Transatlantic Cable Podcast

Welcome to the final edition of the Kaspersky podcast for 2019. Dave and I kick off episode 123 by looking at a story in the city of New Orleans.

Last week, the home of the famous Mardi Gras festivities, was hit with a series of cyber attacks including phishing and ransomware. To avoid the spread of the attack, the city pulled their computers offline and asked their employees to resort to using classic era tactics like radios and pens and paper.

Following that story, we take a look at the latest issue pertaining Facebook and data privacy. However, the twist here is that unlike user data being compromised, it was employee data stolen. Also the attack was far from cyber as the company saw data, including banking details of 29,000 employees stolen on hard drives left within an employee’s car. We then move across Silicon Valley to take a look at Ring’s home surveillance network. It seems that the popular home doorbell camera is sharing more than many would like bringing into question whether the IoT device is actually a good idea to install. To close out the story portion of our podcast, we take a look at the devastating toll that video moderation on YouTube takes on moderators.

Direct download: 123_final.mp3
Category:technology -- posted at: 8:54am EDT

Welcome to the 122nd edition of the Kaspersky Transatlantic Cable podcast. This week, Dave and I take a look at what’s doing the rounds this week in the infosec world.

To start, we take a look at how Evil Corp, a loose coalition of hackers has managed to steal over $100 million from victims – but now the FBI is offering a $5 million reward.

From there, we take a look at how the Which? Consumer group, based in the UK is warning parents about a ‘hackable’ Bluetooth walkie-talkie.  We then quickly move onto how some scammers are looking to profit from the Elder Scrolls Online game by sending out phishing emails and messages (hint: if an email ever asks for your password, delete the email.)

To wrap up Dave and I look at how Tinder users are sharing more than their fare-share of information on the dating platform.

Direct download: 122_final.mp3
Category:technology -- posted at: 5:48am EDT

Welcome to the 121st edition of the Kaspersky Transatlantic Cable Podcast. This week, Dave and I hit on some topics that were missed in the Black Friday and Cyber Monday hoopla.

We start off the podcast looking at smart TVs. Government entities in both the US and Russia have made some moves that are worth keeping an eye on. In the US, it was the FBI talking tape and in Russia, it is on adding software to the devices before purchase.

From there, Dave and I stay on the topic of smart devices with Amazon’s Ring. There has been a lot of chatter on this topic from a privacy and policy standpoint in regard to their new “watch list.” On the topic of Amazon, we also take a look at the growing concerns on the daily integration of the company within major US cities. Our next story brings us to TikTok and the latest controversy surrounding their latest bout of censorship. Our fourth story visits the stance of Facebook in regards to factual vs. fake political ads. To wrap up the podcast, we look at the latest crypto-wallet to leave customers without funds.

Direct download: 121_final.mp3
Category:technology -- posted at: 10:03am EDT

Where did the year go? One minute, we were talking about predictions for the coming  year and now… well, we have entered the most wonderful time of the year. You know, the time with fat guys and red suits and burning credit cards...

To kick off the 120th installment, we head to the blog of AV Test, however, we will not be talking about the ratings of AV products. Instead, we take a look at their IoT research into the insecurity of a smart watch made for children.

For our second topic, we head to New York, where the NYPD had suffered a minor incident with ransomware from a 3rd-party contractor. From there, we jump across the US to take a look at the latest in the case of the Jack Dorsey hackers. <em>Spoiler alert</em> includes an arrest. For the fourth topic, we look at Black Friday/Cyber Monday and how shoppers can stay safe from scams. Afterwards, David chats with Kaspersky researcher David Emm for some more tips for shoppers.

To wrap up the show, we take a look at the bizarre purchase of an expensive printer and VR coming to Russian cows.

Direct download: 120_final.mp3
Category:technology -- posted at: 5:16am EDT

Welcome to the Kaspersky Transatlantic Cable Podcast. To kick off the 119th edition of the podcast, Dave and I take a look at reported bug in Facebook’s iOS app. Now the question is, is this over-hyped or something that you should be concerned with?

