Cloak and Dagger by Sapper

01/04/2024

Enjoy listening to or catching up on Season 1 of Cloak and Dagger by Sapper in 2024!

Check this out! Listen now on .

12/23/2023

Wishing you Happy Holidays and a Happy New Year!

Thank you to everyone who made this podcast happen and to everyone who listened!

12/22/2023

We are told not to open unknown or suspicious emails, but do we ever listen?

In this special bonus episode, Cloak & Dagger partnered with The Nighttime Podcast to dive into the bizarre story of Karim Baratov, the 22 year old Canadian involved in the Yahoo hack, the largest computer hack in history.

Join MJ Banias and Jordan Bonaparte from Nighttime as they discuss this strange tale from the darkest parts of the internet, and then dive into an interview with Baratov himself, as he talks about how he got involved, the hacks themselves, and how he says he accidentally became an asset for Russian intelligence.

Listen to “The Story of Karim Baratov” on your podcast app of choice.

12/21/2023

Host MJ Banias heads to Winnipeg to visit the Canadian Centre for Child Protection (Canadian Centre for Child Protection), a non-profit agency dedicated to eliminating child sexual abuse material (CSAM) from the internet.

From supporting survivors of abuse to scraping the dark web to utilizing intelligence and OSINT techniques, the team at the centre has been responsible for some of the largest purges of CSAM off the internet.

Listen to “Into the Darkness with the Canadian Centre for Child Protection” on your podcast app of choice.

12/20/2023

Guest Griffin Glynn recounts a favourite story of how he went about scamming a scammer.

From Grabify links, to breach data, and social media searches, to a lot of social engineering, hear how the Director of Investigations for the National Child Protection Task Force spends his free time tracking down the people behind those email scams.

Listen to “Scamming the Scammer with Griffin Glynn” on your podcast app of choice.

12/19/2023

2017 saw some of the wildest conspiracy theories, but the most prolific was QAnon.

However, as the COVID19 pandemic swept through the world and with the election of a Democratic president in 2020, QAnon followers began to vanish.

Joining the show this week is Nick Backovic, an OSINT analyst with Logically AI. He reveals how he determined the identity of a sinister and ghostly figure by taking the time to look for the needle in the haystack.

Listen to “Chasing the Ghosts Haunting Far-Right Extremism with Nick Backovic” on your podcast app of choice.

12/18/2023

Looking behind the shadows of Canadian history and shedding light on an overlooked chapter of LGBTQ+ persecution: The LGBT Purge.

Joining us this week is guest host, Kennedy Chappell, and Artur Wilczynski. Artur has more than 30 years in the Canadian public service working on foreign policy, intelligence, security, and defence issues, and is a champion of equity, diversity and inclusion.

We discuss the policy that purged LGBT(+) people from the Canadian civil and military service from the 1950s through to the mid-1990s.

12/14/2023

Information is complex. The lines between fact and fiction have become easier to blur as new technologies create wild ecosystems of data.

In this episode, Dr. Alicia Wanless from Carnegie’s Partnership for Countering Influence Operations, talks about how our information environment is highly polluted, if fighting disinformation is even possible, and the importance of better education surrounding critical thinking.

12/13/2023

In 2021, Newfoundland hospitals were hit by a massive Hive ransomware cyberattack that paralyzed the province’s health-care system.

We sit down with cyber policy expert Alexander Rudolph to talk about the importance of persistent engagement when it comes to cybersecurity. Canada’s policy needs to be reshaped into a proactive and holistic system.

12/12/2023

In the last episode with Marcus Kolga, we touched on a global investigation into the doping of Russian athletes during the 2014 Sochi Olympics.

The Olympics were essentially put in place as a replacement for war; competition over conflict. However, that distinction was never made in certain countries.

In this bonus episode, Sapper Labs’ Chief Intelligence Officer, Dave McMahon, discusses his personal work in elite sports, Canadian intelligence, and how the Olympics is more than just a sporting event, but a complex game of tradecraft.

12/11/2023

Public dissent in Russia is dangerous. Complex disinformation strategies, arrests, and assassinations are popular with the Kremlin.

