Halloween Special: A Nightmare on Cybersecurity Street

On this week’s very special Halloween episode, listen as the hosts embark on a journey beyond the seven seas, a thrilling match filled with spooky stories and of course, lighthearted banter (one can’t help but laugh even in fear)... Sink your fangs into this week's Halloween-themed episode.

On this adventure, Gianna is joined by hosts from That Tech Pod (https://thattechpod.com/): Laura Milstein, aka (at least on this Halloween episode) “the bread,” and Kevin Albert, wearing a just iconic Bob Ross costume. Apparently, there’s a Bob Ross movie starring Owen Wilson? From our research, it is NOT a Bob Ross Biopic… 

The first segment dives into a genuinely chilling cybersecurity tale – a ransomware attack on a hospital in Düsseldorf, Germany. This sinister event led to the unfortunate death of a patient as an ambulance had to be rerouted. The hosts discuss the attack in-depth, shedding light on the hospital's security vulnerabilities and how the hackers demanded a ransom, only to target the hospital instead of a university. The aftermath left the hospital's IT systems encrypted for two weeks, causing significant disruptions in patient care. The police investigation treated the incident as a homicide, emphasizing the gravity of the consequences.

The hosts also discuss the infamous Bangladesh Central Bank robbery, a cyber heist that occurred in February 2016. The hackers launched a spear-phishing attack to gain access to the bank's network, resulting in the transfer of a staggering $1 billion. However, only $18 million was recovered. The hosts break down the story's humorous elements, like the misspelled instructions and the interesting timing of the cyber heist… which overlapped with a holiday. 

The conversation also goes into explaining the role of the SWIFT network and dives into the casino money laundering operation in the Philippines. To add an intriguing twist to the narrative, they reveal that a bank manager was arrested and sentenced to 56 years in prison for their involvement.

As the episode ends, we close it with our favorite game of guessing alternate jobs, including Kevin managing a farm and running a cricket shop, Laura becoming the underground ringleader of a high-end casino, and Gianna's passion for iceberg lettuce. 

 

Timestamps for the stories: 

04:40 - 09:29 (Death caused by Ransomware)

10:03 - 24:00 (Bank robbery)

26: 06 - 31:30 (LinkedIn hack) 

31:45 - 37:30 (Baby dies because of Ransomware)

 

From spiders to skulls and everything in between. Beware and be scared…Happy Halloween!

 

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About ThatTechPod & the Hosts

Learn more about ThatTechPod here: https://thattechpod.com/ 

Laura Milstein is a global eDiscovery and cybersecurity specialist. She has a wide range of experience in the tech space with a main focus on cybersecurity and litigation support in areas such as incident response, vulnerability and patch management, pen testing, data processing, forensic collections, data storage, and artificial intelligence. Laura loves diving deep into conversations and expanding her tech knowledge on That Tech Pod. 

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Kevin Albert is a technology executive with 23 years of experience combining a unique blend of technical expertise, business management, and customer service. His experience includes leading technical teams across a wide variety of environments, spanning large and small consulting companies—including two of the “Big 4”—litigation support vendors, government contractors, and start-ups. Throughout his career, Kevin has conducted forensic acquisitions of all forms of digital evidence and performed data analysis for hundreds of projects in the U.S. and globally. He has managed large-scale investigations, including client-site forensic collection, data processing, hosting, review management, and production. Kevin is currently the Director of Technical Services of Casepoint, a software company specializing in eDiscovery, investigations, data privacy & compliance. 

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