‘Hacking for Cash’ is a new ASPI podcast series exploring state sponsored campaigns of cyber espionage for commercial gain. Throughout the series we talk to experts who were close to the negotiations that led to a 2015 agreement between the United States and China to refrain from supporting and engaging in ‘hacking for cash’, as well as a G20 leaders’ commitment to stamp out cyber-enabled intellectual property (IP) theft.

The series features conversations with cybersecurity experts on state-sponsored hackers and how they operate, and with industry leaders about risk and resilience. We also talk with IP experts about how the US and China protect trade secrets, and with national cybersecurity and counter-intelligence agencies about how companies and universities can protect their crown jewels.

In the first episode of the series, Bart Hogeveen, Head of Cyber Capacity Building at ASPI, speaks to Chris Painter, the first Coordinator for Cyber Issues at the US State Department, as well as Justin Bassi, Executive Director of ASPI and former National Security Advisor to Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull.

They discuss the agreements that both the US and Australia reached with China to combat cyber enabled IP theft, the role of presidential and prime ministerial leadership and the challenge in ensuring that states adhere to their international commitments, in particular their promise to refrain from state sponsored malicious cyber activities.

Music: "Lounge It" by Maarten Schellekens, licensed with permission from the Independent Music Licensing Collective - imlcollective.uk