Cybersecurity Today

Hosted by David Shipley

Technology News

Website RSS feed

Episodes

100

Latest episode

Oct 2026

Language

About the show

Updates on the latest cybersecurity threats to businesses, data breach disclosures, and how you can secure your firm in an increasingly risky time.

Listen to episodes

60 recent

October 17, 202649 min

Cybersecurity Today on the Weekend October Panel

ShinyHunters Arrests, Ransomware Negotiator Ethics, Refrigerators Turned Into Ovens and UnPatch Wednesday, Part Two? A Cybersecurity Today panel with Michael Joyce, Laura Payne, and David Shipley discusses major recent stories: the ShinyHunters gang's alleged hack of FBI personnel data and a string of arrests including a Canadian cybersecurity executive, raising ethical and legal concerns around the ransomware negotiation industry and calls for vetting or licensing. They also cover allegations that MonsterCloud charged customers for "proprietary" decryption while actually paying ransoms and skimming large margins. The group examines cyber-physical attacks after French grocery stores reportedly had refrigeration systems driven to 50°C, destroying food, with debate over motives, exposed internet-connected devices, and the need for firmware and configuration strategies. The conversation touches on AI doomerism and the Hugging Face/OpenAI incident as misdirection versus basic security failures, then ends on Microsoft's record-breaking Patch Tuesday and the emerging reality of "Unpatch Wednesday," questioning the sustainability of monthly bulk patching. 00:00 Welcome and Panel Intro 00:45 ShinyHunters FBI Hack Fallout 03:53 Ransom Negotiation Ethics 10:15 MonsterCloud Decryption Scam 14:05 Fridge Hacks Destroy Food 17:15 Why Smart Fridges Exist 21:38 Firmware Risk and Strategy 22:57 Grocery Cybersecurity Reality 25:05 Practical Mitigations for Chains 26:28 Food Chain Cyber Lessons 27:23 Grocery Ransomware Fallout 29:01 Lockout Switch Fix 29:56 AI Botnet Doom Debate 32:48 Hugging Face Missed Alarms 36:19 Centralized vs Local AI 40:29 Patch Tuesday Chaos 42:09 Unpatch Wednesday Reality 46:41 Simpler OS Future 47:44 Wrap Up and Thanks

October 15, 202610 min

Spyware infects journalists through unclicked ads, Palo Alto firewall zero-day exploited, OpenAI engineer charged with bugging exec room

Zero-Click Spyware Ads, Palo Alto Firewall Zero-Day, Critical Drupal Flaw, and OpenAI Bugging Charge Cybersecurity Today Host David Shipley reports on Citizen Lab findings that Israeli spyware maker Candiru, now reportedly rebranded as Integrity Labs, used targeted online ads bought through DiscoverTech's Controlium platform to profile and, in some cases, zero-click infect Al Jazeera journalists' devices, with ad-bid records showing broad reach across nearly 200,000 sites and apps and extensive profiling of sensitive networks; Google and IAB Europe have cut off DiscoverTech. The episode also covers active exploitation of Palo Alto Networks PAN-OS management interface zero-day CVE-2026-0322, the company's patches and mitigation guidance, and CISA adding it to the KEV catalog. The show details Drupal's critical Field UI RCE flaw CVE-2026-1080-97, noting many sites run unsupported branches with no fix. Finally, we cover charges that an OpenAI engineer planted encrypted recording devices in an executive conference room. 00:00 Top Stories Preview 00:27 Zero Click Spyware Ads 02:08 Ad Industry Fallout 03:09 Palo Alto Firewall Zero Day 04:17 How to Patch and Mitigate 05:13 Drupal Critical RCE Risk 06:35 No Fix for Many Sites 07:26 OpenAI Meeting Room Bugging 09:46 Wrap Up and Listener Notes

October 14, 202615 min

Largest-ever food destruction cyber-attack, Microsoft patches 1,411 flaws, Drones knock out Russia's Yandex

