vendors
• Disclosure
• Role of government and private companies for user security
• Attribution
• Does threat intelligence help adversaries?
• Governments hoarding 0days
There is much more in there and will definitely help pique the interest of anyone working within the space.
This week on the Kaspersky Transatlantic Cable podcast, Ahmed, Dave, and I start out in the Far East with a look at South Korea’s investigation of the fees Google and Apple charge vendors for in-app purchases.
The article spurs some debate; we three have pretty distinct opinions about the platform-versus-developer situation.
From there, we head to California, where a man has been arrested for hacking into iCloud accounts for profit.
Our third story takes us to the United Kingdom, where David’s people are looking to remove themselves from the GDPR. Is that a good thing?
A pair of stories with a similar theme — adult entertainment — closes out the podcast. The first story examines TikTok users battling a Texas “whistleblowing” website where people can anonymously report abortion patients and anyone who helps them. Users who object to the site have been flooding the submission system with videos, including some, ahem, questionable Shrek content. The second considers OnlyFans’ course corrections on allowable content.
This week on the Kaspersky Transatlantic Cable podcast, Ahmed, Dave, and I discuss a number of topics that really run the gamut — from spy ships to the robot apocalypse, Bitcoin, and more.
Kicking things off is a story from Tom Spring on Threatpost about how Microsoft Power App configurations have led to the leak of more than 38 million sensitive records. We also debate why private is not the default option and actually invites user error.
From there, we jump into some cell-phone-battery myth-busting. (For the record, we all get angry at one time or another.)
Then, a Russian spy ship is hovering around the transatlantic cables. Comrades, we are flattered, but you can download the podcast on your favorite platforms, no need to launch a ship — it is 2021, after all.
Following that tongue-in-cheek story, we head to the UK for a look at PayPal and its new embrace of cryptocurrencies.
To close things out, we discuss the new robots Elon Musk and Tesla are pondering.
This week on the Kaspersky Transatlantic Cable podcast, Ahmed, Dave, and I discuss John Oliver’s recent monologue on ransomware and why it’s a good PSA to share with friends and family.
We then take a look at the world of malicious social media influencers — in this case from the United Kingdom, where an investigative reporter identified an “influencer” who was selling phishing texts through his social networking accounts.
From there, we jump into the world of crypto and a hacker stealing a boat-ton of coins … and then giving most of them back. The individual says it was to help with security. We debate the level of BS in that statement.
Next, it’s back to the United Kingdom, where a commission has said people should not have to give up all of their personal data just to buy a beer at a pub. Ahmed and I had some trouble grasping that issue, so Dave filled us in on this UK peculiarity.
In our next story, T-Mobile investigates an alleged data breach affecting more than 100 million users.
Finally, we discuss a city in Louisiana that is using garbage trucks and Raspberry Pi units to help determine which areas are current dark spots for high-speed Internet connectivity.
Welcome back to the Community Podcasts, a mini-series on the Kaspersky Transatlantic Cable podcast. Joining me again as our co-host for this series is Anastasiya Kazakova, a Senior Public Affairs Manager who coordinates global cyber diplomacy projects at Kaspersky.
As a reminder, the Community Podcasts is a short series of podcasts featuring frank cyber diplomacy conversations with cyber-heroes who unite people despite everything – growing fragmentation, confrontation, and cyber threats – there are people who build communities and unite people to work together for the common good. Why are they doing this? And are their efforts working?
For our second episode, we are joined by Serge Droz, Member of the FIRST Board and a senior security engineer at Pronton Technologies. FIRST is a global Forum of Incident Response and Security Teams, the premier organization and recognized global leader in incident response.
During our extended conversation, we discuss a wide array of topics from the need for collaboration between the public/private sector, what working with governments has been like, what the future holds for FIRST and incident respondent in general, how to make sure that they remain neutral in cyber ‘firefighting’, and more.
This week on the Kaspersky Transatlantic Cable podcast, Ahmed, Dave, and I confirm once more how bad I am at trivia and then also cover a handful of some serious security related stuff.
To kick off the podcast, we discuss Apple’s new photo scanning practice meant to battle child pornography with AI. We stay in the realm of photography to look at Instagram shutting down a like farm.
For our third story, we discuss the dark market for COVID-19 vaccination cards. We have some strong feelings on the topic, so this story gets a bit heated.
Moving along, our fourth story takes a dive into the criminal world for some good ol’ crook-on-crook crime. In this story, a shortchanged affiliate of the Conti ransomware-for-hire syndicate retaliates by leaking the group’s playbook. We then take a break to offer a teaser to the second episode of our Community Conversations podcasts with Serge Droz of FIRST. The full episode will run over the weekend. We close out the podcast throwing some mud at the Internet of Things.
In this week’s episode of the Transatlantic Cable podcast Jeff, Ahmed, and I look at some of the more interesting stories to come out of the cybersecurity space this week.
We start on a sombre note, with a story of a woman who found a video of herself on Pornhub. After getting the content taken down, she began working with a team to create an app that uses AI to help women find content that includes their faces. Following that, we discuss some recent news about Instagram, which is defaulting all teen accounts to private, and an upcoming Android update that privacy advocates should appreciate.
From there, we have two additional stories: the first about an Instagram influencer convicted of money laundering and BEC (business e-mail compromise) scams, and finally, what an art teacher did with a dead cat (yes, really).
On this week’s edition of the Kaspersky Transatlantic Cable podcast, Ahmed, Dave, and I discuss a variety of topics. We kick off the program with a story from the EU and a new look at making Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies more trackable.
The proposed changes in the EU could take up to two years to enact, and we have a lot of questions.
From there, we jump to a story about a ransomware hit on ransomware group Babuk. After that, it’s Dave’s interview about the dangers of image-based sexual abuse and how we can stop it.
Then, it’s off to a round of our recurring quiz, where I continue to suck. Then, following a break for our second interview —a look at a new children’s book featuring Midori Kuma — it’s the latest in REvil-v-Kaseya saga. In this latest wrinkle, Kaseya obtained a universal decryptor.
Finally, it’s back to the UK, where a leak of gun forum users has gun owners on edge, and a brief discussion of Amazon shutting down NSO activity on its servers.
