TheCyberDudes Podcast

Russia’s Election Meddling, AI-Powered Phishing, and Malvertising Scams

Welcome back CyberDudes! This week, we’re breaking down some of the most concerning cybersecurity threats making headlines. Together, we’ll explore how Russia continues to interfere in global elections, the rise of AI-powered phishing scams, and why millions of devices have been infected through malicious online ads.

We start with Russia’s long-running cy...

Dr. Eric Cole on AI, Data Privacy, and National Security RisksWelcome back CyberDudes! This week, we’re sitting down with cybersecurity expert Dr. Eric Cole for a deep dive into AI, data privacy, and the growing risks of government data consolidation. From Elon Musk’s access to U.S. Treasury data to the lack of federal privacy laws in the U.S., we explore how unchecked technology is reshaping security threats and what it means for ...

CISA’s Future, Quantum Computing, and Password FailuresWelcome back CyberDudes!

This week, we’re diving into the cybersecurity stories making waves, but in the second half, we’re tackling some of the worst security habits people still refuse to fix—including password management and why multi-factor authentication isn’t optional in 2025.

Before that, we’re breaking down the mess at CISA, as political interference and leadersh...

Welcome back CyberDudes! This week, we’re joined by Phil Ruffin, who shares his journey from help desk roles to cybersecurity risk management and technical support engineering. Together, we break down the challenges of breaking into cyber, from flawed hiring practices to certifications that don’t always open doors.

We also explore the role of networking, hands-on labs, and self-improvement in standing out, plus why soft skills and m...

Welcome back CyberDudes! This week, we’re tackling some of the biggest cybersecurity myths that just won’t die. In the second half of the episode, we’re breaking down the bad advice, outdated assumptions, and straight-up nonsense that still circulates in security conversations.

But first, we’re covering a few major stories: cyber war games at SchmooCon simulated how Taiwan might defend itself against a full-scale Chinese cyberat...

Welcome back CyberDudes! This week, we’re diving into some of the biggest cybersecurity stories. Together, we’ll talk about why employees are still feeding sensitive data into generative AI tools and how attackers could exploit this information through clever prompt engineering.

We’re also unpacking the U.S. sanctions targeting North Korean IT worker networks. These groups fund weapons programs through shell companies and complicit ...

Welcome back CyberDudes! This week, we’re exploring the latest in cybersecurity, starting with some quick updates. Phishing click rates jumped by 190% last year, a Chinese APT group ramped up spear-phishing attacks against Japan, and Volkswagen’s mishandling of driver geolocation data put millions at risk.

We’re also digging into the EU’s evolving data privacy laws. Together, we’ll unpack the Digital Markets Act and what stronger GD...

Welcome back to CyberDudes! We kick off 2025 with some quick updates: Myanmar’s controversial cybersecurity law is making VPN use a criminal offense, U.S. sanctions are targeting Beijing-based cyber groups linked to hacking incidents, and new details have emerged on the hijacking of 35 Google Chrome extensions.

For our feature discussions, Omar dives into the fallout from the recent dismantling of net neutrality protections. We ...

Welcome back to CyberDudes! We kick things off with a few quick updates: over 15,000 Fortinet devices were found exposed due to default credentials, a wave of Chrome extension hijacks highlighted risks in browser supply chains, and new healthcare cybersecurity rules aim to reduce the fallout of data leaks.

For our feature stories, Omar reflects on how supply chain attacks became the defining theme of 2024. With incidents like Sn...

Welcome back to CyberDudes! We start this week with a few quick updates: hackers have exploited Cloudflare workers to distribute malware disguised as a Ukrainian military app, and the U.S. government has warned officials to ditch regular calls and texts following the fallout from the Salt Typhoon hack. For our feature stories, Omar unpacks a disturbing new campaign by the Lazarus Group, targeting nuclear engineers with malware em...

Welcome back to a bit of a late CyberDudes! We’re a bit behind due to our chief editor (Robin) getting a stomach bug right at the tail end of his holiday - so apologies if any of this feels a bit “behind the curve”

We kick off this week with a few quick updates: an international cybercrime gang was caught running fraud centers out of Airbnbs, a U.S. federal appeals court upheld a law targeting TikTok, and Microsoft patched a wor...

Welcome back to CyberDudes! We start this week with some quick news updates: CrowdStrike has raised its annual financial forecast as cybersecurity demand remains steady, scammers are using fake job termination emails to spread info-stealing malware, the FTC is updating its telemarketing rules to tackle tech support scams, and the UK’s Sellafield nuclear facility has opened a long-overdue cybersecurity hub.

For our main stories, Om...

Welcome back to CyberDudes! We kick things off with a few quick news stories: a new ultra-secure phone carrier is aiming to make users harder to track, QR code emails are being flagged as malicious at alarmingly high rates, and BlueSky has hit 20 million users—but not without attracting cryptocurrency scammers along the way.

In our spotlight discussions, we dive into North Korea’s increasingly sophisticated cyber operations. Fro...

Welcome back to CyberDudes! This week, we’re talking about the rise in scams during the holiday season and how we can all avoid falling victim. From fake e-commerce deals to phishing emails, social media traps, and dubious charity appeals, we break down the tactics scammers use to exploit the festive rush. Together, we’re sharing practical tips to protect our money and our peace of mind.

We also highlight a standout story: O...

Welcome back CyberDudes! This week, Omar breaks down a new DocuSign scam that’s raising eyebrows in the cybersecurity community. Attackers are finding ways to exploit legitimate signatures, making fraudulent invoices look official and bypassing the usual defenses—a reminder of how social engineering tactics keep evolving.

In our feature, we chat with Kenneth Ellington, founder of a cybersecurity academy that’s all about hands-on t...

This week, we bring you quick headlines on a phishing scam targeting online shoppers, Delta’s security update dispute, and a new job scam hitting social media platforms. Then, in our Spotlight stories, we dig into two cases with big cybersecurity takeaways:

Employee Sabotage at Disney: A fired Disney employee retained access and tampered with allergy warnings in food venues, a reminder of the risks poor offboarding can pose.

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In the REAL Episode 13, we tackle pressing topics in cybersecurity, from election integrity to the recent United Health data breach impacting over 100 million people. We explore how these issues underscore broader challenges in data protection and our collective responsibility in cybersecurity. Diving into the influence of misinformation, the role of regulation, and the stakes for securing personal data, we examine why now, more th...

Bringing you the news from the last 7 days, this week we have new regulations for New York State hospitals and a $10m bounty on the heads of Russian persons who’ve been running social media pages pushing nationalistic and secessionist sentiment to stoke division in the heart of the USA

This and more in the next 20 minutes…

News Stories in this roundup:

• ​https://therecord.media/russia-revil-hackers-case-sentencing
• ​https...

Conspiracies are rife, everyone’s at each others’ throats and nobody trusts the news anymore. But who’s to blame for this state of affairs. Well social media’s certainly enabled it, but there’s a select few parties in the world who are probably responsible for the majority of it. And through our laziness, we, as a society are letting them get away with it.

So in this episode we’re talking misinformation on the internet and the c...