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389 episodes - English - Latest episode: 19 days ago - ★★★★★ - 92 ratingsThe podcast that tells true stories about the people making and breaking our digital world. We take listeners into the world of cyber and intelligence without all the techie jargon.
Every Tuesday and Friday, former NPR investigations correspondent Dina Temple-Raston and the team draw back the curtain on ransomware attacks, mysterious hackers, and the people who are trying to stop them.
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Episodes
039 Protecting Philips Healthcare From Cyber Threats
January 15, 2018 17:20 - 22 minutesPhilips is a company with a long, storied history, going back over 120 years, and many technological achievements to brag about. From light bulbs to radios, consumer devices like electric shavers, the compact cassette, and the co-invention of the compact disc along with Sony, they’ve been an innovative, influential company for generations. These days, Philips primarily focuses on healthcare, and they employ over 100,000 people in 60 countries. Praveen Sharma is one of those employees, and o...
038 The 5 Most Relevant Questions for a SOC Analyst
January 08, 2018 17:00 - 19 minutesOur guest today is Denver Durham. He’s a threat intelligence consultant at Recorded Future, with a background in the U.S. Army as an intelligence analyst, working in signals intel and all-source intel supporting counterterrorism,and later in the private sector in a SOC (security operations center) as a cyber threat analyst, performing attribution and analytics. On today’s show, he takes us through what he believes are some of the most relevant questions for a SOC analyst, including collectin...
037 2017 Cybersecurity in Review and Predictions for the New Year
January 02, 2018 17:00 - 33 minutesWhether you felt 2017 flew by or you just couldn’t wait for it to be over, from a cybersecurity point of view there’s no question it was an interesting year. There was something for everyone, including ransomware, botnets, major data breaches, IoT issues, as well as business and policy concerns. Our guest today is Dr. Chris Pierson. He’s the CEO and founder of Binary Sun Cyber Risk Advisors, and a familiar voice for those of us who follow cybersecurity. Dr. Pierson serves on the Department o...
036 Dispelling Cybersecurity Myths
December 18, 2017 17:00 - 19 minutesIn this episode, we have a conversation with Gavin Reid, chief security architect at Recorded Future. Before joining Recorded Future, he helped design the systems that protect organizations like NASA, Cisco, and Fidelity. We’ll get his take on the state of the industry, and why he believes there are a number of cybersecurity myths that are in need of being dispelled, including the notion that companies need to “do more with less.” Are boards of directors finally getting up to speed and recogn...
035 Predicting Future Threats With Machine Learning
December 11, 2017 17:00 - 17 minutesIn this episode, we take a closer look at some of the specifics of artificial intelligence and machine learning, and how cybersecurity professionals can benefit from including these tools in their threat intelligence arsenals. We’ll discuss clustering, natural language processing or NLP, and supervised learning, and we’ll find out why combining the talents of humans with the speed and analytical capabilities of computers, the so-called digital centaurs, could provide even more powerful soluti...
034 ICS is Serious Business, But There's No Need to Panic
December 04, 2017 17:00 - 21 minutesThere’s been a good bit of attention aimed at Industrial Control Systems (ICS), lately, the systems that monitor and help keep our critical infrastructure running. The electrical grid tends to get the most attention, but ICS includes water, dams, communications systems, pipelines, natural gas, transportation, and other process control systems. As more and more of these systems get connected to the internet they can make an attractive target for cyber criminals or state actors who are up to no...
033 AI, Robots, and Cyborgs — Inside IoT with Chris Poulin
November 27, 2017 17:00 - 36 minutesIn this episode of the Recorded Future podcast we take a closer look at the Internet of Things (IoT). It’s a wide-ranging category, spanning everything from connected thermostats, refrigerators, and security cameras to industrial control systems, self-driving cars, and medical devices. It’s hardly an exaggeration to say that if a device has a power source, somebody is thinking up a way to connect it to the internet. And with that comes opportunities for improving our lives and the world we li...