Earlier in the week, we teased a miniseries called the Community Podcasts, which you’ll find right alongside the Transatlantic Cable podcast. I will remain your faithful host, and Anastasiya Kazakova of our Government Affairs office will join me.
This series of podcasts features frank conversations with cyberheroes who unite people despite everything — growing fragmentation, confrontation, and ever-changing cyberthreats — people are still building communities and uniting folks to work together for the common good. Why are they doing that? And is it working?
For our first episode, we focus on the Geneva Dialogue, launched in 2018 by the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA) in cooperation with the Geneva Internet Platform (GIP), the UN Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR), ETH Zurich, and the University of Lausanne. The flourishing initiative is uniting even more stakeholders across the globe; however, its initial goals seemed much broader than today’s, and the list of organizers has changed.
Today’s guests:
• Jonas Grätz, political affairs officer for cyberdiplomacy at the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, International Security Division;
• Vladimir Radunovic, director of cybersecurity and e-diplomacy programs at DiploFoundation.
With Ahmed on vacation, the Kaspersky Transatlantic Cable podcast returns this week to its original lineup.
Dave and I kick off this week’s episode with a look at the latest from REvil and its victims. (Spoiler alert: Despite the quiet, things are not great.) From there, we head to Southeast Asia, where LuminousMoth has been targeting government organizations. Instead of giving you our hot takes and thoughts on the APT action, we discuss the research and actor with senior Kaspersky security researcher Mark Lechtik.
Following that, we discuss Amazon’s potential Alexa tracking device for kids.
That calls for a change of topic, to a sneak peek of our new miniseries, Community Conversations. We will be interviewing members of organizations in the infosec community that are collaborating across borders to make a positive impact in the space. We will launch the series over the coming weekend.
Following the preview, we discuss Twitter’s curious account verification practices: specifically, the case of a verified cat. Next, facial recognition in retail stores may be more prevalent than you think.
To close out the episode, Dave and I discuss the pros and cons of buying a Cold War bunker — just ~$700K.
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.
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.
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.
If you liked what you heard, please consider subscribing and sharing with your friends.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
It’s here — episode 200 of the Kaspersky Transatlantic Cable has landed! This week, Dave and Jeff chat about a new ransomware taskforce whose purpose is to stem the surge of ransomware attacks. From there, they look at issues surrounding Google’s ad network and scams — and why Google just can’t seem to get control over them. Following that, they briefly touch on doxing and how everybody can protect themselves from attack.
To wrap up, it’s a uniquely Canadian story: Beavers managed to chew through fiber optic cables for a small village in Western Canada.
Dave and I start episode 199 of the Kaspersky Transatlantic Cable podcast with some good news in the infosec space: a researcher and his friend hunting bugs to help a family member pay for surgery. It’s not often we get a chance to talk about positive news, so this one is a bit of a breath of fresh air.
From there, we head back to the world of law enforcement and surveillance. In this story, a Florida law enforcement team was caught flying a surveillance drone over a protest/press conference reacting to a police shooting.
Our third story is about the latest from the REvil ransomware gang and its attempted extortion of Apple. Staying on the topic of ransomware, we talk about how that malicious action affected the world in 2020, and a new report from Kaspersky.
Closing out the podcast, we take a look at the news that an enterprise-level password manager has asked users to reset all passwords.
For this week’s episode of the Kaspersky Transatlantic Cable podcast, Dave and Jeff snagged some time with Adam Dodge, CEO of EndTab, and Vladislav Tushkanov, a privacy expert here at Kaspersky, to talk about doxing. During our wide-ranging discussion, we talked about issues around doxing and why it’s a growing problem.
This week, Jeff and I chat with Ivan Kwiatkowski from Kaspersky’s GReAT to talk about the recent controversy surrounding Google’s decision to “burn” a zero-day exploit in use by US spies. We also talk briefly about another zero-day discovery: Kaspersky found it, and it requires IT teams’ immediate attention.
Moving on, we discuss data breaches in Facebook, LinkedIn, and Clubhouse that could affect users’ privacy for years to come. From there we turn our attention to a story looking at the “average” UK hacker and how one person wanted to take out 70% of the Internet by destroying three Amazon server centers.
If all that floats your boat, be sure to subscribe. For more information on the stories we covered, see the links below:
With Easter holidays in the UK, we gave David the day off for recording the 196th episode of the Kaspersky Transatlantic Cable podcast. Instead, I am joined by two of my colleages from our Global Research and Analyst Team (GReAT).
Last week, Dmitry Bestuzhev and Fabio Assolini hosted a webinar on the threat landscape in the financial sector. During our conversation, we touch on the state of financial threats, how Covid impacted the online threats and more.
For the 195th edition of the Kaspersky Transatlantic Cable podcast, Dave and I focus on crime. Now this ranges from everything from dumb criminals to statistics and ransomware.
The first story we look at travels from Italy to the Dominican Republic and back again. In this case we have a mafia member who was on the run from Italian law enforcement and living in the Caribbean. The problem was that this fugitive had a love for cooking. So much so that he broadcast his cooking on YouTube. The problem for him was that despite hiding his face, he left his tattoos exposed. I guess they were memorable as it led to his arrest and extradition.
From there, we look at a recent report from Canalys that outlines the sheer volume of leaked and stolen data that is circulating across the web due to data breaches. The third story is ransomware turned extortion after a criminal gang finds a slew of pornography on an IT worker’s computer. To close things out, we discuss the latest school to fall victim to ransomware.
We are slowly chipping away towards the second century mark for the Kaspersky Transatlantic Cable podcast. During our conversation, Dave and I go everywhere from the courtroom to the streets to the home.
To kick off the 194th edition, we move to the intersect of military and automotive. In this story from Joseph Cox, we look at a contractor looking to sell the location data of billions of cars to the US military. This one has a lot of question marks and what ifs when it comes to what could go wrong. From there, we head to the courtroom where Zoom calls are making compelling theater for the world of reddit. The question here though is what really should we be watching.
For our third story, we head to an emerging story of people renting out unused bandwidth for profit to anyone in the world. Is this a VPN? Is it a DDoS for hire? They say it will NOT be used for illicit activities, but I for one am not convinced. We close out the podcast by looking at the case of a hacked NHS employee account that turned into a PS5 scam.
