Episode 38: Ransom Laundering: Can We Ban Crypto?

The topic of the day is cryptocurrency – and whether banning it could help fight ransomware.

We know that criminal gangs (OCGs for all those Line of Duty fans out there) are big fans of crypto for their nefarious deeds, so the issue goes much further than ransomware. Even so, a ban on crypto wouldn't stop ransomware – it would just be a bump in the road for the operators. After all, ransomware has been around since long before crypto came on the scene. Maybe gift cards would make a comeback!

The team also delves into Nobelium, the group behind the SUNBURST attacks in Solarwind. Kev gets his tech head on to give us the full low down on this sophisticated threat actor.

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https://newrepublic.com/article/162589/ban-bitcoin-cryptocurrencies-stop-hacker-ransomware

https://www.microsoft.com/security/blog/2021/05/27/new-sophisticated-email-based-attack-from-nobelium/

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.