Defensive Security Podcast - Malware, Hacking, Cyber Security & Infosec

Please consider supporting the DefSec podcast here. Here are the links we discuss this week: https://www.darkreading.com/identity-access-management-security/more-attackers-logging-in-not-breaking-in https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/stryker-attack-wiped-tens-of-thousands-of-devices-no-malware-needed/ https://www.csoonline.com/article/4147833/cisa-urges-it-to-harden-endpoint-management-systems-after-cyberattack-by-pro-iranian-group.html https://arstechnica.com/security/2026/03/widely-used-trivy-scanner-compromised-in-ongoing-supply-chain-attack/ https://techcrunch.com/2026/03/21/delve-accused-of-misleading-customers-with-fake-compliance/

This time it’s not a rerun! ]Please consider supporting the DefSec podcast here. Here are the links we discuss this week: https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/ransomware-payment-rate-drops-to-record-low-as-attacks-surge/ https://www.securityweek.com/recent-cisco-catalyst-sd-wan-vulnerability-now-widely-exploited/ https://www.darkreading.com/cyberattacks-data-breaches/nation-state-actor-ai-malware-assembly-line https://www.cybersecuritydive.com/news/ransomware-identity-ai-cloudflare/813319/ https://thehackernews.com/2026/03/anthropic-finds-22-firefox.html?m=1

Please consider supporting the DefSec podcast here. Here are the links we discuss this week: https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/amazon-ai-assisted-hacker-breached-600-fortigate-firewalls-in-5-weeks/ https://www.theregister.com/2026/02/16/open_source_registries_fund_security/ https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/infostealer-malware-found-stealing-openclaw-secrets-for-first-time/ https://www.securityweek.com/api-threats-grow-in-scale-as-ai-expands-the-blast-radius/ https://www.theregister.com/2026/02/19/rmm_rat_trustconnect/

Please consider supporting the DefSec podcast here. Links to this week’s stories: https://www.theregister.com/2026/02/02/notepad_hijacking_lotus_blossom/ https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/fake-job-recruiters-hide-malware-in-developer-coding-challenges/ https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/amos-infostealer-targets-macos-through-a-popular-ai-app/ https://www.theregister.com/2026/02/10/ai_agents_messaging_apps_data_leak/ https://www.theregister.com/2026/02/11/payroll_pirates_business_social_engineering/

Please consider supporting the DefSec podcast here. Links to the stories we cover in this episode: https://www.theregister.com/2026/01/29/faster_patching_please_cry_infoseccers/ https://thehackernews.com/2026/01/mandiant-finds-shinyhunters-using.html?m=1 https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/marquis-blames-ransomware-breach-on-sonicwall-cloud-backup-hack/ https://thehackernews.com/2026/01/researchers-find-175000-publicly.html?m=1 https://www.darkreading.com/application-security/openclaw-ai-runs-wild-business-environments

Please consider supporting the DefSec podcast here. Links to the stories we cover in this episode: https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/hackers-exploit-security-testing-apps-to-breach-fortune-500-firms/ https://www.securityweek.com/analysis-of-6-billion-passwords-shows-stagnant-user-behavior/ https://www.theregister.com/2026/01/20/group_ib_ai_cycercrime_subscriptions/ https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/voidlink-cloud-malware-shows-clear-signs-of-being-ai-generated/ https://arstechnica.com/security/2026/01/mandiant-releases-rainbow-table-that-cracks-weak-admin-password-in-12-hours/

Want to be the first to hear our episodes each week? Become a Patreon donor here. Links to the stories in this episode: https://www.theregister.com/2026/01/09/pyongyangs_cyberspies_are_turning_qr/ https://www.scworld.com/perspective/five-ways-to-conduct-a-more-secure-hiring-process https://cybersecuritynews.com/vmware-esxi-exploited-toolkit/ https://www.darkreading.com/cyber-risk/ciso-succession-crisis-highlights-turnover-amplifies-security-risks

Want to be the first to hear our episodes each week? Become a Patreon donor here. Links to this week’s stories: https://www.darkreading.com/cyber-risk/cybersecurity-tech-recommended-by-cyber-insurer-claims-data https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/trust-wallet-links-85-million-crypto-theft-to-shai-hulud-npm-attack/ https://www.securityweek.com/hacker-claims-theft-of-40-million-conde-nast-records-after-wired-data-leak/ https://databreaches.net/2025/12/30/software-company-lacked-downstream-liability-for-data-breach/ https://techcrunch.com/2025/12/12/home-depot-exposed-access-to-internal-systems-for-a-year-says-researcher/