We kick off the 193rd edition of the Kaspersky Transatlantic Cable podcast with a bit of a PSA from Facebook. The social giant is rolling out tools to help people get the Covid-19 vaccine.
While Dave and I have some misgivings about the “public” service here from Facebook, we both agree that you should get a vaccine. From there, we sit down and talk with Vladimir Kuskov, Head of Advanced Threat Research and Software Classification at Kaspersky, on what the latest is with the Microsoft Exchange zero days and their exploitation. We then head to the world of deepfakes for a pair of stories. The first takes a look at some machine vs. machine battle. A new software is able to identify whether a video is a deepfake or real McCoy based upon reflections in the eyes. The second story of the deepfakes takes a look at woman in Pennsylvania who created pictures and videos of rivals to her daughter on the cheerleading team.
We then cross the pond to discuss a hoovering campaign by the Home Office. Sure it was an “experiment,” but is it really? To close out the show, we look at Nvidia’s battle against cryptomining.
In episode 193 of the Transatlantic Cable, Dave and Jeff look at news around a new ransomware attack that hit a bank in the US, which also included a doxing angle few expected.
From there they look at a story over on Threatpost about Google’s decision to begin the process of removing third-party tracking cookies from its browser. However, the technology they’re looking to replace it with, FLoC (Federated Learning of Cohorts) is not without its critics.
From there, there’s discussion on DeepFakes and the business opportunities they may hold, along with the concerns that people still have with them. To wrap up, They briefly touch on a breaking news story around the European Banking Authority being hit by a Microsoft Exchange attack.
Welcome to the 191st iteration of the Kaspersky Transatlantic Cable Podcast. On this week’s episode, Dave and I discuss fines, privacy, doxing and more.
To kick things off, we look at a pair of stories that discuss fines levied on social networking sites. The first pertains to TikTok and minors, while the second one discusses Illinois ruling against Facebook in a class action suit. From there, we stay on the social media train and discuss a recent move from Twitter to flag false information pertaining to Covid-19 vaccines.
From there, we hop into an interview that David did with our HR team about the future of work, state of HR and more. We close out the podcast talking about a doxing that comes for users of Gab from a hacktivist group.
For the 190th episode of the Kaspersky Transatlantic Cable Podcast, Dave and I focus on two main topics: Facebook vs. Australia (and EU) & Clubhouse.
We kick things off in the spot the cool kids are raving about on the Internets: Clubhouse. The invite-only, audio-focused iOS App has taken Silicone Valley and the social network conversation by storm, not for all the right reasons though. In these two stories, we look at a developer who created an android app to use Clubhouse and also a short-lived site that scraped content of the site and published it for anyone to see. So needless to say, privacy is a wee bit of a concern. From there, we jump into a recent announcement from Nvidia looking to alter some graphic cards to dissuade cyrpto-mining.
To close out the podcast, we take a look at the current showdown between Australia and Facebook. We discuss the current situation, the history as well as how this could impact other countries or Unions (See, Europe). I also give my take which is not overly a popular one, but maybe some of you agree with it.
In episode 189 of the Kaspersky Transatlantic Cable, Jeff and myself talk a look at some stories you might have missed this week. We start by taking a look at a recent story from Threatpost, which looks at recent research that health apps are vulnerable to different forms of attack. From there, we take a dive into a story looking at iMessage, drug-deals and the police – hint: the story doesn’t end well for the bad-guys.
We then move onto a concerning story around a former employee of a firm, who’s accused of lacing the company network with ransomware after being let go. Talk about holding a grudge.
We end on a fun note with the recent “I’m not a cat” zoom call blunder. Remember, on the internet nobody knows you’re a cat.
We’ve got a jumbo version of the Kaspersky Transatlantic Cable Podcast for you all this week – complete with the usual array of stories, but also an interview to help shed some light on some recent financial news.
To kick off Episode 188, we dive into the world of cryptocurrency. First, we look to the purchase of $1.5B in Bitcoin by Tesla and then hop over into the surge of Dogecoin as of late. Since both of these tie nicely with the recent hullabaloo with RobinHood and WallStreetBets (WSB), Dave sat down with Alexey Pupyshev, Waves Technologies evangelist, co-founder of Neutrino protocol and Gravity protocol to discuss crypto and what was really happening the last couple of weeks.
From there, we head to the state of Florida where a water treatment system was accessed not once, but TWICE, by an unidentified hacker who altered the water composition. Our fourth story of the day takes a look at the group behind Ziggy ransomware shutting up shop and posting the decryption keys online. To close things out, we take a look at a really weird story from the BBC on a photographer’s pictures of cows that were deemed too racy for Facebook ads.
In a special episode of the Kaspersky Transatlantic Cable podcast, Jeff and I were lucky enough to chat with Tara Seals and Lindsey O’Donnel from Threatpost. During the podcast, we talk about the recent Capitol Hill attacks and what they mean for digital privacy, data security and even free speech.
Whilst talking about that, we also move onto other topics of discussion including looking at recent discussion around the balkanization (or splintering) of the internet into smaller, less open versions of the internet, or even cutting whole countries off from the World Wide Web.
To open up the 186th edition of the Kaspersky Transatlantic Cable Podcast, Dave and I return to one of our favorite punching bags – Facebook. Unlike many of our talks that center around privacy, data sharing or things like that, we dive into ads a bit.
How does this fit the podcast? Well let’s just say that it includes an article penned by someone who worked on the new Borat movie and ads about guns, tactical gear and what “Trump followers” see. From there, we stay in the bubble of influence and discuss the still-missing laptop that was stolen during the Capitol insurrection from Nancy Pelosi’s office. This tale is one that is turning stranger and stranger as the days go on.
Following that story, we stay in the world of law & order to give virtual high-fives and claps for the joint law enforcement effort that took down the Emotet network. To close things out, we head back to the realm of Facebook to discuss a new study that takes a look at the emotional and mental stresses that the social network has on teenagers.
