Brazen Russian intrusions into the US electricity grid lead our episode. I ask Matthew Heiman and Nick Weaver whether Russia intended for us to know about their intrusions (duh, yes!) and how we should respond to the implicit threat to leave Americans freezing in the dark. Their answers and mine show creativity if not exactly sobriety.

Continue Reading Episode 246: Russia’s Successful Search for Deterrence on the Cheap

Today we interview Doug, the chief legal officer of GCHQ, the British equivalent of NSA. It’s the first time we’ve interviewed someone whose full identify is classified. Out of millions of possible pseudonyms, he’s sticking with “Doug.” Listen in as he explains why. More seriously, Doug covers the now-considerable oversight regime that governs GCHQ’s intercepts and other intelligence collection, Britain’s view of how the law of war applies in cyberspace, the prospects for UN talks on that topic, the value of attribution, and whether a national security agency should be responsible for civilian cybersecurity (the UK says yes, the US says no).

Continue Reading Episode 235: It’s a Bird, It’s a Plane, It’s … Doug?

Episode 166 is the interview that goes with episode 165’s news roundup, released separately to ensure the timeliness of the news.

In episode 166, we interview Kevin Mandia, the CEO and Board Director of FireEye, an intelligence-led security company.  FireEye recently outed a new cyberespionage actor associated with the Vietnamese government.  Kevin tells us