The Pivot

Daniel is a seasoned technology and cybersecurity professional who has worked with organizations globally to help protect, detect, and respond to cyber threats. He is active in the UK cyber community, serving on the UK Government Cyber Security Advisory Board. You can usually find him online conducting innovative research and seeking new ways to combat cybercrime. In this episode, we draw upon Daniel's extensive experience and expertise as we delve into the world of cybersecurity together. We discuss some of the challenges posed by laws, the lack of understanding or misunderstanding from the public, as well as the collaboration between companies and cybersecurity professionals. During our conversation, Daniel also shares some commonly practiced security methodologies and examines the issues from personal, organizational, and global perspectives, calling for greater focus on global cyber defense. 0:00 Welcome! 01:15 How are you today? 03:15 What makes you come to the internet intelligence gathering mission? 08:24 Where do you get the list of websites to scan and what do you do with these websites? 14:45 How do you report the scanning results at such a broad scale? 16:48 Is it legal to scan domains in the UK? 24:07 The visibility gap from people's understanding of crime search 25:01 Security practice that most organizations overlook and the misunderstanding people have for cybersecurity 28:18 Tell us some commonly employed security methodologies within companies! 33:01 The lack of security practices and education on a personal level 42:18 Enabling humans to be the greatest strength for cybersecurity within companies and for society 51:33 The lack of focus on global cyber defense 59:17 Where did you start and how did you get into the cybersecurity world? 63:36 What are the three must-have attributes for people wanting to enter the industry? 67:44 The importance of asking questions in the field of cybersecurity 70:58 Looking at the attack from the national and worldwide perspective 75:55 Looking at the attack from the cybersecurity professional's perspective 79:42 Looking at the attack from the business side 87:40 The challenge cybersecurity professionals face when working with organizations 96:16 Closing ■ About The Pivot Brought to you by Maltego, The Pivot deep dives into topics pivoting from information security to the criminal underground. Each episode features interviews with experts from the industry and research fields and explores how they connect the dots. ■ About Maltego Used by investigators worldwide, Maltego is a graphical link analysis tool that allows users to mine, merge, and map data from OSINT and third-party data integrations for all sorts of investigations—cybersecurity, person of interest, fraud, and more. The podcast streams free on Spotify. You can also watch it all go down on ⁠⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠⁠. Don't forget to subscribe to our ⁠⁠⁠Twitter⁠⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠ to stay on top of our latest updates, tutorials, webinars, and deep dives. For more information about Maltego, ⁠⁠⁠visit our website⁠⁠⁠.

Kevin Limonier is an expert in geopolitics. He holds the position of an associate professor in Geography and Slavic Studies at the French Institute of Geopolitics (Paris 8 University), serves as the deputy director of GEODE, and is a founding partner of Cassini, a company specializing in cartography and territorial intelligence. Previously, he worked as a lecturer at the Russian State University of Humanities (RGGU, Moscow) for several years. As a specialist in the Russian-speaking internet and territorial innovation policies in the USSR and contemporary Russia, Kevin's geopolitical research focuses on developing new methods of mapping cyberspace, particularly in the post-Soviet context. His research Beyond “hybrid warfare”: a digital exploration of Russia’s entrepreneurs of influence is available online and accessible to the public. He is also interested in the methodology and epistemology of geopolitics. In this episode, we delve into a variety of topics ranging from the meaning of OSINT within the field of geopolitics, the current limitations of OSINT, and some emerging challenges as the world and the internet rapidly evolve. We also discuss how authoritarian states, such as Russia, control their internet and its evolution over the years. 01:06 How do you envision OSINT in the context of geopolitics? 03:30 Tell us about your work and how you use OSINT! 07:11 How would the states employ and insert OSINT in a global geopolitical context 16:07 What are some of the limits of OSINT? 22:56 How does Russia control its internet and how has this control evolved over the years? 32:38 What's the difference between Russian Internet and Russian-speaking Internet? 38:09 What will happen to the countries using Russian internet services once Russia separates its internet from the world? 43:09 What is an entrepreneur of influence? 46:58 How does the system of entrepreneur of influence work? 55:51 What methodology did you use to track them down in Africa? ■ About The Pivot Brought to you by Maltego, The Pivot deep dives into topics pivoting from information security to the criminal underground. Each episode features interviews with experts from the industry and research fields and explores how they connect the dots. ■ About Maltego Used by investigators worldwide, Maltego is a graphical link analysis tool that allows users to mine, merge, and map data from OSINT and third-party data integrations for all sorts of investigations—cybersecurity, person of interest, fraud, and more. The podcast streams free on Spotify. You can also watch it all go down on ⁠⁠YouTube⁠⁠. Don't forget to subscribe to our ⁠⁠Twitter⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠ to stay on top of our latest updates, tutorials, webinars, and deep dives. For more information about Maltego, ⁠⁠visit our website⁠⁠.