For the 185th edition of the Kaspersky Transatlantic Cable Podcast, Jeff and I sat down with our good friend, Marco Preuss from the Kaspersky Global Research and Analysis Team (GReAT) to talk about the work he’s done looking at second hand devices and the data that was found on them.
The research is the culmination of weeks’ worth of trawling through these devices (hard-drives, mobile phones, laptops, etc.) in order to see what was left on them after they were sold. During the podcast, Marco talks about how much data is actually left on the devices – ranging from innocent documents right through to nude photos and other explicit or illegal information. The worrying thing is that many people believe they’ve deleted the data, but in actual fact it remains on the devices after deletion. Marco, Dave and Jeff also discuss what people can do to safely and securely wipe the data off their devices if they intend to sell them on.
For the 184th edition of the Kaspersky Transatlantic Cable Podcast, Jeff and I sat down with Claire Hatcher - head of business development for Kaspersky Fraud Prevention.
During the call, we discuss the wide-ranging issues surrounding fraud and how it affects its victims – something that’s often forgotten about as it’s sometimes portrayed as a “victimless crime.” We also chat about how people can best defend against fraud and scams, especially email and phone scams, and also briefly look at an upcoming webinar that Claire is hosting.
For the 183rd edition of the Kaspersky Transatlantic Cable Podcast, Jeff and I look at some of the big news stories doing the rounds in the cyber-security field.
This week, we dive back into the recent Capitol hill attacks with a news story suggesting that the house speaker, Nancy Pelosi’s, had one of her laptops stolen. The story goes on to suggest that it’s possible the thief was planning to sell it to Russia, but details are thing on the ground. Following that, we look at how the controversial app, Parler could soon see a return to Apple’s App store after Tim Cook recently said it could return, as long as it committed to better moderating the content published on the social network.
Moving away from the recent Capitol Hill attacks, we look at how fraudsters are still using verified Twitter accounts to scam people out of bitcoin, with recent estimates showing that over half a million has been stolen so far.
Finally, to wrap up we look at a Windows 10 flaw as well as a recent study showing how macaques (yes, monkeys) have learned to steal items of high-value as people are more likely to offer food in order to get their items back. Madness.
For the 182nd edition of the Kaspersky Transatlantic Cable Podcast, Dave and I tackle the biggest story of 2021 so far – the cyber ramifications of the insurrection at the US Capitol along with Twitter bans and more.
We kick the podcast by looking into an op-ed on ZDNet about the cybersecurity fallout of last week’s storming of the Capitol. Now, while I am pretty sure that everyone has seen it, but if you are living under a rock, please check out more here. Now what is not covered in the main news is the cyber impact of things. The rioters had physical access to, and even stole a few, computers during the occupation. Now while the article goes into some deep conspiracy levels, there are some things that really need to be considered. Following that, we talk about Parler, from it’s ban to takedown. Somewhere during that timeline, hackers have downloaded all of the public data from the platform – even things believed to be deleted. This will be an interesting story to keep an eye on as well as the doxing that is sure to come. We stay on this topic and look at Twitter’s ban of many accounts including the President of the USA as well as 70K Qanon members. This not only looks at the why, but also as to what the future may hold for privacy and censorship of the web. To close things out, we look at Angela Merkel’s take on the banning of Donald Trump and what it means.
Welcome to the first episode of the the Kaspersky Transatlantic Cable Podcast (number 181 overall) of 2021. Unfortunately Covid is still here, but so are we (take that how you will).
To kick things off, we pour one out for Adobe Flash. The much maligned program has been put out to pasture by Adobe – please hold your joy as we take a moment of silence . From there, we dive into the music world with a case of corporate espionage. In this case, Dave and I who is to blame MORE in this hacking and theft story involving Ticketmaster and an unnamed competitor. Now, we don’t do victim shaming here, but also point out some bad security operations.
Our third story heads back to another weird intersection – this time crime and IoT. In this tale, “hackers,” more likely script kiddies, are reusing leaked credentials to hack into IoT doorbells in their swatting efforts. To close things out, we stay in the IoT realm and look at an advisory from the NCSC on how to clean your devices before selling them on a secondary market or what you should do if you buy one used.
With Covid continuing to halt holidays, events and even work-place parties, trying to get everybody together is proving tough. To that end, Dave and Jeff sat down with Alexander Ilin, senior internal communications manager here at Kaspersky to ask him about his time managing internal events. From tools and apps needed, right through to what to do to keep your guests entertained – if you’re looking to host a family Christmas party or even a last minute business party, be sure to tune in.
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For this episode of the Transatlantic Cable Podcast, Dave and I welcome back both Maria Namestnikova and Marco Pruess from the company’s Global Research and Analysis Team.
During this 30+ minute conversation, we discuss how the fallout from Covid-19 will impact the world in 2021. Now we are not just talking hopping in planes again, but what is at stakes for the research leading up to that day. Also, we examine the concept of global citizens and transparent travellers.
In a very special episode of the Kaspersky Transatlantic Cable, Dave and Jeff sat down with Hamda Al Qubaisi, Formula 4 race-driver. Hamda, originally from Abu Dhabi, talks with the Kaspersky team about her passion for driving and racing, travelling and what are some of her proudest achievements.
Hamda also speaks about equality on the racetrack and why she thinks there’s a lack of women race-drivers on the tracks today.
In this very special episode of the Kaspersky Transatlantic Cable, Dave and Jeff leave the world of cyber-security to talk to GT-driver and Kaspersky ambassador, Antonio Fuoco. Antonio started racing from a young age and is currently working in the simulator team.
In this episode, Dave and Jeff spoke to him about his passion for racing, gaming as well as how he handles himself on and off the track.
In a very special episode of the Kaspersky Transatlantic Cable, Dave and Jeff put down their usual cyber-security hats and replace them with racing hats as they chat with Giuliano Alesi. Giuliano, son of Jean Alesi, has a real passion for racing, with some of his earliest memories being of racing around tracks. However, despite his love for racing Giuliano also has another love: music.
During the 30 minutes, Dave and Jeff talk to Giuliano about these loves, plus what he hopes the future holds for him and racing.
There is no question that the Netflix show, The Queen’s Gambit has taken the world by storm. In a year when the world is upside down and everything is crazy with Covid-19, it is kind of fitting that a show based upon a cerebral game garnering all the attention.
