Beers with Talos Podcast
Episodes
Ranksgiving Returns: The Appetizer Uprising
04 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Guess who’s back? Hazel, Bill and Joe welcome back fresh-from-parental-leave Dave Liebenberg, who has returned with a new baby, and some truly chaot...
Two Marshalls, One Podcast
16 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Talos' Vice President Christopher Marshall (the “real Marshall,” much to Joe’s displeasure) joins Hazel, Bill, and Joe for a very real conv...
How to Ruin an APT's Day, with Sara McBroom
11 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This week, the B-Team gets an upgrade as we’re joined by Sara McBroom from Talos’ nation-state threat intelligence and interdiction team. Sara sha...
So You Wanna Be an Incident Commander? Meet Alex Ryan
31 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
We welcome new Talos teammate and incident commander Alex Ryan to the pod this week. Bill, Joe and Hazel chat with Alex about what it really takes to ...
Terms and conceptions may apply
27 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Welcome back to the podcast where the structure is theoretical and the only certainty is uncertainty. In this episode, the crew reassembles after a to...
Year in Review 2024
31 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Joe, Hazel, Bill and Dave break down Talos' Year in Review 2024 and discuss how and why cybercriminals have been leaning so heavily on attacks th...
The truth about Tasmanian devils, and getting into cybersecurity
27 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Bill springs a surprise topic on the team in this episode - how did you get into cybersecurity, and what skills have you brought with you throughout y...
Social Media Bans, Live Experiments, Cybersecurity Crosswords, and Nine Lives: The B team returns
16 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
More hijinks and silliness ensue in the second episode of the BWT B Team podcast. Joe shares his frustration with being involuntarily removed from a s...
Misadventures, Rabbit Holes, and Turkey Lurkey Goes to the Movies
05 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
With Mitch, Matt and Lurene currently stuck in the void, the Beers with Talos B team duly elect themselves to reopen the sacred BWT airwaves with thei...
Black Hat 2024 preview
01 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
It's been a while huh? Apologies for our absence, but the team are back with a run through of everything we've got going on at Black Hat - f...
Stories from the Power Grid
11 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Power grid security expert Joe Marshall joins the crew today to talk all things, well, power grid security. But not before he gets an impromptu pop qu...
The old people episode
21 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Matt, Mitch and Lurene discuss if the internet is better or worse today than it was 20 years ago. This leads them to discuss their various career pa...
The Reverberations of Volt Typhoon
22 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
You will no doubt have seen the advisories published over the last few weeks concerning Volt Typhoon's malicious activities. In this episode, JJ ...
The Reddit Security Diaries
14 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Matt, Mitch and Lurene sit down to discuss “random stuff from Reddit” (don’t be put off – they’re all genuinely interesting security questio...
Talos Speed Dating (the episode we never set out to make but did anyway)
20 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Mitch, Matt and Lurene were almost about to be in the same physical space at the same time to record an episode, and then Lurene couldn't make it...
The TurkeyLurkey Man wants YOU to read the Talos 2023 Year in Review report
06 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
We recorded this episode AFTER Thanksgiving, so you'll need to forgive us for the amount of Thanksgiving talk that doesn't actually apply un...
Chicken Soup and Contact Centers
02 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
It's that time of the quarter again when we sit down to look at what we learned over the past three months. Caitlin Huey from the Talos Threat In...
Who is Jacques Wagon?
28 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
This episode of Beers with Talos has a very special guest: Our old friend Nigel Houghton. He's one of the OG BWTers and is back with two-plus yea...
"I'm going to breach you off." "Not if I breach you off first!"
24 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
We know we're like two weeks late to the Barbie party, but the whole Beers with Talos crew has seen it now so we had to talk about it. Expect a l...
Rachel Tobac on social engineering, expanding opportunities for women in cybersecurity
03 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In this special episode, Matt is flying solo while he interviews Rachel Tobac, the CEO of SocialProof Security. Rachel's company helps individual...
Yarrr! There be mercenaries on the high seas!