032 The Practical in Practice — Use Cases for Threat Intelligence
November 20, 2017 17:00 - 26 minutesIn this episode of the Recorded Future podcast, we take a closer look at the practical application of threat intelligence. Some security teams still meet threat intelligence with a skeptical eye, wondering how adding even more information to the flow of data they’re already receiving could improve their security posture. In reality, they’re likely already using some degree of threat intelligence even if they don’t realize it. We’ll explore ways that organizations can determine how much threat...
031 No Phishing Allowed
November 13, 2017 17:00 - 19 minutesThis episode focuses on phishing, where a bad actor pretends to be someone they’re not in order to get a user to reveal information, like a login or password, or to get them to perform a task, like transferring money. Phishing has been around for quite a while. Many of us remember breathless email requests from a certain Nigerian Prince looking to share millions of dollars. It’s still around today because it works and it’s inexpensive to do, taking advantage of human nature and most people’...
030 A Look Into the Thriving Dark Web Criminal Market
November 06, 2017 17:00 - 26 minutesThe recent Equifax breach highlights the vulnerability of our personal data online, and serves as a reminder that there’s an active, thriving, global criminal market for that sort of information. In this episode of the Recorded Future podcast we return to the dark web, with Recorded Future’s director of advanced collection, Andrei Barysevich as our guide. He’ll separate fact from fiction, and help us gain a better understanding of the mysterious and increasingly volatile world of the online ...
029 Why Does the U.S. Lag Behind China in Vulnerability Reporting?
October 30, 2017 16:00 - 21 minutesThe U.S. National Vulnerability Database, or NVD, is, in part, a collection of security-related reports. Software vulnerabilities are assigned CVE numbers, which stands for common vulnerabilities and exposures, which help track the issues and provide a common reference for referring to a specific flaw. China has a database of their own, the Chinese National Vulnerability Database, or CNNVD. Our guest today is Dr. Bill Ladd, chief data scientist at Recorded Future. His team noticed that pu...
028 Know the Threat to Beat the Threat
October 23, 2017 16:00 - 21 minutesOur guest today is Bob Gourley, author of the book “The Cyber Threat: Know the Threat to Beat the Threat.” Earlier in his career, Bob spent 20 years as a U.S. Navy intelligence officer. One of his last assignments with the military was as director of intelligence for the first Department of Defense cyber defense organization. He’s currently a partner at Cognitio Corp, where he leads research and analysis activities, due diligence assessments, and strategic cybersecurity reviews for clients. ...
027 The Facts on Equifax With John Wetzel
October 09, 2017 16:00 - 23 minutesBy now, you’ve surely heard that Equifax, one of the largest credit reporting companies in the U.S., suffered a huge data breach. How bad was it? Reports say over 143 million sets of personal information may have been lost on U.S. residents alone, including names, social security numbers, birth dates, addresses, and in some cases driver license numbers. Reports say Equifax neglected to patch a known vulnerability in a timely manner, and took even longer to go public with news of the breach. T...
026 NYC CISO Geoff Brown Protects the Greatest City in the World
October 02, 2017 16:00 - 30 minutesWhen someone mentions New York City, there are a variety of images that may come to mind. The Statue of Liberty, the Empire State Building, Times Square, or maybe Wall Street or Central Park. And, of course, 9/11. It’s no wonder the city of New York is often called “the greatest city in the world.” Mayors of other cities may take issue with that label, but there’s no argument that New York is one of the largest, most important cities in the world, with over eight and half million people. Ge...
025 TTPs From A Through Z With Levi Gundert
September 25, 2017 16:00 - 18 minutesYou’re likely familiar with the phrase, “know your enemy.” The idea being, the more you know about your adversary, their motivations, methods, and capabilities, the better advantage you’ll have when it’s time to defend yourself. In cybersecurity threat intelligence, we speak of threat actor tactics, techniques, and procedures, or TTPs. TTPs can come from a variety of sources, including open source, darknets, scanning and crawling, and others, but to turn the raw data from TTPs into actionabl...