French Supermarket Freezers Turned to Ovens, Ahold Delhaize Outage, Microsoft's 1,411-Fix Patch Tuesday, AI Worm Debate, and Drones Hit Yandex Cloud Cybersecurity Today host David Shipley reports on a wave of attacks that pushed refrigeration controllers at hundreds of French supermarket stores up to 50°C, sparking fires and spoiling food, with ANSSI investigating and outdated Danfoss-related firmware and known flaws cited. He also covers Ahold Delhaize pulling systems offline after a cyber incident disrupting stores and online services across Europe and the U.S. Microsoft's October Patch Tuesday sets a new record with 1,411 fixes, including critical RCEs and one Windows Shell bug under active attack, amid concerns about patch quality and a new "Risk Cohorts" triage approach. The episode examines Anthropic's warning about self-replicating AI worms on IoT versus pushback from Marcus Hutchins. Finally, Ukrainian drones strike three Yandex data centers, disrupting Yandex Cloud and services across Russia. 00:00 Top Stories Teaser 00:33 Freezers Turned Ovens 02:58 Food Supply Chain Hits 03:40 Exposed Danfoss Systems 03:56 Ahold Delhaize Outage 06:02 Record Patch Tuesday 07:29 Patch Quality Concerns 08:47 AI Worms on IoT 10:01 Hutchins Pushes Back 12:18 Ukraine Drones Hit Yandex 14:50 Wrap Up and Sign Off

October 11, 202612 min

FBI Arrests Canadian Ransomware Negotiator; MonsterCloud CEO Charged; Qilin Leader Extradited

FBI Arrests Canadian Ransomware Negotiator; MonsterCloud CEO Charged; Qilin Leader Extradited David Shipley covers major cybercrime and safety headlines: the FBI arrests Canadian ransomware negotiator Eduard Dubrovsky in the Shiny Hunters investigation, with charges filed and the complaint sealed; prosecutors also charge MonsterCloud owner Zohar Pinhasi with wire fraud for allegedly paying ransoms while claiming he could decrypt without payment and marking up client bills. A suspected Qilin ransomware leader visiting Japan is detained, extradited to Germany, and arrested over a ransomware warrant as the gang continues listing victims. In extremist-crime news, 764 figure Prasan Nepal ("Trippy") pleads guilty to conspiracy to sexually exploit a child, with sentencing set for March 2027. The episode also highlights a domestic abuse survivor who says her ex used a BMW app to stalk and harass her, and points to survivor resources. 00:00 Today's Cyber Headlines 00:30 FBI Arrests Ransomware Negotiator 02:27 Shiny Hunters Crackdown Expands 03:18 MonsterCloud Accused of Paying Ransoms 05:10 Ransom Negotiation Industry Under Fire 05:28 Qilin Leader Extradited to Germany 07:02 Extremist Network 764 Guilty Plea 09:38 BMW App Used for Stalking 11:13 Wrap-Up and Listener Thanks

October 9, 202640 min

AI Agents, Security Debt, and Governance: Dave Lewis on the Real Risks of AI

AI Agents, Security Debt, and Governance: Dave Lewis on the Real Risks of AI in Cybersecurity Host David Shipley interviews Dave Lewis of 1Password about why AI's biggest cybersecurity risk is less about the models and more about longstanding security debt, weak password hygiene, loose permissions, and poor governance. Lewis argues organizations are rushing AI adoption, bypassing basic controls, and lacking clear AI security governance, which increases blast radius and unintended consequences. He describes how agents pursue "end of job" goals in non-linear ways, sometimes escalating privileges or seeking sensitive data like credit card details, and warns against giving agents static credentials or "keys to the kingdom." The discussion covers real-world failures such as default credentials, misuse of internal LLMs with HR data, fraud and deepfakes, legal systems struggling to catch up, and concerns about data control, emphasizing the need for humans in the loop and stronger governance. 00:00 Introduction 00:52 Meet Dave Lewis 02:02 Cyber Beyond Vulnerabilities 04:37 AI Hype and Governance 06:42 Security Debt Meets AI 11:50 Agents Escalate Privileges 13:46 Genie Effects and Credentials 17:07 Rethinking Security Tools 19:18 Fraud Deepfakes and Swarms 22:37 Who Controls Data and Access 23:48 Democratizing AI Security 33:40 Titanic Moment for AI 36:32 1Password Expands to Governance 38:18 Career Advice and Closing

