The Hunt for the Most Dangerous Cyber Criminals

Episode 8 of the Security Stories podcast is a little different from usual, but for good reason! With the help of some very special guests, we take a comprehensive look back at the incredible Not Petya cyber attack. Including the Sandworm hackers, and the context behind this act of cyber warfare.

First to join us is Noureen Njoroge, a senior cybersecurity engineer and threat intelligence analyst at Cisco. Noureen is a passionate advocate for women and minorities in the IT industry, and is the founder of Cisco’s global mentoring program, as well as the president of North Carolina Women in Cybersecurity (WiCyS) Affiliate chapter. We learn about Noureen’s passion for mentoring, as well as her insights into the threat landscape.

Then we’re joined by Andy Greenberg, senior cybersecurity investigative journalist for Wired Magazine, and author of the book “Sandworm: A New Era of Cyberwar and the Hunt for the Kremlin’s Most Dangerous Hackers”.

The book tells the true story of the desperate hunt to identify and track an elite team of Russian agents who are bent on digital sabotage. It starts out as a detective story but it soon turns into a disaster story.

The book and excerpts from it published in WIRED won a Gerald Loeb Award for International Reporting, a Sigma Delta Chi Award from the Society of Professional Journalists, two Deadline Club Awards from the New York Society of Professional Journalists, and the Cornelius Ryan Citation for Excellence from the Overseas Press Club

Andy also talks about his time spent in Russia and Ukraine, gathering sources, and learning about this new  type of cyber criminal. And he has a fascinating take on how the hacker culture has evolved.

Finally, we’re joined by senior threat analysts from the Cisco Talos team (and legendary podcast Beers with Talos), including Craig Williams, Matt Olny and Mitch Neff.

In an extended edition of our ‘On this Day’s feature, we chat to the team about what happened on the day of the attack (June 27th 2017), the process the investigative team used to find out what was really happening, and what impact the attack has left.

This really is a fascinating episode with some incredible guests, who each share their insights, experience and advice for the benefit of the wider cybersecurity community.

You can listen to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, or wherever you normally get your podcasts from!You can also listen right here and now:

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