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Dr. Rois Ni Thuama: Get into the game. [Cyber governance] [Career Notes] Mar 26, 2024

Show notes

Head of Cyber Governance with Red Sift, Dr. Rois Ni Thuama shares the circuitous route of her career into cyber governance. She notes the route "looks really clean, but actually it was a bit more Jeremy Bearimy." While at Trinity College, Rois was moved to be part of history unfolding in South Africa and pause her studies. While there, she began making music videos and wildlife documentaries. Upon her return to London, Rois started working in corporate governance and risk at a music technology startup. This ignited her enthusiasm for startups. She now works in a company with several coworkers from that tech startup doing cyber governance. Rois advises law students of many ways into the industry including doing coding, learning risk management, and understanding privacy legislation, and then "just get into the game." We thank Rois for sharing her story.

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Python developers under attack. Mar 25, 2024

Show notes

A supply chain attack targets python developers. Russia targets German political parties. Romanian and Spanish police dismantle a cyber-fraud gang. Pwn2Own prompts quick patches from Mozilla. President Biden nominates the first assistant secretary of defense for cyber policy at the Pentagon. An influential think tank calls for a dedicated cyber service in the US. Unit42 tracks a StrelaStealer surge. GM reverses its data sharing practice. Our guest is Anna Belak, Director of the Office of Cybersecurity Strategy at Sysdig, who shares trends in cloud-native security. And a Fordham Law School professor suggests AI creators take a page from medical doctors.

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CyberWire Guest

Guest Anna Belak, Director of the Office of Cybersecurity Strategy at Sysdig, shares trends in cloud-native security. To learn more, you can check out Sysdig’s 2024 Cloud-Native Security and Usage Report.

Selected Reading

Top Python Developers Hacked in Sophisticated Supply Chain Attack (SecurityWeek)

Russian hackers target German political parties with WineLoader malware (Bleeping Computer)

Police Bust Multimillion-Dollar Holiday Fraud Gang (Infosecurity Magazine)

Mozilla Patches Firefox Zero-Days Exploited at Pwn2Own (SecurityWeek)

Biden nominates first assistant defense secretary for cyber policy (Nextgov/FCW)

Pentagon, Congress have a ‘limited window’ to properly create a Cyber Force (The Record)

StrelaStealer targeted over 100 organizations across the EU and US (Security Affairs)

General Motors Quits Sharing Driving Behavior With Data Brokers (The New York Times)

AI's Hippocratic Oath by Chinmayi Sharma (SSRN)

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Encore: Marcelle Lee: Cyber sleuth detecting emerging threats. [Research] [Career Notes] Mar 24, 2024

Show notes

Senior security researcher from Secureworks Marcelle Lee shares her career journey into cybersecurity and how she helps solve hard problems in her daily work. Marcelle came into cybersecurity not through any traditional path. She describes her route from a different field and starting in cyber at her local community college through a grant program. Marcelle took full advantage of the opportunities she had and grew her career from there. She recommends finding your specialty, but continue to build other skills. As a woman in the field, she is a strong proponent of diversity and encouraging others to find what excites them. And, we thank Marcelle for sharing her story with us.

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HijackLoader unleashed: Evolving threats and sneaky tactics. [Research Saturday] Mar 23, 2024

Show notes

Liviu Arsene from CrowdStrike joins to discuss their research "HijackLoader Expands Techniques to Improve Defense Evasion." The research has found that HijackLoader continues to become increasingly popular among adversaries for deploying additional payloads and tooling.

In their analysis of a recent HijackLoader sample, CrowdStrike researchers discovered new techniques designed to increase the defense evasion capabilities of the loader. Researchers state "this new approach has the potential to make defense evasion stealthier."

