The Defender's Advantage Podcast

Jake Knowlton, Andy Schmidt, and Paul Shaver join host Luke McNamara to discuss making the transition from the military to working in cyber security. Jake, Andy, and Paul share their perspectives and how they became involved in this field, some of the challenges veterans might face, and how veterans can position their prior experience for roles in infosec. For more on Mandiant’s partnership with VetSec, please see this blog post: https://www.mandiant.com/resources/mandiant-collaborating-with-vetsec-to-train-us-service-members-veterans 

Jared Semrau and James Sadowski join host Luke McNamara to discuss some of their teams’ research this year into the rise of observed 0-days and other exploitation trends. They cover how the vulnerability landscape has evolved over the years, what has made 2021 stand out so far, and how the nature of threat activity—particularly the growth of ransomware—has shifted the makeup of actors in this space. For Mandiant Advantage users, please see related reporting mentioned in this episode: Patch Me If You Can: Analyzing Trends in Time to Exploit (Q1 2020 Through Q1 2021)Shut the Front Door: VPN Vulnerability Exploitation Trends, January 2019 – June 2021

While the broader discussion of cyber-related incidents, events, and trends are contributed to by many different types of organizations and individuals, journalists play an important role in furthering our collective understanding of this space. Journalist Kim Zetter joins host Luke McNamara on Eye on Security to share her perspective in covering cybersecurity as a journalist. Kim discusses how the cybersecurity beat has evolved over the years, where she gathers information to write stories, and some of the themes she sees in the current conversation about cybersecurity issues. 

For the launch of Mandiant’s most newly graduated threat group, FIN12, Kimberly Goody (Director, Financial Crime Analysis) and Josh Shilko (Principal Technical Analyst, Financial Crime Analysis) join Eye on Security to discuss this actor. They cover this group’s TTPs and targets, where they fit into the ransomware ecosystem, and what makes this particular threat actor unique in the landscape.  

Host Luke McNamara is joined by Eli Fox and Michael Barnhart, both Senior Analysts at Mandiant, to discuss some of their work tracking various North Korean threat clusters. Michael and Eli share their perspectives on the continuously changing landscape of DPRK threat actors, some of the challenges in tracking them, and how information from defectors augments the technical data in their analysis. They share several stories of recent campaigns and delve into where some of these threats may be headed next.

This episode of Eye on Security delves into a security topic that continues to be front and center for many organizations: ransomware.  Dave Wong, Vice President for Mandiant Consulting, joined host Luke McNamara to discuss some of the recent changes with threat activity in this space. Dave covered where the trends in ransomware operations have taken us over the last year and a half, with increasing ransom price demands and the frequent extortion over stolen data from the victim. Dave and Luke also chatted affiliate models common and the fluid nature of many ransomware families, as new malware emerges and others seemingly “go dark”. Dave discussed his visibility into ransomware negotiations, sharing examples of his experience in dealing with these threat actors. He also highlighted important preparedness steps organizations can take beyond technical hardening by considering strategies of how they might approach dealing with a threat actor in a ransomware scenario. Finally, Dave and Luke touched on what changes might be seen as threat actors continue to evolve TTPs and extortion methods.  For further insights into ransomware negotiations, check out this Daily Beast interview with Dave: https://www.thedailybeast.com/inside-a-ransomware-negotiation-this-is-how-asshole-russian-hackers-keep-shaking-down-companies

Whether it’s shipping disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic or compromises into software platforms used by hundreds of organizations, supply chain issues are back in the spotlight. In this episode of Eye on Security, host Luke McNamara is joined by Bryan Ware, CEO of Next5 and former Assistant Director of Cybersecurity at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA). Bryan shares his perspective on the state of supply chain security, including the current challenges bringing this issue to the forefront now, different ways to think about supply chain issues, and steps organizations can take to mitigate their risk in this space.

While much of the discussion around modern ransomware campaigns has centered on threat actors from Eastern Europe and Russia, this episode highlights some of the lesser-known activity in a different region and explores how nations may experiment with asymmetric cyber capabilities in the future. In this episode of the Eye on Security podcast, host Luke McNamara sits down with Sanaz Yashar (Manager, Mandiant Intelligence) and Matan Mimran (Principal Analyst, Mandiant Intelligence) to discuss some of their research into Iranian threat actors leveraging ransomware and other cyber-crime tactics. Sanaz and Matan walk through campaigns they have witnessed from several UNCs that have impacted organizations in Israel and elsewhere, examining evidence for why these incidents could be part of a trend towards using ransomware for purposes other than financial gain.

Host Luke McNamara is joined by Jeff Compton, Senior Manager for Mandiant’s Intelligence Capability Development team to discuss the focus of his team in helping customers build threat intelligence programs and how the needs of customers in this space continue to evolve, and how the regulatory landscape is driving change in particular regions and industries. One of the things that Jeff in particular highlighted is the importance of having a threat intel function that supports more than just the SOC, but broader stakeholders across the organization as well. Translating cyber threats into risk particular to the customer is a big focus of Jeff’s team, woven throughout their range of functions. 

In response to an increasing demand to fill the CTI skills gap, Mandiant has made a commitment to arm organizations around the world with skilled security teams to succeed on the fast-evolving threat landscape. Host Luke McNamara is joined by Shanyn Ronis, Manager, Intelligence Training Program to discuss the official launch of Mandiant On-Demand Cyber Intelligence Training. Backed by 15+ years of frontline expertise and accessible 24/7, this on-demand training provides a cost-effective approach that empowers cyber security teams to effectively use intelligence across different job roles, at different skill levels.