Three Buddy Problem

Three Buddy Problem - Episode 14 : The buddies are back together for a discussion on Juan’s LABScon keynote and mental health realities, Microsoft rewriting the Windows Recall security architecture, a new CVSS 9.9 Linux CUPS flaw, Kaspersky's controversial transition to Ultra AV, and the intelligence operations surrounding exploding pagers in Lebanon. ( This episode is dedicated to the memory of J...

Three Buddy Problem - Episode 13 : This is a special edition of the show, featuring Juan Andres Guerrero-Saade's full keynote day remarks at LABScon2024. In this talk, Juanito addresses the current state of the threat intelligence industry, expressing a need for a difficult conversation about its direction and purpose. He discusses feelings of disenfranchisement among professionals, the void in me...

Three Buddy Problem - Episode 12 : Gabriel Bernadett-Shapiro joins the show for an extended conversation on artificial intelligence and cybersecurity. We discuss the hype around OpenAI's new o1 model, AI chain-of-thought reasoning and security use-cases, pervasive chatbots and privacy concerns, and the ongoing debate between open source and closed source AI models. Cast: Gabriel Bernadett-Shapiro...

Three Buddy Problem - Episode 11 : Russia's notorious GRU Unit 29155 (previously tied to assassinations, poisonings and coup attempts) now blamed for destructive cyberattacks for sabotage; FBI and DOJ take down 'Doppelganger' network spreading Russian propaganda; CISA's budget, staff, advisories and YARA rules; Influence Operations 2.0; prolific Chinese hackers and global bug-disclosure implicatio...

Three Buddy Problem - Episode 10 : Top stories this week -- Volt Typhoon zero-day exploitation of Versa Director servers, Chinese APT building botnets with EOL routers, the gap in security solutions for network devices and appliances, Russia's APT29 (Midnight Blizzard) caught reusing exploits from NSO Group and Intellexa, Microsoft’s upcoming Windows endpoint security summit in response to the Cro...

Three Buddy Problem - Episode 9 : On this episode, we look at the hacking scene in Taiwan, the sad state of visibility into big malware campaigns, the absence of APTs linked to the prolific MIVD Dutch intelligence agency, the blurring lines between big ransomware heists and nation-state actors caught using ransomware as a tool for sabotage and misattribution. Plus, Chinese mobile OS vendor Xiaoimi...

Three Buddy Problem - Episode 8 : This week’s show digs into Microsoft’s in-the-wild zero-day woes, Patch Tuesday and the absence of IOCs, a wormable Windows TCP/IP flaw that the Chinese government knew about for months, Iran’s aggressive hacking US election targets, CrowdStrike v Qihoo360 and major problems with APT naming conventions. Hosts: Costin Raiu (Art of Noh), Juan Andres Guerrero-Saade (...

Three Buddy Problem - Episode 7 : In this episode, we try to close the book on the CrowdStrike Windows BSOD story, Microsoft VP David Weston’s technical documentation and issues around kernel access and OS resilience. We also discuss Binarly’s PKFail research, secure boot bypasses, Dan Geer and tech monoculture, software vendor liability issues and the need for inspectability in security mechanism...

Three Buddy Problem - Episode 6 : As the dust settles on the CrowdStrike incident that blue-screened 8.5 million Windows computers worldwide, we dig into CrowdStrike’s preliminary incident report, the lack of transparency in the update process and the need for more robust testing and validation. We also discuss Microsoft's responsibility to avoid infinite BSOD loops, risks of deploying EDR agents...

Three Buddy Problem - Episode 5 : Hot off the press, we dive into the news of the CrowdStrike software update that caused blue screens on computers worldwide, the resulting chaos and potential connections to the Microsoft 365 outage, the fragility of modern computing and the risks of new software paradigms. We also discuss the AT&T mega-breach and the ransom paid to delete the stolen data; the...

Three Buddy Problem - Episode 4 : The boys delve into the massive AT&T call logs breach, the Snowflake incidents and the notion of shared-fate/shared responsibilities; news on fresh Apple notifications about mercenary spyware on iPhones and the effectiveness of notifications for different types of controversial targets. Plus, thoughts on Microsoft's zero-day disclosures and useless Patch Tuesd...

The 'Three Buddy Problem' Podcast Episode 3 : Former NSA computer scientist Dave Aitel (Immunity Inc., Cordyceps Systems) joins Juan Andres Guerrero-Saade for a frank discussion on the OpenSSH unauthenticated remote code execution vulnerability and the challenges around patching and exploitation, the CISA 'secure-by-design' pledge and its impact on software vendor practices, Microsoft lobbying and...

The 'Three Buddy Problem' Podcast Episode 2 : Ryan Naraine, Costin Raiu and Juan Andres Guerrero-Saade go all-in on the discussion around Google Project Zero disrupting counter-terrorism malware operations. A deep dive on disruption vs exposure, the effects of US government sanctions on private mercenary hacking companies, hypocricy and the tricky relationship between malware researchers are the i...