Our second story takes a look at the current issues with 5G and the security concerns. From there, we head into the world of DDoS attacks and look at an “attack” on the Labour Party in the UK as well as statistics from our research team for the last quarter. After the DDoS goodness, we close out the podcast with some good news for law enforcement on the carding scheme.

Direct download: 119_final.mp3
Category:technology -- posted at: 5:41am EDT

As we take on the 118th edition of the Kaspersky podcast, Dave and I take a look to the future.

The first story takes a look at Ring. Now we all know about what Ring can do now, but as we are seeing their relationships with law enforcement grow, are we ready for what the future holds?

After that, we stay in the realm of Amazon and the future of Alexa. Now how would you feel if your virtual assistant had eyes and walked? From the home space, we move to the air. This story is not “new” news, but is something that is worth keeping an eye on as the UK is looking to have regulations around drones. To close out the podcast, we take a look at healthcare and Google’s Project Nightingale.

Direct download: 118_final.mp3
Category:technology -- posted at: 8:40am EDT

For the 117th episode of the Kaspersky Transatlantic Cable Podcast, Dave and I take change things up a bit. Instead of a 20-minute episode, we go a bit longer with a talk with one of the researchers from the Kaspersky Global Research and Analysis Team (GReAT).

Our first story heads to the United States and the energy sector. The issue in the story is tied to an energy company that suffered a cyberattack to their firewalls.

 

From Arizona, we head across the Atlantic to Eurasia. In this story we look at the impact of Bitcoin mining in the Republic of Georgia. While many often hang on the environmental impact, however what if the energy was renewable? After our talk on renewable energy, we head back to the States where we look at the new challenge to facial recognition technology.

After the first three stories, we deviate from our normal programing. I sit down with Santiago from our research team to discuss his latest research on the world of gaming cheating. There are a number of things in there that surprised me, most notably the amount of money and the similarities with the black market for malware.

To close things out, we stay on the topic of gaming and look at the latest on a professional player banned for cheating.

Direct download: 117_final.mp3
Category:technology -- posted at: 9:55am EDT

For the 166th edition of the Kaspersky Transatlantic Cable Podcast, Dave and I take a look at a number of stories that tie back to the police theme.

To kick off the week’s episode, we take a look at a story within the automotive space. There the author puts on his cyber sleuthing hat to realize that the license plates of cars they had used in photos would show up in Google search results.

 

The second story jumps into more of a political piece where we take a look at the conversation surrounding Facebook and a privately funded public police force. We stay on the topic of laws when we discuss the recent news of the FTC looking for consent with stalkerware apps. For our fourth story, we look at a windfall that Aussie law enforcement received from a Bitcoin seizure a few years ago, but paid out recently. To close out, we look at the latest on the Samsung story with the unlock issues.

Direct download: 116_final.mp3
Category:technology -- posted at: 10:05am EDT

The 115th installment of the Kaspersky Transatlantic Cable Podcast takes a look at a wide range of stories from phishing devices in your home to the US military.

To kick things off, we look at some new research tied to Google Home and Amazon Alexa devices. This one is more of a proof of concept on malicious apps phishing from a smart device already in homes.

From there, we stay on the topic of Google and move from smart home devices to smart devices. This time the new Pixel has some issues when it comes to the face unlock feature. From smart devices, we jump over to the military where the US Air Force is bidding happy trails to 8-inch floppy drives when it comes to the missile system. To close out the podcast we take a look at the US Girl Scouts National Cyber Security Challenge.

Direct download: 115_final.mp3
Category:technology -- posted at: 9:54am EDT

After a two-week hiatus from the podcast, Dave returns for the 114th installment of the Transatlantic Cable Podcast.

 

We open the episode looking at the latest news on the Facebook front. Unlike most of our podcasts, the focus won’t be on privacy snafus, instead, we will look at the latest news with Facebook’s Libra. 