024 Protecting a Global Telecommunications Company
September 18, 2017 16:00 - 21 minutesOur guest today is BT’s Vice President, Security UK and Continental Europe, Luke Beeson. Located in London, he leads teams who deliver cybersecurity services to customers, while simultaneously protecting BT’s own systems. We discuss the challenges a large organization like BT faces when it comes to protecting themselves and their clients, the affect the upcoming GDPR regulations may have on the company and organizations around the world, and how they set their priorities across a broad spectr...
023 Analyst and Fantasy Author Myke Cole
September 11, 2017 16:00 - 31 minutesOur guest today is Myke Cole. He’s a cyber threat intelligence analyst with a large metropolitan police department, and a member of the United States Coast Guard reserve, supporting maritime search and rescue and law enforcement around New York City. He is also an award-winning, best-selling author of fantasy fiction, perhaps best known for his “Shadow Ops” series of novels, combining military action with magic and sorcery. And if that weren’t enough, he’s also featured in the CBS reality TV ...
022 Follow the Money: Threat Intelligence for Financial Institutions
September 05, 2017 16:00 - 24 minutesWhen you’re responsible for safeguarding the money, not to mention the personal financial information of your clients, what are your specific needs when it comes to threat intelligence? Where do you begin, and how do you get the best bang for your buck? Is open source intelligence enough, or should you invest in a paid solution from the outset? What about regulators? And how do you get buy-in from the board? Here to answer these and many other questions is Dr. Christopher Pierson. He’s chief...
021 Chasing Risky Internet Business
August 28, 2017 16:00 - 20 minutesAs security professionals, we’re relied upon to protect our networks from malicious traffic. But what’s the best strategy for determining the most likely sources of risky traffic? Is it safe to assume that traffic from certain countries is more suspicious than others, or that some hosting infrastructures are more likely to be compromised? With a growing consensus that IP blocklists are rapidly becoming obsolete, a more sophisticated approach is needed. Our guest today is Dr. Bill Ladd, chief...
020 Russia Revisited: How Did We Get Here?
August 21, 2017 16:00 - 30 minutesIn this episode we take a closer look at Russia. Here in the United States, there’s been no shortage of news about Russia, its alleged interference in our presidential election, and its greater role in the global cybersecurity ecosystem. But how did we get here? What’s the historical context for Russia’s cybersecurity strategy and posture, how does it compare to other players around the world, and what are our options for dealing with it? How do Russia’s relationships with its neighbors infor...
019 Women in Intelligence: Navigating a Male-Dominated Field
August 14, 2017 16:00 - 25 minutesIn today’s episode we hear from three women working in cybersecurity intelligence. We’ll learn about their sometimes indirect journeys toward tech, challenges they faced along the way, and we’ll get their advice for navigating what is still a male-dominated field. Emily Wilson is director of analysis at Terbium Labs, where she leads a team focused on exploring and analyzing data from the dark web. Lauren Zabierek is a senior analyst with Recorded Future, providing threat intelligence for it...
018 North Korea's Not So Crazy After All
August 07, 2017 16:00 - 17 minutesWhen it comes to North Korea, there are a variety of images that may come to mind. Eccentric, erratic leadership, suffering citizens, isolation from the rest of the global community, and lately, of course, the testing of nuclear weapons and long-range missiles. When it comes to cybersecurity and threat intelligence, North Korea is known for cybercrime, perhaps most notably the WannaCry ransomware and the Sony hack. Our guest today is Priscilla Moriuchi, director of strategic threat developme...
017 Black Hat and DEF CON 2017 Recap
July 31, 2017 16:00 - 17 minutesThe Black Hat 2017 conference just wrapped up in Las Vegas, followed immediately by the DEF CON hacker convention. Between the two shows, it’s one of the largest annual gatherings of cybersecurity professionals and enthusiasts in the world. Black Hat features a trade show floor with vendors representing all aspects of the cybersecurity community, plus high-profile keynote speakers and educational sessions covering a variety of research and industry developments. This year was Black Hat’s 20th...
