Masked Actors

7 Episodes

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MuddyWater & OilRig: The cyber espionage playbook

2025-10-2823:41

Send us a text As digital infrastructure becomes the backbone of global economies, cyber espionage has quietly evolved into one of the most powerful tools in modern statecraft. Behind the scenes, nation-backed threat groups like MuddyWater and OilRig operate sophisticated campaigns that blend malware, phishing, and social engineering to infiltrate governments, defence contractors, and critical industries. But these Advanced Persistent Threat groups aren’t motivated by fame or by fortune...

Joystick to Jailbreak: Exploring the Youth Cybercrime Pandemic

2025-09-2301:13:41

Send us a text Forget everything you think you know about hackers. Today’s cybercriminals aren’t lurking in shadowy basements - they’re teenagers mastering cheat codes on Roblox, swapping tips on Discord, and using AI to launch attacks from their bedrooms. Join Group-IB’s Gary Ruddell and Nick Palmer as they sit down with Fergus Hay, CEO and co-founder of The Hacking Games, to explore how cybercrime is becoming more accessible than ever. They dive into the rise of Ransomware-as-a-Service (Raa...

RansomHub: From RaaS Kingpin to Cartel Mystery

2025-08-2740:05

Send us a text When RansomHub, one of the most prolific ransomware groups, vanished overnight back in April, it sent shockwaves through the cybercriminal underworld. With over 600 global attacks and millions extorted, their sudden disappearance left affiliates scrambling and researchers asking: what happened? Join Group-IB’s Gary Ruddell and Nick Palmer as they speak with Pietro Albuquerque, a threat intelligence analyst at Group-IB and a leading expert on RansomHub, to unpack the rise and fa...

DragonForce: The Cyber Cartel Helping Hackers Hit the High Street

2025-07-2929:33

Send us a text Empty shelves, lost customers, and hundreds of millions of pounds in lost profit are just some of the outcomes that retailers have faced in the wake of recent ransomware attacks. From the Co-operative to M&S, the recent cyber attacks on UK retail giants have dominated headlines and wreaked havoc that’s been felt by customers, staff, and government officials alike. The culprits behind it? A highly organised group of ransomware specialists, codename: DragonForce. ...

Lazarus: Is your best IT worker really a North Korean hacker?

2025-06-1136:38

Send us a text In December 2014, Sony Pictures announced they were cancelling the release of Seth Rogan’s newest venture The Interview due to a large-scale cyberattack. And in February of this year, global cryptocurrency exchange Bybit suffered a massive attack resulting in the theft of $1.5 billion. These masked actors are still active. But now, they’ve turned their attention to companies like yours... Join Group-IB’s Gary Ruddell and Nick Palmer as they speak with Geoff White, one of ...

GoldFactory: The cybercriminals who want to steal your face

2025-05-1323:46

Send us a text If a cybercriminal steals your password, you can change it. But what happens if they steal your face? Former soldier turned hacker, Gary Ruddell and financial crime veteran, Nick Palmer, explore the actors behind GoldFactory - a cybercriminal group stealing users' facial recognition data to clean out victims bank accounts. Joined by Craig Jones, who spent five years at Interpol as the director of cybercrime, Group-IB's Gary and Nick explore how masked actors are exploitin...

Cybercriminals Exposed: Welcome to Masked Actors

2025-05-0901:12

Send us a text Welcome to Masked Actors — a true crime-inspired podcast from Group-IB that brings you face to face with the people orchestrating some of the most sophisticated cyberattacks on the planet. Join hosts Gary Ruddell — former soldier turned hacker and cyber threat expert — and Nick Palmer, a financial crime veteran, for the gripping new series which uncovers the tactics, motivations and real-world impact of the top 10 most prolific cybercriminal organizations of 2025. By unde...

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