Want to be the first to hear our episodes each week? Become a Patreon donor here. Links to this week’s stories: https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/webrat-malware-spread-via-fake-vulnerability-exploits-on-github/ https://cybersecuritynews.com/mongobleed-poc-exploit-mongodb/ https://cybersecuritynews.com/fortigate-firewall-vulnerability/ https://cybersecuritynews.com/oracle-e-business-suite-hack/

Want to be the first to hear our episodes each week? Become a Patreon donor here. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! Links to this week’s stories: https://krebsonsecurity.com/2025/12/most-parked-domains-now-serving-malicious-content/ https://thehackernews.com/2025/12/russia-linked-hackers-use-microsoft-365.html?m=1 https://cybersecuritynews.com/amazon-catches-north-korean-it-worker/ https://www.darkreading.com/application-security/fake-proof-ai-slop-hobble-defenders https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2025/12/17/cisco-secure-email-cve-2025-20393/

Want to be the first to hear our episodes each week? Become a Patreon donor here. Links to this week’s stories: https://www.theregister.com/2025/12/09/hypervisor_ransomware_attacks_increasing https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/react2shell-flaw-exploited-to-breach-30-orgs-77k-ip-addresses-vulnerable https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/log4shell-downloaded-40-million https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/ncsc-raises-alarms-prompt https://thehackernews.com/2025/12/researchers-uncover-30-flaws-in-ai.html?m=1

Want to be the first to hear our episodes each week? Become a Patreon donor here. Links to this week’s stories: https://www.darkreading.com/cyberattacks-data-breaches/advanced-security-phishing-tactics https://www.theregister.com/2025/11/28/posthog_shaihulud/?td=keepreading / https://posthog.com/blog/nov-24-shai-hulud-attack-post-mortem https://www.theregister.com/2025/11/27/scattered_lapsus_hunters_zendesk/ https://www.theregister.com/2025/11/25/akira_ransomware_acquisitions Browser extensions pushed malware to 4.3M Chrome, Edge users • The Register

Reposting Episode 331 due to the wrong mp3 attached to the original. Want to be the first to hear our episodes each week? Become a Patreon donor here. Links to this week’s stories: https://cloud.google.com/blog/topics/threat-intelligence/unc6040-proactive-hardening-recommendations https://www.theregister.com/2025/11/13/chinese_spies_claude_attacks/ / https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/anthropic-claims-of-claude-ai-automated-cyberattacks-met-with-doubt/ https://www.theregister.com/2025/11/14/selfreplicating_supplychain_attack_poisons_150k/ https://cyberscoop.com/fortinet-delayed-disclosure-exploited-vulnerability/ https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/piecing-together-the-puzzle-a-qilin-ransomware-investigation/ Repo Want to be the first to hear our episodes each week? Become a Patreon donor here. Links to this week’s stories: https://cloud.google.com/blog/topics/threat-intelligence/unc6040-proactive-hardening-recommendations https://www.theregister.com/2025/11/13/chinese_spies_claude_attacks/ / https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/anthropic-claims-of-claude-ai-automated-cyberattacks-met-with-doubt/ https://www.theregister.com/2025/11/14/selfreplicating_supplychain_attack_poisons_150k/ https://cyberscoop.com/fortinet-delayed-disclosure-exploited-vulnerability/ https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/piecing-together-the-puzzle-a-qilin-ransomware-investigation/

Want to be the first to hear our episodes each week? Become a Patreon donor here. Links to this week’s stories: https://www.cybersecuritydive.com/news/nevada-ransomware-attack-traced-back-to-malware-download-by-employee/805011/ https://cloud.google.com/blog/topics/threat-intelligence/threat-actor-usage-of-ai-tools https://www.darkreading.com/application-security/owasp-highlights-supply-chain-risks-new-top-10 https://www.computerweekly.com/news/366634363/Google-Dont-get-distracted-by-AI-focus-on-real-cyber-threats

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3BaNujBx62Y Want to be the first to hear our episodes each week? Become a Patreon donor here. Links to this week’s stories: https://www.theregister.com/2025/11/03/mit_sloan_updates_ai_ransomware_paper/ https://www.theregister.com/2025/10/29/ey_exposes_4tb_sql_database/ https://www.darkreading.com/cyber-risk/zombie-projects-rise-again-undermine-security https://www.darkreading.com/cloud-security/cloud-outages-highlight-need-resilient-secure-infrastructure-recovery