016 Making Sense of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning
July 24, 2017 16:00 - 25 minutesArtificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) are hot topics in cybersecurity, threat intelligence, and beyond. We hear the terms casually tossed around in conversation, we’re bombarded with AI/ML marketing, and of course, there is no end to the references in movies, literature, and pop culture. Unfortunately, we’re often missing the context or explanation needed to know what they mean or why they matter. Some say AI and ML will be our virtual saviors, others offer cautionary tales o...
015 Becoming an Analyst Part 2: Educational Foundations
July 17, 2017 16:00 - 20 minutesEver thought of becoming a threat intelligence analyst? This is the second in our occasional series of behind-the-scenes looks at Recorded Future, where we drop in from time to time on team members, to find out what it is they do, how they do it, what made them choose their careers, along with some advice for anyone considering the field. They share their stories, in their own words. In this episode, we introduce you to Wendy DeLuca and CW Walker. Although they come with experience in analysi...
014 WannaCry About NotPetya?
July 10, 2017 16:00 - 18 minutesAs we pass the midpoint of 2017, we’ve had more than a few high-profile malware attacks. Two of the biggest have been WannaCry, the ransomware attack that went worldwide in May, and NotPetya, the destructive campaign that targeted Ukraine in June, but rapidly became a global menace, creating widespread fear and confusion, not to mention business disruptions. Observers are still settling on a final name for NotPetya, by the way. It’s being called Petya, Nyetya, and GoldenEye, but for this show...
013 Be Vewy Vewy Quiet: We’re Hunting Threats
July 03, 2017 16:00 - 14 minutesSharing insights on the tools, technologies, and processes that underpin threat intelligence is one of the primary aims of this podcast. One of the processes that’s getting a lot of attention these days is threat hunting. In this episode, we’ll talk about what exactly threat hunting is, how it’s done, and its value to organizations looking to strengthen their security posture, gain situational awareness, and of course, enhance their threat intelligence. To get past the buzzwords and down to b...
012 Best Practices in Threat Intelligence
June 26, 2017 16:00 - 17 minutesIt’s fair to say that the term “threat intelligence” has achieved buzzword status in the cyber security world. Confusion over the term’s meaning, not to mention the tidal wave of related products, services, and solutions overwhelming the industry, makes it hard to know where to start when threat intelligence becomes a priority in your organization. To help cut through some of that noise, Recorded Future published a white paper, “Best Practices for Applying Threat Intelligence.” The paper is o...
011 Building a Threat Intelligence Company
June 19, 2017 16:00 - 27 minutesIn the first 10 episodes of the Recorded Future Podcast, we’ve taken some deep dives into many important threat intelligence topics. Of course, there are many more topics to cover in the weeks ahead, but we thought it might be helpful to share a little bit of Recorded Future’s backstory. In this episode, we’ll talk about how the company made its transition from the virtual garage to an international company with offices around the world. Along the way, we’ll touch on issues important to any g...
010 Becoming an Analyst Part 1: Insights From Former Government Analysts
June 12, 2017 16:00 - 18 minutesIn this episode of the Recorded Future podcast, we introduce you to two threat intelligence analysts, Lauren Zabierek and Alex Walker. They both have previous experience with threat analysis for the U.S. government – Lauren was formerly in the Air Force, and, inspired to serve after 9/11, took part in missions in Afghanistan. Alex came out of college and joined NSA, where he worked as an intelligence analyst. They share their insights on their day-to-day challenges as analysts at Recorded Fut...
009 From Russia With Lulz
June 05, 2017 16:00 - 10 minutesWhile certainly not new to the world of international espionage or hacking, you will find the Russians at the intersection of global politics and cyber security today. With recent events like the hacking of the Democratic National Committee in the run up to last year’s US presidential election, the ongoing investigations into Russian interference in that election, and even questions about the Russian relationships with key players in the new US administration, the Russians are often top of mi...
