Symantec Cyber Security Brief Podcast

Latest Episodes:

One billion dollars in Bitcoin on the move, data breaches, Mastercard and Google’s info-sharing deal, and MikroTik developments Sep 06, 2018

Show notes

In this week’s podcast we discuss how insiders are often the ones to blame for data breaches, and how often data breaches are caused by human error more often than malicious attackers. We look at the implications of a deal between Mastercard and Google that allows advertisers to figure out how effective their ads are at getting consumers to make purchases in the real world, and a development in the MikroTik routers hack. Also, we discuss $1 billion in Bitcoin that has suddenly started to move – and ask who might be in control of it?

Andromeda botnet, DNC “hack”, a new Windows zero day, and dark web developments Aug 30, 2018

Show notes

On this week’s podcast we discuss the DNC “hack” that wasn’t, developments on dark web marketplaces, and the release of a Windows zero day on Twitter. We also discuss the Andromeda botnet, following the release from prison of one of the people accused of being behind it.

How much do your mobile apps really know about you? Is your charging cable safe? And is end-to-end encryption under threat? Aug 23, 2018

Show notes

This week, Dick O’Brien is joined by Symantec threat researcher Gillian Cleary, who discusses her recent research into the 100 most popular mobile apps, and how much information they are really gathering about their users. We also discuss an attack dubbed USBHarpoon that turns USB charging cables malicious, and we look at a court case in the U.S. where the government is reportedly attempting to compel Facebook to break the encryption on its Messenger service.

Special Report: Financial Threats Aug 16, 2018

Show notes

This week we bring you a special podcast taking an in-depth look at the financial threats cyber crime landscape. Brigid O’Gorman is joined by Symantec threat analysts Stephen Doherty and Eric Chien to discuss the threats facing both banking consumers and banks themselves. We also discuss the Lazarus group’s role in recent high-value attacks targeting financial institutions, and talk about the future of the financial threats landscape.

“Security through obscurity”, Snapchat's source code leak, MikroTik coin mining campaign, and Symantec talks machine learning at Black Hat Aug 09, 2018

Show notes

In this week’s cyber security news round-up, we chat about Threat Intel’s Liam O’Murchu’s Black Hat presentation: How To Use Machine Learning to Discover New Targeted Attacks. We also discuss the Snapchat source code leak, the coin mining campaign targeting MikroTik routers, and the concept of “security through obscurity” – adding more bugs to code to make it harder for black hat hackers to figure out which bugs are the exploitable ones.

Coin mining in games, SIM hijacking, connected car vulnerabilities, and attacks on the software supply chain within the supply chain Aug 02, 2018

Show notes

Welcome to your weekly cyber security news round-up. This week we discuss the simple-seeming game that was exploiting users’ CPU to mine cryptocurrency. We look at the story of prisoners in the U.S. who hacked their prison-issued tablets, and discuss the teen who stole $5 million through SIM hijacking. We also consider some of the issues that can arise when you buy second-hand connected cars and, yet again, we cover another attack on the software supply chain.

Leafminer research, data breaches, credential stuffing, and IoT security fails Jul 26, 2018

Show notes

In this week’s round-up of all things cyber security we discuss newly-released research from Symantec detailing the activity of Leafminer, a threat actor carrying out campaigns that target organisations in the Middle East. We also discuss the continuing problem of data breaches, and how these can facilitate credential stuffing attacks by cyber criminals. The Internet of things (IoT), and the security failures that often occur in that space, is also up for discussion.

Powershell risks, extortion scams that threaten embarrassment, Twitter clamps down on dodgy accounts, and the financial impact of data breaches Jul 19, 2018

Show notes

This week we look back at the week that was in cyber security. Dick O’Brien is joined by threat researchers Candid Wueest and Brigid O Gorman to discuss the latest research Symantec has just published about how Powershell is being leveraged by malicious actors. We also discuss extortion scams where people are tricked into transferring money to scammers who claim they have video of them visiting adult websites, how Twitter is trying to clean up its platform, and the financial cost of data breaches for business.

Special Report: Software Update Supply Chain Attacks Jul 12, 2018

Show notes

In this week’s podcast, we discuss software supply chain attacks, a subject we wrote about in this year’s ISTR. Software supply chain attacks increased by 200 percent between 2016 and 2017, with at least one attack every month in 2017. Dick O’Brien is joined by Symantec threat researchers Candid Wueest and Gavin O’Gorman to discuss this surge in attacks, and also to talk about two high-profile examples of these kind of attacks: the Petya/NotPetya and CCleaner attacks.

Mid-year review: Some of the biggest stories of 2018 so far, including VPNFilter, Orangeworm, and Meltdown and Spectre Jul 05, 2018

Show notes

In this week’s podcast we take a look back at the first six months of the year, and review some of the biggest cyber security stories. We discuss VPNFilter, a router malware that, unusually, is able to survive the router being rebooted, as well as highlighting the tool that Symantec has released to tell users whether or not their router is infected with VPNFilter. We also look back at investigations into the Orangeworm and Inception Framework attack groups, as well as reviewing the impact of the Meltdown and Spectre bugs. Finally we look to the world of IoT and discuss smart locks, and if they’re really as smart as they claim to be…