Want to be the first to hear our episodes each week? Become a Patreon donor here. Links we discuss this week: https://thehackernews.com/2025/10/self-spreading-glassworm-infects-vs.html?m=1 https://www.cybersecuritydive.com/news/artificial-intelligence-security-risks-ey-report/803490/ https://www.cybersecuritydive.com/news/ai-augment-security-identity-soc/803608/ https://www.darkreading.com/cyber-risk/best-end-user-security-awareness-programs-arent-about-awareness-anymore https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/hackers-now-exploiting-critical-windows-server-wsus-flaw-in-attacks/

Want to be the first to hear our episodes each week? Become a Patreon donor here. Links to this week’s stories: https://www.cybersecurity-insiders.com/how-ai-will-shape-the-future-of-cyber-defense-a-one-three-and-five-year-outlook/ https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2025/10/15/f5-big-ip-data-breach/ https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/fake-lastpass-bitwarden-breach-alerts-lead-to-pc-hijacks/ https://blogs.microsoft.com/on-the-issues/2025/10/16/mddr-2025/ https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/oct/19/global-cyber-attack-russian-hack-solarwinds-stress-health

Want to be the first to hear our episodes each week? Become a Patreon donor here. Here are the stories we discuss this week: https://cybersecuritynews.com/hackers-actively-compromising-databases/ https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/hackers-target-university-hr-employees-in-payroll-pirate-attacks/ https://securityaffairs.com/183154/security/threat-actors-steal-firewall-configs-impacting-all-sonicwall-cloud-backup-users.html https://www.theregister.com/2025/10/07/gen_ai_shadow_it_secrets/ https://thehackernews.com/2025/10/from-phishing-to-malware-ai-becomes.html?m=1 https://databreaches.net/2025/10/12/from-sizzle-to-drizzle-to-fizzle-the-massive-data-leak-that-wasnt/

Want to be the first to hear our episodes each week? Become a Patreon donor here. Here are links to the stories we discuss this week: https://www.theregister.com/2025/09/29/postmark_mcp_server_code_hijacked/ https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/oracle-patches-ebs-zero-day-exploited-in-clop-data-theft-attacks/ https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/westjet-data-breach-exposes-travel-details-of-12-million-customers/ https://www.cybersecuritydive.com/news/material-cybersecurity-breaches-unreported/760892/ https://www.securityweek.com/red-hat-confirms-gitlab-instance-hack-data-theft/ https://www.securityweek.com/hackers-extorting-salesforce-after-stealing-data-from-dozens-of-customers/ https://databreaches.net/2025/10/04/just-days-before-its-data-might-be-leaked-qantas-airways-obtained-a-permanent-injunction/

Here are links to the stories we discuss this week: https://cloud.google.com/blog/topics/threat-intelligence/brickstorm-espionage-campaign https://thehackernews.com/2025/09/github-mandates-2fa-and-short-lived.html https://www.theregister.com/2025/09/23/gartner_ai_attack/ https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/sonicwall-releases-sma100-firmware-update-to-wipe-rootkit-malware/ https://www.zdnet.com/article/battered-by-cyberattacks-salesforce-faces-a-trust-problem-and-a-potential-class-action-lawsuit/

Please follow us on YouTube! Want episodes a week early? Consider becoming a Patreon sponsor of the DefSec podcast here. Here are links to the stories we talked about this week: https://krebsonsecurity.com/2025/09/self-replicating-worm-hits-180-software-packages/ https://dirkjanm.io/obtaining-global-admin-in-every-entra-id-tenant-with-actor-tokens/ https://blog.lastpass.com/posts/attack-targeting-macs-via-github-pages https://cybersecuritynews.com/finwise-insider-breach/ https://arstechnica.com/security/2025/09/how-weak-passwords-and-other-failings-led-to-catastrophic-breach-of-ascension/

Here are the stories we discuss this week: https://natlawreview.com/article/qantas-airways-cuts-executive-pay-after-cyber-incident-governance-signal-industry https://www.securityweek.com/ransomware-losses-climb-as-ai-pushes-phishing-to-new-heights https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/hackers-left-empty-handed-after-massive-npm-supply-chain-attack https://www.theregister.com/2025/09/12/huntress_attacker_surveillance LunaLock Ransomware threatens victims by feeding stolen data to AI models FBI warns of Salesforce attacks by UNC6040 and UNC6395 groups

Listen and Watch Defensive Security Episodes a week early by becoming a Patreon donor: https://www.patreon.com/defensivesec Please subscribe to our YouTube channel: Defensive Podcasts – Cyber Security & Infosec. – YouTube Links: https://blog.gitguardian.com/ghostaction-campaign-3-325-secrets-stolen/ https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/ai-powered-malware-hit-2-180-github-accounts-in-s1ngularity-attack/ https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/hamilton/cybersecurity-breach-1.7597713 https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/6-browser-based-attacks-all-security-teams-should-be-ready-for-in-2025/ https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/hackers-use-new-hexstrike-ai-tool-to-rapidly-exploit-n-day-flaws/

