Transatlantic Cable podcast, episode 207

This week on the podcast, Ahmed, Dave, and Jeff discuss the Ferocious Kitten APT, smiling to enter an office, and more.

This week on the podcast, Ahmed, Dave, and Jeff discuss the Ferocious Kitten APT, smiling to enter an office, and more.

Welcome to the 207th edition of the Kaspersky Transatlantic Cable podcast! This week, Dave, Ahmed, and I chat about a number of topics — and we also have some changes to our big board of quiz points.

We kick things off with a pair of stories about AI and surveillance. The first is from the UK, where AI can now tell authorities if people were adhering to social distancing guidelines. The next is about a Chinese company using smile recognition for employees entering the office. Smile for the camera.

After a short break for a tip from Ahmed, we’re on to the first round of the week’s quiz game. I won’t spoil it here, but let’s just say there is a bit of a shocker. Following the fun, we get back to business, discussing recent APT activity from the Persian-speaking Ferocious Kitten group with researchers Mark Lechtik and Aseel Kayal.

After the interview, we look at the insecurity of America’s water facilities before wrapping up with a discussion of consent and the COVID-19 app in Massachusetts.

If you liked what you heard, please consider subscribing and sharing with your friends. For more information on the stories we covered, see the links below:

Tips

Cracked in under a minute: (nearly) every other password

We’ve revisited our study on the crackability of real-world passwords leaked on the dark web — originally conducted two years ago. The findings are sobering: nearly every other password can be cracked in under a minute, and three out of five take less than an hour. How can we move away from insecure passwords?