This month we're joined by Mike Melo, CISO of Ontario’s Life Labs, for a Q&A about his CISO role, what keeps him up at night and the pitfalls of trying to achieve cyber-resilience. If you’re interested in having a sneak peek into the daily life of a CISO, you won’t want to miss this interview.

Hot Topics segment includes: Utilities getting attacked (again!), is quantum computing threatening Bitcoin, vulnerable API headaches and we will see if collaboration is achievable in the face of rising cyberthreats.

Sources:

Topic 1: Jason #1

Article title: Vulnerable APIs and Bot Attacks Costing Businesses Up to $186 Billion Annually

Source: https://thehackernews.com/2024/10/vulnerable-apis-and-bot-attacks-costing.html

Topic 2: Bill #1

Article title: America's largest water utility hit by cyberattack at time of rising threats against U.S. infrastructure

Source: https://www.cnbc.com/amp/2024/10/08/american-water-largest-us-water-utility-cyberattack.html

Topic 3: Jason #2

Article title: Chinese researchers crack military-grade encryption: is bitcoin safe?

Source: https://cybernews.com/crypto/quantum-crack-military-grade-encryption-bitcoin-danger/

Topic 4: Bill #2

Article title: Escalating Cyber Threats Demand Stronger Global Defense and Cooperation

Source: https://blogs.microsoft.com/on-the-issues/2024/10/15/escalating-cyber-threats-demand-stronger-global-defense-and-cooperation/

This month we welcome guest and sponsor Lisa Jones-Huff of Elastic to chat about this month’s biggest cyber headlines with our panelists Marco Estrela, Patrick Naoum, Bill Strub and Jason Williams.

Hot Topics:

Topic 1: Jason

Article title: Microsoft summit plots end of kernel access for EDR security clients

Source: https://www.csoonline.com/article/3523753/microsoft-summit-plots-end-of-kernel-access-for-edr-security-clients.html

Topic 2: Patrick

Article title: Mastercard acquires Recorded Future: How will threat intelligence transform the payments industry?

Source: https://www.csoonline.com/article/3518765/mastercard-acquires-recorded-future-how-will-threat-intelligence-transform-the-payments-industry.html

Topic 3: Bill

Article title: TfL directs 30,000 employees to verify identities and reset passwords after data breach

Source: https://www.techmonitor.ai/news/:~:text=Transport%20for%20London%20(TfL)%20has%20directed%20all%20employees,measures%20to%20secure%20the%20organisation%E2%80%99s%20systems%20and%20data.

Topic 4: Lisa

Article title: N/A – Lisa wants to talk about “all the acquisitions and mergers in the SIEM|Analytics space, will the Platform Story drive more organizations to consider consolidating their spending and move away from purchasing best of breed solutions?”

Source: N/A

Extras: 3000 pagers kill several and injuring thousands in Lebanon; Spotlight from Lisa Jones-Huff on how AI is impacting the way cybersecurity analysts do their jobs

Back from our summer hiatus, we have a brand new episode of Behind the Shield! This month we’ve brought back one of our favorite special guests, Chris Vincent, to chat about this month’s biggest cyber headlines with our panelists Marco Estrela, Patrick Naoum, Bill Strub and Jason Williams.

Hot Topics: CrowdStrike’s global blue screen of death debacle, splitting the CISO role, Oracle’s NetSuite woes and, the largest password leak of all time?!?

Expert panelists and host Marco Estrela bring you behind our shield to discuss current cybersecurity topics ripped from the headlines.

This episode's Hot Topics include: Do bounties for ransomware work? Black Basta, wreaking havoc again! Google accidentally wiping out a huge account and APT28 cybercrime group updates. Stay tuned to the end of this episode for some bonus insights from some of the biggest cyber conferences including RSA 2024, IBM think and, ITSec.

