Cyber Uncut

As the global economy and political environment continue to become increasingly unpredictable, hosts Phil Tarrant, Major General (Ret’d) Dr Marcus Thompson and Liam Garman unpack what’s in store for 2025 using diplomacy, information, military and economic (DIME) analysis. This podcast represents the first of two episodes, where the hosts provide insight into the latest diplomatic and information events, and how they impact us at home in Australia. The trio begin by examining the recent ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas, and whether it will likely hold in the current environment.They then turn to the Ukraine War and Britain’s 100-year pledge.They then look at the incoming White House’s approach to TikTok, and whether information should be considered a military domain. Stay tuned for the next episode, where the trio unpack military and economic power. Enjoy the podcast, The Contested Ground team

In this episode of the Cyber Uncut podcast, hosts David Hollingworth and Daniel Croft take yet another look back at a year of cyber incidents and talk about how 2024 saw incidents rise by almost half again. The pair also look at a hacktivist group targeting Australian websites, the still ongoing UnitedHealth saga, a dangerous hacking that may be on the horizon, and the latest in ransomware attacks on Australian organisations. Hollingworth and Croft kick off the chat with Check Point Software Technologies’ look back at the year that was, with 2024 seeing 44 per cent more cyber incidents than the previous year. The pair talk about how that matches their expectations, from nation-state actors to hacktivists and, of course, ransomware and cyber crime.Croft then goes into his own investigations into the RipperSec hacktivist group, while Hollingworth looks into vulnerabilities impacting a popular firewall device that has been extensively exploited in the past and could well be about to be hacked en masse again.Finally, Croft looks at the latest chapter in the UnitedHealth hack from last year and some rather disturbing allegations that the giant insurance company is not entirely being above board with its reporting. The pair then look back at the week that just passed and the nearly half-dozen ransomware attacks targeting organisations in the ANZ region. It’s been a busy start to the year. Enjoy the podcast, The Cyber Uncut team

How might the recent threat from US President-elect Donald Trump impact practitioners in this space? In this recent crossover episode of the Contested Ground podcast, Jerome Doraisamy, editor of Lawyers Weekly, sat down with The Shipping Lawyer, Alison Cusack, to discuss the shipping law landscape in 2024 and what was learnt from that year, the recent threat from Donald Trump to take back control of the Panama Canal and the history of the canal (and lessons from the Suez Canal experience). Cusack also discusses the frequency with which shipping lawyers have to adapt to geopolitical shifts and navigate client expectations. Enjoy the podcast, The Contested Ground team

In this episode of the Cyber Uncut podcast, hosts David Hollingworth and Daniel Croft wonder if they can fill a podcast with just four days of news in the new year, and of course, they can. From a hacker with a habit of going after big political targets to some of the big numbers of the previous year to geopolitics and terrorist data breaches, 2025 has kicked off with a bang. Hollingworth starts things off with notorious hacker Natohub’s latest exploits – leaking the recruitment data of around 42,000 recruitment forms belonging to the United Nations’ International Civil Aviation Organization. It’s far from the hacker’s first rodeo, so Hollingworth and Croft go over some of past exploits as well.Croft talks up the curious case of the hacker who managed to breach the terrorist organisation ISIS. Meanwhile, Hollingworth goes over some cyber incident statistics from 2024, including the fact that Europe was the most hacked region on the planet, mostly driven by the war in Ukraine. The pair also discuss a Ukrainian success story following the total disruption of a Russian ISP by Ukrainian hackers.The pair round things up with a playful look at a recent case of the European Union fining itself over a GDPR violation, and some exciting news for the Cyber Daily website. Enjoy the podcast, The Cyber Uncut team

In this episode of the Contested Ground podcast, hosts Phil Tarrant and Liam Garman are joined by Momentum Media’s senior defence and national security analyst and government relations manager, Steve Kuper, to discuss the latest geopolitical developments. The trio discuss the key developments over the Christmas and New Year period that are setting the scene for a truly transformative midway point for the 2020s. They also discuss: Ongoing diplomatic efforts by the incoming Trump administration to resolve the Russia–Ukraine war and the situation on the ground.The Boxing Day revelation of apparent sixth-generation fighter aircraft by the People’s Republic of China and Beijing’s ambitious ship commissioning schedule for 2025, which will dramatically reshape the balance of power.The implications of the incoming Trump administration on the global geopolitical and economic environment. Enjoy the podcast, The Contested Ground team

