DISCARDED: Live with John Hultquist!

DISCARDED: Tales From the Threat Research Trenches

Live from New York City, it’s your Discarded podcast team at Protect 2023! Joining Selena Larson, is our special guest, John Hultquist, Chief Analyst at Mandiant, now part of Google Cloud.
They discuss various cybersecurity threats and activities of nation-states like Russia, China, and North Korea. China stands out as it hasn't executed significant destructive cyberattacks like its peers. Most of China's cyber activity involves intellectual property theft, targeting dissidents, and espionage. However, there's growing concern about their interest in critical infrastructure, particularly in times of geopolitical tension. Russia, on the other hand, has a history of destructive and disruptive attacks, such as those seen in the Middle East and South Korea.
They also discuss the role of threat intelligence and information sharing in combating cyber threats, emphasizing the importance of responsible government involvement in providing leads to the cybersecurity community.
Of course, the influence of AI in cyber threat creation is also covered, particularly in generating fake media and content.
[4:00] China sets themselves apart
[8:00] Concerns about cyber enabled kinetic impacts
[14:00] Thoughts about Russia and Ukraine
[20:00] Techniques that analysts would find helpful
[24:00] Target anticipations for 2024
Resources mentioned:
https://www.mandiant.com/resources/blog/threat-actors-generative-ai-limited
https://www.cyberwarcon.com/https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/41436213
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-france-election-macron-cyber-idUSKBN17Q200
https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2015/07/08/sophisticated-successful-morpho-apt-group-is-after-corporate-data/
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/security/blog/2023/05/24/volt-typhoon-targets-us-critical-infrastructure-with-living-off-the-land-techniques/
https://www.mandiant.com/resources/blog/attackers-deploy-new-ics-attack-framework-triton
https://podcast.silverado.org/episodes/how-russian-intelligence-operatives-have-attacked-ukraine-in-cyberspace-interview-with-ukrainian-security-service
For more information, check out our website.