With thousands of vulnerabilities reported and classified each year, it can be challenging to keep track of which exploits are actually being used by threat actors. Researchers with Recorded Future’s Insikt Group have been exploring this issue, and one of their key findings is that less sophisticated threat actors often resort to using older vulnerabilities with easily accessible resources and tutorials. 

Greg Lesnewich is a threat intelligence researcher at Recorded Future, and he joins us with insights on the tactics, techniques, and procedures commonly seen from these threat actors, the likely motivation behind them, and what security professionals can do to best protect their networks against them.

London has, for centuries, enjoyed its status as one of the cornerstones of the global economy. So it makes sense that it would also be a beacon of innovation and investment in cybersecurity.

Our guest today is Jonathan Luff. He’s the co-founder of Epsilon Advisory Partners and CyLon, an incubator for early-stage cybersecurity companies based in the United Kingdom. He discusses his story of his early career in public service, sharing his talents and expertise around the world, his transition from public servant to entrepreneur, and why he believes the U.K. is well positioned for leadership in the growing global cybersecurity industry.

Recorded Future’s Allan Liska is our guest once again this week. This time, he brings a collection of interesting trends and anomalies that he and his team have been tracking. They publish these on the Recorded Future website under the title of “pulse reports.”

We’ll take a closer look at ransomware in international financial institutions, credential leaks in the biotech and pharmaceutical industries, as well as the rise of retail phishing campaigns in the midst of the global pandemic.

Our guest is John Zanni, CEO at Acronis SCS, a company dedicated to providing secure backup, disaster recovery, and cyber protection for the U.S. public sector. He shares his unconventional journey into a career in cybersecurity, as well as insights on the unique challenges public sector organizations face when trying to protect valuable assets. 

We’ll also get John’s thoughts on threat intelligence, the skills and traits he looks for when hiring, and why he thinks cybersecurity organizations should be recruiting workers from the U.S. military.

Alex Noga is a solutions engineering manager at Recorded Future, and on this week’s show, he joins us to share his insights on enhancing organizations’ ability to make the most of the information they’re gathering by adopting security intelligence. He explains how this approach helps analysts connect the dots and empowers them to focus on the signals that matter — all while blocking out the noise.

Our guest this week is Rick Howard, chief analyst and chief security officer at the CyberWire. Rick’s career included stops in the U.S. Army in signals intelligence, teaching computer science at Westpoint, and pioneering roles in threat intelligence for the military. He’s the former chief security officer for Palo Alto Networks, where he helped create and manage their Unit 42 threat intelligence team. 

He shares his insights on his career as a network defender, his take on the essential role of threat intelligence, and what he looks for when hiring members of his team.

Our guest is IT risk analyst James Dawson. James provides advice to global organizations on the issues of threat and cyber risk, and has also consulted with many organizations in the financial industry, including Danske Bank and Freddie Mac.

James shares his views on the importance of being able to evaluate risk, and to do so with open eyes and a level head. He emphasizes the value in taking risks in the workplace, especially for younger workers looking to make their mark. He shares his thoughts on threat intelligence, and the challenges organizations face when trying to cut through all of the noise.

Our guest is Chris Cochran, threat intelligence and operations lead at Netflix, and cohost of the Hacker Valley Podcast. We discuss his career in cybersecurity, from his ambitious beginnings as a student, his service in the U.S. Marine Corp and his time at U.S. Cyber Command, as a member of the team pioneering threat intelligence before it was even known by that name.

He shares his thoughts on leadership, and well as his development of an intelligence framework that goes by the acronym EASY.

Our guest is Adeel Saeed, veteran cybersecurity expert, technologist, and former CISO at State Street, previously having worked for organizations including the London Stock Exchange and the American Stock Exchange.

Our conversation centers on Adeel’s mantra of planning for resilience and eventuality amid a growing range of global threats — in the cyber realm and beyond. He shares his experience after 9/11, how it’s informed his approach to preparing for the worst, and how sometimes, luck plays a part in disaster recovery. We’ll get his views on threat intelligence, and learn why he thinks now is a great time to join the cybersecurity industry.

Our guest is Mihoko Matsubara, chief cybersecurity strategist at Japanese telecommunications company NTT Corporation in Tokyo, where she’s responsible for cybersecurity thought leadership. Previously, Mihoko worked at the Japanese Ministry of Defense and was VP and public sector chief security officer for Asia-Pacific at Palo Alto Networks.

Our conversation explores the different approaches to cybersecurity seen in Japan, and the impact those cultural differences have on that nation’s security. We’ll also learn more about Mihoko’s efforts to bridge that gap of understanding, and to help build trust and safety around the world.