01 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The Beers with Talos Crew is back to a team of four this week, with special guest Nick Biasini joining the show to talk about Mercenary Groups and the...
Oh hello, "Susan"
25 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Mitch was out for this recording, so Hazel Burton, the newest addition to Team Talos, stepped in to host this episode! She, Lurene and Matt got togeth...
The XDR Files
18 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Our second of two episodes recorded live at the RSA Conference, Mitch and Lurene are joined by Nick Biasini from Talos Outreach and AJ Shipley, a vice...
SHIFT_NOP
11 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
This is the first of two episodes we have coming out that we recorded live at the RSA Conference. In this edition of Beers with Talos, we welcome Mick...
The one where they talk a lot about wireless routers
24 Apr 2023
Contributed by Lukas
This episode discusses network resilience, hardware hygiene, and the recently disclosed Jaguar Tooth campaign. J.J. joins the show and the usual cast ...
Should we even care about vulnerability severity scores?
16 Mar 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Everyone fears the dreaded 10-out-of-10 CVSS severity score on a vulnerability with "critical" written somewhere on the advisory. But does t...
Beers with Talos Ep. #130: Ransomware is a people problem (but getting rid of email helps)
17 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
(Recorded Jan. 27, 2023)No Matt this episode, so we have two guests in the rotating chair(s): Nick Biasini and David Liebenberg. Lurene, Mitch and our...
Talos Year in Review 2022 w/ Dave Liebenberg
14 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
With this episode, we set out to discuss the first annual Cisco Talos Year in Review report - a look back at the major threats, trends, and topics fro...
I find your vulnerabilities offensive (and exploitable).
29 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
We are (finally) talking about the recent OpenSSL vulnerability as we had to redo this EP. In our infinite podcasting wisdom, we took a stab at it r...
Im a skiddie, and you can too!
26 Oct 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Mitch was trying to preserve his voice, so Matt is driving the bus during this episode — hang on! In this edition, we're talking about script k...
The intricacies of cyber conflict in Ukraine
22 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
At the onset of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, many experts and government officials expected there to be two fronts of the war — one on the gro...
A(nother) new host approaches!
31 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
We're excited to add to the growing Beers with Talos family with the addition of Lurene Grenier to the squad. Lurene joins her first episode and ...
Beers with Talos Ep. #107: Sailing the high seas in search of privateer groups
12 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
You’re not going to believe this, but everyone actually agreed on something in this episode. And no, it’s not regarding the best flavor of beef je...
Is More than Executive Action in Order?
12 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Recorded May 11, 2020 – Craig wins MVP of the podcast for his attempts to avoid discussing… something. Anyway, we went a little long on this podca...
Beers with Talos Ep. #122: LIVE and in living color from RSA
12 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
We recorded this special episode live and actually in person last week at the RSA Conference, and we have a special treat for the listeners. The ever-...
Beers with Talos Ep. #120: How attackers are finding new ways to bypass MFA
12 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Our rotation of special guests continues on with Nate Pors from Talos Incident Response. Nate has been following several different attacks in which at...
Beers with Talos Ep. #118: Reacting to the current situation in Ukraine
12 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
This was admittedly a tough one to record. In the middle of us trying to respond to the situation in Ukraine, we felt it was important to let our list...
Beers with Talos Ep. #114: And then there were two...
12 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
(Uploaded again, this time with the correct music!) The OG Beers with Talos folks are dropping like flies, because now we also have to say goodbye to ...
Beers with Talos Ep. #119: If it walks like a BlackCat, meows like a BlackCat...
12 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
We’re all still pretty exhausted from our work in Ukraine. But that hasn’t slowed down any of the threat actors, unfortunately. So we enlisted spe...
Beers with Talos Ep. #117: Talos' Big Game commercial about a month too late
12 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
We’re dropping two episodes today. This is undoubtedly the less serious of the two, as it was recorded prior to the invasion of Ukraine. Check out E...
Beers with Talos Ep. #113: Emergency Log4j live show
12 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Log4j was a big enough deal that we finally decided to host a live show. Mitch, Matt, Liz and special guest JJ Cummings from our Threat Intel team got...
