Protecting People

Remote desktop protocol, email vector, and VPN — the three most common methods of ransomware attack. However, virtually 100% of all attacks still rely on human vulnerability, not software vulnerability…


Making security awareness training one of your most valuable shields against ransomware.


In this Expert Insights episode, we interview Neko Papez, Manager, Product Marketing at Proofpoint, about changes in the ransomware threat landscape and how Proofpoint can help.


In this episode we discuss:
- Why ransomware is such a common attack type
- The importance of ransomware education
- How to help users become aware and on guard


Check out these resources we mentioned during the podcast:
- Proofpoint’s ransomware kit
- A ransomware webinar
- The Threat Insight blog


To hear more episodes like this one, subscribe to Protecting People on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your preferred podcast platform.


Listening on a desktop & can’t see the links? Just search for Protecting People in your favorite podcast player.

Five Minute Forecast for the week of August 16th. All the cyber security news you need to stay ahead, from Proofpoint’s Protecting People podcast. 

Most Americans think the government can’t keep them safe from cyber attacks 
DarkSide still tapping Colonial Pipeline months after their initial breach
A cryptocurrency thief steals a record haul before giving it all back 

Joining us is Ryan Kalember, Proofpoint’s EVP, Cybersecurity Strategy, to discuss the latest developments in the ongoing ransomware crisis.

What is it that we didn’t know that we should have known?
Many incident response plans miss this crucial question, but it’s absolutely foundational to learning how you can prevent the incident from happening again.
In this episode, we talk with Matt Stamper, CISO at EVOTEK, about the most important elements of an incident response plan and why security awareness has the largest return from a threat mitigation perspective.
What we talked about:
- Getting started with incident response
- Untangling conflicting priorities in the process
- Widening the circle of concern with regard to insider threats
- Investing in security awareness
Check out these resources we mentioned during the podcast:
- TheHLayer.com 
- CISO Desk Reference Guide: A Practical Guide for CISOs (Vol. 1) 
- CISO Desk Reference Guide: A Practical Guide for CISOs (Vol. 2) 


For more episodes like this one, subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and the Proofpoint website, or just search for P rotecting People in your favorite podcast player.


Listening on a desktop & can’t see the links? Just search for Protecting People in your favorite podcast player.

Five Minute Forecast for the week of August 9th. All the cyber security news you need to stay ahead, from Proofpoint’s Protecting People podcast. 

CISA announces a new public-private task force featuring some of the biggest names in tech 
The Conti ransomware gang’s playbook leaks online 
And millions of home internet routers potentially at risk 

Joining us is Brian Reed, Proofpoint’s cyber security evangelist, to talk about how enterprise-scale businesses are responding to the current wave of cyber attacks.

Five Minute Forecast for the week of August 2nd. All the cyber security news you need to stay ahead, from Proofpoint’s Protecting People podcast. 

Don’t ban ransomware payments, the FBI warns congress 
A new ransomware gang rises from the ashes of REvil and DarkSide 
And Iranian cyber attackers play the long game  

Joining us is Sherrod DeGrippo, Proofpoint’s Senior Director of Threat Research and Detection, to explain why some threat actors spend so long developing relationships with their victims.

Five Minute Forecast for the week of July 26th. All the cyber security news you need to stay ahead, from Proofpoint’s Protecting People podcast. 

China denies involvement in cyber crime and points the finger at the United States 
Kaseya unlocks ransomed systems after getting its hands on an R-Evil decryption key 
More printer woes for Windows users as yet another vulnerability is discovered 

Joining us is Ryan Kalember, Proofpoint’s Executive Vice President of Cyber Security Strategy, to discuss how cyber security has become a part of the global political conversation.

Fraudsters who perpetrate BEC and various other types of email scams are a serious and continuous threat to businesses today. In 2019, there were 26.2 billion dollars in reported losses from these kinds of malicious malware attacks.


For part two of our Expert Insights into Business Email Compromise (BEC) and email fraud protection, host Sherrod DeGrippo leads a lively discourse with Robert Holmes, Sr. Director of Threat Research and Detection, and Sam Scholten, CISSP, and Staff Email Fraud Researcher, both of Proofpoint — a company at the forefront of using AI and machine learning for radical, comprehensive threat protection.


Here's a sneak peek:
- The small but crucial differences between DDoS extortion and a BEC attack.
- The next generation of how Proofpoint is stopping these threats with deep analysis of every email for metadata signs of intrusion.
- Fascinating samples of previous attacks and highly creative threat actors who leveraged social cues to launch an attack.
- Successful scams take advantage of human nature and the fundamental vulnerability of individuals.

To hear more episodes like this one, subscribe to Protecting People on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your preferred podcast platform.

Five Minute Forecast for the week of July 19th. All the cyber security news you need to stay ahead, from Proofpoint’s Protecting People podcast. 

Human rights activists around the world are targeted with military-grade spyware 
Yet more trouble at Solar Winds, as a new zero day vulnerability lets in attackers 
A high-profile ransomware group goes dark, but are they really gone or just on vacation? 

Joining us is Sherrod DeGrippo, Proofpoint’s Senior Director of Threat Research and Detection, to explain what’s really happening when cyber criminal groups go on hiatus.

Five Minute Forecast for the week of July 12th. All the cyber security news you need to stay ahead, from Proofpoint’s Protecting People podcast. 

A patch is released for Microsoft’s Printer bug, but the nightmare isn’t over for everyone 
Attackers send out fake security updates for the recent Kaseya supply chain breach 
And a ransomware gang’s gotta catch ‘em all as they demand rare Pokemon cards as payment 

Joining us is Proofpoint Cybersecurity Evangelist, Brian Reed, to discuss Solar Winds, Kaseya, and the growing threat of software supply chain compromise.

Business Email Compromise, or BEC, is a type of scam that utilizes social engineering to trick companies into paying fraudulent invoices or giving up sensitive information that can be used for a future attack.


Malware, phishing, BEC, and thread hijacking. The “baddies,” as one of today’s guests charmingly anoints them, utilize these deep, complicated attacks because the rewards are so very great - in 2019, stats from the Internet Crime Complaint Center showed losses over $1.7 billion.


Join host Sherrod DeGrippo for part one of this in-depth discussion, as she talks through various current threats and how companies can defend against them with email fraud defense experts Robert Holmes, Sr. Director of Threat Research and Detection, and Sam Scholten, CISSP Staff Email Fraud Research, of Proofpoint.


Here's a sneak peek:
- Learn the signs of suspicious emails
- Threat actors are putting a high amount of energy into today’s scams
- BEC is a global problem
- Stricter financial controls can help your company along with EFD

To hear more episodes like this one, subscribe to Protecting People on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your preferred podcast platform.