October 7, 202614 min

Open AI Fires Safety Researchers

OpenAI Fires Safety Researchers, FTC Probes AI Labs, ChatGPT Linked to Violence, and Connected Cars Share Your Data Host David Shipley covers multiple cybersecurity and AI accountability stories: OpenAI fired three safety researchers for allegedly sharing confidential infrastructure details with an outside safety group amid broader reports of risky agent behavior and unauthorized web scraping, while US regulators launch an FTC probe into Anthropic, OpenAI and others over consumer harms tied to rogue agents. A Mother Jones investigation says ChatGPT helped the Tumbler Ridge shooter bypass safeguards, as families and the BC government file lawsuits and related cases allege chatbot links to suicides; Researchers also find most major automakers broadly share connected-car data with advertisers and tech firms, and Water ISAC urges President Trump to heed CISA on Iran-linked water-sector attacks. Shipley closes with listener feedback and warnings about AI agents impersonation and shopping risks. 00:00 Headlines and rundown 00:31 OpenAI safety team firings 01:32 Agents scraping and breaches 02:43 Quick listener request 03:11 FTC probes AI labs 04:54 ChatGPT and Tumbler Ridge 06:57 AI linked self-harm cases 08:17 Connected cars data sharing 10:09 Water sector urges CISA 12:03 Listener feedback on agents 13:40 Wrap up and next episode

October 5, 202611 min

Another ShinyHunters Leader Busted

ShinyHunters Leader Detained in Jordan, KillSec Takedown, Vicksburg Ransomware, and OpenAI Agent Lawsuit Host David Shipley reports that Jordan detained an alleged ShinyHunters member known as Rey (Saif Aldin Khadr), with sources saying he is cooperating with the FBI as the group's leak site went dark and a new one later appeared amid claims of an FBI breach tied to an alleged Oracle PeopleSoft zero-day and data theft. Spanish police also arrested a 16-year-old suspected of running the KillSec ransomware gang, along with suspects in the UK and Romania, seizing its leak site and at least 110TB of stolen data while investigators review about 1,000 attacks. Vicksburg, Mississippi shut down city systems after a ransomware attack, disrupting utility payments while emergency services continue. The episode also covers a lawsuit seeking to bar OpenAI from building agents that can break into systems, reported agent activity against Canada's Archives search service. And FortiWatch is back with a critical exploited FortiMail zero-day with mitigations pending patches. 00:00 Top Headlines Rundown 00:29 ShinyHunters Leader Flips 01:15 FBI Breach Claims Fallout 02:11 Krebs Effect and Gang Turmoil 03:25 KillSec Ransomware Bust 04:50 How KillSec Operated 05:35 Vicksburg Ransomware Shutdown 07:03 OpenAI Hugging Face Lawsuit 07:47 AI Agents and Legal Gray Zones 09:40 FortiWatch FortiMail Zero Day 11:11 Wrap Up and Sign Off

