In this episode, Graham unravels Operation Endgame - the surprisingly stylish police crackdown that is seizing botnets, mocking malware authors with anime videos, and taunting cybercriminals via Telegram.

Meanwhile, Carole exposes the AI-generated remote hiring threat. Could your next coworker be a North Korean hacker with a perfect LinkedIn?

And BBC cyber correspondent Joe Tidy joins us to talk about "Ctrl-Alt-Chaos", his new book diving into the murky world of teenage hackers, ransomware gangs, and the strange motivations that lie behind digital mayhem.

Plus: competitive pond husbandry, dead slugs, Hitster the board game, and a shoutout to the AI startup that hijacked Graham's SEO.

All this and more is discussed in episode 423 of the "Smashing Security" podcast by cybersecurity veterans Graham Cluley and Carole Theriault - it's like a cauldron of life... but for cybersecurity.

Warning: This podcast may contain nuts, adult themes, and rude language.

Episode links:

Operation Endgame.
Ctrl+Alt+Chaos.
Lizard Squad Member: Why I Took Down Xbox and PlayStation - YouTube.
Reckoning With the Rise of Deepfakes - The Regulatory Review.
Deepfake interviews: Navigating the growing AI threat in recruitment and organizational security - Fast Company.
Why Your Hiring Process is Now a Cybersecurity Vulnerability - Pindrop.
Best Practices for Defeating Deepfake Candidate Fraud - Dice Hiring.
Phanpy - A minimalistic opinionated Mastodon web client.
How to make a mini pond - Gardener’s World.
Hitster board game.
Smashing Security merchandise (t-shirts, mugs, stickers and stuff)

Sponsored by:

Vanta– Expand the scope of your security program with market-leading compliance automation… while saving time and money. Smashing Security listeners get $1000 off!
Flare- Uncover the latest threats across the dark web and Telegram. Start your free trial today.
Trelica by 1Password - Access Governance for every SaaS app. Discover, manage, and optimize access for any of your SaaS apps - whether managed or unmanaged.

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THANKS:

Theme tune: "Vinyl Memories" by Mikael Manvelyan.

Assorted sound effects: AudioBlocks.

This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis:

OP3 - https://op3.dev/privacy

"SAWDUST PROTOTYPE UNDERPANTS" w/ Gareth Reynolds and Jerry Trainor