Following up on that, we head across California to Google. In this week’s story, the focus is on the privacy surrounding smart speakers and whether or not owners should disclose their presence to guests in the house. The third story has us jumping to a more global scale where ATM jackpotting is once again in the spotlight, this time it is Cutlet Maker. For the fourth story, we discuss the latest scam tied to jailbreaking iPhone. To wrap up the podcast, we discuss discount phone protectors and how you may get what you pay for.

Direct download: 114_final.mp3
Category:technology -- posted at: 5:26am EDT

For the 113th episode of the Kaspersky Transatlantic Cable podcast, I fly solo as Dave is still on holiday. We will return to our regularly scheduled programing in next week’s edition.  

To kick off the episode, I discuss the latest snafu from Twitter where verification numbers and emails may have been added to the company’s Tailored Audience program.

While Twitter is still short on details, is definitely a story worth keeping an eye on. The second story looks at the latest round of Governments v. Facebook & Encryption. We talk about this topic quite a bit, but is still one that comes back over and over as governments try to find their way into encrypted messenger apps. From there, the discussion goes to the latest on the British Airlines breach and what it means for those impacted. The next story takes a look at a bug that could have some serious repercussions in WhatsApp due to a GIF. The last story of the week looks at an email intrusion over at Toms Shoes. We close the podcast the way we started, with a bit of a PSA for those looking to attend the Security Analyst Summit in Barcelona next year.

If you like what you heard, please consider sharing with your friends or subscribing. For more details on the stories from this week, please click the links below.

 

Direct download: Podcast_10.9.19.mp3
Category:technology -- posted at: 8:23am EDT

For the 112th edition of the Kaspersky Transatlantic Cable podcast, I head to Moscow to discuss privacy with four of my corporate communications colleagues.

During the 20+ minute talk with Julia, Kate, Oksana and Anya, the discussion ranges from how we share online to what privacy is, what it is not and who should be regulating privacy on the Internet.  

If you enjoy the podcast, consider subscribing and sharing with your friends who need more regular updates on security. For more tips on privacy online, check out the blogposts on the topic below. 

Direct download: Podz_Moscow_Privacy_Ladies.1_-_10219_8.31_AM.mp3
Category:technology -- posted at: 8:41am EDT

On this week’s edition of the Kaspersky Podcast, Dave and I cross both the Atlantic and Pacific while discussing the week’s story.

Episode 111 kicks off with a story that is looking at how Facebook has suspended tens of thousands of apps in the wake of the Cambridge Analytica scandal. 

From there, we look at how TikTok has become the latest social media site that is being targeted by dating scams. We then move along to Google announcing  that they have changed some policies tied to reducing the amount of recordings that will be listened to by humans from Google Home. The next story takes a look at a school in the UK that is starting to leverage AI to identify students who are being bullied or may cause self-harm. We close out the week with a look at parenting tips for parents raising kids in the digital age.

Direct download: 111_final.mp3
Category:technology -- posted at: 5:01am EDT

On this week’s edition of the Kaspersky Podcast, Dave and I stay Stateside for the majority of the stories this week.

The first story on episode 110 has us looking at YouTube for the second week in a row. This week, we look at a tale from the BBC where major advertisers are seeing their ads landing next to fake cancer cure videos.

 

Following that story, we take a look at the latest hoops that Equifax is making the victims of the breach jump through to gain their $125. After that, we look into an alleged ransomware attack that has hit terrestrial radio giant Entercom. The third story focuses in on a new proposed cyber insurance for consumers and what potential ills that this may be offering. The final story looks at a unique crime – instead of the cyber world, we focus on the loo.

Direct download: 110_final.mp3
Category:technology -- posted at: 6:35am EDT

Welcome to the 109th edition of the Kaspersky Transatlantic Cable Podcast, on this week’s edition, Dave and I take a look at some of the security stories you may have missed over the past week.  

To kick things off, we take a look at the $107 million fine for YouTube after violated child privacy laws.

After that, we stay in the States and discuss a recent outage at Tesla’s app that left some unable to start their cars – because with apps, who needs keys? In an interesting bucking of trends, New Bedford, Massachusetts doesn’t pay hackers who hit their systems with ransomware, instead, recovering from backups. To wrap up the edition, we look at some public mud-flinging from Apple towards Google.

