Our home IoT devices are constantly being probed for weaknesses so that they can be compromised and used for broader nefarious purposes like cyber warfare. The Ukrainians may be considered some of the best in the world when it comes to defending against cyber warfare because they have been regularly attacked and have been defending their systems for years. Today’s guest is Mikko Hypponen. He has written for The New York Times, Wired, and Scientific American and has lectured at universities like Oxford, Stanford, and Cambridge. Mikko works as the Chief Research Officer for WithSecure and sits on the advisory board of Europol.

Show Notes:

• [1:11] - Mikko shares his background as an old-school hacker.

• [2:46] - His mother advised Mikko to pursue this career in the 1980s.

• [5:23] - Smart devices like doorbells and refrigerators are not configured correctly because security makes the device more expensive.

• [7:50] - Mikko discusses regulation in Europe and how, most of the time, regulation fails.

• [9:03] - Many hackable devices wouldn’t be hackable if consumers read the manual.

• [11:13] - Most malware traffic used to be Windows based but is now Linux based.

• [12:26] - Many people don’t think that there’s any data that can be stolen from IoT devices, but they are surprisingly powerful.

• [14:16] - Mikko explains some recent attacks.

• [15:43] - Medical devices are just as vulnerable as any other IoT device.

• [17:41] - What is a honeypot?

• [19:02] - Mikko shares that he has been a victim himself with his credit card number stolen twice.

• [20:14] - Even experts make mistakes.

• [21:26] - If you believe you have been hacked or think you are being scammed, take a step back.

• [23:06] - Mikko describes some of his experience living so near Russia and monitoring cyber warfare.

• [25:07] - Spying and espionage is a big problem in countries bordering Russia.

• [30:06] - With invasions in 2022, Ukraine improved many systems.

• [31:20] - Mikko makes a prediction on what will come next that sounds like Science Fiction, just like cyber war sounded like before.

• [32:18] - What are Mikko’s thoughts on AI?

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