Canadian Hacker Linked To Anonymous Charged In Texas GOP Hack: Cyber Security Today for March 31, 2025

Cybersecurity Today: Hacktivism, Solar Power Vulnerabilities, and Global Phishing Challenges

In this episode of Cybersecurity Today, host David Shipley covers multiple cybersecurity stories including: a Canadian hacker charged for the 2021 Texas GOP hack, vulnerabilities in solar power gear, France's national phishing test for students, and the tragic impact of online fraud in India. Shipley delves into the implications for cybersecurity professionals and emphasizes the need to destigmatize fraud and support victims.

00:00 Introduction and Headlines
00:25 Canadian Hacker Charged for Texas GOP Hack
02:12 Vulnerabilities in Solar Power Gear
02:56 France's National Phishing Simulation for Students
04:19 Tragic Consequences of Online Fraud in India
05:16 Rising Online Fraud and Its Impact in Canada
06:15 Conclusion and Call to Action

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
This is Cybersecurity today,and I'm your host David Shipley
sitting in for Jim Love.
. A Canadian hacker with links toanonymous is charged for a 2021
hack of the Texas Republican Party.
Solar power gear foundvulnerable to remote sabotage.
France fishes millions of middleschool and high school students,

(00:20):
and online fraud in India claimsthe lives of an elderly couple.
The US Department of Justice announcedon Friday that has charged a Canadian
man for the September 11th, 2021hack of the Texas Republican Party.
The charges alleged that the hackinvolved the unauthorized access to a
third party company's computer systemin order to deface the Texas GOP website

(00:42):
and download a copy of the politicalparty's web server, which also included
personal identifying information.
Aubrey Coddle, 37 of Oshawa, Ontariowas charged by Canadian officials,
the Ontario Provincial Police andDurham Regional Police assisted
the FBI in the investigation coddleAKA cur retainer according to court

(01:04):
documents claimed to be behind thebreaches of right wing social media
platforms, Parler Gab, and True Social,as well as the crowdfunding service.
Give, send, go.
Canadian listeners may remember thatGibson Go was the service used by
the 2022 Trucker Convoy protest.
Caddle has significant, has asignificant online footprint,

(01:24):
including claims to be among the earlyfounders of the Hacktivist Group.
Anonymous I. The Daily Dot has excellentcoverage of this story, including
alleged comments from coddle tauntingthe FBI that are well colorful to say
the least, and likely not safe for work.
My advice to online activists basedon this story committing crimes

(01:44):
taunting the FBI and messing with Texasare clearly a recipe for disaster.
For cybersecurity professionals, thiscase, should it go to trial, could give
fascinating insights into so-calledHacktivism, which we can likely expect
to grow over the coming years, givendeeply divisive politics around the world.
The court documents posted so far yieldfascinating insights into hacktivist

(02:07):
culture in the gathered discord chats.
Researchers from cybersecurity firm.
ForeScout said in a report releasedlate last week that there are dozens
of vulnerabilities in invertersused in solar panel technology
made by popular manufacturers.
Sun grow and grow watt, bothbased in China and Germany
based SMA solar technology.

(02:30):
The vulnerabilities vary in severityfrom information disclosure right
up to the ability to overwritedevices, firmware with malicious code.
Key takeaways from this story.
The energy internet of thingswill be a juicy target for cyber
criminals and nation states.
As the world moves to more renewableenergy and the use of smart grid
technologies, the challenge ofsecuring this critical infrastructure

(02:53):
will continue to grow exponentially.
Have you ever wondered how smart kidsare when it comes to cyber scams?
Turns out that France wasthinking the same thing.
France has raised the bar forcybersecurity awareness for kids
between the ages of 11 and 18 witha national phishing simulation.
More than 2.5 million studentsin 4,700 middle and high schools

(03:16):
received a phishing test.
The message urges them to click on alink that would lead them to a website
where they could download piratedvideo games and cheats for free.
More than 210,000 students or about onein 10 clicked on the malicious link.
Instead of pirated software, theygot a video educating them about
the risks of cybersecurity andillegal actions on the internet.

(03:40):
For context, one in 10 isn't the worstI've seen on a phishing click rate.
But remember, phishing clickrates can vary dramatically
based on the appeal of the lure.
Had they tried a phishing test about,say, the new marks being emailed
to their parents, or something morerelated to what they were expecting
in their school information, theclick rate could have been far higher.

(04:00):
This phishing test called OperationCactus, built on a smaller test done
last year in certain regions of Franceif they wanna take this program to the
next level, my recommendation would beto actually make it a continuous monthly
exercise throughout the school year witha variety of different phishing tests.
Now, this next story may bedisturbing for some listeners.

(04:22):
We're going to talk about suicideand the growing human cost
of technology enabled fraud.
An elderly couple from the Bel Gavidistrict in India who were harassed by
fraudsters posing as telecommunicationscompany officials committed suicide.
Diego Santa Nazareth 82, and his wifeVenia 79, were found dead in their home.

(04:44):
Stories from national media in Indiahave placed their losses to the
scammers as high as 60,000 US dollars.
They hadn't told their family, friends orpolice of the online harassment, which had
accused them of being involved in criminalactivities via their mobile sim card.
This tragedy comes amidst a surge oftechnology enabled fraud globally.

(05:07):
According to Meta, a hundred millionWhatsApp accounts tied to Indian
phone numbers have been banned forabuse of the service in 2024 alone.
Here in Canada, we've seen online fraudcontinue to grow at ridiculous rates.
It's up nearly 20% in 2024 compared tothe previous year, and police estimate

(05:28):
that fraud losses could now be morethan $6 billion in this country.
Police have shared similar stories herein Canada of desperate individuals who are
suicidal after losing their life savingsin investment or romance baiting scams.
And while fraud numbers are up inCanada and the consequences are becoming
even more dire, sadly, resourcesfor our national police force have

(05:50):
continued to be cut and with evenmore pressure to spend more on border
security, that's going to get worse.
Now, here's what we all needto take away from this tragedy.
As security professionals, we need towork even harder to destigmatize fraud.
We need to make sure that ourfriends, family, colleagues,
and clients know it's okay.

(06:11):
To tell someone and to ask for help.
We're always interested in youropinion, and you can contact us at
[e-mail] or leavea comment under the YouTube video.
I'm your host David Shipleysitting in for Jim Love.
We'll be back in on Wednesday.
Thanks for listening.

(06:32):
I.