In this episode of the Contested Ground podcast, Phil Tarrant, Major General (Ret’d) Marcus Thompson and Liam Garman discuss the fall of Bashar al-Assad and the ongoing Israel–Hamas war. They begin the podcast debating whether the unfolding Israel–Hamas conflict will have the same level of strategic significance for Israel as the Yom Kippur War or the Six-Day War.Tarrant, Thompson and Garman then discuss how the conflict has altered the balance of power in the Middle East, severing Iran’s crescent of influence by weakening Hamas and Hezbollah, coupled with the fall of Assad.They wrap up the podcast examining what nations, if any, might assume the role of a security benefactor in the Middle East with a weakened Iran, and emerging open-source intelligence (OSINT) collection vectors. Enjoy the podcast, The Contested Ground team

In this episode of the Cyber Uncut podcast, hosts David Hollingworth and Daniel Croft take a look back at some of the biggest and most intriguing stories of the year, from CrowdStrike’s outage and amazing response to the takedown of ransomware giant LockBit. Croft kicks off with the epic story of the Change Healthcare hack, which saw the data of about a third of the population of the United States compromised. But it wasn’t just the scale of the hack; it was also the behind-the-scenes manoeuvering between greedy ransomware-as-a-service operators, hacker affiliates just wanting to get paid, and a company realising that it really does have to pay an exorbitant ransom.The pair then discuss the takedown of ransomware giant LockBit and the remarkably sassy response of the law enforcement agencies behind the operation, before looking back at another ransomware operation that turned out to be nothing but an extensive scam.Lastly, Croft and Hollingworth look back at July’s CrowdStrike outage, both its wide-ranging impact and what turned out to be an excellent and comprehensive response from CrowdStrike itself, before turning the gaze forward to wonder what they might see in 2025. Enjoy the podcast, The Cyber Uncut team

In this episode of the Contested Ground podcast, Phil Tarrant, Major General (Ret’d) Dr Marcus Thompson and Liam Garman discuss the ongoing war in Ukraine and the future of warfighting in the information domain. They begin the podcast unpacking major national security developments for 2024 and how global powers have continued to exploit the grey zone, before unpacking an absence of ownership of the information domain in Australia when examining the DIME construct – diplomacy, information, military, and economic.The trio then discuss Ukraine’s exploitation of the information environment, and how the modern battlefield nevertheless reflects the Clauswitzian notion that the nature of war never changes.Tarrant, Thompson and Garman then predict how the incoming US administration will impact the conflict. Enjoy the podcast, The Contested Ground team

In this episode of the Cyber Uncut podcast, hosts David Hollingworth and Daniel Croft discuss a widespread hacking campaign by a network of hacktivist groups and an alleged data breach impacting United States Marine Corps personnel. The pair also catch up on the evolving case of the apparent assassination of UnitedHealthcare’s CEO and talk about the threat of Chinese espionage operations against telecommunications companies. Hollingworth and Croft begin by breaking down a campaign by a raft of pro-Russian and pro-Palestine hacktivist groups that recently targeted more than 60 Australian organisations, taking websites offline, defacing others, and even getting into a handful of operational technology environments.Croft then breaks down an alleged data breach that saw the personal details of thousands of US Marine Corps personnel leaked on a popular hacking forum. He also goes into some detail about the challenges of reporting and investigating data leaks.Finally, Hollingworth and Croft catch up on the latest developments in the case of the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson and then share stories from a pair of recent discussions with experts from CrowdStrike and BlackBerry regarding the insidious threat of Chinese espionage efforts in the telecommunications sector. Enjoy the podcast, The Cyber Uncut team

