The Cyber Why: What We Read This Week...

Welcome back, Cyber Why readers! Buckle up because this week’s newsletter is a rollercoaster of digital drama and tech intrigue. We kick off with the fall of hacker kingpin ‘Tank,’ whose ego finally caught up with him. Then, we dive into the murky waters of a $25M auto dealer ransom—CDK Global, we're looking at you! Next, we take a nostalgic detour with a $200K Lego heist that would make any childhood collector weep. For our finance and startup geeks, we’ve got a deep dive into the evolving world of SaaS and AI pricing strategies, predicting seismic shifts in the industry. And for a sprinkle of absurdity, we present Story #5 - VR shoes that promise to take you everywhere and nowhere at the same time. Let’s dig in and dissect the chaos together!

Email security that protects from the outside in and inside out

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Visit material.security to learn more about their multi-layered detection and response toolkit for email.

When Ego Takes Over - Criminals Fall

Notorious Hacker Kingpin ‘Tank’ Is Finally Going to Prison (WIRED)

I’m a sucker for the “Hacker Kingping” going to jail story. We have reported on a number of them over the last year and a half, including early details on this particular arrest, and I still find them absolutely intriguing. What would make a person go down a path of crime that is so heinous and despicable? People think the answer lies in greed and money, but if you read between the lines, you often find that the real reason most of these disgusting people do what they do is ego.

Vyacheslav Penchukov, a Russian national, was the mastermind behind the Zeus malware operation. He orchestrated the creation and distribution of malware that infected millions of computers worldwide. Penchukov aimed to steal banking information and commit financial fraud, generating substantial illegal profits. He was involved from November 2018 to at least February 2021, officials say. Investigators found he kept a spreadsheet detailing his $19.9 million income in 2021 alone.

That’s pure ego - nothing more. I,