DISCARDED: Tales From the Threat Research Trenches
by Proofpoint
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Total monthly reach
Estimated from 1 chart position in 1 market.
By chart position
- 🇷🇴RO · Technology#167500 to 3K
- Per-Episode Audience
Est. listeners per new episode within ~30 days
250 to 1.5K🎙 ~2x weekly·101 episodes·Last published yesterday - Monthly Reach
Unique listeners across all episodes (30 days)
500 to 3K🇷🇴100% - Active Followers
Loyal subscribers who consistently listen
200 to 1.2K
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On the show
From 14 epsHosts
Recent guests
Recent episodes
From Phishing to Court Cases: How Microsoft Fights Back Against Hackers
Jun 23, 2026
52m 26s
Diving Into the DBIR: Vulnerabilities, AI, and Supply Chain
Jun 9, 2026
1h 05m 03s
"Always Intentional": A CISO's Pragmatic Take on the Agentic Era
May 27, 2026
46m 20s
A Device Code Explosion: The New Era of AI-Enabled Phishing
May 12, 2026
53m 15s
Champagne with Our Campaigns: A 100th Episode Happy Hour
Apr 28, 2026
1h 00m 04s
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| Date | Episode | Topics | Guests | Brands | Places | Keywords | Sponsor | Length | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6/23/26 | From Phishing to Court Cases: How Microsoft Fights Back Against Hackers | Send us fan mail! Hello to all our Cyber Pals! Host Selena Larson is joined by Sean Farrell, Assistant General Counsel at Microsoft's Digital Crimes Unit (DCU), to pull back the curtain on how major cyber crime takedowns actually happen and how Microsoft uses civil lawsuits, criminal referrals, and global partnerships to disrupt some of the most damaging cyber crime operations in the world. They discuss: What DCU does and Sean's path from FBI to AWS to MicrosoftHow civil claims like the CFAA ... | 52m 26s | ||||||
| 6/9/26 | Diving Into the DBIR: Vulnerabilities, AI, and Supply Chain✨ | data breachvulnerabilities+4 | Sarah SabotkaAlex Pinto | Verizon BusinessVerizon Data Breach Investigations Report | — | data breachvulnerabilities+5 | — | 1h 05m 03s | |
| 5/27/26 | "Always Intentional": A CISO's Pragmatic Take on the Agentic Era✨ | AIcybersecurity+3 | Sarah SabotkaSean Zadig | Yahoo | — | AIcybersecurity+5 | — | 46m 20s | |
| 5/12/26 | A Device Code Explosion: The New Era of AI-Enabled Phishing✨ | AI-enabled phishingdevice code phishing+3 | Sarah Sabotka | Proofpoint | — | device code phishingAI phishing+4 | — | 53m 15s | |
| 4/28/26 | Champagne with Our Campaigns: A 100th Episode Happy Hour✨ | cybersecuritypodcast celebration+3 | Sarah SabotkaTim Kromphardt | Proofpoint | — | 100th episodecybersecurity+3 | — | 1h 00m 04s | |
| 4/14/26 | Magic Packets & Stealth Backdoors: The Art of Detection Engineering✨ | detection engineeringmalware detection+4 | Tim Kromphardt | Proofpoint | — | magic packetsstealth backdoors+4 | — | 33m 51s | |
| 3/26/26 | Regional Threats, Global Impact: A TA2725 Case Study✨ | cybercrimethreat research+4 | Jared Peck | TA2725Grana | Latin America | TA2725Grana+5 | — | 38m 17s | |
| 3/10/26 | TrustConnect RAT: Inside a Vibe-Coded Malware Ecosystem✨ | malware investigationTrustConnect RAT+3 | Tommy Madjar | Proofpoint | — | TrustConnect RATmalware+3 | — | 42m 48s | |
| 2/26/26 | AI as a Tool, Not a Replacement: Malware Research in the Age of LLMs✨ | artificial intelligencemalware analysis+3 | Kyle CucciDr. Chris Wakelin | Proofpoint | — | AImalware+3 | — | 50m 23s | |
| 2/10/26 | Snowball Learning: Getting Real About Cybersecurity Training✨ | cybersecurity trainingcognitive psychology+3 | Dr. Bob Hausmann | Proofpoint | — | cybersecuritytraining+4 | — | 42m 17s | |