In this episode of the Contested Ground podcast, special host Steve Kuper is joined by co-host Major General (Ret’d) Marcus Thompson and AMP’s chief economist, Shane Oliver, to discuss the latest economic data and what it means for the nation’s economic and national security. The trio discuss the recently released Australian gross domestic product figures and the impact of Australia’s ailing economy on national security. They also discuss: Australia’s collapsing productivity and the growth of record government spending on the national economy and the baked-in, long-term structural deficits that will characterise the future fiscal outlook for the country.The need to boost economic complexity and diversity to better prepare the nation to face the mounting geopolitical and “whole-of-nation” efforts being leveraged against Australia in this new multipolar world and how best to deliver such a monumental change.The urgent need for a serious national debate with the Australian public about the future of the country and its economic future and the intersection of national security. Enjoy the podcast, The Contested Ground team

In this episode of the Cyber Uncut podcast, hosts Liam Garman and Daniel Croft discuss recent changes in Australian cyber policy and recent cyber crime activity. The two debate the controversial social media ban and the use of AI in university assessments, before discussing a website defacement case that could be the start of something much bigger, as well as the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. The podcast begins with a discussion of Sydney University’s move to allow students to use AI tools for assessments, one that Croft believes could prepare students for a future AI workplace, while Garman thinks it deprives students of higher, critical thought.The two then debate the recently passed social media age ban, what it means for young people’s mental health on and offline and the way it was approached by the government.Croft then outlines a case of website defacement on an Australian disability service provider, which could be the start of a wider campaign, as the threat group has begun forming alliances with other cyber criminals, all with their sights on Australia.Finally, Garman and Croft don their tinfoil hats to speculate on theories as to why the CEO of UnitedHealthcare, which had suffered a massive ransomware attack this year, was gunned down in New York. Enjoy the podcast, The Cyber Uncut team

In this episode of the Contested Ground podcast, special host Steve Kuper is joined by Jennifer Parker, expert associate at the National Security College, Australian National University and a former Navy officer, to discuss the growing need for an Australian Coast Guard. The pair discuss the mounting level of hybrid and grey zone warfare in the maritime commons and economic exclusion zones across the Indo-Pacific and Southeast Asia, which has prompted a radical shift among regional nations seeking to secure their maritime interests. The pair also discuss: The impact on the naval surface fleet as it is increasingly called upon to engage in maritime border patrol and security missions across Australia’s vast maritime area of responsibility.The regional trend towards establishing a formalised Coast Guard to ease the burden on regional navies and a variety of models available for Australian consideration.The history of Australia’s push towards developing a Coast Guard and the opportunity to provide an additional contributing capability for national security in the event of conflict in the region. Enjoy the podcast, The Contested Ground team

In this episode of the Contested Ground podcast, Major General (Ret’d) Dr Marcus Thompson, Liam Garman and Phil Tarrant unpack findings from the Australian Signals Directorate’s (ASD) Annual Cyber Threat Report 2023-2024 and the challenge of building a governance framework that disrupts the purveyors of disinformation.  The trio unpack findings from the ASD, in particular the ongoing risk Australia’s critical infrastructure providers face at the hand of adversarial nation-state actors, and how Australia must prepare for this growing risk. They then discuss what governance frameworks the government can implement to disrupt the proliferation of disinformation and misinformation online, while being careful to protect liberal values such as freedom of expression.  Enjoy the podcast, The Contested Ground team

In this episode of the Cyber Uncut podcast, hosts David Hollingworth and Daniel Croft break down the last week in the cyber world. We talk politics, policy, and the truly terrible legislation that is the social media ban, before moving on to talk about recent ransomware attacks and data breaches impacting Australian businesses. The podcast begins with Croft unpacking the new Cyber Security Act that passed into law this week, before both joining in for a discussion with Hollingworth about the social media age ban that is being more or less rammed through Parliament. The pair lay out their objections to the legislation, the harm it might do the children it is trying to protect, and how it might be enforced.Croft then outlines a data breach that may be impacting up to 47,000 Telstra employees, while Hollingworth launches into some background on a new ransomware gang, SafePay, that has been targeting Australian businesses.Finally, the pair wrap up with a general discussion on some of the pitfalls of cyber security reporting. Enjoy the podcast, The Cyber Uncut team