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The research can be found here:

HijackLoader Expands Techniques to Improve Defense Evasion

And be sure to join our live webinar: CISOs are the new Architects (of the Workforce)

Join N2K’s Simone Petrella and Intuit’s Kim Jones on Wednesday, March 27th for an online discussion about the pivotal role security leaders play in shaping the security workforce landscape, and how we can start showing up for the future of our industry. Learn more and register on the event page.

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When it rains, it pours. Mar 22, 2024

Show notes

Advanced wiper malware hits Ukraine. Nemesis gets dismantled. Apple deals with an unpatchable vulnerability. FortiGuard rises to the rescue. CISA and FBI join forces against DDoS attacks. US airlines data security and privacy policies are under review. Hackers hit thousands in Jacksonville Beach. Geoffrey Mattson, CEO of Xage Security sits down to discuss CISA's 2024 JCDC priorities. And Hotel keycard locks can’t be that hard to crack.

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CyberWire Guest

Guest Geoffrey Mattson, CEO of Xage Security, joins us to discuss CISA's 2024 JCDC priorities. You can connect with Geoff on LinkedIn and learn more about Xage Security on their website and read about the JCDC 2024 Priorities here.

Geoff’s interview first appeared on March 21st’s episode of T-Minus Space Daily. Check out T-Minus here.

Selected Reading

Sandworm-linked group likely knocked down Ukrainian internet providers (The Record)

AcidPour wiper suspected to be used against Ukrainian telecom networks (SC Media)

Never-before-seen data wiper may have been used by Russia against Ukraine (Ars Technica)

AcidPour | New Embedded Wiper Variant of AcidRain Appears in Ukraine (SentinelOne)

F5, ScreenConnect vulnerabilities leveraged in global Chinese cyberattacks (SC Media)

Nemesis darknet marketplace raided in Germany-led operation (The Record)

Unpatchable vulnerability in Apple chip leaks secret encryption keys (Ars Technica)

Exploit Released For Critical Fortinet RCE Flaw: Patch Soon! (GBHackers on Security)

CISA & FBI Released Guide to Respond for DDoS Attacks (Cyber Security News)

CISA, FBI, and MS-ISAC Release Update to Joint Guidance on Distributed Denial-of-Service Techniques (CISA)

US airlines’ data security, privacy policies to be under federal review (SC Media)

Jacksonville Beach and other US municipalities report data breaches following cyberattacks (The Record)

Hackers Found a Way to Open Any of 3 Million Hotel Keycard Locks in Seconds (WIRED)

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A CIA Psychologist on the Minds of World Leaders, Pt. 2 with Dr. Ursula Wilder [SpyCast] Mar 22, 2024

Show notes

In honor of Women's History Month, please enjoy this episode of the International Spy Museum's SpyCast podcast featuring part 2 of Andrew Hammond's discussion with Dr. Ursula Wilder of the Central Intelligence Agency.

Summary

Dr. Ursula Wilder (LinkedIn) joins Andrew (X; LinkedIn) to discuss the intersections between psychology and intelligence. Ursula is a clinical psychologist with over two decades of experience working at the Central Intelligence Agency.

What You’ll Learn

Intelligence

How psychology can be useful to national security
Historical examples of leadership analysis
Leadership personality assessments & the Cuban Missile Crisis
Psychoanalytic theory and espionage

Reflections

Human nature throughout history
History repeating itself

And much, much more …

Quotes of the Week

“Together, these documents are quite powerful. The psych assessments are very, very carefully, tightly held and are classified at a high level. Every intelligence officer has this fantasy about seeing the file that's kept on them by the opponents.” – Dr. Ursula Wilder.