Want analysis for the episodes below?Free for Pro Submit a request, we'll have your selected episodes analyzed within an hour. Free, at no cost to you, for Pro users. | |||||||||
| 1/29/26 | Emerging Threats in 2026: Inside Proofpoint’s Detection Playbook✨ | emerging threatscybersecurity+4 | Rich Gonzalez | Log4jProofpoint | — | emerging threatscybersecurity+4 | — | 45m 06s | |
| 12/31/25 | Operation EndOfYear: New Malware, Popular Tactics, and Where AI Is Taking Us✨ | cyber threat landscapemalware+3 | Daniel Blackford | Proofpoint | — | cybersecuritymalware+4 | — | 56m 37s | |
| 12/9/25 | Ho-Ho-Hold Up—Is That Message Real? Bad Santas Are Sending Seasonal Scams✨ | cybersecurityseasonal scams+3 | Tim KromphardtSarah Sabotka | Proofpoint | — | seasonal scamscybersecurity+3 | — | 33m 54s | |
| 11/18/25 | From Toasters to Botnets: Securing Everyday IoT✨ | IoT securityvulnerabilities+3 | Tim Kromphardt | Proofpoint | — | IoTsecurity+5 | — | 37m 40s | |
| 11/4/25 | Elect More Hackers: Tech Skills for Real-World Change✨ | cybersecuritypublic service+3 | Sarah SabotkaTim Kromphardt+1 | Elect More Hackers | — | hackerscybersecurity+3 | — | 54m 41s | |
| 10/21/25 | From Web Injects to Info Stealers: How Cybercriminals Stay Ahead | Send us fan mail! Hello to all our Cyber Sleuths! Host Selena Larson, and guest host, Sarah Sabotka take you behind the scenes of the ever-changing world of cybercrime—where attackers innovate, scams evolve, and staying one step ahead is a constant challenge. From remote monitoring and management (RMM) abuse to adversary-in-the-middle (AiTM) phishing, web injects, flashy malware lures, and the latest wave of information stealers, we unpack the tactics, techniques, and procedures shaping today... | 1h 00m 53s | ||||||
| 10/8/25 | When Being Aware of Cybersecurity Means Knowing You're Human | Send us fan mail! Hello to all our Pumpkin Spice Cyber Friends! It’s Cybersecurity Awareness Month — and what better way to kick it off than with a deep dive into the human side of cyber threats? In this episode host Selena Larson welcomes back guest and part-time co-host Sarah Sabotka, our “Cybersecurity Awareness Month Queen” and Staff Threat Researcher at Proofpoint. She joins us to break down why social engineering is at the heart of so many attacks. We take a closer look at how scams and... | 48m 24s | ||||||
| 9/23/25 | Hot sauce and hot takes: An Only Malware in the Building special | Send us fan mail! Welcome in! You’ve entered, Only Malware in the Building — but this time, it’s not just another episode. This is a special edition you won’t want to miss. For the first time, our hosts are together in-studio — and they’re turning up the heat. Literally. Join Selena Larson, Proofpoint intelligence analyst and host of their podcast DISCARDED, along with N2K Networks Dave Bittner and Keith Mularski, former FBI cyb... | 34m 45s | ||||||
| 9/9/25 | Freighty Cats: RFQ Phishing Comes to A Warehouse Near You | Send us fan mail! Hello to all our Cyber Stars! In this episode host Selena Larson welcomes back guest and part-time co-host Tim Kromphardt, fresh from DEFCON, to explore the world of request-for-quote (RFQ) fraud—a growing scam targeting small- to medium-sized businesses with fake purchase requests and net financing schemes. Tim explains how cybercriminals exploit legitimate business practices to steal physical goods like networking tools, surveillance equipment, and medical devices. Using s... | 35m 44s | ||||||
