This episode of the Hacker Valley Studio podcast features Jon DiMaggio, a Senior Threat Intelligence Analyst at Symantec. Jon is a researcher and longtime bad guy chaser, and Ron and Chris fill this installment of Hacker Valley Blue with Jon’s thoughts on ransomware, threat research, attribution, and more!
Jon introduces himself to listeners who may not yet know much about him, explaining that he started his career as an engineer and that his work for the government in the early 2000s forced him to focus a lot on defending against nation-state attacks. He developed into an expert in the field, and transitioned about 13-14 years ago into his current line of work. He now teaches alongside his work as an analyst, and he moved from a government position to Symantec in 2014. Jon’s specialty is still nation-state, but he has also ventured into enterprise ransomware. He shares about these areas of specialization with Ron and Chris, detailing what a nation-state is and how to combat it within the context of threat intelligence, and addressing the economics of ransomware.
As the conversation continues, Ron and Chris raise a variety of other topics for Jon to address. Jon considers the threat of a future major worm attack, and provides listeners with insight on how to become established in his line of work. There are a lot of available resources that people can use to develop their own skills and increase their visibility. However, becoming a government hacker, and so having an offensive rather than a defensive role, is much more challenging. Moving toward the conclusion of the conversation, Jon offers tips on navigating attribution and bias (such as being sure to have evidence before making public claims!), explains how he mentally organizes and recalls information, and speaks to the nature of strong communication.
1:41 - Listeners are introduced to Jon DiMaggio and the episode before Jon explains his background..
5:04 - The first major topic Jon shares about is that of nation-states, specifically speaking to the work of combating nation-state attackers.
12:57 - The conversation turns to the economics of ransomware.
18:39 - What are Jon’s thoughts on the possibility of another major worm attack?
20:26 - Jon is asked about how people can enter his field or that of hacking.
24:54 - How should listeners approach attribution and bias, and how has Jon navigated bias in his own life?
31:31 - The group considers Jon’s mental organization, his recall of information, and the topic of communication.
Links:
Learn more about Hacker Valley Studio
Support Hacker Valley Studio on Patreon
Follow Hacker Valley Studio on Twitter
Follow Ronald Eddings on Twitter
Follow Chris Cochran on Twitter
Access the recent work and research on Symantec’s threat intelligence feed
The adversary is using Artificial Intelligence. Why aren’t you? In this episode, Host Chris Cochran talks with Scott Sutherland, VP of Research at NetSPI, about everyone’s favorite hot topics; ransomware and AI...
SaaS misconfigurations may be responsible for up to 63% of security incidents. Do your SaaS applications have risky OAuth grants and misconfigurations? Let’s not find out. We will unravel the complexities of OA...
In this episode, host Ron Eddings speaks with Chris Hughes, President at Aquia, Cyber Innovation Fellow at CISA, and cybersecurity legend. Special guest, Chris Hughes, was initially inspired to build a personal...
In this episode, host Ron Eddings is joined by Sr. Director of Red Team Operations at Coalfire, Pete Deros, to discuss the hottest topic around; adversarial AI. Ron and Pete discuss how AI is used and how the a...
In this episode, host Ron Eddings is joined by Metasploit creator, co-founder and CEO of runZero, HD Moore. HD changed the world with Metasploit and he’s doing it again with runZero. Attack Surface Management c...
In this episode, Ron Eddings is joined by Penetration Tester, Instructor, International Speaker, Best Selling Author, and Podcast Host, Phillip Wylie. Phillip shares how pen testing and the need to educate peop...
In this episode, Host Ron Eddings interviews Robert Kerbeck, author of Ruse: Lying the American Dream from Hollywood to Wall Street. Robert shares how his professional acting skills helped his career in corpora...
In this episode, host Ron Eddings is joined by cybersecurity researcher and writer, Kim Crawley, to deep dive into one of her greatest passions; computing! From its origins to its newest capabilities in quantum...
In this episode, host Ron Eddings is joined by Co-Founder and CEO of ThreatLocker, Danny Jenkins, to talk about his "Hero’s Journey" from IT to launching ThreatLocker. From spam emails, bots, and ransomware to ...
In this episode, host Chris is joined by Erika Eakins — a cybersecurity sales ninja, podcaster, and co-founder at Teach Kids Tech. Erika opens up about her challenges entering tech and cybersecurity as a woman ...
Are you the best kept secret in cybersecurity? Let's change that by partnering together for podcast ads, social campaigns, and your next event or keynote. Send us your details to get started.