8: Sandworm, Not Petya and the hunt for the most dangerous hackers, with Andy Greenberg, Noureen Njoroge, and Cisco Talos

This episode of Security Stories is a little different from usual, but for good reason! With the help of some very special guests, we take a comprehensive look back at the Not Petya cyber attack, the Sandworm hackers, and the context behind this act of cyber warfare. 

First to join us is Noureen Njoroge, a senior cybersecurity engineer and threat intelligence analyst at Cisco. Noureen is a passionate advocate for women and minorities in the IT industry, and is the founder of Cisco's global mentoring program, as well as the president of North Carolina Women in Cybersecurity (WiCyS) Affiliate chapter. We learn about Noureen's passion for mentoring, as well as her thoughts on the threat landscape.

Then we're joined by Andy Greenberg, senior cybersecurity investigative journalist for Wired Magazine, and author of the book "Sandworm: A New Era of Cyberwar and the Hunt for the Kremlin's Most Dangerous Hackers". The book tells the true story of the desperate hunt to identify and track an elite team of Russian agents who are bent on digital sabotage. It starts out as a detective story but it soon turns into a disaster story as the truth starts to come to the fore.

Andy also talks to Hazel about how he spent time in Russia and Ukraine, gathering sources, and learning about this new emergence and type of cyber criminal. And he has a fascinating take on how the hacker culture has evolved in recent years.

Finally, we're joined by senior threat analysts from the Cisco Talos team, including Craig Williams, Matt Olny and Mitch Neff.  We chat to them about what happened on the day of the attack (June 27th 2017), the process the investigative team used to find out what was really happening, and what impact the attack has left on the threat landscape and the world at large.

This really is a fascinating episode with some  incredible guests, who each share their insights, experience and advice for the benefit of the wider cybersecurity community.