008 Military Meets Commercial Threat Intelligence
May 29, 2017 16:00 - 15 minutesThroughout the history of conflict, threat intelligence has played a vital role in the military. Its arts, tradecraft, and organizing principles have been honed for millennia and have adapted to emerging threats, like those we face in cyberspace today. As commercial organizations confront the mounting challenges of cyber security, they too have begun to create their own threat intelligence teams. So how do these new commercial teams compare to their military counterparts? In this episode, we ...
007 Analyzing the Insider Threat
May 22, 2017 16:00 - 18 minutesWhat exactly is an insider threat? It’s a term we hear a lot in cyber security circles, and of course, the world of threat intelligence. While its meaning seems self-evident, we’ve found that it often brings to mind different things to different people. In this episode, we talk to a real expert on the subject of insider threats, John Wetzel, a Threat Intelligence Analyst at Recorded Future. Before he joined the team, John was a Counterintelligence Special Agent with the Department of Defense....
006 Insikt: Insights to Intelligence
May 15, 2017 16:00 - 13 minutesTurning information into actionable intelligence is a critical activity for organizations of all types and sizes. The challenge remains sifting through the enormous amount of data coming at us from all angles and at ever-increasing rates. In this episode, we give the scoop on Recorded Future’s new team dedicated to helping organizations overcome these challenges. Insikt Group is a team of veteran threat researchers that back up the intelligence analysts, engineers, and data scientists that ...
005 Ransomware by the Book
May 08, 2017 16:00 - 17 minutesLooking back at predictions about what to expect in cyber security in 2017, one thing on just about everyone’s list was ransomware. It’s quickly risen to one of today’s top cyber threats and shows no signs of slowing down. In this episode, we speak with someone who quite literally wrote the book on ransomware. Allan Liska is a Senior Solutions Architect at Recorded Future, and coauthor of the book, “Ransomware – Defending Against Digital Extortion,” published by O'Reilly. In our conversation,...
004 Going Dark: Fact vs. Fiction on the Dark Web
May 01, 2017 16:00 - 13 minutesMention the dark web and many people summon imagery of a massive, mysterious online criminal underground, where all manner of products and information are bought, sold and traded, hidden away from the prying eyes of the public and law enforcement. But, is that really what it’s like, or is that just cyber security marketing hype? In this episode, we take a tour of the dark halls and back alleys of the dark web with the aim of separating fact from fiction. We’ll learn the truth about the people...
003 It’s Cheap, It’s Easy, It’s Dangerous: Karmen Ransomware Hits the Criminal Black Market
April 24, 2017 16:00 - 16 minutesOver the last two years, Ransomware has become the hottest commodity in the criminal black market. And we do mean commodity—it's getting cheaper and more accessible to crooks, even the unskilled ones. On March 4th of this year, a leading cybercriminal, who goes by the name “Dereck1,” mentioned that there was a new ransomware variant out called “Karmen.” But Dereck1 wasn't the one hawking this in the criminal market. Instead, it's a Russian speaker who goes by the name of “DevBitox.” The first...
002 Feeding Frenzy: The Inside Scoop on Threat Intelligence Feeds.
April 17, 2017 14:46 - 15 minutesThreat intelligence feeds have become a staple in the diet of analysts and security professionals at organizations large and small. Some feeds are free, others are offered for sale from security vendors. They can also come in a dizzying array of formats, varying sizes, and include threat information that may or may not add value to your organization. In this episode, we give you the inside scoop on threat intelligence feeds. We’ll tell you what they are, how to select the right ones for your ...
001 What Exactly Is Threat Intelligence?
April 10, 2017 01:43 - 16 minutesIn our first episode, we start with the basics of threat intelligence. We talk about its emergence in cyber security and offer some relevant definitions. We describe where threat intelligence comes from, its purpose, and the context in which it's used. In an age of information overload, we also look at the path from data, to information, to actionable intelligence. These are important distinctions when organizations requiring threat intelligence faced the prospect of sorting through competing...