The 443 - Security Simplified

This week on the podcast we cover the latest and most bizarre ransomware extortion demand we've seen in recent memory. Before that though, we cover the latest updates on nation state hacking activity including threats of escalating attacks leading to physical retaliation.

This week on the podcast we cover two fresh 0-day vulnerabilities, one in Windows and another in Atlassian's Confluence, both under active exploitation in the wild. Additionally, we cover Costa Rica's no good, terrible month in Cybersecurity.

This week on the podcast, we discuss the line between ethical security research and malicious activity thanks to a compromised open source software package. After that we cover the latest industry to fall victim to Ransomware and end by highlighting a 0-click vulnerability in Zoom’s message system discovered by Google Project Zero.

This week on the podcast we sit down for a chat with Matt Lee, Sr. Director of Security and Compliance at Pax8 and well-known cyber security educator, to discuss security strategies for MSPs and midsize enterprises in the face of a dynamic threat landscape. We cover everything from picking a framework to getting buy in from stakeholders and take a forward look at what future cyber regulations may...

This week on the podcast we walk through CISA alert AA222-131A which gives bulleted guidance to MSPs and customers of MSPs on how to navigate their relationship security as threats targeting service providers continue to grow. We'll walk through the list and hit each recommendation and give our own guidance on top of them for both MSPs and their customers. After that, we cover the the latest Micro...

This week on the podcast we discuss the latest rumblings around the return of the prolific ransomware-as-a-service organization REvil. Before that though, we dive in to the latest tools, tactics and procedures of the Lazarous nation state hacking group as well as a recently discovered form of fileless malware evasion.

This week on the podcast, we dive into CISA's list of the 15 most exploited vulnerabilities in 2021. We'll walk through each flaw and give a refresher on their history and how attackers have exploited them. After that, we cover the latest ransomware-as-a-service threat that has victimized over 60 organizations worldwide before ending with a quick chat about our "favorite" topic, NFTs.

This week on the podcast we cover a critical and easily-exploited vulnerability in how some recent versions of Java handle cryptography. We also discuss the latest in a series of alerts from CISA and international intelligence organizations on cyber threats to critical infrastructure. Finally, we end with a condensed overview of the latest internet security report from the WatchGuard Threat Lab.

This week on the podcast, we cover the latest evasion and persistence techniques from the state-sponsored threat actors known as Hafnium. Then, we dive into the world of ICS and SCADA devices to discuss the latest joint-agency alert from the US Government. We then round out the episode by highlighting some recent research into spoofing using Unicode BiDi (Bi-Directional) characters.

This week on the podcast we discuss one of the most rampant yet easily resolved risks facing many organizations today, not installing vendor-supplied security fixes. We'll cover some of the reasons why organizations might fall behind on patching as well as the potentially serious consequences. After that, we cover the latest 0-day Chromium vulnerability before a quick chat about the latest in US c...

This week on the podcast we cover the hacking organization Lapsus$ including their tactics, targets, and how they ended up with several members arrested last week. After that, we cover the cyber cold war and threats of Russian revenge attacks against the US energy sector that prompted classified meetings with potentially targeted organizations.

This week on the podcast, we cover a CISA alert on securing satellite communications (SATCOM) in the wake of several recent incidents involving providers and networks in eastern Europe. After that, we check in on the TSA's cybersecurity rules for pipeline distribution networks and how adoption is going so far in the industry.

This week on the podcast, we cover last week's Executive Order from the White House that lays the foundation for a United States Central Bank Digital Currency, or CBDC, and what it means for the future of Cryptocurrency. We also discuss recent research from Mandiant on APT41, a Chinese threat actor that has recently turned their sights on US state governments.

This week on the podcast we cover the recent leaks highlighting the inner workings of the Conti ransomware group that started with chat logs and grew to entire source code dumps. We then round out the episode by discussing the recent Nvidea breach and how some of the stolen information might fuel future attacks.

This week on the podcast we dig back into our archives for an episode that originally aired back in July 2020 where we discussed one of our analysts first-hand research into facial recognition biases.

This week on the podcast we cover a cryptocurrency heist that abused the backbone of the internet to steal millions of dollars of coins. In related news, we also cover the FBI's new Virtual Asset Exploitation Team and their focus on tracking cryptocurrency-related cybercrime as well as a recent alert on business email compromise from the same agency.

This week on the podcast we cover Russia's latest crackdown on cybercriminals within their borders and try to answer the "why now?" question. We also discuss a multi-billion dollar cryptocurrency recovery by the US Justice Department including the arrest of two New Yorkers allegedly responsible for the 2016 Bitfinex hack.

This week on the podcast, we cover the heist of $322 million in cryptocurrency from the distributed exchange Wormhole, including a long discussion on the why it feels like cryptocurrency is still the wild west of technology. After that, give an update on our brief mention in last week's episode about North Korea's internet seemingly being taken offline by cyber attack. We end this week with a quic...

This week on the podcast, we cover Pwnkit, a privilege escalation vulnerability impacting almost every modern Linux release worldwide. We also dive in to the world of macOS malware with DazzleSpy, a remote a remote access trojan targeting Hong Kong pro-democracy advocates. Finally, we end with an update on North Korea's Lazarus APT and their latest attack tactics targeting organizations.

This week on the podcast we discuss the latest Internet Security Report from the WatchGuard Threat Lab. Built with threat intelligence gathered from tens of thousands of Firebox UTM appliances that have opted-in to sharing data, the quarterly report lets us talk about the latest malware and attack trends targeting organizations globally. On this episode, we'll cover some of the key findings and de...

This week on the podcast we give a quick update to the Log4Shell saga after the researchers detected the first significant campaign that uses the critical vulnerability. After that, we dive in to the world of carding marketplaces where cybercriminals buy and sell stolen credit card information and discuss possible reasons for why these marketplaces appear to be dying off.

This week on the podcast we give an update on log4j2 and it's most recently-disclosed vulnerabilities before covering a recent report on credential stuffing by the New York Attorney General. Then, we discuss this recent article in DarkReading on whether or not cybersecurity jobs should be considered professional or vocational.

This week we take a deep dive into CVE-2021-44228, better known as Log4Shell, a critical vulnerability in the massively popular log4j2 logging library for Java applications. We discuss how the flaw came about, how it works, and why this specific issue has the potential to cause lasting headaches for the security industry for years to come. We also answer a mailbag full of questions from our listen...

As we move in to the end of the year it's time for us to discuss WatchGuard Threat Lab's 2022 cybersecurity predictions. While many of our predictions tend to come off as extreme, they're all grounded in the trends that we've been following and what we expect to see continue into the coming year. If you haven't checked out the predictions in full, you can view them on watchguard.com/predictions

Its getting to be the end of the year which means its time to take a look back at WatchGuard Threat Lab's 2021 security predictions and give ourselves a grading on how well we did! On this episode, we'll go through our 8 predictions for 2021, recap the trends that fueled them, and discuss either the events that occurred or failed to come true.