163. Mic Drop: From banned to beloved, the Taliban’s unexpected embrace of the Internet

Recently, a lot of smart people who work on space problems gathered at the Value of Space Summit in Colorado Springs and talked to us about the things that keep them up at night. At the top of their list? Earthlings hacking satellites and speeding bits of space junk.

We sit down one-on-one with Retired General Paul Nakasone, the man who dreamed up the US response to the latest iteration of foreign election chicanery. He explains why he’s so confident the 2024 vote will be safe and secure.

While the world was taking selfies against the colorful backdrop of solar storm auroras this past spring, officials at the Space Watch Center in Colorado Springs were searching for something more nefarious.

NASA has off-loaded much of the space program onto the private sector. Companies are building space suits and moon buggies and lunar landers. We tell the story of a scrappy little lander — and how earthlings had to hack it to save it.

We talk to the NSA’s Director of Cybersecurity, David Luber, about Ukraine, adversaries in cyberspace, and the importance of partnerships.

China’s influence campaigns look different from Russia’s. Instead of Moscow’s firehose of falsehoods, the Chinese tend to change the subject by inundating social media hashtags with content. And, Click Here has learned, their premier disinformation gang appears to be honing its skills on, among others, Florida Senator Marco Rubio. First in 2022, and then again just last month.

We talk to Nick Percoco, Kraken’s chief security officer, about joining forces with a popular YouTube scambaiter.

Dozens of small acts of sabotage and arson have flared across Europe as part of Russia’s hybrid battle against the West. This week, we spoke with four experts on Europe and Russia at the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington, DC to try to make sense of the Russian campaign and what the West can do in response.

We re-visit our conversation with Analyst1 senior researcher Jon DiMaggio about how hackers settle their disputes – think People’s Court without all the robes.

When Stephanie joined a WhatsApp group to get advice on cryptocurrency investing, it began a wild ride that included the CEO of a large investment firm, cybercriminals half a world away, and a brush with a rag tag team of computer nerds in Alabama chasing a $5 billion problem.