Welcome to Episode 1 of a brand new cybersecurity podcast discussing the biggest news stories of the week. Ryan Naraine hosts a fast-moving conversation with Juan Andres Guerrero-Saade (LABScon) and Costin Raiu (Art of Noh) on the Microsoft Recall debacle, the dark patterns emerging as big-tech embraces AI, Brad Smith's testimony and the lingering effects of the CSRB report, Apple's new Private Cl...

Episode sponsors: Binarly, the supply chain security experts ( https://binarly.io ) XZ.fail backdoor detector ( https://xz.fail ) Cris Neckar is a veteran security researcher now working as a partner at Two Bear Capital. In this episode, he reminisces on the early days of hacking at Neohapsis, his time on the Google Chrome security team, shenanigans at Pwn2Own/Pwnium, and the cat-and-mouse battle...

Episode sponsors: Binarly, the supply chain security experts ( https://binarly.io ) XZ.fail backdoor detector ( https://xz.fail ) Malware paleontologist Costin Raiu returns for an emergency episode on the XZ Utils software supply chain backdoor. We dig into the timeline of the attack, the characteristics of the backdoor, affected Linux distributions, and the reasons why 'Tia Jan' is the handiwork...

Episode sponsors: Binarly, the supply chain security experts ( https://binarly.io ) FwHunt ( https://fwhunt.run ) Katie Moussouris founded Luta Security in 2016 and bootstrapped it into a profitable business with a culture of equity and healthy boundaries. She is a pioneer in the world of bug bounties and vulnerability disclosure and serves in multiple advisory roles for the U.S. government, inclu...

Episode sponsors: Binarly, the supply chain security experts ( https://binarly.io ) FwHunt ( https://fwhunt.run ) Costin Raiu has spent a lifetime in anti-malware research, working on some of the biggest nation-state APT cases in history, including Stuxnet, Duqu, Equation Group, Red October, Turla and Lazarus. In this exit interview, Costin digs into why he left the GReAT team after 13 years at th...

Episode sponsors: Binarly, the supply chain security experts ( https://binarly.io ) FwHunt ( https://fwhunt.run ) Danny Adamitis is a principal information security engineer at Black Lotus Labs, the threat research division within Lumen Technologies. On this episode of the show, we discuss his team's recent discovery of an impossible-to-kill botnet packed with end-of-life SOHO routers serving as a...

Episode sponsors: Binarly, the supply chain security experts ( https://binarly.io ) FwHunt ( https://fwhunt.run ) Allison Miller is founder and CEO of Cartomancy Labs and former CISO and VP of Trust at Reddit. She has spent the past 20 years scaling teams and technology at Bank of America, Google, Electronic Arts, PayPal/eBay, and Visa International. In this conversation, we discuss the convergenc...

Episode sponsors: Binarly ( https://binarly.io ) FwHunt ( https://fwhunt.run ) Rob Ragan, principal architect and security strategist at Bishop Fox, joins the show to share insights on scaling pen testing, the emergence of bug bounty programs, the value of attack surface management, and the role of AI in cybersecurity. We dig into the importance of proactive defense, the challenges of consolidatin...

Episode sponsors: Binarly ( https://binarly.io ) FwHunt ( https://fwhunt.run ) Seth Spergel is managing partner at Merlin Ventures, where he is responsible for identifying cutting-edge companies for Merlin to partner with and invest in. In this episode, Seth talks about helping startups target US federal markets, the current state of deal sizes and valuations, and the red-hot sectors in cybersecur...

Episode sponsors: Binarly ( https://binarly.io ) FwHunt ( https://fwhunt.run ) Dan Lorenc is CEO and co-founder of Chainguard, a company that raised $116 million in less than two years to tackle open source supply chain security problems. In this episode, Dan joins Ryan to chat about the demands of building a "growth mode" startup, massive funding rounds and VC expectations, fixing the "crappy" CV...

Episode sponsors: Binarly ( https://binarly.io ) FwHunt ( https://fwhunt.run ) Nick Biasini has been working in information security for nearly two decades. In his current role as head of outreach for Cisco Talos Intelligence Group, he leads a team of threat researchers tasked with tracking nation-state APTs, mercenary hacker groups and ransomware cybercriminals. In this episode, Biasini talks abo...

Episode sponsors: Binarly ( https://binarly.io ) FwHunt ( https://fwhunt.run ) Allison Nixon is Chief Researcher at Unit 221B and a trailblazer in the world of cybercrime research. In this episode, we deep-drive into the shadowy dynamics of underground criminal communities, high-profile ransomware attacks, teenage hacking groups breaking into big companies, and the challenges of attribution and la...