Research Saturday

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Episodes

469

Latest episode

Oct 2026

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About the show

Every Saturday, we sit down with cybersecurity researchers to talk shop about the latest threats, vulnerabilities, and technical discoveries.

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60 recent

October 17, 202628 min

The wrong kind of access.

Dan Lisichkin, AI Security Researcher from Pillar Security, discussing their work on "A WIF Of Fresh Access, How a GitHub Issue on Gemini-CLI Led to GCP Project Compromise." Researchers at Pillar Security uncovered a vulnerability in Google’s Gemini CLI workflows that could allow an attacker to turn a malicious GitHub issue into remote code execution and gain elevated access to a Google Cloud Platform (GCP) project. The exploit chain combined a misconfigured tool allowlist that allowed unrestricted command execution with exposed Workload Identity Federation credentials and overly broad service account permissions, potentially enabling attackers to impersonate privileged accounts. Google promptly addressed the issues by tightening tool restrictions, blocking the agent’s access to credential files, and limiting service account impersonation permissions, highlighting the risks of connecting AI agents to untrusted input and sensitive infrastructure. The research and executive brief can be found here: ⁠A WIF Of Fresh Access: How a GitHub Issue on Gemini-CLI Led to GCP Project Compromise Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

October 10, 202617 min

Contents may be malicious.

Adam Meyers, Head of Counter Adversary Operations at CrowdStrike, is discussing their work on "PhantomRaven, An LLM-Generated Information Stealer Developed for Bug Bounty Hunting." PhantomRaven, a JavaScript-based information stealer distributed through malicious npm packages by a financially motivated threat actor posing as a bug bounty hunter. The malware targets system information and continuous integration and continuous deployment (CI/CD) environment variables, likely seeking credentials, with analysis suggesting its code was generated using a large language model. The report explores how AI-generated tools may lower the barrier to cybercrime and outlines steps organizations can take to mitigate risks, including restricting package installation scripts, using private npm registries, and monitoring dependencies. The research and executive brief can be found here: PhantomRaven: An LLM-Generated Information Stealer Developed for Bug Bounty Hunting Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

October 3, 202623 min

Play to win, pay to lose.

Today we are joined by Jean-Pierre Mouton, Senior Threat Intelligence Consultant at GuidePoint Security, discussing their work on "How Play Achieves Encryption." Play ransomware, also known as PlayCrypt, continues to target organizations across multiple sectors using a consistent double-extortion playbook that combines data theft with widespread encryption. A recent investigation details how the group gained access through a SonicWall VPN, moved laterally using tools such as Mimikatz and PsExec, exfiltrated sensitive data, and used the victim’s own SentinelOne uninstallation utility to disable endpoint protection. The findings highlight several behavioral indicators defenders can monitor, including tool staging through SYSVOL and SystemBC for command and control, event log clearing, and suspicious WinSCP activity. The research and executive brief can be found here: ⁠⁠⁠⁠How Play Achieves Encryption Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

September 26, 202624 min

An apple a day, a phish away.

Today we are joined by Ensar Seker, VP of Research and CISO at SOCRadar, discussing their work on "Exposing AnonyMousKIT: AI-Powered PhaaS Supply Chain." An investigation into AnonyMousKIT reveals an AI-powered Phishing-as-a-Service platform designed to steal Apple credentials and disable Activation Lock on stolen devices. The platform uses email, SMS, WhatsApp, and AI-driven voice calls to impersonate Apple Support, with researchers uncovering a broader ecosystem spanning 506 domains, 168 storefront brands, and 30 backend installations. Despite its sophisticated social-engineering capabilities, basic coding flaws exposed extensive operational logs and revealed the shared infrastructure, developer activity, and reseller network behind the criminal operation. The research and executive brief can be found here: ⁠Exposing AnonyMousKIT: AI-Powered PhaaS Supply Chain Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

September 19, 202625 min

All about that proxy.

Today we are joined by Dr. Renée Burton, VP of Threat Intelligence at Infoblox, discussing their work on Lurking Lizard, "Fake Installers, Fake Reviews, Fake Services – Real Proxies, Real." The research uncovers Lurking Lizard, a threat actor that has operated since at least 2022 by using fake software installers, VPNs, and lookalike domains to secretly turn victims’ devices into residential proxy nodes. Researchers identified more than 230 related domains and connected seemingly separate campaigns—including fake 7-Zip, downloader tools, and WireVPN—through shared infrastructure, tracking URLs, deployment patterns, and APIs. The investigation suggests the actor runs an end-to-end proxy operation, recruiting compromised devices and then monetizing their bandwidth through proxy services and fake review sites, with WireVPN appearing to be the latest evolution of the campaign. The research and executive brief can be found here: Fake Installers, Fake Reviews, Fake Services - Real Proxies, Real Victims Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

September 12, 202623 min

A beast by any other name.