Beers with Talos Ep. #112: A new host approaches!
12 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
This is our first episode sans-Craig, but we didn’t wait long to find his replacement! Tune in as we add a new host to the crew. Then, we talk about...
Beers with Talos, Ep. #115: Everybody's measured by quarters — even threat actors
12 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
We wanted to start off the new year by reflecting on 2021 with Talos Incident Response. The one thing many cyber attacks had in common? People.There a...
Beers with Talos Ep. #111: Saying farewell to Craig and his killer robots
12 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
[Re-uploaded to fix an audio gap.] Yes, we’ve been sitting on this one for a while. But it’s worth it, we promise! We wanted to wait until we had ...
Beers with Talos, Ep. #110: The 10 most-exploited vulnerabilities this year (You won't believe No. 6!)
12 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
We mainly spend this episode doing some catching up because it’s been a while since we recorded. But on the actual, helpful, front, we discuss a rec...
Kaseya it ain't so
12 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Summer hacking, happened so fast….We’ve been trying to enjoy our summer, but supply chain attacks just had to go and ruin the fun. So Mitch got ba...
Beers with Talos Ep. #109: We have not secured our society — Or, working out a conference talk in realtime
12 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Most of the Beers with Talos folks are refreshed after a summer vacation. But don’t assume that means they actually prepared for this episode. This ...
Beers with Talos Ep. #121: The ghost of conferences past
12 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
We wanted to prep for the RSA/Cisco Live stretch of June by looking back on security conferences past. Mitch, Matt and Liz got together to talk about ...
Beers with Talos Ep. #124: There's no such thing as "I have nothing to hide"
12 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
We’ve all heard that popular refrain by now: “Well I have nothing to hide so I don’t care if the government sees my data.” This week, we tell ...
Beers with Talos Ep. #123 (FIXED!): Hunting for ransomware actors on *whispers* the dark web
12 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Re-uploaded on July 22, 2022 to fix audio issues —We’re back from RSA, Cisco Live and COVID breaks (yes, those things are all absolutely related)....
Beers with Talos Ep. #116: Let's talk about the Olympics (but not in the way you were expecting)
12 Aug 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Most people would expect us to approach the Winter Olympics from a security perspective. Why are athletes using burner phones? Are we worried about an...
[CROSS-BROADCAST]Security Stories Ep. 27: Dealing with stress, burnout and mental health in the threat intelligence industry
24 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
This is a very different episode in that it isn’t really a BWT episode at all. Hazel Burton from the Security Stories podcast invited Matt and Mitch...
Supply Chain has Matt Hopping Mad Like a Kangaroo
18 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Recorded March 30, 2021 – What better way to discuss supply chain attacks than to have Matt demonstrate how easily you can blend your payload into n...
ICS/SCADA Security - The Permanence and People Problems
21 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Recorded March 2021 – ICS and SCADA systems are deeply embedded all around us in critical infrastructure. Today we talk about some of the inherent ...
Twitter has Questions for Us
07 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
We’ve been quiet for a minute, but we have a few new EPs ready to go, starting with some of your questions from Twitter. And yes, one of the first q...
The Super Sized Centennial EP
09 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Recorded January 8, 2020 – It’s hard to believe that we have made 100 episodes of BWT. It easily feels like two or three times that many. This is ...
P@ssw0rds and Closing Out 2020
15 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
This EP was recorded toward the end of the year and lived a quiet, but meaningful life in the production queue patiently waiting it’s turn to get re...
Why Ransomware Actors Are (and Aren’t) Targeting Healthcare
04 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Recorded early November, 2020 – This is an EP we recorded in early November but got pushed back in the end of year shuffle to make production schedu...
Getting to Better Security Outcomes (ft. Wendy Nather)
10 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Recorded November 24, 2020 –On this EP, Mitch and Matt are joined by Wendy Nather to discuss the newly released Cisco Security Outcomes Study. The r...