At Kaspersky, we have a long history with chess and are the official cybersecurity partner of the FIDE World Chess Championship series. My wife had watched the show and a member of our PR team pitched me the idea of watching the show as part of a podcast. While I was skeptical of the fit for the weekly chats that Dave and I have, my friend Oksana noted that she had some angles that my amateur chess mind did not have in mind.
You see, my dear Russian friend had a good opportunity that, was in fact, too good to pass up. Instead of our usual format for the Transatlantic Cable Podcast, Dave and I welcomed on Costin Raiu – who you may know from his research work at Kaspersky – a noted chess lover and Dinara Saduakassova an International Master and Womens Grandmaster, 4-times World Chess Champion and Asian Women Champion.
During our 30+ minute chat, we discuss everything from Beth Harmon to international chess tournaments, getting kids involved with the games, stopping cheating and how computers have impacted the game.
In an odd turn of events, the 174th iteration of the Kaspersky Transatlantic Cable Podcast takes Dave and I back to slew of topics that were hot in 2018 – ransomware, Bitcoin prices and more.
To start things off, we hop into a story about the skyrocketing price of Bitcoin. Dave and I share some of our theories on the rise - We are NOT financial analysts so do not use our talk as investing advice. From there, we move into some new patents filed by Microsoft that may leave you scratching your head, especially if you use Teams.
Our third story takes a bit of a sad turn as Facebook’s crackdown on “political” ads seems to have negatively impacted small business owners, AKA the groups that Facebook has claimed that they want to be helping the most in this pandemic. From there, we jump to the 2020 version of snow days for school students. Instead of snow, ransomware is the culprit for kids in the Baltimore school system – the 25th largest system in the USA. To close out the podcast, we look at the twisting tale of Phantom Secure that is just a TV movie waiting to happen – thank you for writing this Joseph Cox.
In episode 173 of the Kaspersky podcast, Dave and Jeff look into several interesting stories, including a follow up on a previous week's story. Included this week:
Capcom's recent ransomware attack goes from bad to worse after full release schedule is leaked by attackers,
"Smart" doorbells are a privacy and security nightmare, according to a new study by consumer group Which?
Spotify hit with huge data-stuffing attack, with the use of over 300,000 accounts
Minecraft and PUBG dangers - parents and gamers be on the lookout!
Unfortunately we cannot take a hiatus from Covid-19 for the 172nd edition of the Kaspersky Transatlantic Cable Podcast. We kick off this episode looking at how Microsoft has fingered two nation states targeting Covid researchers for some cyber espionage.
Now, while it is unfortunate to see this, I would be lying if I said that it was in the bit surprising to me. Maybe I am cynical, or maybe it is just that deeds of crooks never seem to be opportunistic of high-stakes situations.
After the talk on the Covid-attacks, we jump over to another hot topic – ransomware. In this instance, we look at Capcom who has been hit with an attack that has seen PII like passport info, signatures and more siphoned off by criminals. The third story of the pod looks at how Amazon is going after influencers for hawking bootleg goods.
We end on a happier note with a look at how companies are helping other companies plan virtual holiday parties to keep their staff engaged.
To open up the 171st episode of the Kaspersky Transatlantic Cable Podcast we dive into the world of the Silk Road.
No, Dave and I aren’t talking drugs, weapons or murder for hire, but rather Bitcoins. You see, the US government recently seized roughly $1 Billion in the currency that appears to be tied to the now-defunct ecosystem. From there, we dive into the aftermath of the 2020 US elections.
Now, we don’t discuss who won or who lost, but rather the insecurities in a site built to challenge some of the results by the GOP and the Trump team. From there, we head to Asia where there is a an apparent ransomware infection for Compal, the second-largest laptop manufacturer in the world.
We close out the podcast looking at a sad romantic story. In this tale from the UK, we are exposed to a widow who is one of many who fall into the world of fraud and cat-fishing. Unfortunately for the woman who is the focus of the story, not only did she lose a boat-ton of money, but she also helped launder money.
We kick off the 170th edition of the Kaspersky Transatlantic Cable Podcast by looking at the so-called end of the Maze ransomware gang.
The cybercriminal enterprise recently issued a broken-English press release on their website announcing that they were exiting the game. While it would be easy to believe them at their word, they are criminals after all; and Dave and I are not buying it. From there, we jump over to Japan where the country’s nuclear agency warns of a cyber attack. While there are not many details at this time in Western or Eastern publications, this is one to keep an eye on.
We then jump into the world of Covid-19 for a pair of stories. The first discusses a change in AI that may help detect those infected with Covid via their cough. For the second tale, we head to the UK and the increase in cyberattacks that can be tied to Covid-19. We then head over to a story about update snafus for Wordpress that blog operators should be on the lookout for. To close out the podcast, we discuss the upcoming AMA with Kaspersky’s Global Research and Analysis team on November 12.
Today will be a special edition of the Kaspersky Transatlantic Cable Podcast as Dave and I put down our news hats for once and chat with an executive within the Kaspersky ranks.
Our featured guest is none other than Alex Moiseev, the Chief Business Officer for Kaspersky. During our thirty-some-odd minute chat, we discuss a wide variety of topics.
These range from the company’s recent innovation report to Alex’ passion to startups and innovation to his love of motorsport and how racing has helped his career and much more.
https://youtu.be/zIEF1pxxPDg
Perhaps the juiciest bit from the interview is our discussion on the future of the cybersecurity industry, Eugene Kaspersky and his definition of AI and why this buzzword cannot die.
The latest episode of the Kaspersky podcast looks into recent news that Donald Trump’s website was briefly hacked to promote a crypto-currency scam – whilst it was a single page which was hacked, it comes at a critical time in the U.S election.
From there, Dave and Jeff look a story about a psychotherapy clinic that was hacked with patients now finding their details on the dark-web and are also being contacted by an elusive individual called ‘The Ransom Guy.’ Anybody affected is being urged to contact the police.
To wrap up, they look at a case of ‘fake news’ in the retail sector, when somebody decided to create (a now deleted) UK Woolworths account. Anybody familiar with the retail chain will know that the beloved stores went under in 2008 – but it seemed that did not stop somebody from creating the account, with the story even reaching the press. Turns out, it was all a hoax.
