Physical security and IT security have gone hand in hand for a long time. While cybersecurity teams are rightfully focused on protecting their virtual environments, they should also have an eye on whether an adversary is walking through the front door.
“Anytime there’s a physical boundary, an adversary is going to look to cross over that — whether it be in person or using some technology to get over that boundary,” Adam says in this episode on physical security threats.
Not too long ago, it was common for someone to walk into a business, slide behind the counter, and insert a USB device into a point-of-sale system to deploy malware or remote access tools. Now, this type of activity is less common, but it still occurs; China-nexus threat actor MUSTANG PANDA, for example, is dropping USB sticks to gain access to targets across the Asia Pacific region.
This conversation is full of twists, turns, and interesting stories. Tune in to hear about adversaries physically breaking into target organizations, Adam’s adventures in pen testing, the physical security implications for internet of things (IoT) and operational technology (OT) environments, and what organizations should know about protecting their physical environments.
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25:24
Where AI Fits in the Adversary’s Toolbox
Would you rather have an adversary profile you based on your AI chat history or tell your AI chatbot to forget everything it knows about you?
That’s one of many questions Adam and Cristian explore in this episode on how adversaries are integrating AI into cyberattacks. These days, it seems AI is everywhere — and that includes the adversary’s toolbox. Adam and Cristian describe multiple forms of malware that use AI in different ways, from identifying text in photos to writing code. And while these attacks still require humans to stitch all the pieces together, there is a growing concern that adversaries will continue to improve.
Tune in to learn how adversaries are baking AI into their tools, and about Adam’s latest adventures in baking bread, in this episode of the Adversary Universe podcast.
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20:31
Catching Up on Cloud Attack Paths with Cloud Threat Specialist Sebastian Walla
Today’s adversaries are increasingly operating in the cloud — and Sebastian Walla, Deputy Manager of Emerging Threats at CrowdStrike, is watching them. In this episode, he joins Adam and Cristian to dive into the latest cloud attack techniques and the adversaries behind them.
So, who are they? SCATTERED SPIDER and LABYRINTH CHOLLIMA are two of the threat actors targeting and navigating cloud environments, but they have distinct methods of doing so. This conversation explores the different ways they slip into organizations undetected, some of the tools they rely on, and how they operate under the radar. It also touches on the future of cloud threat activity and AI’s influence on how these attacks are evolving.
Of course, no Adversary Universe episode is complete without guidance. Adam, Cristian, and Sebastian share best practices for protecting enterprise cloud environments from these threats as adversaries continue to take aim.
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28:53
Inside the CrowdStrike 2025 Latin America Threat Landscape Report
Latin America has become a hotspot for cyber activity. Threat actors around the world, particularly eCriminals, are targeting organizations operating in Central and South America, Mexico, and the Caribbean. Latin America-based cybercriminals are emerging as well.
The CrowdStrike 2025 Latin America Threat Landscape Report provides key insights into this activity. In its pages, the CrowdStrike Counter Adversary Operations team details the eCrime, targeted intrusions, hacktivist disruptions, and cyber espionage targeting organizations that operate in Latin America. And in this episode of the Adversary Universe podcast, Adam and Cristian give listeners a snapshot of the key findings. These include:
A 15% increase in Latin America-based victims named on data extortion and ransomware leak sites in 2024
Over one billion credentials leaked from Latin American organizations last year
The evolving presence of eCriminals such as OCULAR SPIDER
The activity of nation-state adversaries such as LIMINAL PANDA and VIXEN PANDA, both linked to China
Tune in to learn how this report came to be and understand some of the critical trends shaping the Latin America threat landscape. And of course, check out the report to learn all the details.
Links:
Read the CrowdStrike 2025 Latin America Threat Landscape Report:
https://www.crowdstrike.com/en-us/resources/reports/latam-threat-landscape-report/
Listen to our full episode on OCULAR SPIDER, referenced in this episode:
https://open.spotify.com/episode/3gJMkVKuSfKhqSAHwMb7NX?si=cf2e453ebc0843a5
🎧 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1ZYDiiBuJvTx7YsvuCenEZ
🎧 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/adversary-universe-podcast/id1694819239
🎧 Our site: https://lnkd.in/etSAySBb
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20:49
OCULAR SPIDER and the Rise of Ransomware-as-a-Service
Ransomware has become more difficult for organizations to defend against, but easier for adversaries to deploy. The rise of ransomware-as-a-service (RaaS) — a model in which ransomware operators write the malware and affiliates pay to launch it — has lowered the barrier to entry so threat actors of all skill levels can participate and profit.
OCULAR SPIDER is one such operator. This adversary, newly named by CrowdStrike, is associated with the development of ransomware variants including Cyclops, Knight, and RansomHub. They targeted hundreds of named victims between February 2024 and March 2025, according to CrowdStrike intelligence, and they focus on industries such as professional services, technology, healthcare, and manufacturing in regions including the United States, Canada, Brazil, and some European countries.
But OCULAR SPIDER is one of many operators in the ransomware space. Adam and Cristian take listeners back to the early days of ransomware and track its evolution, variants, and key players from the mid-2010s through the launch of RansomHub in 2024. They explain how RaaS works, why it appeals to adversaries and complicates attribution, and how defenders can prepare to face today’s ransomware threats.
Come for an update on Adam’s adventures in bread-making; stay for a deep-dive into the RaaS evolution and the threat actors driving it.
Modern adversaries are relentless. Today’s threat actors target organizations around the world with sophisticated cyberattacks. Who are they? What are they after? And most importantly, how can you defend against them? Welcome to the Adversary Universe podcast, where CrowdStrike answers all of these questions — and more. Join our hosts, a pioneer in adversary intelligence and a specialist in cybersecurity technology, as they unmask the threat actors targeting your organization.
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