The Bogeyman and QR codes
01 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
We got delayed with the holidays and PTO, but here is a long awaited ep. The rest of the year is on deck to release through the holidays, so fret not...
Election 2020: Advice for voters and election officials
29 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Recorded October. 9, 2020 –We are running a short bench today after Nigel’s retirement and Joel being on vacation. We start off talking about how ...
Nigel is Marching On, Victorious and Glorious
16 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Recorded Sept. 25, 2020 –Today is Nigel’s last episode as a regular host of BWT. Join us in wishing him a happy transition to his next chapter - a...
“More Secure” Myths and Misconceptions
01 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
On today’s show we take several of the larger security myths that are often heard around things like patching vulnerabilities - specifically the not...
Now Trending in Your Network: Disinformation
18 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Disinformation is front and center right now. As disinformation efforts constantly increase, platforms struggle to contain the problem without giving...
Get the FUD out
01 Sep 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Recorded August 14, 2020 –Let’s talk about FUD - it’s not enough to just say FUD sucks. Let’s talk about exactly how and why producers of FUD...
Hacktivism: Understanding the Real World Consequences
17 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Recorded July 31, 2020 –This week in BWT land, we’re discussing hacktivism - from the unintended consequences to the tropes perpetuated by Hollywo...
What To Do When the Pwnd One is You
03 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Recorded July 17, 2020 –The gang’s all back this week, and we take on what happens when you get pwnd, hacked, or your data is leaked. It happens t...
It’s Not About the Vote, It’s About Trust
22 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Nigel is out this week, but we have a couple light and breezy topics on the docket: 0-day research and the institutions of democracy. FUN STUFF!! Firs...
Happy 3rd Birthday BWT - It’s story time!
08 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Has it been 3 years already? We have a great episode to celebrate! We start off chatting about the origins of BWT and what made it… I don’t know…...
It’s Just an Exploit Popularity Contest...
01 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Recorded June 5, 2020 –Prod. Note: Things are a hot mess right now and the team thinks that there are voices you have needed to hear more than ours,...
The In-Between, Vol. 5
25 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Recorded May 29, 2020 – Prod. Note: Things are a hot mess right now and the team thinks that there are voices you have needed to hear more than ours...
Mid-Career Advancement in Cybersecurity
16 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Recorded May 26, 2020 – Prod. Note: Things are a hot mess right now and the team thinks that there are voices you have needed to hear more than ours...
The In-Between, Vol. 4
11 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Recorded May 15, 2020 –Prod. Note: Things are a hot mess right now and the team thinks that there are voices you have needed to hear more than ours,...
Talos IR Quarterly Threat Trends
21 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Brad Garnett from Cisco Talos Incident Response joins us today to talk about DFIR, the Talos Quarterly Trends Report, and how a high-speed police chas...
The In-Between, Vol. 3
15 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Recorded May 1, 2020 –Sammi is back and the rest of the crew is here to hang out, chat, and as is The In-Between Way - avoid discussing security at ...
Working Securely in a New (not yet) Normal
06 May 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Matt isn’t with us today, but the rest of the crew discusses current security issues in our new WFH environment, including some more-than-the-basics...
The In-between vol. 2 (It's a better name than Quittin' Time)
30 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
We are renaming these episodes - “Quittin’ time” was okay and all, but “The In-between” better captures what these eps are. Compared to our...
Fingerprints and Hunting Parties
21 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
We have a couple great topics today - and only one of them is a COVID-19 related topic. So, it turns out that you can fake fingerprints - the good new...
Quittin’ Time, vol. 1 - Tigers and Tales of the In-Between
14 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Recorded April 3, 2020 – We’re kinda bored. We figured you are too. So we decided to get together between normal recordings to help save you from ...
When Security Hits Home (and Stays)
06 Apr 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Our goal is always to talk to you about what’s on our minds. Right now, we are pretty sure we all have the same thing on our minds. In addition to o...
Now That Coronavirus Made a Global WFH Policy...
20 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Recorded 3/13/20 - Of course we have to talk about the implications of Coronavirus to the way business and security are getting done. While everything...
