Recorded Future’s Insikt Group recently released research outlining China’s attempts at what they describe as digital colonization. A focus of China’s efforts involve providing attractive, cost-effective infrastructure deals for developing African nations, using technology sourced from China, technology that includes substantial surveillance capabilities. For some regimes this is all the better, but for others it means joining the online global marketplace in exchange for allowing Chinese authorities an unfettered view into their nation’s online activities. 

To help us understand the implications of this bargain we welcome back to our program Recorded Future’s Charity Wright, expert cyber threat intelligence analyst.

Our guest this week is Ryan Naraine. He’s the creator and publisher of Security Conversations, a publication covering the business of cybersecurity through the lens of a veteran journalist and storyteller with a focus on the business trends driving decisions for CEOs, CISOs, and engineering decision makers.

We’ll learn how Ryan helps bridge the gap between well-intentioned CISOs doing their best to keep their organizations safe and secure, and cybersecurity vendors trying to cut through the marketing noise and hype.

Recorded Future’s Insikt Group recently published the latest version of their annual report focused on the political landscape facing the LGBTQIA+ community worldwide in the last year. The report is titled Pride and Prejudice in Shifting Landscape of LGBTQIA+ Laws Worldwide, and it tracks both progress and challenges the Pride Community face around the globe. 

Joining us to share insights from the report as well as the story behind its inception are Recorded Future’s Lea Cure and Evan Akin.

It’s fair to say that the explosive growth in ransomware attacks over the past year or so, combined with the big-game-hunting approach from ransomware operators, has set the cyber insurance industry back on its heels. As the direct and indirect costs of cyber attacks have increased, insurance providers have taken a renewed approach to cyber, and the role they play in helping set standards for detection, resilience and incident response.

Michael Phillips is Chief Claims Officer of the cyber insurance firm Resilience. He also serves as Co-Chair of the Ransomware Task Force convened by the Institute for Security & Technology. He joins us with insider insights on how specialists in the cyber insurance world are adapting to a rapidly evolving landscape.

There’s a versatile, easy-to-use utility being offered for sale on underground hacker forums, called HackMachine. It allows users to target victim domains and scan sites for known vulnerabilities, attempt brute force attacks, and ultimately inject paycard skimmers or exfiltrate user databases and personally identifiable information.

Ilya Vovovik and Shane Asher are researchers at Gemini Advisory, a Recorded Future company, and they join us with key findings from their research into HackMachine, along with advice on how to best protect your organization against it.

Joining us this week is Jon Ford, Managing Director of Global Government Services & Insider Threat Risk Solutions at Mandiant. Our conversation centers on his experience with effective insider threat programs, from both a technical and human perspective. With twenty years of experience in the FBI before joining Mandiant, Jon Ford gained extensive knowledge from bringing to justice some of the world’s most notorious cyber criminals, knowledge which informs his approach to solving today’s most pressing security issues.

Our guest this week is Niloo Razi Howe. She is a Senior Operating Partner at Energy Impact Partners, and an investor, entrepreneur, and cybersecurity expert. 

Our conversation centers on some of the cybersecurity policy decisions coming out of the Biden Administration, the challenges of ransomware and attribution, dealing with adversary nation states willing to turn a blind eye on cybercrime, as well as her outlook for possible solutions to these challenges.

The Emotet malware and cybercrime campaign recently made headlines, not for infecting victims with Trickbot or Qbot malware or spinning up a new botnet, but instead for being taken down by law enforcement. In January of this year, an international effort led by Europol took control of Emotet infrastructure, effectively taking it down, as well as making arrests of alleged perpetrators in Ukraine. 

To help us understand the impact of the takedown on the global malware ecosystem, I’m joined this week by Greg Lesnewich, senior intelligence analyst with Recorded Future’s Insikt Group.

The Institute for Security and Technology recently published a report titled, “Combating Ransomware: A Comprehensive Framework for Action, Key Recommendations from the Ransomware Task Force.” In their words, the report, “details a comprehensive strategic framework for tackling the dramatically increasing and evolving threat of ransomware, a widespread form of cybercrime that in just a few years has become a serious national security threat and a public health and safety concern.”

Joining us to discuss the report is Philip Reiner, Chief Executive Officer at The Institute for Security and Technology.

Our guest this week is Collin Barry, Director of Cyber Threat Intelligence at Expedia Group. He shares his career path, including globetrotting stops at the CIA and with Booz Allen Hamilton, and what his day-to-day looks like at Expedia Group, leading their threat intelligence efforts, protecting their online travel and marketplace endeavours.

He shares his experience starting a threat intelligence operation from scratch, how he established buy-in from stakeholders, as well as why he believes attribution is secondary to understanding adversary tactics.