Nico Dekens, known as the Dutch_OsintGuy online, is an All Source Analyst specializing in Open Source Intelligence (OSINT), online Human Intelligence (HUMINT) and Online investigations. He has over 20 years of experience as an all source Intelligence Analyst at Dutch Law Enforcement. Nico eats, sleeps, and lives everything which has to do with OSINT, online investigations, Intelligence gathering and Analysis. He is very active within the OSINT community, being the Co-founder of the OSINTCurio.us project and a SANS Institute instructor. Currently, Nico is working as the Director of Intelligence, Collection Innovation at ShadowDragon. In this episode, Nico provides valuable insights into his investigations on the decentralized web, experiences of saving people from the ongoing Ukrainian war, as well as concerns for the polarized-bound world. He also touches a bit on Vicarious Trauma with himself as an example and offers a few prevention tips in the end. 0:00 Welcome! 01:08 Tell us a bit about yourself! 10:35 What was it like running threads of investigations years ago? 16:26 Have you done any investigations revolving around the DAO or decentralized web? 20:25 What are the tools you use for investigations? 26:14 Have you seen people hindered by only using specific tools? 30:05 As an investigator, what's your biggest concern with the world changing drastically now? 43:38 How does saving lives make you feel? 48:59 Where will people start if they want to do what you are doing now? 49:09 What are the three things you would say to someone getting into this field? 52:36 Tell us about Vicarious Trauma! 56:09 Does Vicarious Trauma also cover people being numb to horrific materials? ■ About The Pivot Brought to you by Maltego, The Pivot deep dives into topics pivoting from information security to the criminal underground. Each episode features interviews with experts from the industry and research fields and explores how they connect the dots. ■ About Maltego Used by investigators worldwide, Maltego is a graphical link analysis tool that allows users to mine, merge, and map data from OSINT and third-party data integrations for all sorts of investigations—cybersecurity, person of interest, fraud, and more. The podcast streams free on Spotify. You can also watch it all go down on ⁠YouTube⁠. Don't forget to subscribe to our ⁠Twitter⁠ and ⁠LinkedIn⁠ to stay on top of our latest updates, tutorials, webinars, and deep dives. For more information about Maltego, ⁠visit our website⁠.

Zaid Sabih is an ethical hacker, a computer scientist, and the founder and CEO of zSecurity. He has valuable & tremendous experience in the field of ethical hacking. In 2013, he started teaching his first network hacking course, which led him to publish a number of online ethical hacking courses, each focusing on a specific topic, all of which are dominating ethical hacking. Now, Zaid has more than 800,000 students worldwide. In this episode, Zaid sits down with Maltego host Bradley Taylor, recalling what led him into cybersecurity and infosec, later establishing his own company, zSecurity. He also talks about his opinoin on the term "hacking" and CTF platforms, providing 3 tips for becoming a successful bug bounty hunter in the end. 0:00 Welcome! 0:40 How's everything in Dublin? 2:25 Tell us a bit about yourself! 4:06 What got you into cybersecurity and infosec? 9:28 How old were you when establishing zSecurity? 11:14 What is it like to be a full-scale pentest teacher? 13:15 Do you do motivation topics with your students? 14:59 Any hobbies besides hacking? 16:06 Tell us about your investigations with Maltego! 18:51 Tell us about zSecurity's bug bounty platform! 22:16 What are the specific scoping requirements? 23:55 What are your thoughts on the CTF platforms? 32:02 What are your thoughts on the term 'hacking'? 37:29 What is your opinion on live hacking interviews? 39:18 Share with us 3 tips to become a successful bug bounty hunter! ■ About The Pivot Brought to you by Maltego, The Pivot deep dives into topics pivoting from information security to the criminal underground. Each episode features interviews with experts from the industry and research fields and explores how they connect the dots. ■ About Maltego Used by investigators worldwide, Maltego is a graphical link analysis tool that allows users to mine, merge, and map data from OSINT and third-party data integrations for all sorts of investigations—cybersecurity, person of interest, fraud, and more. The podcast streams free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Google Podcasts. You can also watch it all go down on YouTube. Don't forget to subscribe to our Twitter and LinkedIn to stay on top of our latest updates, tutorials, webinars, and deep dives. For more information about Maltego, visit our website.