Resources

SURFACE SKIM

SpyCasts

Agent of Betrayal, FBI Spy Robert Hanssen with CBS’ Major Garrett and Friends (2023)
The North Korean Defector with Former DPRK Agent Kim, Hyun Woo (2023)
SPY@20 – “The Spy of the Century” with Curators Alexis and Andrew on Kim Philby (2022)
“How Spies Think” – 10 Lessons in Intelligence with Sir David Omand (2020)

Beginner Resources

What is Psychoanalysis? Institute of Psychoanalysis, YouTube (2011) [3 min. video]
Psychologists in the CIA, American Psychological Association (2002) [Short article]
7 Reasons to Study Psychology, University of Toronto (n.d.) [Short article]

DEEPER DIVE

Books

Freud and Beyond, S. A. Mitchell (Basic Books, 2016)
Narcissism and Politics: Dreams of Glory, J. M. Post (Cambridge University Press, 2014)
The True Believer: Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements, E. Hoffer (Harper Perennial Modern Classics, 2010)
Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln, D. K. Goodwin (Simon & Schuster, 2004)
Leaders, Fools, and Impostors: Essays on the Psychology of Leadership, M. F. R. Kets de Vries (iUniverse, 2003)

Primary Sources

Charles de Gaulle to Pamela Digby Churchill (1942)
Blood, Toil, Tears and Sweat (1940)
Memoirs of Ulysses S. Grant (1885)
Gettysburg Address (1863)
House Divided Speech (1858)
Excerpt on Cleopatra from Plutarch's Life of Julius Caesar (ca. 2nd century AD)
Plutarch’s The Life of Alexander (ca. 2nd century AD)
Appian’s The Civil Wars (ca. 2nd century AD)
Virgil’s The Aeneid (19 B.C.E)

Wildcard Resource

On Dreams by Sigmund Freud (1901)
In this simplified version of the father of psychoanalysis’ seminal book The Interpretation of Dreams, you can get a small taste for Freudian philosophy. Freud believed that dreams were a reflection of the subconscious mind and that studying a person’s dreams can elucidate their inner wants and needs. What are your dreams telling you?

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Safeguarding American data from foreign hands. Mar 21, 2024

Show notes

The House Unanimously Passes a Bill to Halt Sale of American Data to Foreign Foes. The U.S. Sanctions Russian Individuals and Entities for a Global Disinformation Campaign. China warns of cyber threats from foreign hacking groups. A logistics firm isolates its Canadian division after a cyber attack. Ivanti warns of another critical vulnerability. Researchers find hundreds of vulnerable Firebase instances. Microsoft phases out weaker encryption. Formula One fans fight phishing in the fast lane. Glassdoor is accused of adding real names to profiles without user consent. Our guest is Adam Meyers, SVP of Counter Adversary Operations at CrowdStrike, discussing how adversaries are attacking cloud environments and why it’s an increasingly popular attack surface. And Pwn2Own winners take home their second Tesla.

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CyberWire Guest

Guest Adam Meyers, SVP of Counter Adversary Operations at CrowdStrike, discussing how adversaries are attacking cloud environments and why it’s an increasingly popular attack surface – especially as more companies implement AI. For more information, check out CrowdStrike’s 2024 Global Threat Report.

Selected Reading

House unanimously passes bill to block data brokers from selling Americans’ info to foreign adversaries (The Record)

Treasury Sanctions Actors Supporting Kremlin-Directed Malign Influence Efforts (US Treasury Department)

China warns foreign hackers are infiltrating ‘hundreds’ of business and government networks (SCMP)

International freight tech firm isolates Canada operations after cyberattack (The Record)

Ivanti urges customers to fix critical RCE flaw in Standalone Sentry solution (Security Affairs)

19 million plaintext passwords exposed by incorrectly configured Firebase instances (Malwarebytes)

Microsoft deprecates 1024-bit Windows RSA keys — now would be a good time to get machine identity management in order (ITPro)

Users ditch Glassdoor, stunned by site adding real names without consent (Ars Technica)

Famous Spa GP F1 race comms hijacked by phishing scammers (Cyber Daily)

Security Researchers Win Second Tesla At Pwn2Own (Infosecurity Magazine)

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Sloane Menkes: What is the 2%? [Consultant] [Career Notes] Mar 21, 2024