Who would have thought that we would start an episode of this podcast talking about Robin Hood? Well, you don’t have to go far as that is EXACTLY where we kick off this episode of the Transatlantic Cable Podcast.
Our first story of the week takes a look at some “Robin Hood” types who steal from corporations via ransomware and then donate a small fraction of the money stolen to non-profit organizations. Sorry, but I am not going to crown these guys heroes just yet. From there, we head to the air where British Airways was hit with a record-setting GDPR fine.
From the air, we crash into the seas to take a look at the ransomware attack that hit Carnival Cruise Lines and some of its subsidiaries. To close out the podcast, we look at the measures that Sony is taking to help police their online gaming.
We kick off this week’s edition of the Transatlantic Cable Podcast, Dave and I kick things off looking at an active scam going off in the UK.
As if 2020 was not bad enough, now people need to be on the lookout for scams that are targeting them with travel and refunds that are more prevalent with everyone at home due to Covid – and the impact on people’s wallets is continuing to get bigger. From there, we jump across the Atlantic to Springfield, Massachusetts. Unfortunately, they saw their school system hit with ransomware. Only ones who were happy in this story were the kids with an impromptu snow day.
We stay in the US for our third story. This one takes a look at Google’s cooperation with law enforcement where they share search data related to crimes or events. This one seems to be in the current legal grey area that will probably be in some future legal proceedings. To close things out, we take a look at some leaked source code from Microsoft.
In the 165th episode of the Kaspersky Transatlantic Cable podcast, Dave and Jeff take a look at the Security Analyst Summit (SAS2020) and the upcoming research, including news about a UEFI malware strain.
From there, they also look into news about a New Jersey hospital that was hit by ransomware, but took it upon themselves to reach out to the attackers to pay them off.
To wrap up, Dave and Jeff also take a look at a recent, concerning, vulnerability in the Grindr dating app as well as a snafu involving the U.K PHE (Public Health England) and an out-of-date excel spreadsheet file format.
Tune in!
For the 164th episode of the Transatlantic Cable Podcast, Jeff and I look at a growing concern in the states: the U.S general election.
The story, from the BBC talks about what big-tech companies are doing to try to avoid a confrontation between the two sides in the upcoming election. There’s a real worry from the big tech companies that fake-news along with a growing divide amongst voters could cause real-world issues.
From there, Jeff and I take a look at yet another ransomware attack on a hospital chain in America, this time affecting 400 hospitals – many of the staff have had to use pen and paper as all hospital records are stored online. We then jump to a chat with Denis Legezo from the Kaspersky GReAT team about some upcoming SAS Online research.
To wrap up, we look at a story about Google, GDPR data privacy and children. If you liked what you heard, consider subscribing!
For the 163rd episode of the Transatlantic Cable Podcast, Dave and I kick things off with one of our favourite topics – Facebook.
In this tale the Silicon Valley titan is locked in a battle with Ireland’s Data Protection Commission. This battle has the location and sharing of European data with US servers. There is also a threat from Facebook to pull out of the region entirely. Let’s hope that we have enough popcorn to watch this one play out.
From there, we hop into a sad story out of Germany. Over the past week, a story has come out that a patient died after having to be redirected due to the first hospital being hit with ransomware. From there, we take a few minutes to review the new documentary The Social Dilemma. If you haven’t heard about it, the film takes a look at the negative aspects tied to social networks. Please note, if you don’t want spoilers, please fast forward at this point in the podcast. To close out the show, we look at the millions of people who are still getting DVDs via mail from Netflix.
For the 162nd edition of the Transatlantic Cable Podcast, Dave and I take a break from the mic to welcome in a special feature from our friends over at Tomorrow Unlocked. This episode takes a look at the digitization of schooling for parents and educators during the COVID-19 global pandemic. A full summary of the episode can be seen below:
Digitization is transforming all facets of society, not just work environments. The pandemic is driving this digitization at an astonishing speed, showing that there is still a lot more to be done: The field of education is mainly reactive, as new disruptive technologies develop in other industries and are then applied and accommodated into existing educational cultures and systems. The latest big disruption in the education sector was due to the Corona crisis. Millions of students had to learn from home from one day to another and schools had to react quickly. To understand more about the current situation, and how education has to change in the future we invited Filip Dochy, an expert on education at the KU Leuven, and two parents Daniela Alvarez De Lugo and Riccardo de Rinalidini to talk with our host David Jacoby about the future of education.
Episode 161 of the Kaspersky podcast kicks off with something that should have been left in the past: zoom-bombing. Turns out that it’s still very much a nuisance and is now being used to attack schools and lessons.
From there, Dave and Jeff look at how “three middle-aged Dutch hackers” managed to break into Donald Trump’s Twitter account back in 2016 thanks to credential stuffing and poor password management. They’ve since handed the details over to the relevant U.S authorities. Dave and Jeff then move onto look at how Portland, Oregon is trying to take on facial recognition by banning the use of it to both private and public institutions. To wrap up, they look at an intriguing update from the U.K where Bear Grylls is asking Scouts to take a ‘fake news’ test, helping children to better understand fake news and why it spreads.
We will interrupt our usual programming for the Kaspersky Transatlantic Cable Podcast to take a look at a new documentary about the Kuril Islands.
The documentary From Kurils with Love, is a new project from Kaspersky’s Tomorrow Unlocked that takes a look at the Kuril Islands.
For this podcast, I sit down with my coworkers Alejandro Arango and Povel Torudd who were on the expedition and were involved in the production of the documentary. During our 35+ minute conversation, we touch on everything from where the Kurils are and why they are important to living on a boat with strangers to what’s next for Kaspersky. For more information or to see the full documentary, please click on the links below.
Since it is 2020, and an election year in the US, Dave and I kick off this week’s Kaspersky Transatlantic Cable Podcast by looking at Russian troll farms.
On this story, the FBI laid a tip to Facebook, who in turn took down a number of accounts tied to the Internet Research Agency. It seems that this may have stopped the accounts before the disinformation spice could flow. From there, we stay in the land of fakeness, however we jump from news to fake Amazon reviews. This deep dive from the media exposed some interesting things about product reviews on the ecommerce giant in the UK at least.
