The Extortion Economy MIT Technology Review & ProPublica

A new-age iteration of the old-age extortion problem. A ransomware vigilante, a piracy (as in actual boats) expert, a school administrator, and a kidnapping victim share their experiences. This is part one.


We Meet:
Fabian Wosar, CTO, Emsisoft 
Doug Russell, Director of Technology, Haverhill Public Schools
Lisa Forte, Co-founder, Red Goat Cyber Security


Credits: 
This series is hosted by Meg Marco and produced by Emma Cillekens, Tate Ryan-Mosley and Anthony Green. It’s inspired by reporting from Renee Dudley and Daniel Golden from ProPublica. We're edited by Bobbie Johnson, Michael Reilly, Mat Honan and Robin Fields. Our mix engineer is Erick Gomez with help from Rebekah Wineman. Our theme music is by Jacob Gorski. Art is from Lisa Larson-Walker and Eric Mongeon. Emma Cillekens is our voice coach. The executive producers of The Extortion Economy podcast are Meg Marco and Jennifer Strong.


Sounds From: 
Video: Colonial Pipeline CEO Joseph Blount testifies at the Senate Homeland Security Committee, Source: CNBC Television, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DcYePKjI_mc
Video: Roving Report Italy, Source: AP, http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/8b08bfc68a0b203d238aa8e0c4316e61 
Video: CBS Evening News 1989-12-14, Source: CBS, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wHsbZEX5pQw

In an absurd contract, look into the criminal world where the stakes are high, but the methods are increasingly business-like and meet the people who interact with the ransomware hackers. This is part two.


We Meet:
Chester Wisniewski, Principal Research Scientist, Sophos
Allan Liska, Principal Research Scientist, Recorded Future
Fabian Wosar, CTO, Emsisoft 
Kurtis Minder, CEO, GroupSense
Lisa Forte, Co-founder, Red Goat Cyber Security


Credits:
This series is hosted by Meg Marco and produced by Emma Cillekens, Tate Ryan-Mosley and Anthony Green. It’s inspired by reporting from Renee Dudley and Daniel Golden from ProPublica. We're edited by Bobbie Johnson, Michael Reilly, Mat Honan and Robin Fields. Our mix engineer is Erick Gomez with help from Rebekah Wineman. Our theme music is by Jacob Gorski. Art is from Lisa Larson-Walker and Eric Mongeon. Emma Cillekens is our voice coach. The executive producers of The Extortion Economy podcast are Meg Marco and Jennifer Strong.


Sounds From: 
Video: Cyber Attack Forces Major Gas And Diesel Pipeline Shutdown, Source: NBC Nightly News, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aGbSy82aZBo 
Video: Here’s the hacking group responsible for the Colonial Pipeline shutdown, Source: CNBC https://www.cnbc.com/2021/05/10/hacking-group-darkside-reportedly-responsible-for-colonial-pipeline-shutdown.html 
Video: Cyberattack of Colonial Pipeline drives panic buying in Tampa Bay, Source: WFLA News Channel 8, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DgDyz31sIhI 
Video: Colonial Pipeline paid $5 million ransom to hackers. Source: CNBC, https://www.cnbc.com/2021/05/13/colonial-pipeline-paid-ransom-to-hackers-source-says.html 
Video: Colonial Pipeline CEO Joseph Blount testifies on ransomware attack before Congress, Source: CNBC, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DcYePKjI_mc  

Credits:
This series is hosted by Meg Marco and produced by Emma Cillekens, Tate Ryan-Mosley and Anthony Green. It’s inspired by reporting by Renee Dudley and Daniel Golden from ProPublica. We're edited by Bobbie Johnson, Michael Reilly, Mat Honan and Robin Fields. Our mix engineer is Erick Gomez with help from Rebeckah Wineman and theme music by Jacob Gorski. Emma Cillekens is our voice coach. The executive producers of The Extortion Economy podcast are Meg Marco and Jennifer Strong.

After the Colonial Pipeline payment, the FBI followed the money and cybersecurity researchers followed the ransomware group. We followed both. This is part three.

