

Phoenix Cast
Task Force Phoenix
A podcast about cybersecurity, technology and innovation issues in the military.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Feb 7, 2025 • 56min
MIU
In this episode of Phoenix Cast, hosts John, Rich, and Kyle are joined by special guest Michael Frank and Jimmy Mastrom from the Marine Innovation Unit. Listen as they discuss the relationship between the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) and the Marine Innovation Unit, how they are supporting Marines, and about innovation in general.
Share your thoughts with us on Twitter: @USMC_TFPhoenix (Now verified!) Follow MARFORCYBER, MCCYWG, & MCCOG on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, and YouTube. Leave your review on Apple Podcasts.
Links:
Unit X
https://www.amazon.com/Unit-Pentagon-Silicon-Valley-Transforming/dp/1668031388
https://www.marforres.marines.mil/MIU/
https://www.marforres.marines.mil/MIU/Join/Application/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/marine-innovation-unit/posts/?feedView=all

Jan 17, 2025 • 32min
Cyber Trust Mark Reactions
In this episode of Phoenix Cast, hosts John, Rich, and Kyle discuss the new Cyber Trust Mark.
Share your thoughts with us on Twitter: @USMC_TFPhoenix (Now verified!) Follow MARFORCYBER, MCCYWG, & MCCOG on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, and YouTube. Leave your review on Apple Podcasts.
Links:
https://thehackernews.com/2025/01/fcc-launches-cyber-trust-mark-for-iot.html
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2025/01/07/white-house-launches-u-s-cyber-trust-mark-providing-american-consumers-an-easy-label-to-see-if-connected-devices-are-cybersecure/

Dec 20, 2024 • 1h 10min
Army CIO
In this episode of Phoenix Cast, hosts John, Rich, and Kyle are joined by special guest Leonel Garciga, CIO of the Army. They discuss what a CIO does, how to serve as a principle advisor to a service secretary, and some thoughts on DEVOPS.
Share your thoughts with us on Twitter: @USMC_TFPhoenix (Now verified!) Follow MARFORCYBER, MCCYWG, & MCCOG on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, and YouTube. Leave your review on Apple Podcasts.
Links:
Mr Garciga bio: https://www.cio.gov/about/members-and-leadership/garciga-leonel/
https://defensescoop.com/2024/03/09/army-new-policy-software-development-practices/
https://defensescoop.com/2024/04/22/army-rethinks-approach-ai-enabled-risks-project-linchpin/
Kurzgesagt YouTube video on finding the source of random info:
https://youtu.be/bgo7rm5Maqg?si=Gc6BojRJbIPVfBK8
https://www.amazon.com/Blood-Machine-Origins-Rebellion-Against-ebook/dp/B09N3G2TG9
https://www.amazon.com/Revenge-Tipping-Point-Overstories-Superspreaders/dp/0316575801

Dec 4, 2024 • 54min
What’s next for workloads, SSH concern, and WiFi attack
In this episode of Phoenix Cast, hosts John, Rich, and Kyle discuss some thoughts on where workloads are going, the potential for SSH to leak metadata, and a new WiFi attack.
Share your thoughts with us on Twitter: @USMC_TFPhoenix (Now verified!) Follow MARFORCYBER, MCCYWG, & MCCOG on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, and YouTube. Leave your review on Apple Podcasts.
Links:
Broadcom / VMware / etc -
https://www.theregister.com/2024/11/22/broadcom_vmware_acquisition_first_anniversary/
VMware on AWS - https://aws.amazon.com/blogs/migration-and-modernization/whats-next-for-vmware-workloads-on-aws/
SSH keystroke bypass - https://crzphil.github.io/posts/ssh-obfuscation-bypass/
WiFi Attack -
https://www.wired.com/story/russia-gru-apt28-wifi-daisy-chain-breach/

Nov 15, 2024 • 1h 1min
MC Birthday, DORA State of DEVOPS, and much more
In this episode of Phoenix Cast, hosts John and Kyle discuss excitement around the Marine Corps birthday, a graphic novel from Gene Kim, DORA’s DEVOPS report, Google joining JWCC, a podcast with Gen Nakasone, and some announcements from OpenAI.
Share your thoughts with us on Twitter: @USMC_TFPhoenix (Now verified!) Follow MARFORCYBER, MCCYWG, & MCCOG on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, and YouTube. Leave your review on Apple Podcasts.
Links:
Marine Corps Birthday: https://www.cmc.marines.mil/Birthday/
Phoenix Proejct Graphic novel: https://a.co/d/5pDZdip
Origional Phoenix Project: https://a.co/d/a2Bapd3
Unicorn Project: https://a.co/d/cd4dwgn
DORA DEVOPS: https://dora.dev/
Google joins JWCC: https://breakingdefense.com/2024/10/full-house-google-to-be-final-jwcc-partner-authorized-for-secret-level-cloud-work-in-2025/
Nakasone on mic drop: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/180-mic-drop-exclusive-gen-nakasone-says-reports-about/id1225077306?i=1000675737757
OpenAI buys chat.com
https://techcrunch.com/2024/11/06/openai-acquired-chat-com/
OpenAI websearch
https://openai.com/index/searchgpt-prototype/