Links to stories: https://securityaffairs.com/181430/security/after-sharepoint-attacks-microsoft-stops-sharing-poc-exploit-code-with-china.html https://www.cybersecuritydive.com/news/software-vulnerabilities-breaches-checkmarx-report/757793/ https://www.securityinfowatch.com/cybersecurity/article/55309774/even-security-leaders-are-breaking-ai-rules-calypsoai-report https://www.darkreading.com/cyber-risk/cyber-insurers-may-limit-payments-breaches-unpatched-cve https://www.darkreading.com/cyberattacks-data-breaches/fake-employees-pose-real-security-risks

I have no idea why Riverside.fm (the service we use to record the podcast) has such an audio/video sync problem for the first minute or so of the recording. We’re working on it… On to the show. Here are the links for this week’s episode: https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/new-downgrade-attack-can-bypass-fido-auth-in-microsoft-entra-id https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/docker-hub-still-hosts-dozens-of-linux-images-with-the-xz-backdoor https://www.darkreading.com/threat-intelligence/charon-ransomware-apt-tactics https://www.securityweek.com/vibe-coding-when-everyones-a-developer-who-secures-the-code https://www.securityweek.com/inside-the-dark-webs-access-economy-how-hackers-sell-the-keys-to-enterprise-networks

Want to support our show? Want to get access to episodes a week before everyone else? Become a patreon sponsor here: https://www.patreon.com/defensivesec If you’re in Atlanta on August 20, you can join us for a LIVE episode at Mission 25. Register here: MCS Mission: Security’25 Our new merch store is live: DefSec Store We’ve added a lot of new items and will continue to do so over time. On to the show. Here are the links for this week’s episode: https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/spikes-in-malicious-activity-precede-new-cves-in-80-percent-of-cases/ https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/hackers-plant-4g-raspberry-pi-on-bank-network-in-failed-atm-heist/ https://nerds.xyz/2025/07/ai-security-flaws-veracode-2025/ https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/tea-app-leak-worsens-with-second-database-exposing-user-chats/ https://www.cybersecuritydive.com/news/research-llms-attacks-without-humans/754203/

Want to support our show? Want to get access to episodes a week before everyone else? Become a patreon sponsor here: https://www.patreon.com/defensivesec If you’re in Atlanta on August 20, you can join us for a LIVE episode at Mission 25. Register here: MCS Mission: Security’25 Our new merch store is live: DefSec Store We’ve added a lot of new items and will continue to do so over time. On to the show. Here are the links for this week’s episode: https://www.theregister.com/2025/07/26/microsoft_sharepoint_attacks_leak/ https://mashable.com/article/google-gemini-deletes-users-code https://arstechnica.com/security/2025/07/open-source-repositories-are-seeing-a-rash-of-supply-chain-attacks/ https://www.theregister.com/2025/07/23/lawsuit_clorox_vs_cognizant/ https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/allianz-life-confirms-data-breach-impacts-majority-of-14-million-customers/

If you’re in Atlanta on August 20, you can join us for a LIVE episode at Mission 25. Register here: MCS Mission: Security’25 Our new merch store is live(ish): DefSec Store – We’ll be adding more items as time goes on. This is managed through Printify, which has a quite expansive range of products to logo up. Also, some of you may know that Jerry is into photography and contemplating creating a calendar with images he’s taken. Let us know if that sounds interesting. Possible themes are: beach sunsets, flowers, or jet fighters, because that’s about all he’s good at taking pictures of. On to the show. Here are the links for this week’s episode: https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/lamehug-malware-uses-ai-llm-to-craft-windows-data-theft-commands-in-real-time/ https://arstechnica.com/security/2025/07/hackers-exploit-a-blind-spot-by-hiding-malware-inside-dns-records/ https://www.darkreading.com/remote-workforce/fully-patched-sonicwall-gear-zero-day-attack https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/new-crushftp-zero-day-exploited-in-attacks-to-hijack-servers/ (for patreon listeners only) https://thehackernews.com/2025/07/malware-injected-into-6-npm-packages.html?m=1(for patreon listeners only)

Episode 315 is available for our patreon donors and will be posted for everyone else on Monday, July 28. Going forward, episodes will be released to our patreon donors shortly after recording and will be released to everyone else a week later. If you want to become a patreon donor, you can do so here: https://www.patreon.com/defensivesec Also, our new merch store is live and available here: https://store.defensivesecurity.org It’s a work in progress and please let me know if you have any issued with it. Thank you all and we’ll talk on Monday!