Our third story stays on the topic of things that are fake. Unlike politics and reviews, this story takes a look at AI and Deep Fakes. Microsoft has developed a technology that will help fight Deep Fakes. To close out the podcast, we look at some new legislature in the UK that should help protect the data for kids using apps.
Dave and I kick off the 158th edition of the Kaspersky Transatlantic Cable Podcast, by looking at some malware that – gasp – is now on Macs.
In a new post, Patrick Wardle talks about how Shlayer malware was actually approved by Apple. So much for Macs get no viruses. From there, we head to a story that is almost made for a TV or Netflix movie. The tale looks at espionage and how the FBI and Tesla halted a cyberattack.
Our third story heads to the gaming sector and the illicit marketplace for Fortnite accounts. From there, we head into a vulnerability in Slack. To close things out, we look at an advisory from the FBI where older daters are being targeted in a scam.
For the 157th episode of the Kaspersky Transatlantic Cable Podcast, Dave and I jump to both sides of the Atlantic for some fun and interesting stories.
We start off looking into charges that the former CSO of Uber is facing. According to the allegations, there was hush money paid and also some lying to investigators and suppressing evidence. From there, we stay in the States and look at the University of Utah who paid cybercriminals after a ransomware attack.
The third story jumps across the pond to a bit of a Passw0rd1 problem for Home Office. You see, this agency had a bit of a snafu when their Passw0rd1 was displayed on a flip chart in one of their office windows for the world to see. We close out the podcast by looking into a new lawsuit against Zoom. The folks arguing that the marketing of the company, especially around the word encryption, was a bit misleading.
Dave and I kick off the 156th edition of the Kaspersky Transatlantic Cable Podcast, by talking about one of our favorite types of alcohol.
You see, while Dave likes his Jack Daniel’s, we are not talking mixed drinks. Rather, we discuss how the parent company of the US Bourbon, Brown-Forman, has suffered a ransomware attack. This attack continues the trend of big companies getting hit with ransomware. Our second story dives into the new to us industry of dropshipping. This business seems to have people making money off of people looking to buy products pushed by influencers or knock off sites. To us, sounds like a pyramid scheme where the consumer is the one who will suffer. From there, we jump to high tea at the Ritz in London. This case is an interesting scam that our affluent readers will want to keep an eye on.
For our fourth story, we take a look at the potential GDPR impact of an issue of data storage. To close out the podcast, we head to the land down under and a snafu involving credentials being shared on live TV.
For the 155th episode of the Kaspersky Transatlantic Cable Podcast, Jeff and I talk about the recent Canon ransomware attack & much more.
The first story we look at is how some US lawyers are asking the Californian DMV why (and how) they’re making $50M USD a year selling driving license data to third parties. From there, we look at recent news that the U.S government is giving away $10M USD to information around election hacking.
Moving into the gaming world, the next story is a look at a “vigilante” in the gaming world who’s hacking the hackers (so to speak). GamerDoc has made a name for himself exposing cheats and cheaters in the FPS shooter gaming world and it seems cheat developers are none too pleased.
Finally, we look at a story that should never have been: the alleged Twitter hacker was summoned to a virtual court summons, but things soon turned sour when zoom-bombers invaded, shouting and broadcasting pornography. The session was quickly adjourned.
For the 154th episode of the Kaspersky Transatlantic Cable Podcast, Dave and I spend most of our time talking about ransomware and gaming.
The first story we look at is the latest with Garmin and their recent battle with Evil Corp and WastedLocker. While this story is still developing, there could be more to this in the coming weeks. From there, we stay on the topic of ransomware with a new report on LG and Xerox being hit as well. Both of these companies appear to have been hit by the Maze gang and have seen their data published by the gang online. The third story stays on the topic and looks at CWT’s recent bout with ransomware.
From there, we hop into the gaming world. We start off discussing the world record for speedrunning that was set using Kaspersky Internet Security on Doom Eternal. We then welcome back Maria Namestnikova of our GReAT team to discuss security and gaming. To close out the podcast, we discuss a refund that Google is giving out.
To start episode 153 of the Transatlantic Cable podcast, Dave and Jeff look back on four years of the NoMoreRansom initiative – Kaspersky, which is one of the four founding members has helped millions from paying ransomware fees.
From there, they look at how the recent Garmin ransomware hack has affected flying thanks to flyGarmin being knocked off-line during the attack. They also look at how the US government is trying (once again) to add back-doors into encrypted messages and traffic.
To wrap up, they look at recent news around the Twitter breach showing that around 1,000 people had access to ‘high-profile’ accounts.
To start the 152nd episode of the Kaspersky Transatlantic Cable Podcast, Dave and I talk about a new threat to fast charging devices.
The BadPower attack, sees firmware of fast charging devices altered in a manner that literally fries the devices using it. From there, we head into the legal end of the hacking of Ripoff Report. This also looks at the pending legal issues that the hacker faces in the States. The third story of the pod jumps into the cyber-world where China is proposing some changes for the Internet.
We then sit down with Maria Namestnikova of our Global Research and Analysis team (GReAT) to discuss parenting in Covid times and things that families can do to stay engaged with everything remote. To close out the podcast, we stick to the family theme by taking a look at a new guide from Lego on tips for kids to stay safe online.
Dave and I kick off this week’s edition of the Kaspersky Transatlantic Cable Podcast, we look into the conviction of the LinkedIn hacker.
While we talk a lot on this podcast on data breaches and hacking, but this story was a bit of nostalgia. From there, we hit on a pair of stories on TikTok. The first story is the one that will make you go hmmm. Recently both the Republican and Democratic national committees have warned their members to delete TikTok from their devices or and to avoid using it because of “security concerns,” or, if you read between the lines, that it is from China. We then stay on the TikTok topic and how Amazon sent out an internal email to remove the app from corporate devices.
After that, we hop into the real-life James Bond moment where we look into the work done by Mitre for the US government. To close out the podcast, we look at a robot being rolled out in Siberia to help Russian citizens.