Show notes

Principal in PricewaterhouseCoopers Cyber Risk and Regulatory Practice, Sloane Menkes, shares her story of how non-linear math helped to shape her life and career. Sloane credits a high school classmate for inspiring her mantra "What is the 2%?" that she employs when she feels like things are shutting down. She talks about her experiences in calculus class at the US AIr Force Academy that helped to enlighten her and inform the intuitive problem solving skill or way of thinking that she'd been employing in her life. She joined Office of Special Investigations and working with Howard Schmidt is where Sloane first started to get interested in cybersecurity. She shares what she loves about the consulting role is that the environment is constantly changing, and she offers some advice for women interested in cybersecurity. We thank Sloane for sharing her story with us.

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Biden's cyber splash in protecting the nation's water systems. Mar 20, 2024

Show notes

The White House Mobilizes a National Effort to Shield Water Systems from Cyber Threats and Announces Major Investment in U.S. Chip Manufacturing. The U.S. and Allies Issue Fresh Warnings on China's Volt Typhoon Cyber Threats to Critical Infrastructure. Microsoft Streamlines 365 Services with a Unified Cloud Domain. Ukrainian authorities take down a credential theft operation. LockBit claims another pharmaceutical company. A popular Wordpress plugin puts tens of thousands of websites at risk. A breach at Mintlify compromises GitHub tokens. An Idaho man pleads guilty to online extortion. The SEC fines firms for AI washing. We’ve got part two of our continuing Learning Layer series with Joe Carrigan and Sam Meisenberg logging Joe’s journey toward his CISSP certification. And password stuffing Pokemon.

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CyberWire Guest

Join us as part two of the Learning Layer special series kicks off. Over the next several weekly episodes of the Learning Layer, host Sam Meisenberg talks with Joe Carrigan from Johns Hopkins University Information Security Institute, and co-host of Hacking Humans podcast. On this episode, they continue to discuss Joe's journey to becoming a CISSP as well as discussing step one of Joe's study journey: the diagnostic assessment.

Selected Reading

White House Calls on States to Boost Cybersecurity in Water Sector (SecurityWeek)

Five Eyes issue another China Volt Typhoon warning (The Register)

Biden to Tout Government Investing $8.5 Billion in Intel's Computer Chip Plants in Four States (VoaNews)

Microsoft Notifies DevOps Teams That Major Domain Change Is Coming (Cybersecurity News)

Ukraine Arrests Hackers for Selling 100 Million Email, Instagram Accounts (Hack Read)

Pharmaceutical development company investigating cyberattack after LockBit posting (The Record)

WordPress Plugin Flaw Exposes 40,000+ Websites to Cyber Attack (GBHackers)

Mintlify Confirms Data Breach Through Compromised GitHub Tokens (Hack Read)

‘Lifelock’ hacker pleads guilty to extorting medical clinics (The Record)

What does 'AI Washing' mean? Firms Fined $400K by SEC for Exaggerated Statements (Cybersecurity News)

Pokémon resets some users’ passwords after hacking attempts (TechCrunch)

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The SEC's Cybersecurity Law, a New Compliance Era with Jacqueline Wudyka. [Threat Vector] Mar 20, 2024

Show notes

In honor of Women's History Month, please enjoy this episode of the Palo Alto Networks Unit 42's Threat Vector podcast featuring host David Moulton's discussion with Jacqueline Wudyka about the SEC's Cybersecurity Law.

In this episode of Threat Vector, we dive deep into the new SEC cybersecurity regulations that reshape how public companies handle cyber risks. Legal expert and Unit 42 Consultant Jacqueline Wudyka brings a unique perspective on the challenges of defining 'materiality,' the enforcement hurdles, and the impact on the cybersecurity landscape.

Whether you're a cybersecurity professional, legal expert, or just keen on understanding the latest in cyber law, this episode is packed with insights and strategies for navigating this new terrain. Tune in to stay ahead in the world of cybersecurity compliance!

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