Risky Bulletin

A bug in Microsoft WSUS is under attack, Thailand revokes the citizenship of scam-linked businessman, the US charges high tech poker cheat, and Iran’s top hacking school is breached.

In this sponsored podcast Patrick Gray chats with Knocknoc CEO Adam Pointon about why true Zero Trust architectures never really got there. Spinning up ZTNA access to core applications and slapping SSO prompts on everything else is great, but if we’re honest, it’s not really Zero Trust. So, how and why did we get here?

A change in iOS is deleting-clues of old spyware infections, Starlink disables 2,500 terminals at scam compounds, a Caribbean hospital is still down 5 months after a ransomware attack, and officials are charged in Poland’s Pegasus spyware scandal.

Tom Uren and Amberleigh Jack talk about how America can better use its private sector to scale up offensive cyber activities, including espionage and disruption operations. Involving it to tackle ransomware and cryptocurrency scammers makes a lot of sense.

They also talk about how the ransomware ecosystem is splintering, and one operator’s relatively quick journey from being an affiliate to a platform operator.

This episode is also available on Youtube.

A worm hits VS Code users, F5 was breached via its own devices back in 2023, Korea Telecom’s CEO says he’ll resign following a recent security breach, and the Boy Scouts will award cybersecurity merit badges.

In this edition of Between Two Nerds Tom Uren and The Grugq talk to Joe Devanny, senior lecturer from King’s College London, all about India’s missing cyber power. It has all the ingredients to become a cyber superpower, but so far, hasn’t shown the motivation.

This episode is also available on Youtube.

A Romanian inmate hacks his prison’s IT system, hackers leak the data of DHS and DOJ employees, classified material was stolen from John Bolton’s AOL account and authorities seize a SIM farm in Latvia.

In this sponsor interview, Edward Wu, CEO and founder of Dropzone AI talks to Tom Uren about a study that measured how AI practically helps SOC analysts triage real-world problems. Analysts were faster, more accurate and got less tired with AI assistance. Edward thinks the technology won’t replace human analysts, but will speed their skill development.

An APT stole source code and vulnerability reports from F5, a European MP files a criminal hacking complaint against Hungary’s Prime Minister, airport PA systems are hijacked in Canada and the US, and the PowerSchool hacker gets prison time.

Tom Uren and Amberleigh Jack talk about First Wap, a Jakarta-based company that is selling surveillance-as-a-service. The good news is that it appears that government and media attention has had an impact on high-profile spyware vendors like NSO Group. The bad news is that these smaller players are flying under the radar and aren’t afraid of selling to sketchy customers.

They also talk about how the Chinese government has harnessed the power of its exploit development community with hacking contests.

This episode is also available on Youtube.