Impacting Civil Society
12 Mar 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Recorded 3/02/20 - We open up the show with a sugary sweet poem before talking about RSA and our annual trip through the startup hall. Matt expertly s...
Feature Ownership, Vuln Advisories, and Fancy Audio FX
27 Feb 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Recorded 2/19/20 - Craig made an oopsie. He sends his apologies for the echo-chamber reverb. We had no idea until he sent in his audio for mixing, we ...
Getting to Patch Day: Understanding Vulnerability Risks and Options
14 Feb 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Recorded 1/31/20 - When a vulnerability is released, regardless if it has a website and logo or not, we need to understand the risk to the network and...
I Have the Power(shell)!
31 Jan 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Recorded 1/20/20 - Powershell is a frequent flyer in security headlines - a powerful and oft wielded tool for attackers and defenders alike. This ep t...
Semper Vigilantes - Strategic Defense in a Cyber Conflict
16 Jan 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Recorded 1/6/20 - There is a looming cyber conflict on the horizon between the US and Iran. We use all our time this week to discuss the situation at ...
2019 Threat Recap - RATs, Turtles, and Worms!
06 Jan 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Recorded 12/20/19 - In a shorter year-end EP, we take a look back and a look forward. It seems everyone else wants to break out the crystal ball this ...
Takes from Talos on IoT (and the NEW “Talos Takes” podcast announced!)
17 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Recorded 12/9/19 - We have a big announcement to make today! Check your feed for a few Ep’s of a new podcast from Talos - “Talos Takes”. On this...
Inside Incident Response
09 Dec 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Craig is out sick/injured/fighting robots (actually all three), so we brought in Sean Mason from Talos IR to talk shop today and give you the inside s...
I Choose YOU! Attackers view of targets, RLAs, and scam season
20 Nov 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Recorded 11/8/19 - Joel is out on PTO, so Mitch, Matt, Nigel, and Craig carry the banner this EP discussing how attackers approach targets like invest...
Please Welcome to the Show… Talos Incident Response
05 Nov 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Recorded 10/25/19 - Today is a bit different. We normally keep things pretty neutral on this show (not really), but today is all about the new service...
Your Problem Isn’t Complex, Its Simply Complexity
25 Oct 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Recorded 10/10/19 - This EP lives up to it’s name, by trying to only take on a minimal topic and then becoming completely convoluted. We start of wi...
The Third Law of Thermodynamics
11 Oct 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Recorded 9/27/19 - We are down Matt and Joel today, so Mitch, Craig, and Nigel are taking you through this EP. We cover some recent posts from Talos w...
Fifty Shades of Shady
26 Sep 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Recorded 9/13/19 - In one of our rantier episodes of late, the BWT crew dives into the ongoing insidiousness that is cryptomining with Watchbog, and t...
Hacking for Good is a Bad Idea
11 Sep 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Recorded 8/30/19 - In this extra-sized EP, we cover a lot - starting with Retadup, and discussing the intricate workings of why it’s a bead idea to ...
Summer Camp Flashbacks and Defining Your Intel
30 Aug 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Recorded 8/16/19 - The understatement of the day would be the guys were in some kind of mood today… There is no explaining the way they are sometime...
The Tardy Episode
16 Aug 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Recorded 8/2/19 - Yes, I know what today’s date is. We got really busy last week and I am sorry that the podcast is late. Really, I wish I wasn’t ...
Defending Democracy and Doing DEFCON
24 Jul 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Recorded 7/19/19 - Wow, we packed a lot in this one: election security, burner phones, social app ToS, and maybe the worst opsec of all time - of cour...
It’s a Business Decision, Not Rocket Science
18 Jul 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Recorded 7/8/19 - Matt skipped today’s podcast in favor of a meeting - for real. The rest of the crew carried on to discuss a few of this week’s ...
Flatlined: Breach to Bankrupt
03 Jul 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Recorded 6/24/19 - Back in the studio for EP 56 and off the top, Matt got some new toy for his side hustle as a Twitch star - I still can’t figure o...