Sources:

Topic 1: Patrick #1

Article title: 10M$ Bounty

Source: https://www.clubic.com/actualite-525003-les-etats-unis-mettent-la-tete-de-4-hackers-iraniens-a-prix-avec-a-la-cle-10-millions-de-dollars-de-recompense.html

Topic 2: Jason #1

Article title: Black Basta Ransomware Strikes 500+ Entities Across North America, Europe, and Australia

Source: https://thehackernews.com/2024/05/black-basta-ransomware-strikes-500.html

Topic 3: Patrick #2

Article title: Google Cloud accidentally deletes UniSuper’s online account due to ‘unprecedented misconfiguration’

Source: https://amp-theguardian-com.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/amp.theguardian.com/australia-news/article/2024/may/09/unisuper-google-cloud-issue-account-access

Topic 4: Jason #2

Article title: Microsoft Outlook Flaw Exploited by Russia's APT28 to Hack Czech, German Entities

Source: https://thehackernews.com/2024/05/microsoft-outlook-flaw-exploited-by.html

Behind the Shield host Marco Estrela and panelists Patrick Naoum and Jason Williams are joined by Bruno Germain of this episode's sponsor: Zscaler.

This episode's hot topics include:

Sources:

Topic 1: Jason

Article title: Hackers Deploy Python Backdoor in Palo Alto Zero-Day Attack

Source: https://thehackernews.com/2024/04/hackers-deploy-python-backdoor-in-palo.html

Topic 2: Patrick

Article title: Email scam drained $814,000 from Just for Laughs' coffers: report

Source: https://montrealgazette.com/news/local-news/email-scam-drained-814000-from-just-for-laughs-coffers-report#:~:text=The%20Montreal%20company%20that%20operates,it%20seeks%20to%20avoid%20bankruptcy

Topic 3: Jason

Article title: Roku cyberattack impacts 576,000 accounts

Source: https://cybernews.com/news/roku-cyberattack-impacts-576000-accounts/

Zscaler spotlight: Bruno (and panelists) discuss the topic: “SDXCentral reports: “SASE is future, ZT is past, but SSE is right now”; The many ways this is wrong!”

Expert panelists (including our new panelist Jason Williams) and host Marco Estrela bring you behind our shield to discuss current cybersecurity topics ripped from the headlines.

This episode's all Hot Topics format includes: The Volt Typhoon announcement, Cyberattack on US healthcare payment system, SEC Cybersecurity Disclosure coming into effect, Lessons from the Microsoft's Password Spray Hack, and Why Companies Are Bringing Data In-House.

Sources:

Topic 1: Patrick #1

Article title: CISA and GOV Volt Typhoon announcement

Source: https://www.cisa.gov/sites/default/files/2024-03/Fact-Sheet-PRC-State-Sponsored-Cyber-Activity-Actions-for-Critical-Infrastructure-Leaders-508c.pdf

Topic 2: Bill #1

Article title: Cyberattack paralyzes largest US healthcare payment system

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/05/health/cyberattack-healthcare-cash.html

Topic 3: Jason #1

Article title: Cybersecurity Disclosure by the SEC coming into effect

Source: https://www.sec.gov/news/statement/gerding-cybersecurity-disclosure-20231214

Topic 4: Bill #2

Article title: Key Lesson from Microsoft's Password Spray Hack: Secure Every Account

Source: https://thehackernews.com/2024/03/key-lesson-from-microsofts-password.html

Topic 5: Jason #2

Article title: The Rise Of Cloud Repatriation: Why Companies Are Bringing Data In-House

Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbestechcouncil/2023/04/18/the-rise-of-cloud-repatriation-why-companies-are-bringing-data-in-house/?sh=3af3d57358f7

Expert panelists, including our guest Matt Konwiser from this month's sponsor IBM Security, and host Marco Estrela discuss current cybersecurity topics ripped from the headlines.

This episode's Hot Topics include: Open AI’s concerns about #GenAI, the data security of AI boy/girlfriends, Matt’s take on the #AppleProVision, and LockBit’s recent bust by the UK government.

If you want to talk to us about our 24/7 SOC, powered by IBM Security’s QRadar, you can reach us at 1-800-401-TECH or virtualguardian.com.

Sources:

Topic 1: Bill

Article title: Microsoft, OpenAI Warn of Nation-State Hackers Weaponizing AI for Cyber Attacks

Source: https://thehackernews.com/2024/02/microsoft-openai-warn-of-nation-state.html

Topic 2: Patrick

Article title: “AI girlfriends” are a privacy nightmare

Source: https://www.wired.com/story/ai-girlfriends-privacy-nightmare/

Topic 3: Bill

Article title: Lockbit cybercrime gang faces global takedown with indictments and arrests

Source: https://www.reuters.com/technology/cybersecurity/us-indicts-two-russian-nationals-lockbit-cybercrime-gang-bust-2024-02-20/