In this episode of the Cyber Uncut podcast, independent cyber security executive Tony Vizza and Lumify lead cyber security trainer Louis Cremen join host Liam Garman to discuss whether boards truly understand cyber security risks – and whether they are doing enough to manage them.  They begin the podcast by unpacking how boards can have a greater understanding of the risk of cyber incidents to organisations and how they differ from other elements of risk that face businesses. Vizza and Cremen then discuss whether board members are told the full story by management and whether they should undertake their own cyber security training.The podcast wraps up by analysing the security implications of AI and how businesses can prepare their incident response plans. Enjoy the podcast, The Cyber Uncut team

In this episode of the Cyber Uncut podcast, Genetec’s Asia-Pacific sales engineering and services manager, Lee Shelford, joins host Liam Garman to discuss the world of physical security and how Genetec’s software-as-a-service (SaaS) solution is keeping public and private organisations safe.  The podcast begins analysing the evolution of physical security, from rudimentary alarm systems to today’s SaaS-enabled physical control solutions. Shelford then discusses how this solution keeps businesses safe: from using data analytics to streamline access control to automating endpoint cyber security. The pair then discuss the myth of the airgap, and the company’s expansion into the Australia-New Zealand market, with Australia proving to be a world leader in this technology.They wrap up by discussing how Genetec helps businesses on their journey, whether they want cloud-enabled physical security devices or on-premises capabilities.  Enjoy the podcast, The Cyber Uncut team

In this episode of the Contested Ground podcast, shadow minister for communications and federal member for Banks David Coleman joins host Liam Garman to discuss the recent misinformation bill that will leave free speech and political discourse in Australia. They begin the podcast with a recap of what’s in the bill, including how the government will determine what constitutes misinformation or disinformation.Coleman and Garman then unpack some unforeseen consequences of the bill, including how it may impact religious freedoms and genuine political discourse.The podcast wraps up discussing the government’s push to remove under-16s from social media. Enjoy the podcast, The Contested Ground team

In this episode of the Cyber Uncut podcast, host Liam Garman is joined by Aaron Bugal, field chief technology officer at Sophos, to unpack how businesses can keep themselves safe in the face of an ever-evolving threat environment.  The pair begin the podcast by examining recent research from the company’s X-Ops division and how professionals should prioritise disrupting criminal networks with a reminder that ransomware is merely a means to an end for attackers. They then examine how AI is being used to detect threats and the need for businesses to adopt zero-trust security modes.Bugal and Garman then wrap up by looking at the evolving characteristics of ransomware and how businesses can employ geo-blocking.  Enjoy the podcast, The Cyber Uncut team

In this episode of the Cyber Uncut podcast, Dawn Cappelli, head of OT-CERT at Dragos, joins host Liam Garman to unpack how governments and the industry are responding to current and emerging ICS/OT threats. The pair begin the podcast by examining how operational technology is becoming more interconnected with the digital world and what emerging vulnerabilities providers should be aware of for the future.Cappelli and Garman then look into whether government regulations are keeping pace with evolving threats and whether artificial intelligence is transforming the world of operational technology.They wrap up the podcast by discussing some pertinent case studies, zero trust, and what the landscape of operational technology security will look like over the next decade. Enjoy the podcast, The Cyber Uncut team

In this episode of the Contested Ground podcast, Liam Garman is joined by senator for Queensland Matthew Canavan to discuss resource and food security, international politics and Australian domestic policy. The pair begin the podcast discussing voting trends in Australia and the results of the recent Queensland election.They then examine the need for a robust policy platform that supports Australia’s resources industry, protecting national sovereignty, delivering jobs and economic growth.Senator Canavan and Garman then unpack the economic impact of trade embargoes on Australia’s finances, before examining the need for effective biosecurity legislation to protect Australian farmers.Finally, the pair discuss the intersection between resources and building a skilled workforce. Enjoy the podcast, The Contested Ground team