For the 150th episode of the Kaspersky Transatlantic Cable Podcast, Dave and I start by looking at how EU authorities were able to crack into an encrypted communications platform used by criminals.
This joint operation by multiple law enforcement organizations, saw over 700 arrests tied to criminal activities. From there, we head to India and the geopolitical tension between the country and China. In this instance, the collateral damage of this are influencers, more specifically those who tie their living to TikTok which has been banned by the Indian government. For our third story, we keep in the influencer space where Ramon Olorunwa has been extradited from the United Arab Emirates to the United States. You see, his lavish influencer lifestyle was allegedly funded by cybercrime. To close things out, we look at how Evil Corp is now targeting American companies with remote workers.
For the 149th instalment of the Kaspersky Transatlantic Cable podcast, Jeff and I look at how (and why) the Israeli government has saw fit to use fish to help fend off cyber-security attacks. We also tackle the thorny issue of TikTok privacy and how they were caught with their hand in the cookie-jar, again.
From there we move to more interesting news as it seems in the near future, Google will pay for you to read pay-walled news. Also on the podcast this week is a more serious look at why and how Facebook hacked into the secure operating system TAILS, and to no surprise – a lot of people aren’t happy.
To kick off the 148th edition of the Kaspersky Transatlantic Cable podcast, Dave and I hop into a interesting topic. For those of you who have been on Instagram, Twitter or other social media sites, you have probably heard of OnlyFans.
For those who are unaware, this is a site where users can pay a content producer for exclusive or private videos. Often these images or videos are of the adult nature. However, as with many subscription services there is often an illicit market, this one is no different. From there, we jump deeper into the online world of Warcraft. This story looks at the bot mafias wreaking havoc in the community.
Yeah, I seriously types bot mafia – that is not lost on me. The third story of the week looks at some changes that Apple is making in Safari that could make privacy more up front. The PSA streak continues for the fourth tale of the week – Adobe is advising people to uninstall Flash before its end of life. To close out, we take a look at a story that was birthed after a protest in the recent weeks in the US. The story looks at how the FBI caught a person who lit a cop car on fire during one of the protests due to some digital sleuthing.
For the 147th installment of the Kaspersky Transatlantic Cable podcast, Dave and I have a fairly strong law and order feel.
To kick things off, we look to the UK. Similar to our discussion on Singapore’s Covid-19 app, the NHS looks to have some working out to do on their app before rolling it out. We then hang onto another popular story of 2020 prior to the pandemic – US cities hit with ransomware. In this case, it was the city of Knoxville, Tennessee.
For the third story of the week, we take a look at facial recognition. This week, the controversy swings from the technology itself to what entities tech heavyweights will no longer sell to. Following that discussion, we head to the world of cryptocurrency. In this bizarre tale, we have everything from carwashes to money laundering to the courtroom. This is one you should really take a read into. Our final story stays in the realm of real crime drama. The article that we discuss talks about some cyber-stalking done on behalf of eBay executives to an online pub that was critical of the company.
On this week’s episode of the Kaspersky Transatlantic Cable podcast, Dave and I jump across a wide array of stories and also end on a lighter note than usual.
For our first story, we jump across the world to Japan and into the world of automobiles. Now, we aren’t talking smart cars or car hacking, but rather, classic infosec. It appears that Honda is currently under attack from Snake ransomware. After this, we hop over to the UK where we look at the state of IoT appliances and also what the term “lifetime updates” really means.
We leave the kitchen and head into the claims that Google violated US wiretap laws with their “incognito Browsing.” Our fourth story takes us back to Asia, and the country of Singapore. This one also drives us back to Covid-19 and the country’s thoughts on rolling out a wearable tracker for the citizens of the country. To close things out, we go into the word of copyright and what could go wrongs in regard to Space Force between Netflix and the US Government.
Dave and I kick off this week’s edition of the Kaspersky Transatlantic Cable podcast, we discuss disinformation in the US in the wake of current events.
With the focus on the news in the States, we highlight the need for those educating themselves to make sure that they are reading solid information from reputable sources. There is a lot of misinformation being produced and shared, so we kindly ask you to think before sharing. If something sounds a bit off, make sure that you are looking at reputable sources – don’t be a source of disinformation.
We stay on this topic with an alleged hacking of the Minneapolis Police Department. Despite the public reports, it seems that there is more than meets the eye according to Troy Hunt. From there, we head across the pond to discuss the NHS and some Corona-tracing. Unfortunately, while the thought is in the right place, it seems like the security is not where it needs to be. Following that story, we dive deeper into a computer and boy is it hot. This story looks at the victim side of crypto-mining and the side effects that can happen for a lapse in security. We close out the podcast with a look at a hacked Power Glove to make music.
https://youtu.be/G-NMeMsl3hU
A lot of hype has generated around the Chinese vision of social ratings. People on both sides of the aisle have chimed in. However one thing that is often left off the table is that social ratings are around all of us whether we like it or not.
For this edition of the Kaspersky Transatlantic Cable podcast, Dave and I sit down with Marco Preuss to discuss some recent research from the company in regards to social ratings.
During our extensive conversation, we discuss the current state of travel, the potential new hurdles, the ethics of social ratings and more.
We close the podcast on a different note and looking at the use of people’s selfies in masks that are shared on social networks being used in the training of facial recognition technologies.
We kick off the 143rd edition of the Kaspersky Transatlantic Cable podcast looking at a coronavirus driven scam to unemployment in the US.
The US Secret Service has issued an alert that warns states that there are states currently seeing an increase in fraudulent activity on unemployment insurance claims. There is also an interesting look at how the money is laundered from there. Following that story, we hop into the film industry. A new study highlights that there is an increase of illegal downloads of Hollywood hits.
For our third story, we hop over to the UK to look at a snafu with a Google Doc from the NHS. According to a report, a security snafu on the sharing link allowed people to see the future roadmap for the group’s Covid-19 app. Our final story of the week, we head back to the US in particular, Washington, D.C. In this story, the Senate voted to extend the powers of the FBI in terms of looking into citizens’ online activity.
Following the story, we discuss some hot items outside of the security space including the Wind of Change podcast, Pandemic and a mash-up between Star Wars and Top Gun.