Direct download: 109_final.mp3
Category:technology -- posted at: 6:27am EDT

Our first story lands us in the browser world. Instead of talking on ways you are tracked or bad things, we take a look at the good things in the latest edition of Firefox.

From there, we jump back to the physical world. Our stories take us to Germany and an interesting case of banking customers having chip and pin cards cloned and €1.2 million racked up in charges. The third story takes us across the Atlantic where hundreds of dental offices have been hit with ransomware. To close things out, we head to Jolly Ole England where the TfL is asking customers to write their passwords on a sheet of paper to give to an agent.

Direct download: 108_final.mp3
Category:technology -- posted at: 5:23am EDT

For the latest Kaspersky Daily podcast, Dave and I dive into some of the biggest security stories that may have passed your radar this week.  

To kick off episode 107, we head to Kazakhstan. A while back, the government asked its citizens to install a certificate so they could track all traffic. Now Google, Apple and Mozilla have blocked that tracking on their browsers. 

We then head over to the twisting saga of Valve and their bug bounty program and a researcher dropping two zero days. This is an interesting tale and one that seems to encompass some of the issues with current bug bounty programs and what is a bug that is needed to be fixed. After that, we head to the all-to-messy tale of a T-Mobile customer who had her information given over to a bill collector creep. This person, in turn harassed her in a serious manner. If you read one story this week, this one is the one to read. The next story takes a look at how Xbox contractors had been listening into some customers voice commands – joining the long list of other companies guilty of this. We end out the podcast with a pair of PSA’s from Facebook. One is a new data deletion feature, or should we say disconnection feature. The other is simply a Please STOP for those posting copyright texts to Facebook and Instagram – they do nothing.

Direct download: 107_final.mp3
Category:technology -- posted at: 8:36am EDT

For the 106th edition of the Kaspersky podcast, Dave and I dive into some of the hottest cybersecurity news of the week.

To start things off, we take a look at the new ransomware targeting players of Fortnite. If you have kids playing the game or play it yourself, be on the lookout for some sketchy cheats.

 Following that story, we examine a story from the UK that discusses how Mercedes is using sensors in leased vehicles to help repo men take back cars from those who have went arears with their lease. After that, Dave talks with Brian Bartholomew of our GReAT team on the state of healthcare in North America. The fourth story heads to the great state of Texas where 22 municipalities have been hot with a coordinated ransomware attack. Keep an eye on this story as it is still developing. To close out the podcast, we look at the hot story of “smart” toaster ovens turning on by themselves. Depending on who you ask, this is either user error or a bug with the ovens. Seriously, do you really need a connected oven?

Direct download: tcp_106_final.mp3
Category:technology -- posted at: 11:06am EDT

Welcome to the 105th instalment of the Kaspersky podcast, Dave and I take a look at some important stories that you may have missed this week.

To kick things off, we look at recent news on robocall-blocking apps. While they may look to curb the volume of these phantom calls, there is more than meets the eye. Some of these apps are actually sharing data with third-parties.

After that story, we head to the latest big business to be caught listening in on “private” recordings. This time it is Microsoft and contractors with Skype. From there, we look at the new security cameras that are using facial recognition in King’s Cross. For those of you looking to go to Hogwarts, you may want to use a spell or two to keep your privacy. After that, we look at a “whoops we’re sorry” from Twitter with personal data and advertisements. To close out the week, we look at intrusion by warshipping.

Direct download: 105_final.mp3
Category:technology -- posted at: 8:21am EDT

 

To start things off, we head to a meeting of the Five Eyes nations. While there, the government representatives pushed for more backdoors in encryption – because criminals. Is this a good thing or a bad thing? 

Following that story, we head to the US where a law is being proposed to congress to ban addictive properties of social networks. We keep on the law topic and look at the challenges from privacy groups about Amazon’s Ring doorbell and its role in surveillance by law enforcement.  We close out the week’s podcast looking at the latest in the Equifax breach.

Direct download: tcp_104_final.mp3
Category:technology -- posted at: 6:43am EDT