Want to support us? Want even MORE DefSec? Starting this week, we are providing more DefSec for our Patreon donors. Sign up to be a Patreon donor today: https://www.patreon.com/defensivesec Links: https://www.theregister.com/2025/07/10/cisa_citrixbleed_kev/ https://www.axios.com/2025/07/08/scattered-spider-cybercrime-hackers https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/employee-gets-920-for-credentials-used-in-140-million-bank-heist/ Additional links for Patreon donors: https://www.theregister.com/2025/07/13/fake_it_worker_problem/ https://www.theregister.com/2025/07/09/chatgpt_jailbreak_windows_keys/

Want to support us? Want even MORE DefSec? Starting this week, we are providing more DefSec for our Patreon donors. Sign up to be a Patreon donor today: https://www.patreon.com/defensivesec https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BRzMJbBZ490 Links: https://www.csoonline.com/article/4012801/the-top-red-teamer-in-the-us-is-an-ai-bot.html https://www.darkreading.com/endpoint-security/attackers-top-brands-callback-phishing https://www.darkreading.com/cyber-risk/initial-access-broker-self-patches-zero-days https://www.darkreading.com/cybersecurity-operations/ransomware-reshaped-how-cyber-insurers-perform-security-assessments https://www.darkreading.com/endpoint-security/phishing-training-doesnt-work

Want to support us? Want even MORE DefSec? Starting this week, we are providing more DefSec for our Patreon donors. Sign up to be a Patreon donor today: https://www.patreon.com/defensivesec Links: https://arstechnica.com/security/2025/06/active-exploitation-of-ami-management-tool-imperils-thousands-of-servers/ https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/man-pleads-guilty-to-hacking-networks-to-pitch-security-services/ https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2025/06/23/new-hire-phishing-risk/ Patreon exclusive discussions: https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2025/06/27/cybersecurity-risk-reduction-breach-transparency/ https://www.theregister.com/2025/06/24/vulnerability_management_gap_noone_talks/

Like what we’re doing with the DefSec Podcast and want to help support us? Donate here: https://www.patreon.com/defensivesec Links: https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/no-the-16-billion-credentials-leak-is-not-a-new-data-breach/ https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/russian-hackers-bypass-gmail-mfa-using-stolen-app-passwords/ https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/north-korean-hackers-deepfake-execs-in-zoom-call-to-spread-mac-malware/ https://socket.dev/blog/libxml2-maintainer-ends-embargoed-vulnerability-reports

Like what we’re doing with the DefSec Podcast and want to help support us? Donate here: https://www.patreon.com/defensivesec Links: https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/sentinelone-shares-new-details-on-china-linked-breach-attempt/https://thehackernews.com/2025/06/new-supply-chain-malware-operation-hits.html?m=1https://www.csoonline.com/article/4002103/cisos-beware-genai-use-is-outpacing-security-controls.htmlhttps://thehackernews.com/2025/06/fin6-uses-aws-hosted-fake-resumes-on.html?m=1

Like what we’re doing with the DefSec Podcast and want to help support us? Donate here: https://www.patreon.com/defensivesec Links:  https://www.theregister.com/2025/06/06/chatgpt_for_evil/https://www.theregister.com/2025/06/06/ransomware_negotiation/https://www.darkreading.com/cyber-risk/how-to-approach-security-era-ai-agentshttps://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/coinbase-breach-tied-to-bribed-taskus-support-agents-in-india/https://www.theregister.com/2025/06/04/kiranapro_cyberattack_deletes_cloud_resources/ / https://x.com/deepakravindran/status/1930776943101894869

Like what we’re doing with the DefSec Podcast and want to help support us? Donate here: https://www.patreon.com/defensivesec In this episode of the Defensive Security Podcast, hosts Jerry Bell and Andrew Kalat discuss a range of topics including the introduction of a new cryptocurrency, Guard Llama Coin, and the implications of recent cybersecurity incidents involving ConnectWise and ransomware attacks. They explore the challenges organizations face in responding to nation-state attacks, the complexities of ransomware tactics, and the importance of employee security awareness. The conversation emphasizes the need for timely patching and proactive security measures to protect against evolving threats. Links:  https://www.theregister.com/2025/05/30/connectwise_compromised_by_sophisticated_government/https://www.darkreading.com/application-security/dragonforce-ransomware-msp-supply-chain-attackhttps://www.darkreading.com/threat-intelligence/3am-ransomware-adopts-email-bombing-vishing