They never really left — they just got quieter, faster, and bolder. In this episode of the Adversary Universe podcast, Adam and Cristian trace the resurgence of SCATTERED SPIDER, one of today’s most aggressive and sophisticated adversary groups.
Once known for SIM swapping and gaming community exploits, SCATTERED SPIDER has evolved into a high-speed, high-impact ransomware crew targeting the retail, insurance, and aviation sectors. Adam shares CrowdStrike’s front-line insights into how the group operates, from conducting help desk social engineering and bypassing multifactor authentication (MFA) to hijacking hypervisors and exfiltrating data via software as a service (SaaS) integrations.
Tune in to learn:
How SCATTERED SPIDER blends SIM swapping, voice phishing, and cloud-native tradecraft
Why they’re one of the fastest threat actors we’ve seen, sometimes encrypting systems within 24 hours
What defenders must do to spot them early and act fast
And yes, why they still haven’t been arrested
Check the show notes for CrowdStrike’s latest guidance and technical blog on SCATTERED SPIDER.
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33:45
Ask Us (Almost) Anything: Threat Intel, Adversaries, and More
You asked, and we answered. This episode of the Adversary Universe podcast takes a deep dive into questions from our listeners.
What did you want to know? Well, a lot about adversaries, but also about career paths and the threat intel space. Tune in to hear the answers to questions like:
• How did you break into the threat intelligence space?
• Who is the first adversary CrowdStrike tracked?
• Who is an adversary that keeps you up at night and why?
• What was a jaw-dropping moment you experienced in tracking adversaries?
• If you didn’t work in infosec, what would your dream job be?
Thanks to everyone who submitted questions. We’d love to continue hearing from you.
💼 Careers at CrowdStrike: https://www.crowdstrike.com/en-us/careers/
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25:13
When the Adversary Shows Up in Person
Physical security and IT security have gone hand in hand for a long time. While cybersecurity teams are rightfully focused on protecting their virtual environments, they should also have an eye on whether an adversary is walking through the front door.
“Anytime there’s a physical boundary, an adversary is going to look to cross over that — whether it be in person or using some technology to get over that boundary,” Adam says in this episode on physical security threats.
Not too long ago, it was common for someone to walk into a business, slide behind the counter, and insert a USB device into a point-of-sale system to deploy malware or remote access tools. Now, this type of activity is less common, but it still occurs; China-nexus threat actor MUSTANG PANDA, for example, is dropping USB sticks to gain access to targets across the Asia Pacific region.
This conversation is full of twists, turns, and interesting stories. Tune in to hear about adversaries physically breaking into target organizations, Adam’s adventures in pen testing, the physical security implications for internet of things (IoT) and operational technology (OT) environments, and what organizations should know about protecting their physical environments.
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25:24
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25:24
Where AI Fits in the Adversary’s Toolbox
Would you rather have an adversary profile you based on your AI chat history or tell your AI chatbot to forget everything it knows about you?
That’s one of many questions Adam and Cristian explore in this episode on how adversaries are integrating AI into cyberattacks. These days, it seems AI is everywhere — and that includes the adversary’s toolbox. Adam and Cristian describe multiple forms of malware that use AI in different ways, from identifying text in photos to writing code. And while these attacks still require humans to stitch all the pieces together, there is a growing concern that adversaries will continue to improve.
Tune in to learn how adversaries are baking AI into their tools, and about Adam’s latest adventures in baking bread, in this episode of the Adversary Universe podcast.
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20:31
Catching Up on Cloud Attack Paths with Cloud Threat Specialist Sebastian Walla
Today’s adversaries are increasingly operating in the cloud — and Sebastian Walla, Deputy Manager of Emerging Threats at CrowdStrike, is watching them. In this episode, he joins Adam and Cristian to dive into the latest cloud attack techniques and the adversaries behind them.
So, who are they? SCATTERED SPIDER and LABYRINTH CHOLLIMA are two of the threat actors targeting and navigating cloud environments, but they have distinct methods of doing so. This conversation explores the different ways they slip into organizations undetected, some of the tools they rely on, and how they operate under the radar. It also touches on the future of cloud threat activity and AI’s influence on how these attacks are evolving.
Of course, no Adversary Universe episode is complete without guidance. Adam, Cristian, and Sebastian share best practices for protecting enterprise cloud environments from these threats as adversaries continue to take aim.
Modern adversaries are relentless. Today’s threat actors target organizations around the world with sophisticated cyberattacks. Who are they? What are they after? And most importantly, how can you defend against them? Welcome to the Adversary Universe podcast, where CrowdStrike answers all of these questions — and more. Join our hosts, a pioneer in adversary intelligence and a specialist in cybersecurity technology, as they unmask the threat actors targeting your organization.
Österreich