The kingpin of the LockBit ransomware is named and sanctioned, a cybersecurity consultant is charged with a $1.5 million extortion, and a romance fraudster stole £80,000 from women he met on Tinder.

All this and much much more is discussed in the latest edition of the "Smashing Security" podcast by cybersecurity veterans Graham Cluley and Carole Theriault, joined this week by “Ransomware Sommelier” Allan Liska.

Warning: This podcast may contain nuts, adult themes, and rude language.

Episode links:

• Former Cybersecurity Consultant Arrested For $1.5 Million Extortion Scheme Against IT Company - US Department of Justice.
• United States vs Vincent Cannady (PDF) - US Department of Justice.
• LockBit leader unmasked and sanctioned - NCA.
• Romance fraudster defrauded women of £80,000 - BBC News.
• 15 of the Most Trustworthy Accents in the UK Revealed - Country Living.
• Omoton phone car mount - Omoton.
• Stories are weapons by Annalee Newitz - WW Norton.
• All the Beauty in the World: A Museum Guard's Adventures in Life, Loss and Art by Patrick Bringley - Penguin.
• Smashing Security merchandise (t-shirts, mugs, stickers and stuff)

Sponsored by:

• Kiteworks – Step into the future of secure managed file transfer with Kiteworks.
• Vanta – Expand the scope of your security program with market-leading compliance automation… while saving time and money. Smashing Security listeners get 10% off!
• Kolide – Kolide ensures that if your device isn’t secure it can’t access your cloud apps. It’s Device Trust for Okta. Watch the demo today!

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THANKS:

Theme tune: "Vinyl Memories" by Mikael Manvelyan.

Assorted sound effects: AudioBlocks.

This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis:

OP3 - https://op3.dev/privacy