Teresa Walsh leads the FS-ISAC’s Global Intelligence Office (GIO) to protect the financial sector against cyber threats by delivering actionable strategic, operational, and tactical intelligence products. Based in the United Kingdom, she oversees FS-ISAC’s global member-sharing operations and a team of regional intelligence officers and analysts who monitor emerging threats. Teresa began her career as a civilian intelligence analyst with the US Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) and holds a master’s in political science with a focus on international relations from the University of Missouri-Columbia. In this interview, Teresa shares with us her work as a GIO and provides insights into the differences between traditional intelligence and cyber intelligence as well as which industry adjusts swiftly in alleviating risks than others. Last but not least, she also offers advice to those who would like to become an intelligence practitioner. 0:00 Welcome! 01:45 Tell us a bit about yourself! 02:54 What is it like to wake up with information coming from worldwide? 05:18 What is it like to work in the intelligence industry? 07:52 What is the biggest challenge for getting the traditional SOC team to think differently about the intelligence and use it versus jamming millions of IPs into a tip? 14:47 How much intelligence is derived/propagated from OSINT? 18:41 Are there any industries evolving faster in mitigating risks than the others? 20:51 Do you use any specific tools to gather intel? 23:03 Where to start in the intelligence industry? 31:40 Tell us about an unforgettable investigation! 37:31 How's the house renovation going? 45:49 Tell us 3 most important advice for intelligence partitioner wannabes! ■ About The Pivot Brought to you by Maltego, The Pivot deep dives into topics pivoting from information security to the criminal underground. Each episode features interviews with experts from the industry and research fields and explores how they connect the dots. ■ About Maltego Used by investigators worldwide, Maltego is a graphical link analysis tool that allows users to mine, merge, and map data from OSINT and third-party data integrations for all sorts of investigations—cybersecurity, person of interest, fraud, and more. The podcast streams free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Google Podcasts. You can also watch it all go down on YouTube. Don't forget to subscribe to our Twitter and LinkedIn to stay on top of our latest updates, tutorials, webinars, and deep dives. For more information about Maltego, visit our website.

Léa is an investigator at Graphika, specializing in online investigations, state influence operations, and European extremist groups. She was a known part of the team that exposed Secondary Infection as well as the recent competing Russian and French influence operations in the Central African Republic. Léa holds a dual Master's degree in Geopolitics of the post-Soviet space from the French Institute of Geopolitics and the Russian State University for the Humanities. In this episode, Léa elaborates on the projects she has done with Graphika, including how she conducts internet mapping and recognizes state operations. She also shares with us the ethics in OSINT investigations with her own redline as an example and digs into the ongoing war in Ukraine and the upcoming French presidential election. 0:00 Welcome! 0:28 Tell us a bit about yourself! 3:58 Does decivilizing or attacking a country have multiple layers? 4:41 Tell us about the internet mapping at Graphika! 15:49 How do you analyse the slide between bots and real people? 17:14 How do you recognize state operation? 28:18 The ethics in OSINT 38:03 How has your job influenced your vision of and relationship with Russia? 40:28 What's your take on the war in Ukraine, disinformation-wise? 45:41 Why did the people focusing on COVID earlier shift quickly to pivot the war? 50:11 Anything to share about the approaching French presidential election? 56:39 Any fears that foreign agents or vicious people will dominate online communities? 1:01:00 Any shoutout you wanted to give? ■ About The Pivot Brought to you by Maltego, The Pivot deep dives into topics pivoting from information security to the criminal underground. Each episode features interviews with experts from the industry and research fields and explores how they connect the dots. ■ About Maltego Used by investigators worldwide, Maltego is a graphical link analysis tool that allows users to mine, merge, and map data from OSINT and third-party data integrations for all sorts of investigations—cybersecurity, person of interest, fraud, and more. The podcast streams free on Spotify. You can also watch it all go down on YouTube. Don't forget to subscribe to our Twitter and LinkedIn to stay on top of our latest updates, tutorials, webinars, and deep dives. For more information about Maltego, visit our website.