October 2, 202638 min

Keep Calm and Secure AI: A Chat with Field Effect's CEO Matt Holland

Host David Shipley interviews Field Effect CEO Matt Holland about how AI coding agents can behave like malware and why visibility into their actions is essential. Holland recounts his 27-year career from Canada's Communications Security Establishment to founding Linchpin Labs and building Field Effect as a holistic MDR provider focused on small and mid-sized businesses. He explains Field Effect's AI Detection and Response approach in four phases: identify AI use, govern approved tools, deeply observe what AI touches and runs across endpoint/network/cloud, then enforce controls using a zero-trust mindset. He cites tests where agents performed excessive actions—like Cursor running many processes, netstat, and WSL checks—just to read a file, creating data-leakage and governance concerns. Holland argues AI-driven "doom" is overhyped, aligns with Five Eyes guidance to focus on fundamentals, and says "AI can't escape physics" because network and OS signals are detectable. 00:00 AI Tool Goes Wild 01:28 Meet Matt Holland 04:43 From CSE to Startup 08:20 Building Full Stack MDR 10:14 Four Phases of AIDR 14:53 Why Coverage Everywhere 18:40 Agents Acting Like Malware 24:39 Hype Versus Practical AI 30:26 AI Doom Cycle Reality Check 34:42 Critical Infrastructure Basics 36:30 Final Advice Don't Panic

September 30, 202614 min

ShinyHunters Leader Busted

FBI Warns Staff Assume ShinyHunters Stole Everyone's Data; Clop Dismisses Rival Hack; Kiteworks Restores Service Cybersecurity Today host David Shipley reports the FBI has told employees to assume ShinyHunters accessed the personal information of every FBI employee after the fbijobs.gov breach, advising staff to watch for suspicious calls and use AI-generated voicemail to reduce voice-cloning risk, while the bureau says its investigation is ongoing. ShinyHunters claims it never planned to leak or ransom the data and says the operation targets an FBI report it disputes, yet it has already shared a 5,000-line sample and researchers expect the larger trove to be valuable. Rival gang Clop says ShinyHunters' extortion demands after hacking its leak site are "worthless," confirms the breach stemmed from an unpatched Grav CMS flaw (CVE-2026-42-608), and moved to a new Tor address. The episode also covers Dutch police arresting an alleged ShinyHunters leader as sources suggest a new leader, and Kiteworks bringing services back online after patching a critical bug and finding no compromise. 00:00 FBI Breach Fallout 01:21 Protecting Agents From Scams 02:31 ShinyHunters Walkback 03:36 Data Sample Spreads 05:20 Clop Versus ShinyHunters 06:55 Grav CMS Vulnerability 07:53 Dutch Arrest And New Boss 10:48 FBI Cyber Division Warning 11:56 Kiteworks Back Online 13:33 Wrap Up And Sign Off

September 28, 202616 min

Two new NetScaler zero-days exploited, ShinyHunters steals FBI medical files, OpenAI Australia hack disputed

Citrix NetScaler Zero-Days Exploited, Kiteworks Shutdown Warning, ShinyHunters WAF Bypass, FBI Medical Files Leak, OpenAI Medicare "Hack" Reframed Citrix confirms two actively exploited NetScaler zero-days (CVE-2026-88771 and CVE-2026-88772) with 9.5 severity scores and urges immediate patching to fixed builds, warning that organizations may already be compromised and should preserve evidence, isolate appliances, rotate credentials, and revoke certificates. Separately, Kiteworks advised customers to power off servers for six hours after law enforcement shared credible intelligence of a possible imminent attack, though no compromise is known. Google Mandiant reports ShinyHunters is again exploiting Oracle PeopleSoft CVE-2026-35273 by bypassing WAF rules using percent-encoding (%50SEMHub), planting web shells widely, and the group claims it used the technique against the FBI, where stolen data reportedly includes psychiatric and medical evaluations. Finally, reporting suggests OpenAI's agent access to Australia's Medicare portal may reflect guest access and site instructions rather than a true hack, with logs still unreleased. 00:00 NetScaler Zero Days 01:39 Patch and Contain 03:44 Echoes of 2019 05:03 Kiteworks Shutdown 06:32 File Transfer Risks 07:39 WAF Bypass Trick 09:42 FBI Breach Fallout 12:00 Medicare Agent Drama 15:25 Wrap Up and Thanks