Risky Business Cybersecurity

Tom Uren and Amberleigh Jack talk about the Chinese government’s reactive approach to tackling scam compounds. It’s driven by bad news on domestic media and therefore focusses on the compounds that are targeting Chinese citizens. Rather than eliminating the industry, that may instead be shaping the industry to focus on other countries and particularly Americans. They also discuss the role of disruptive cyber operations in the US’s raid to capture Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. This episode is also available on Youtube. Show notes

Russia fines 33 telcos for surveillance non-compliance, AVCheck admin is arrested in Amsterdam, Poland repels an attack on its power grid, and voice cloning defenses can be bypassed. Show notes Risky Bulletin: Voice cloning defenses still weak, can be bypassed

In this edition of Between Two Nerds Tom Uren and The Grugq about the role of cyber operations in the US capture of Venezuela’s president Nicolas Maduro. This episode is also available on Youtube. Show notes Maduro’s fall puts US cyber power in the spotlight Trump suggests US used cyberattacks to turn off lights in Venezuela during strikes Venezuela strike marks a turning point for US cyber warfare Power outages, but not cyber (from Oleg Shakirov) NYTimes Inside ‘Operation Absolute Resolve’ Spec Ops by William McRaven

The Apex Legends game is hacked again, data about 17 million Instagram users put up for sale, Indonesia blocks X over pornographic content, and a ransomware attack hits major Chilean energy provider Show notes Risky Bulletin: Apex Legends streamers hacked again

In this Risky Business News sponsored interview the CEO and founder of Prowler, Toni de la Fuente, explains how implementing AI systems brings new security challenges that differ for traditional cloud workloads. Toni also talks about ‘attack paths’ in the context of cloud infrastructure and using them to minimise risk. Show notes

Belarus deployed spyware on journalists’ phones, a man is arrested for installing malware on a ferry, France arrests the hacker behind an Interior Ministry email server breach, and new Cisco and SonicWall zero-days. Show notes Risky Bulletin: Belarus deploys spyware on journalists’ phones

Tom Uren and Patrick Gray talk about America’s increasing dependence on Chinese manufacturers for electrical sector equipment. This doesn’t seem like a good idea when China is hacking electric utilities for sabotage and PLA researchers are dreaming up ways to attack the grid. They also discuss the possibility that the US was responsible for a cyber attack on Venezuela’s state oil company and how Russian state-backed hacktivism is so dumb. This episode is also available on Youtube. Show notes

Most smart devices run outdated web browsers, Ukrainian hacktivists breach a major Russian defense contractor, ransomware hits Venezuela’s state-owned oil company, and hackers are trying to extort PornHub with stolen user data. Show notes Risky Bulletin: Most smart devices run outdated web browsers

In this edition of Between Two Nerds Tom Uren and The Grugq talk to Hamid Kashfi, CEO and founder of DarkCell, talk about the Iranian cyber espionage scene. Kashfi talks about how the regime once forced people to hack and crushed the domestic security research scene. He describes how and why the government has changed its approach and is now reaping the rewards of improved Iranian capabilities. This episode is available on Youtube. Show notes The “Mossad or not” threat model by James Mickens Shamoon wiper iLO rootkit

Russia is hiring African freelancers for disinformation campaigns, the US is preparing to let contractors run offensive cyber operations, Germany blames Russia for the hack of its air traffic control agency, and Apple patches two WebKit zero-days. Show notes Risky Bulletin: African freelancers behind anti-US and anti-French disinfo campaigns

In this sponsored interview Casey Ellis is joined by Push Security’s Field CTO, Mark Orlando. They chat about the ways that browser-based attacks are evolving and how Push Security is finding and cataloging them. Show notes ConsentFix: Analysing a browser-native ClickFix-style attack that hijacks OAuth consent grants Introducing our guide to phishing detection evasion techniques

The EU has a problem attracting and retaining cyber talent, the CEO of Coupang resigns following the company’s security breach, Microsoft expands its bug bounty program to cover third party code, and Chrome and Gogs patch zero-days. Show notes Risky Bulletin: EU has a problem attracting and retaining cyber talent

Linux adds PCIe encryption to help secure cloud servers, Europol cracks down on Violence-as-a-Service providers, the International Criminal Court prepares for cyber-enabled genocide, and Cambodia busts a warehouse full of SMS blasters. Show notes Risky Bulletin: Linux adds PCIe encryption to help secure cloud servers

APTs go after the React2Shell vulnerability just hours after public disclosure. CISA remains without a director after the nomination stalls again, NSA is down 2,000 staff this year, and Intellexa is still active despite sanctions. Show notes

Tom Uren and Patrick Gray discuss a new report proposing a framework for deciding when cyber operations raise red flags. It suggests seven red flags and could help clarify thinking about how to respond to different operations. They also discuss Anthropic testifying to Congress and Iran using cyber intelligence to target missile strikes including by sharing it with Houthi rebels who fired at a specific ship. And finally, we are not reassured by China’s white paper about being a good cyber citizen. This episode is also available of Youtube. Show notes Assessing Irresponsibility in Cyber Operations AWS on state actors bridging cyber and kinetic warfare

In this edition of Between Two Nerds Tom Uren and The Grugq wonder whether it is possible to deter states from cyber espionage with doxxing and other disruption measures. This episode is also available on Youtube. Show notes Department 40 exposed Charming Kitten exposed

In this Risky Business News sponsor interview, Mike Lashlee, CSO of Mastercard talks to Tom Uren about why the company got into threat intelligence. Mike talks about bringing together payments insights with threat intel to get strong signals about fraud or crime, the benefits of international collaboration and when it makes sense for your CSO to also be the CISO. Show notes

Tom Uren and Amberleigh Jack talk about new research that shows the Chinese-made DeepSeek-R1 AI model produces insecure code when prompts include topics that the Chinese Communist Party dislikes. It’s interesting research, but the CCP doesn’t have a monopoly on imposing AI bias. They also discuss the complete doxxing of the Iranian cyber espionage group known as APT35 or Charming Kitten. This episode is also available on Youtube. Show notes

In this edition of Between Two Nerds Tom Uren and The Grugq talk about the differences between telcos and cloud companies. Does the nature of the business force cloud companies to be better at security? This episode is also available on Youtube. Show notes FCC looks to torch Biden-era cyber rules sparked by Salt Typhoon mess Netflix’s Chaos Monkey Brian in Pittsburgh BTN145 Ultra

Tom Uren and Amberleigh Jack talk about Anthropic’s discovery of an “AI-orchestrated” cyber espionage campaign. To Tom, it feels a research project, but it’s pretty clear it will be really useful for threat actors that aren’t focussed on specific high-priority targets. Think ransomware, Chinese intellectual property theft and North Korean hackers. But it won’t be so good for Western intelligence agencies. They also discuss Google’s legal disruption of the China-based Lighthouse phishing as a service operation. Surprisingly, it seems to be working! Finally, they talk about why the memory safe Rust language has been a triple win for Android. This episode is also available on Youtube. Show notes