Tracing Cryptocurrency Payments and the Role of Threat Intelligence, with Jackie Burns Koven

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This month we welcome Jackie Burns Koven as a special guest on the Cyber Insider podcast. Jackie is the Head of Cyber Threat Intelligence at Chainalysis, leading the team tracking cybercriminals and nation state actors stealing, scamming, and extorting cryptocurrency. She is also a member of the Ransomware Task Force, which unites key stakeholders across industry, government, and civil society to innovate new solutions countering the ransomware threat. Prior to joining Chainalysis, she served in the U.S. Intelligence Community. 

One of the key aspects of blockchain technology is its transparency. Unlike traditional bank transfers, cryptocurrency transactions are visible to anyone on the network.  
Threat actors typically rely on cryptocurrency exchanges or services to convert their funds into currency or stablecoins. However, Jackie notes that the number of exchanges used by threat actors has consolidated rapidly due to increased scrutiny and the detection of illicit activity:  
“Because of this steady and unpredictable takedown and action against these exchanges that were providing laundering services for ransomware actors, ransomware actors have less and less options and places to put their funds. So in addition to exchanges, we're actually seeing more threat actors that are just holding on to the fund, just sitting on it in private wallets, whether that's because they're paranoid or unsure of trusting their funds into centralized services because of the risk of the funds getting frozen or the full service getting taken down.”  
When discussing potential solutions to the ransomware problem, our guest emphasizes the need for a concerted effort from governments, private sector entities, and the cybersecurity community. Jackie acknowledges the progress made in preventing bad actors from cashing out and the increased sharing of information through public advisories:  
"And I think there's been great gains made by global governments on making it harder for bad actors to cash out, on identifying centers of gravity, figuring out ways to notify victims in advance, helping private and public sector entities harden their defenses, get the training they need, getting back." 
 
All this and much more is discussed in this episode of The Cyber Insider podcast by Emsisoft, the award-winning cybersecurity company delivering top-notch security solutions for over 20 years.  

Be sure to tune in and subscribe to The Cyber Insider to get your monthly inside scoop on cybersecurity. 
 
Hosts:  
Luke Connolly – partner manager at Emsisoft  
Brett Callow – threat analyst at Emsisoft  
 
Intro/outro music: “Intro funk” by Lowtone.