We Meet: 
Fabian Wosar, CTO, Emsisoft
Elvis Chan, Assistant Special Agent in Charge, FBI San Francisco

Credits:
This series is hosted by Meg Marco and produced by Emma Cillekens, Tate Ryan-Mosley and Anthony Green. It’s inspired by reporting from Renee Dudley and Daniel Golden from ProPublica. We're edited by Bobbie Johnson, Michael Reilly, Mat Honan and Robin Fields. Our mix engineer is Erick Gomez. Our theme music is by Jacob Gorski. Art is from Lisa Larson-Walker and Eric Mongeon. Emma Cillekens is our voice coach. The executive producers of The Extortion Economy podcast are Meg Marco and Jennifer Strong.

Sounds From: 
Video: Colonial Pipeline hack leads to gas shortage
Source: ABC News, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Be3gpaTQJlA 

Video: Cyberattack of Colonial Pipeline drives panic buying in Tampa Bay
Source: WFLA News Channel 8, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DgDyz31sIhI 

Video: Fuel starts flowing after Colonial Pipeline restarts operations
Source: ABC News, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EgWSgQf_dSc 

Video: Department of Justice officials discuss Colonial Pipeline ransomware attack
Souce: PBS News Hour, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iwjDMJi8hOQ

We look at the reasons ransomware is so hard to solve and ask hard questions about who is really helping the victims. This is part four.

We Meet:
Fabian Wosar, CTO, Emsisoft. 
Bob Wice, Head of Underwriting Management. Cyber and Tech, Beazley.
Bill Siegel, CEO and cofounder, Coveware.

Sounds From: 
Video: CDOT employees dealing with yet another SamSam ransomware attack, Source: Denver7, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lubGaiNT1IU
Video: Ransomware Hits CDOT Computers, Source: CBS Denver, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FbuEXUUvD-A 
Video: Ransomware Recovery Service by Proven Data, Source: Proven Data, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hyeaBxE4JGQ 

Credits: 
This series is hosted by Meg Marco and produced by Emma Cillekens, Tate Ryan-Mosley and Anthony Green. It’s inspired by reporting by Renee Dudley, Jeff Kao, and Daniel Golden from ProPublica. We're edited by Bobbie Johnson, Michael Reilly, Mat Honan and Robin Fields. Our mix engineer is Erick Gomez and theme music by Jacob Gorski. Art is from Lisa Larson-Walker and Eric Mongeon. Emma Cillekens is our voice coach. The executive producers of The Extortion Economy podcast are Meg Marco and Jennifer Strong.

The problem of ransomware has many causes but no clear solution. What's coming next? This is part five.

We Meet:
Fabian Wosar, CTO, Emsisoft 
Jake Johnson, North Carolina State Representative
Abishur Prakash, Geopolitical Futurist
Paul Rosenberg, Mayor, Village of Rye Brook, New York
Kimberly W. LaGrue, CIO, City of New Orleans, Louisiana
Allan Liska, Principal Research Scientist, Recorded Future

Sounds From: 
Video: Governor declares state of emergency after ransomware attack on Louisiana, Source: WWLTV, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pT1mAILZVVg 

Video: City Hall set to open Monday following cyber attack, Source: WDSU News, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jEDW3ETTDkg 

Video: Cyber attack cripples New Orleans for days, Source: Fox News,  https://video.foxnews.com/v/6116822204001#sp=show-clips 

Video: City Hall adapting to life without computers after New Orleans cyberattack, Source: WWLTV, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mwnwG63K-Jc 

Video: New Orleans government targeted in cyberattack; no ransom demanded, Source:  WWLTV, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z5A0ANiQ3_Q

Credits: 
This series is hosted by Meg Marco and produced by Emma Cillekens, Tate Ryan-Mosley, and Anthony Green. It’s inspired by reporting by Renee Dudley and Daniel Golden from ProPublica. We're edited by Bobbie Johnson, Michael Reilly, Mat Honan, and Robin Fields. Our mix engineer is Erick Gomez and theme music by Jacob Gorski. Art is from Lisa Larson-Walker and Eric Mongeon. Emma Cillekens is our voice coach. The executive producers of The Extortion Economy podcast are Meg Marco and Jennifer Strong.

A five part series about the money, technology and people behind the ransomware epidemic from MIT Technology Review and ProPublica.