Reflections on the scam's targeting effort

Graham gets a phone call from the police. Well, someone who sounds convincingly like the police. There's just one small problem: what they really want is the 24-word seed key to Graham's cryptocurrency wallet.

Meanwhile, if you've stayed in a hotel recently, the free Wi-Fi you connected to might have come with an unexpected extra: an all-you-can-eat buffet of "Captive Crunch" for a Russian intelligence-linked hacking group.

And a group calling itself the "ExFilSquad" has walked off with 600,000 records of the UK's teachers and head teachers from the Department for Education - sending an unusually polite ransom demand.

All this and more in episode 479 of the "Smashing Security" podcast with cybersecurity expert and keynote speaker Graham Cluley, and special guest Danny Palmer.

EPISODE LINKS:

• Cryptocurrency mailing list compromised - Tweet by Trezor.
• Users’ seemingly private conversations with Anthropic’s Claude showed up in Google search results - Fortune.
• Sweeping cyberattack on water systems in multiple states has US officials on edge  - CNN.
• Minnesota not Iran to blame for state's water issues, says Trump - BBC News.
• Google pauses AI satellite images, after fears of deepfakes in the sky - NPR.
• CaptiveCrunch: Midnight Blizzard targets travelers worldwide for malware delivery and credential theft - Microsoft Security Blog.
• DNS Poisoning Tactics Expand to Hospitality Wi-Fi - ReliaQuest.
• Hackers steal sensitive data from UK Department for Education and police - The Guardian.
• University of Arts London on Securing Creativity Against Cyber Threats - Infosecurity Magazine.
• 7 Things About Doctor Who I Learned From “When I Say Run, Run” - The Doctor Who Companion.
• What Stanley didn't say - The Guardian.
• Adrian Rigelsford - Wikipedia.
• Black Mesa: Re-visit the world that started the Half-Life continuum - Crowbar Collective.
• Smashing Security merchandise (t-shirts, mugs, stickers and stuff)

SPONSORS:

• NordLayer - the network security platform for modern teams across different work environments. Use code NLSUMMER26 for up to 20% off annual plans.
• Arctic Wolf - See why 1 in 3 IT assets is missing a critical security control. Download the 2026 State of the Cybersecurity Attack Surface report.
• Vanta - Expand the scope of your security program with market-leading compliance automation… while saving time and money. Smashing Security listeners get $1000 off!

SUPPORT THE SHOW:

Tell your friends and colleagues about “Smashing Security”, and leave us a review on Apple Podcasts or Podchaser.

Become a supporter! Join Smashing Security PLUS via Patreon or Apple Podcasts for ad-free episodes on our early-release feed!

FOLLOW THE SHOW:

Follow us on Bluesky or Mastodon, or on the Smashing Security subreddit, and visit our website for more episodes.

THANKS:

Theme tune: "Vinyl Memories" by Mikael Manvelyan.

Assorted sound effects: AudioBlocks.