Oct 30, 2024 • 1h 1min
AI, Cyber Power, and Spying on Internet Traffic
In this episode of Phoenix Cast, hosts John and Kyle discuss some recent articles on AI, cyber power, and widespread spying on the internet.
Share your thoughts with us on Twitter: @USMC_TFPhoenix (Now verified!) Follow MARFORCYBER, MCCYWG, & MCCOG on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, and YouTube. Leave your review on Apple Podcasts.
Links:
https://venturebeat.com/ai/openai-unveils-experimental-swarm-framework-igniting-debate-on-ai-driven-automation/
https://github.com/openai/swarm
https://www.politico.com/sponsor-content/2024/09/11/chinas-strategy-to-annex-taiwan-is-more-about-cyber-power-than-firepower
https://www.wsj.com/podcasts/the-journal/the-chinese-hackers-spying-on-us-internet-traffic/65f72237-a374-41da-907a-3dcaa9abbd55

Oct 8, 2024 • 1h 8min
Pagers/Radios, CISA white hot take & Spotlight on Multinational Tech Collab
In this episode of Phoenix Cast, hosts John, Rich, and Kyle discuss exploding pagers, CISA’s hot take, and international collaboration.
Share your thoughts with us on Twitter: @USMC_TFPhoenix (Now verified!) Follow MARFORCYBER, MCCYWG, & MCCOG on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, and YouTube. Leave your review on Apple Podcasts.
Links:
BBC pager article: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cz04m913m49o
NPR pager article:
https://www.npr.org/2024/09/20/g-s1-23812/lebanon-israel-exploding-pagers-hezbollah-international-law. Points of Interest: 1. One particular focus is Article 7(2) of the Amended Protocol II of the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons, which was added to an international law focused on the use of conventional weapons in 1996. Both Israel and Lebanon have agreed to it; 2. It prohibits the use of booby traps or "objects that civilians are likely to be attracted to or are associated with normal civilian daily use;" 3. "U.S. Defense Department also references that same article from those amended 1996 protocols in its own "Law of War Manual," with an oft-cited example of communications headsets that Italian military units booby-trapped with explosives after retreating during World War II.
CISA: https://www.theregister.com/2024/09/20/cisa_software_cybercrime_villains/
AUKUS EW challenge article:
https://defensescoop.com/2024/09/26/aukus-inaugural-electronic-warfare-challenge-winners/
The Dragons and the Snakes: How the Rest Learned to Fight the West
https://a.co/d/cqH7Nns

Sep 23, 2024 • 1h 3min
PIXHELL RAMBO No Such Podcast and Tech Regulation
In this episode of Phoenix Cast, hosts John, Rich and Kyle discuss some interesting EXFIL potentials presented by security researchers, a surprising new podcast, and some new technology regulation.
Share your thoughts with us on Twitter: @USMC_TFPhoenix and our LinkedIn Group. And of course a coveted 5 star review on Apple Podcasts.
Links:
PIXHELL: https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/new-pixhell-acoustic-attack-leaks-secrets-from-lcd-screen-noise/
RAMBO:
https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/new-rambo-attack-steals-data-using-ram-in-air-gapped-computers/
No such podcast:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/no-such-podcast/id1763301518
Tech regulation:
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/world/google-and-apple-lose-legal-battles-in-europe-and-now-owe-billions-in-fines-and-back-taxes
https://www.npr.org/2024/08/05/nx-s1-5064624/google-justice-department-antitrust-search
https://www.wired.com/story/european-commission-big-tech-regulation-outlook/

Sep 13, 2024 • 52min
Crowdstrike, PRC tradecraft, Campaign Hack
In this episode of Phoenix Cast, hosts John and Kyle talk about the crowdstrike outage, PRC tradecraft, and the hack of a political campaign and the attribution of that hack.
Share your thoughts with us on Twitter: @USMC_TFPhoenix (Now verified!) Follow MARFORCYBER, MCCYWG, & MCCOG on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, and YouTube. Leave your review on Apple Podcasts.
Links:
Crowdstrike - https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/crowdstrike-update-crashes-windows-systems-causes-outages-worldwide/
Kernel access -
https://www.theregister.com/2024/07/22/windows_crowdstrike_kernel_eu/
PRC Tradecraft -
https://www.nsa.gov/Press-Room/Press-Releases-Statements/Press-Release-View/Article/3830375/nsa-joins-in-releasing-case-studies-showing-prc-tradecraft-in-action/
Campaign Hack -
https://apnews.com/article/iran-fbi-trump-intelligence-community-52641cd66412d7c01d73876acab3d989
Attribution -
https://www.stimson.org/2024/advancing-accountability-in-cyberspace/

Aug 30, 2024 • 1h 36min
More Cyber Force Discussion
In this episode of Phoenix Cast, hosts John, Rich and Kyle are joined by …..
Share your thoughts with us on Twitter: @USMC_TFPhoenix (Now verified!) Follow MARFORCYBER, MCCYWG, & MCCOG on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, and YouTube. Leave your review on Apple Podcasts.
Links:
Irregular Warfare Podcast 1: https://irregularwarfare.org/podcasts/do-we-need-a-cyber-force-part-1-arguments-for-a-seventh-service/#:~:text=This%20episode%20is%20a%20two,recruitment%2C%20training%2C%20and%20retention.
Irregular Warfare Podcast 2:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/irregular-warfare-podcast/id1514636385?i=1000664818586
Dual Hat Article
https://therecord.media/new-review-will-examine-nsa-and-cyber-commands-dual-hat-structure
Posture statement:
https://www.cybercom.mil/Media/News/Article/3739700/posture-statement-of-general-timothy-d-haugh-2024/WOTR: https://warontherocks.com/2024/07/a-cyber-force-is-not-the-only-solution/