After spending more than 15 years as a graphic designer, Rae Baker decided that it was time for a career change. Now, she is passionate about corporate reconnaissance as well as scam/fraud tracking and currently works as a Senior Open Source Intelligence Analyst for a large consulting firm. As an OSINT Curious Advisory Board member, Rae also works closely with other OSINT practitioners in the field to educate and inspire those within the OSINT community. Additionally, she is the Open Source Intelligence team lead with Operation Safe Escape, which is a 501(c)(3) non-profit comprising of security professionals tasked with keeping domestic violence victims hidden from their abusers, a volunteer with Innocent Lives Foundation, as well as a Trace Labs Black Badge winner. In this interview, we will dive into her experiences as someone starting in OSINT from scratch and becoming a well-known OSINT blogger, researcher, and advocate and her tips and recommendations for those who are on the same path. 0:00 Welcome! 1:33 Tell us about yourself! 3:33 How did you get into OSINT and what kept you in the field? 6:05 How do you pick your research topics? 7:20 Tell us about your blog "Wondersmith Rae"! 8:16 Would you tell us a bit about a recent investigation you dived into? 10:38 How did you get into martitime OSINT? 13:17 What kind of tools do you use for maritime investigations? 14:37 What are good OSINT resources you recommend? 16:32 Any tips or suggestions about writing blogs? 18:31 What are the 3 most important things you would share with OSINT practitioners? 23:55 Any suggestions for OSINT beginners? 25:40 Do you feel struggled finding free tools available for your investigations? ■ About The Pivot Brought to you by Maltego, The Pivot deep dives into topics pivoting from information security to the criminal underground. Each episode features interviews with experts from the industry and research fields and explores how they connect the dots. ■ About Maltego Used by investigators worldwide, Maltego is a graphical link analysis tool that allows users to mine, merge, and map data from OSINT and third-party data integrations for all sorts of investigations—cybersecurity, person of interest, fraud, and more. The podcast streams free on Spotify. You can also watch it all go down on YouTube. Don't forget to subscribe to our Twitter and LinkedIn to stay on top of our latest updates, tutorials, webinars, and deep dives. For more information about Maltego, visit our website.

After working as a police detective, undercover operator, and behavioral and geographic profiler for 10 years, Julie Jones enters the intelligence unit and develops her passion for technology by using the internet to investigate crimes. As an Intelligence Specialist, Julie uses all-source intelligence with a focus on online OSINT, social media intelligence, and ethical and proportionate practices for covert and undercover investigations to solve complex problems for corporations, governments, law enforcement, and non-profits worldwide.  In this episode, Julie shares what leads her into internet investigations, how she keeps up with the curve, her experiences in international investigations, the topics she is passionate about, the definition of coercive control as well as her work around cults. In this episode, Julie talks about: Tips/techniques to stay on top of the curve What is it like to engage in international crimes investigations and how she navigates it Why she is passionate about humanitarian investigations What is coercive control Her work around cults What should we focus on to improve as investigators 0:00 Welcome! 1:05 Tell us about yourself! 17:19 What are the tips/techniques to stay on top of the curve? 29:37 What is it like to engage in international investigations and how do you navigate it? 39:17 What are the things that you are passionate about? 42:17 What is coercive control? 44:41Tell us about your work around cults. 51:40 What should we focus on to improve as investigators? ■ About The Pivot Brought to you by Maltego, The Pivot deep dives into topics pivoting from information security to the criminal underground. Each episode features interviews with experts from the industry and research fields and explores how they connect the dots. ■ About Maltego Used by investigators worldwide, Maltego is a graphical link analysis tool that allows users to mine, merge, and map data from OSINT and third-party data integrations for all sorts of investigations—cybersecurity, person of interest, fraud, and more. The podcast streams free on Spotify. You can also watch it all go down on YouTube. Don't forget to subscribe to our Twitter and LinkedIn to stay on top of our latest updates, tutorials, webinars, and deep dives. For more information about Maltego, visit our website.

Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the investigative unit of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), announced it initiated 4,224 child exploitation cases during the 2019 fiscal year, which began in October 2018 and concluded at the end of September. Those cases led to a total of 3,771 criminal arrests, and the identification or rescue of 1,066 victims. In this episode, The Pivot hosts and Maltego Subject Matter Experts Joe Ryan and Mario Rojas dive into the alarming topic: Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) and how investigators and organizations can support the fight against it. They touch upon the following topics: 1. What technologies are involved in the production, identification, and detection of CSAM 2. Recent headlines that have to do with CSAM 3. How CSAM is investigated 4. What other types of CSAM are out there and where we can find information or reports about CSAM 5. How to prevent the spread of CSAM or get involved in the fight against CSAM 0:00 Welcome! 0:27 Tell us about yourself! 1:20 How CSAM is a subject close to us 4:43 What is CSAM and other related terminologies 9:35 What is the prevalence of CSAM? 14:37 What are the technologies involved in the production of CSAM? 21:46 Can you explain the Apple case on SCAM reporting? 27:41 Big companies efforts: PhotoDNA Microsoft, Apple 30:49 What is a hash collision? 35:51 Could you walk us through the investigation of SCAM? 47:45 How to investigate CSAM as a non-law-enforcement person? 55:55 Are there any other types of CSAM? 1:07:00 Any places to find more information or report CSAM? 1:08:32 How can online platforms like Facebook help report CSAM? 1:11:06 What can non-technical individuals do to help? 1:14:47 Reach out to us if any questions! ■ About The Pivot Brought to you by Maltego, The Pivot deep dives into topics pivoting from information security to the criminal underground. Each episode features interviews with experts from the industry and research fields and explores how they connect the dots. ■ About Maltego Used by investigators worldwide, Maltego is a graphical link analysis tool that allows users to mine, merge, and map data from OSINT and third-party data integrations for all sorts of investigations—cybersecurity, person of interest, fraud, and more. The podcast streams free on Spotify. You can also watch it all go down on YouTube. Don't forget to subscribe to our Twitter and LinkedIn to stay on top of our latest updates, tutorials, webinars, and deep dives. For more information about Maltego, visit our website.

Ritu Gill is an Intelligence Analyst with 14 years of experience working in open-source intelligence (OSINT). After a 12-year career with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), Ritu set up a consulting business providing OSINT training and research to law enforcement and related entities across North America. In this episode, Ritu shares her OSINT research, projects, journey, and experiences with The Pivot hosts Bradley Taylor and Maltego Subject Matter Expert Carlos Fragoso. 0:00 Welcome! 0:45 Tell us about yourself! 1:05 What got you into OSINT? 2:21 What were the resources you started with? 4:30 Tell us the project fascinated you the most! 7:25 How was the feedback for the shooting map? 9:27 Any tips for people who want to get into OSINT? 16:32 Are there specific tools/techniques you use in your investigations? 20:29 Could you elaborate on the OSINTcurio.us project and the articles you wrote? 27:01 How to creat sock puppets with photo validation? 29:25 How does it differ to develop an account on a platform for various purposes? 31:49 Tell us about your website "OSINT Techniques"! 34:41 What do you think is impacting our investigatioins nowadays? 41:05 Tell us something interesting happened at the beginning of your career! 44:09 What are the 3 things to pass on to anyone getting into this field? ■ About The Pivot Brought to you by Maltego, The Pivot deep dives into topics pivoting from information security to the criminal underground. Each episode features interviews with experts from the industry and research fields and explores how they connect the dots. ■ About Maltego Used by investigators worldwide, Maltego is a graphical link analysis tool that allows users to mine, merge, and map data from OSINT and third-party data integrations for all sorts of investigations—cybersecurity, person of interest, fraud, and more. The podcast streams free on Spotify. You can also watch it all go down on YouTube. Don't forget to subscribe to our Twitter and LinkedIn to stay on top of our latest updates, tutorials, webinars, and deep dives. For more information about Maltego, visit our website.