| 8/26/25 | Direct Send Exploitation & URL Rewrite Attacks: What Security Teams Must Know | Send us fan mail! Hello to all our Cyber Squirrels! In this extra-packed episode of Discarded, host Selena Larson welcomes Proofpoint Principal Research Engineer Jason Ford for his first appearance on the show. Together, they dive into two resurging email attack techniques—Microsoft 365 Direct Send abuse and URL rewrite abuse—and why defending against them requires more than just traditional email security. Jason explains what Direct Send is, why attackers exploit this legacy feature, and how... | 43m 05s | ||||||
| 8/12/25 | Phish, Chips & Voldemort: Inside China’s Cyber Targeting of Taiwan | Send us fan mail! Hello to all our Cyber Panda Bears! In this extra-packed episode of Discarded, host Selena Larson and guest host, Sarah Sabotka reunite with Staff Threat Researcher Mark Kelly to dive deep into China-aligned espionage activity—this time with a focus on Taiwan’s semiconductor ecosystem and the strange, stealthy tools threat actors are using to get in. Mark walks us through Proofpoint’s latest research on custom malware (yes, “Voldemort” is back), threat clusters with pun-fill... | 42m 53s | ||||||
| 7/29/25 | Threat Actor Theater: TA2541, TA558, and the Cyber Heist Crew TA582 | Send us fan mail! Hello to all our cyber pals! In this episode of Discarded, host Selena Larson and co-host, Tim Kromphardt, are joined by Joe Wise, Senior Threat Researcher at Proofpoint for a deep dive into the chaotic brilliance of mid-tier eCrime actors—including the elusive TA582. We explore recent activity from TA2541 and TA558—two groups known for their uncanny consistency and precision targeting—before shifting focus to TA582: a standout in today’s threat landscape. TA582’s multilayer... | 37m 54s | ||||||
| 7/15/25 | 10 Things I Hate About Attribution: A Clustering Conundrum | Send us fan mail! Hello to all our cyber detectives and pedantic CTI friends! In this episode of Discarded, host Selena Larson is joined by Greg Lesnewich, Staff Threat Researcher at Proofpoint for a behind-the-scenes look at one of the most frustratingly fascinating attribution cases yet. What begins as a lighthearted rant: “10 Things I Hate About Attribution,” quickly turns into a deep dive into the murky overlap between TA829 (aka RomCom), TA289, and the elusive GreenSec cluster. From Tran... | 56m 24s | ||||||
| 7/1/25 | Comic Sans and Cybercrime: Inside North Korea’s Global Cyber Playbook | Send us fan mail! Hello to all our Cyber Pals! In this episode of Discarded, host Selena Larson and co-host Sara Sabotka are joined by Saher Naumaan and Greg Lesnewich, teammates on the espionage threat research team at Proofpoint to unravel the multifaceted—and often bizarre—world of North Korean cyber operations. The team explores: What sets DPRK’s threat actors apart from other nation-state groupsA closer look at North Korea’s cyber and physical support for Russia in UkraineHow cyb... | 52m 49s | ||||||
| 6/18/25 | Signatures and Surprises: Inside the Emerging Threats Team | Send us fan mail! Hello to all our Cyber Masked Vigilantes! In this episode of Discarded, host Selena Larson and co-host Tim Kromhardt are joined by James Emery-Callcott, a Security Researcher on Proofpoint’s Emerging Threats team, for an insider’s look at the technical, tactical, and collaborative forces shaping modern network detection. James takes us behind the curtain of rule writing, CVE coverage, and malware detection, breaking down how signatures are developed, validated, and d... | 43m 55s | ||||||
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Chart Positions
1 placement across 1 market.
Chart Positions
1 placement across 1 market.