📝 Show notes
CyberAware Daily — 2026-10-10
- Two arrests in the headlines: a Dutch suspect in the Shiny Hunters investigation, described as a reformed hacker, and another ShinyHunters suspect arrested by the FBI over a jobs portal hack
- The FBI has also arrested the founder of a ransomware negotiation firm, a reminder to get independent advice if your business is ever hit
- Credential stealing workflows found planted in tens of thousands of code repositories, which mainly affects developers and software teams
- DarkWatch overnight: an active dark web leak site in the feed, plus around 105,000 captures, 22,000 entities and 2,400 alerts across 10 active targets
- Weekend tip: switch on two-step verification for your email, banking and main shopping account, then check the recovery phone number and email are still current
- Reminder: banks, delivery firms and shops never call asking you to move money to a safe account. Hang up and ring the number on the back of your card
More at https://cyberawareuk.co.uk
📄 Full transcript
It's Saturday, the 10th of October, and this is CyberAware UK.
I am Bully, and it's the weekend, so we're keeping it short.
One quick thing to know about, and one tip you can use before Monday.
Sounds good. What's the quick thing? I saw arrests in the headlines this week.
Two arrests, actually, and they're a nice reminder that the people behind big breaches do get caught.
Dutch police arrested a so-called reformed hacker as part of the shiny hunter's investigation,
and the FBI arrested another suspect linked to a jobs portal hack.
Reformed meaning he'd gone straight.
That's the claim, and that's exactly why it matters.
Someone presenting as a respectable security researcher can still be a suspect in a serious case.
So when you see anyone online calling themselves an ex-hacker turned trusted expert,
you're allowed to be a bit sceptical.
Fair. And the other arrest?
The founder of a ransomware negotiation firm, arrested by the FBI.
That's a firm that gets paid to talk to criminals on your behalf.
So even the people we're told to call in a crisis are not automatically beyond reproach.
That's an odd one.
So what do we actually do with that?
Practical version, not scary version.
If your business ever gets hit, don't hand all your trust to a single negotiator who turned up out of nowhere.
Use your insurer, your solicitor, and the police.
Get a second opinion.
No shame in it.
OK.
There's also a story about code repositories.
Tens of thousands of them, getting workflows planted that steal credentials.
Who does that affect?
That's one for people who build or manage software, or anyone in a small firm whose website and apps are run by a developer.
The advice is simple.
If you run code projects, check who has access, turn on multi-factor authentication, and review any automated workflows you didn't set up yourself.
So not really a Saturday afternoon job for most families?
No, and I'd rather say that plainly.
Most listeners aren't the target here.
If that's not you, file it under Ask My Developer About It Monday.
And what did Darkwatch flag overnight?
There's an active dark web leak site in the feed, and the usual high numbers.
About 105,000 captures, just over 22,000 entities, and roughly 2,500 alerts.
10 active targets being watched.
Nothing new there, then.
Same reading as most days.
Same reading.
Which is the point of the weekend short.
The danger isn't one dramatic headline.
It's the boring stuff you never get round to.
So here's your one tip, and it takes about 5 minutes.
Open your email app, go into the security settings, and check that two-step verification is switched on.
Then do the same for your online banking app and your main shopping account.
3 accounts, 5 minutes, that's the whole job.
And if it's already on?
Then check the recovery phone number and email attached to it are still yours, and still current.
Plenty of people set it up years ago on a landline or an old address.
That's the quiet gap that lets someone walk in.
Anything to watch out for while we're at it.
Just the usual weekend one.
Banks, delivery firms, and shops don't ring you up asking you to move money to a safe account.
If someone does, hang up, and ring the number on the back of your card.
That's it.
Short and useful.
That's your lot for Saturday.
That's it from us.
3 accounts, 2-step verification on, recovery details up to date.
Do that before Monday and you've had a good weekend.
Back on Monday, and take care.