The activists who oppose these norms are risking their freedom and their lives.

Founder of DisinfoWatch, Marcus Kolga, joins us on this episode to talk about the arrest of his friend, Vladimir Kara-Murza, and how Russian disinformation spreads around the globe.

12/06/2023

It has become increasingly difficult to determine the difference between fact and fiction.

From the mouth of a sailor, a strange tale of a mystery island in the South China Sea - true or just another conspiracy from the dark tides of the internet?

Author and artist Tim Boucher joins us on episode 14 to discuss truth, AI, and whether they might be just another illusion.

11/30/2023

Guacamaya is a collective of hackers from Latin America known for hacking into government and corporate servers.

Rallying for justice, many people see Guacamaya as a modern-day Robin Hood, hacking Sherwood Forest to weaken the rich and empower the poor.

Journalist and researcher AJ Vicens joins the show to discuss hacktivism, Guacamaya's hacks, the culture they create, and the complicated politics and ethics that surround this merry band of criminals.

Listen to Season 1, Episode 12 on your podcast app of choice.

11/29/2023

Every tool can be used for good - or evil. A series of leaked documents reveal that some companies sell OSINT tools targeting activists and journalists in an attempt to monitor and track them.

Investigative journalist Phineas Rueckert expands on the work he did looking into some of these OSINT firms and the dark secrets they keep.

Listen to Season 1, Episode 11 on your podcast app of choice.

11/28/2023

OSINT analysts and investigators often deal with massive piles of data. Similar to a 5000 piece puzzle, all those little tiles poured out on a table seem chaotically overwhelming.

In this episode, analyst Ritu Gill (OSINT Techniques) dives into how we need to utilize open sources to understand how all those puzzle pieces fit together and why governments need OSINT to see the whole picture.

11/23/2023

Nations are built by stories. They shape people's thinking, building a foundation where identities are moulded.

In this episode, political scientist and national security expert, Dr. Christian Leuprecht, dives into the world of defence and intelligence and explains why we often choose to bury our heads in the sand, disregarding the ever-changing world around us, and ignoring the enemy who is already at the gates.



https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-enemy-inside-the-gates-with-christian-leuprecht/id1685681095?i=1000614993101

11/22/2023

Sexual exploitation of children is a fast-growing problem, and the internet has only made it easier for predators to find and target minors.

In this episode, the Chief Investigator of the National Child Protection Task Force, Griffin Glynn, tells us about his work tracking down predators using OSINT, and exposes how those predators attempt to hide in the shadowy corners of the dark web.



https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/to-catch-a-predator-with-griffin-glynn/id1685681095?i=1000613214572

11/21/2023

OSINT is a team sport, because if you think you can do it alone, you can only imagine what you've missed...literally.

Guest Micah Hoffman tells a few stories about his early days, his successes, his blunders, and why anyone who thinks they are the "god of intelligence gathering" is probably making a lot of mistakes.

Listen to Season One, Episode Two on your podcast app of choice.



https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/hiding-in-plain-sight-with-micah-hoffman/id1685681095?i=1000611428434

11/21/2023

When you think of Canada, it's all maple syrup, friendly people, and hockey. However, it's much more complicated.

Whether it's Chinese interference in Canadian politics, terror threats, or the rising tide of extremism; Canada's fairy tale story is starting to slip away.

Veteran counter-terrorism and intelligence expert Phil Gurski weighs in on Canada's current intelligence culture, the role of OSINT, and why the Canadian government needs to step up.



https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/cloakdagger/episodes/Chinese-Interference--Terrorism--and-the-Future-of-Intelligence-with-Phil-Gurski-e22pkgd

11/21/2023

Hosted by journalist MJ Banias, Cloak & Dagger is a podcast that reveals the untold stories and secrets of cyberspace and the world of Open-Source Intelligence (OSINT).

Join him as he uncovers the truth behind the cyber threats, cyber criminals, state-sponsored hackers, misinformation, and disinformation that threaten our privacy and security.
Whether you're a seasoned tech enthusiast, a curious mind, or a fan of thought-provoking storytelling, Cloak & Dagger is for you.

Listen on your podcast app of choice.