Episode 19: Virus Vaccines and Secret Squirrels
We have a vaccine! No, not that one. The Emotet vaccine has been quietly doing the rounds over the last few months. Kev gives a nice overview of malware vaccines and how this particular one works.
We also chat about circles of trust, old boys’ networks and secret handshakes, and the part they pay in intelligence sharing and international collaboration on cybersecurity. Who decides who’s inside the circle?
Next up, the secret service has been buying location data. This in itself isn’t new; however, they’re now getting around getting warrants on people by buying location data off private companies. Sure, it’s publicly available – but should governments and law enforcement be buying it? Of course the ex gov type believes that governments couldn’t possibly break the law (listen carefully – this might be the only time Chris has ever been shocked to silence), so isn’t it in safe hands?
And finally, could hackers hack your car?! Hack your kettle?! Listen to your keys?! GASP! More to the point: why would they want to? If you’re looking for some light entertainment, these articles are well worth a read.
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Emotet Vaccine:
https://threatpost.com/emocrash-exploit-emotet-6-months/158414/
Australia's new cybersecurity strategy:
https://www.itnews.com.au/news/govt-finally-unveils-australias-new-cyber-security-strategy-551358
Secret Service buys location data that would otherwise need a warrant:
https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2020/08/secret-service-other-agencies-buy-access-to-mobile-phone-location-data/
Hackers could hijack lane keeping systems to control your car:
https://www.autoevolution.com/news/hackers-could-hijack-lane-keeping-systems-to-control-your-car-experts-warn-147642.html
About Cyber Humanity
The podcast taking cybersecurity personally
There's a lot of cool techy stuff going down in cybersecurity, and we love it. But you can't deny that a lot the time we humans get forgotten. Our podcast takes a not-so-serious look at issues in security from a human point of view. Covering social engineering to hacker motivations and everything in between, we chat through security stories and themes and what they mean to us: the oft-neglected humans behind the screen. Apart from Kev, Kev is a cyborg.
These weekly podcasts come in two main flavors. We’re either ranting about themes close to the heart of us security types, or we’re discussing threats and vulnerabilities that have hit headlines – or slipped under the radar – in recent weeks.
Join Chris Pace (tech advocate and keeper of the coloring pencils), Kev Breen (pro blue teamer, also known as 'Mr Nothing to CVE here...'), Max Vetter (former dark web detective and pretty cool guy), and Paul Bentham (ex-gov. type and Immersive Labs product guru) as they wend their way through the murky world of Cyber Humanity.