The Defender's Advantage Podcast

This week’s episode of The Defender’s Advantage Podcast features Emiel Haeghebaert and Ashley Zaya who joined Threat Trends series host Luke McNamara to discuss Mandiant’s most recently graduated APT group, APT42.  Mandiant has identified APT42 as an Iranian-sponsored cyber espionage group tasked with conducting information collection and surveillance operations against individuals and organizations of strategic interest to the Iranian government. During the conversation, Emiel and Ashley dig into APT42’s activity and tactics, including spear-phishing and social engineering techniques. They also discuss where the group fits in to the threat landscape and how they see threat actor evolving. Read our blog post detailing our research on APT42: https://mndt.info/3R6Qs4zDon’t forget to rate, review, and subscribe to The Defender’s Advantage Podcast where you listen to podcasts. 

This latest installment of the Frontline Stories series, part of The Defender’s Advantage Podcast, features Nucleus Security Co-Founder and CEO Stephen Carter, who joined our host Kerry Matre for a conversation on CISA KEV. CISA’s Known Exploited Vulnerabilities list prioritizes vulnerabilities the agency has determined to be exploited in the wild and mandates that specified U.S. civilian agencies patch the vulnerabilities by a specified deadline. Stephen and Kerry discuss how vulnerability management has evolved and how this effort from CISA helps U.S. civilian agencies as well as organizations globally. Follow Nucleus Security at https://nucleussec.com and follow at @nucleussec. Don’t forget to rate, review, and subscribe to The Defender’s Advantage Podcast where you listen to podcasts. 

The latest episode of the Skills Gap series, part of The Defender’s Advantage Podcast, features Mandiant Managed Defense team members Robert Parker and David Lindquist, who joined host Chris Campbell to discuss what they look for when hiring for their team. They detail the skills they look for most as they interview candidates and their tips for those looking to enhance their marketability in the industry. Robert and David also share instances in which they might shift their requirements of a potential candidate in favor of hiring someone with less experience and building them up. Don’t forget to rate, review, and subscribe to The Defender’s Advantage Podcast where you listen to podcasts. Additional Resources Read more about how Mandiant is helping to address the cyber security skills gap: https://mndt.info/3QyO9XL

In the latest Threat Trends episode of The Defender’s Advantage Podcast, host Luke McNamara is joined by Teresa Walsh, Global Head of Intelligence at the Financial Services Information Sharing and Analysis Center (FS-ISAC), for a deep dive on the financial services industry. Teresa discusses her journey from roles in government and how her experience has shaped her view of financial services. She also discusses how she sees the threat landscape impacting her customers and how FS-ISAC aids institutions in building resiliency against threats. Don’t forget to rate, review, and subscribe to The Defender’s Advantage Podcast where you listen to podcasts!  

In this week’s episode of The Defender’s Advantage Podcast, Kerry Matre, host of the Frontline Stories series, is joined by Mandiant’s Tim Crothers and Matt Shelton who discuss their role in protecting the company from attackers. Both share their professional journeys, how changes at the company have impacted their responsibilities, and some standout moments they’ve experienced while safeguarding Mandiant, such as the SolarWinds attack campaign. Tim and Matt also detail how they continue to promote security awareness among employees and offer their insights on the steps security and non-security companies can take to ensure that their environments are secure against attackers. Don’t forget to rate, review, and subscribe to The Defender’s Advantage Podcast where you listen to podcasts! 

In the latest Threat Trends episode of The Defender’s Advantage Podcast, Mandiant’s Jon Ford and Stacy O’Mara join host Luke McNamara for a conversation on election security. They discuss how organizations involved in the process of elections should think of cyber security in the lead up to these events, preparedness steps they have seen states take, and the evolution of the federal approach in the United States. Jon and Stacy also discuss some of the federal resources states and local entities can leverage for preparation going into the 2022 midterm elections and the 2024 general election in the U.S. Learn more about Mandiant’s expertise around election security at https://mndt.info/3zEzWCODon’t forget to rate, review, and subscribe to The Defender’s Advantage Podcast where you listen to podcasts. 

All too often, hiring managers find themselves seeking candidates who fit 100% of the description for the role they are trying to fill. Because of this, they overlook a swath of applicants who are good for the job. In this week’s Skills Gap episode of The Defender’s Advantage Podcast, host Chris Campbell speaks with Mandiant consulting team members Dan Nutting, Kal Guntuku, and Chris Linklater about this habit and its contribution to the cyber security skills gap. The group also discusses the skills that companies could weigh outsourcing versus what skills they should consider keeping in-house.  Don’t forget to rate, review, and subscribe to The Defender’s Advantage Podcast wherever you listen to podcasts! Additional Resources: Read tips from Mandiant's Kevin Bordlemay for candidates on how they can stand out during the application process in this Business Insider article: https://mndt.info/3Ohzezt

In this Threat Trends episode of The Defender’s Advantage Podcast, hear from Michelle Cantos who joins host Luke McNamara to discuss artificial intelligence (AI) in cyber and how adversaries are using AI in their activities today. Michelle details manipulated media techniques such as artificially generated images and vishing, tactics that have been increasingly employed by threat actors. She also discusses how financially motivated actors are seeking to leverage AI capabilities for extortive activity, and what we might expect to see as AI is further applied to cyber espionage operations. Don’t forget to rate, review, and subscribe to The Defender’s Advantage Podcast where you listen to podcasts.

This special episode of The Defender’s Advantage Podcast features Mandiant CTO Marshall Heilman speaking with Edgard Capdevielle, CEO of Nozomi Networks. The conversation, recorded in-person at RSA Conference 2022, delves into the partnership between Mandiant and Nozomi, and how the organizations can take on escalating cyber risks to secure cyber-physical infrastructure. Marshall and Edgard discuss the trends they are seeing in the industrial and critical infrastructure space and the role of zero trust in how we secure modern day OT and ICS systems. You can learn more about Nozomi Networks at their website: https://www.nozominetworks.com/ Follow Nozomi Networks at @nozominetworks Additional Resources Learn more about the Mandiant Cyber Alliance Program: https://mndt.info/3xnXw5r 

In this week’s episode of The Defender’s Advantage Podcast Threat Trends series, host Luke McNamara is joined by Anne Marie Engtoft Larsen to discuss her role as Danish Tech Ambassador and how the role has evolved since Denmark appointed the first Tech Ambassador in 2017. She chats about her views on cyber diplomacy and the value of partnerships with private sector cyber security companies. Ambassador Larsen also discusses the need for governments to tackle the issue of disinformation, talking specifically about the recent examples we’ve seen around COVID-19 and elections. Learn more about the Strategy for Denmark’s Tech Diplomacy 2021-2023 You can follow Ambassador Larsen at @TechambDK. Don’t forget to rate, review, and subscribe to The Defender’s Advantage Podcast where you listen to podcasts.