Today we are joined by Brigid O Gorman, Senior Intelligence Analyst on Symantec Threat Hunter team, discussing their work on “GodDamn Ransomware: Latest Beast Rebrand Uses Malicious Driver to Disable Defenses." GodDamn ransomware, the latest rebrand from the Hyadina group behind Monster and Beast, is using increasingly sophisticated techniques to evade defenses. In a recent attack, the threat actors used AnyDesk for remote access, a broad credential-harvesting toolkit, and the PoisonX malicious kernel driver to disable endpoint security before deploying the ransomware. The activity highlights Hyadina’s continued development of its ransomware operations and an escalation in its defense-evasion capabilities. The research and executive brief can be found here: ⁠⁠⁠⁠GodDamn Ransomware: Latest Beast Rebrand Uses Malicious Driver to Disable Defenses Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

September 5, 202619 min

RMM-ber this ransomware.

Ismael Valenzuela, Vice President of Labs, Threat Research and Intelligence at Arctic Wolf, sits down with Dave to discuss their work tracking Anubis. Arctic Wolf Labs details a series of 2026 Anubis ransomware intrusions, revealing affiliates using stolen VPN credentials and exploiting CitrixBleed 2 to gain initial access. Attackers then blended into legitimate IT activity by deploying RMM tools, using RDP and PsExec for lateral movement, stealing credentials, and establishing tunnels and proxies for persistence and exfiltration. The research highlights a repeatable attack chain defenders can disrupt before encryption, from suspicious remote access and unauthorized RMM deployment to credential theft, security-tool tampering, and ransomware execution. The research and executive brief can be found here: ⁠From CitrixBleed 2 to Cloudflared: The Tools and Techniques Behind Anubis Ransomware Attacks Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

August 29, 202623 min

Who let the AI hack?

Today we are joined by Crystal Morin, Senior Cybersecurity Strategist, and Michael Clark, Senior Director of Threat Research, at Sysdig, sharing their work on "LLMjacking evolved: Attackers are using stolen AI compute to build offensive agentic tools." The Sysdig Threat Research Team observed an attacker abusing an exposed, unauthenticated Ollama server as the “brain” for an automated offensive security tool. The AI-powered framework can fingerprint services, identify vulnerabilities, craft exploits, extract credentials, and orchestrate attacks toward command execution, with researchers capturing the tool while it was still under active development. The activity highlights how LLMjacking is evolving from simply stealing AI compute for profit into using stolen model capacity to build increasingly autonomous offensive capabilities. The research and executive brief can be found here: LLMjacking evolved: Attackers are using stolen AI compute to build offensive agentic tools Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

August 22, 202629 min

A RAT in the spreadsheet.

Today we are joined by Aaron Beardslee, Manager of Threat Research at Securonix, discussing "Analyzing SHEET#CREEP: SHEETCREEP is up again with different config obfuscation." Securonix researchers have identified an evolved version of the SHEETCREEP espionage campaign, using a diplomatic-themed ISO phishing lure to deliver a C# remote access trojan targeting Indian diplomatic interests. The malware abuses the Google Sheets API as a stealthy command-and-control channel, with researchers identifying 91 active victim tabs, including a high-confidence target in Pakistan. The campaign, assessed with moderate confidence as linked to Pakistan-aligned APT36, has added XOR-obfuscated configurations and other anti-analysis techniques to evade detection and maintain persistent access. The research and executive brief can be found here: ⁠Analyzing SHEET#CREEP: SHEETCREEP is up again with different config obfuscation Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

August 15, 202627 min

The botnet that scouts before it strikes.

Today we are joined by Ian Goldin, Senior Lead Information Security Engineer, and Mike Horka, Principal Information Security Engineer, from Lumen's Black Lotus Labs, discussing their research entitled "Expanded JDY IoT and SOHO botnet enables rapid vulnerability exploitation." Black Lotus Labs has uncovered a major resurgence of the JDY botnet, a China-nexus reconnaissance network now comprising more than 1,500 compromised SOHO and IoT devices. The botnet uses these devices to conduct targeted scanning and fingerprinting, helping threat actors rapidly identify vulnerable infrastructure—sometimes within hours of a new vulnerability disclosure—and appears to have a particular focus on U.S. military-related networks. The research highlights how compromised routers and IoT devices can be turned into distributed reconnaissance infrastructure that evades traditional IP-based defenses and supports follow-on exploitation. The research and executive brief can be found here: Expanded JDY IoT and SOHO botnet enables rapid vulnerability exploitation Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices