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Three Buddy Problem

Three Buddy Problem

Written by: Security Conversations
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The Three Buddy Problem is a popular Security Conversations podcast that goes beyond industry talking points to discuss what others won’t -- nation-state malware, attribution, cyberwar, ethics, privacy, and the messy realities of securing computers and corporate networks. Hosted by three veteran security pros -- journalist Ryan Naraine and malware paleontologists Costin Raiu and Juan Andres Guerrero-Saade -- the weekly show attracts a highly engaged audience of security researchers, corporate defenders, CISOs, and policymakers. Connect with Ryan on Twitter (Open DMs).© 2026 The Naraine Group Politics & Government
Episodes
  • The AI-powered 10x patch tsunami has arrived. Now what?
    May 15 2026

    (Presented by TLPBLACK: A cybersecurity intelligence platform focused on sharing curated, high-sensitivity threat insights and research with trusted security professionals.)

    Three Buddy Problem - Episode 98: We dive back into the fast16 malware discovery with fresh speculation that it's targeting spherical implosion simulations for Iran's nuclear program, and wonder who on earth is qualified to confirm this.

    Plus, thoughts on OpenAI's new three-tier cyber access program, Microsoft's MDASH harness, the 10x Patch Tuesday tsunami, Cloudflare's 1,100 layoffs blamed on AI, and why frontier-lab guardrails may just be elaborate security theater.

    Cast: Juan Andres Guerrero-Saade, Ryan Naraine and Costin Raiu.

    Timestamps:
    0:00 - Introductory banter
    3:19 - fast16 update: spherical implosion simulations?
    9:01 - Manhattan Project precedent — why this matches Iran
    12:28 - Who can actually reproduce the FAST 16 attack?
    19:32 - Google GTIG's "AI-written" zero-day
    22:13 - The rise of AI-backend "silent detections"
    25:54 - Guardrails as security theater
    38:47 - Are the 10x patch numbers real defense?
    43:48 - OpenAI's Trusted Access tiers + Microsoft MDASH
    53:35 - End of the ‘patch-and-pray’ model
    57:50 - Sean Heelan: strict harnesses can make models worse
    1:03:51 - Pwn2Own Berlin overflow and bug-density debate
    1:12:24 - Cloudflare's 1,100 layoffs and AI as scapegoat
    1:27:42 - RCS encryption, Android Intrusion Logging, Seedworm & Kazuar

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    1 hr and 51 mins
  • The disappointing death of big-game APT reporting
    May 10 2026

    (Presented by TLPBLACK: A cybersecurity intelligence platform focused on sharing curated, high-sensitivity threat insights and research with trusted security professionals.)

    Three Buddy Problem - Episode 97: We discuss the disappearing art of Windows APT paleontology, the absence of complex malware documentation, and why so much threat-intel research has slipped behind paywalls and into private rooms.

    Plus, a surge in AI-discovered bugs in Firefox and Chrome, a rough week for Linux security flaw disclosures, and the usual Ivanti and Palo Alto zero-day bulletins that ship without a single IOC.

    Cast: Juan Andres Guerrero-Saade, Ryan Naraine and Costin Raiu.

    Timestamps:
    0:00 - Introductory banter
    1:17 - Inside TLP-Red: writing hashes by hand
    3:57- fast16 fallout and the threat intel trust collapse
    9:17 - The death of cyber paleontology on Windows
    14:49 - Mobile is the new paleontology frontier
    15:48 - When threat intel went private: the CrowdStrike effect
    23:29 - Falling sideways into intelligence brokerage
    36:05 -- AI, Easter eggs, and the loss of malware artistry
    47:22 -- Will the Frontier Labs publish threat intel?
    51:43 -- fast16 follow-up reports coming
    1:09:38 - Mythos, Aardvark, and the patch tsunami
    1:15:33 - CopyFail and the Linux reboot crisis
    1:51:05 - UAPs, Pulitzers, last-ever LabsCon, and shoutouts

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    2 hrs and 3 mins
  • Cracking the Fast16 sabotage malware mystery
    May 1 2026

    (Presented by TLPBLACK: A cybersecurity intelligence platform focused on sharing curated, high-sensitivity threat insights and research with trusted security professionals.)

    Three Buddy Problem - Episode 96: We're joined by WIRED writer Andy Greenberg to dig into SentinelLabs' bombshell FAST16 research, a newly deciphered piece of sabotage malware that predates Stuxnet by five years and quietly tampered with physics modeling software likely tied to Iran's nuclear program.

    We discuss the attribution rabbit hole (NSA? Israel? someone else?), the eerie "spiritual warfare" implications of corrupting scientific calculations, and Antiy Labs' very dialectical Chinese rebuttal. Plus, what AI reverse-engineering means for the next decade of cyber paleontology.

    Cast: Andy Greenberg, Juan Andres Guerrero-Saade, Ryan Naraine and Costin Raiu.

    Timestamps:

    0:00 - WIRED’s Andy Greenberg joins the show
    1:53 - How the FAST16 scoop landed in Andy's lap
    6:45 - JAGS sat on this sample for 7 years
    10:33 - How Costin and the Kaspersky team missed the sabotage routine
    15:20 - The "holy moly" moment: what FAST16 actually does
    18:26 - Territorial Dispute, Shadow Brokers, and the driver list
    24:11 - The targets: MOHID, PKPM, and LS-DYNA's link to Iran
    28:13 - No C&C, no victims: a worm built for air-gapped networks
    34:45 - Was this part of a larger anti-Iran toolkit?
    37:55 - Attribution: NSA, Israel, or someone else entirely?
    51:39 - What was the actual sabotage? Unanswered questions
    55:48 - "Spiritual warfare": the psychological angle and trust in computers
    1:20:05 - Equities, going public, and the case for AI-powered reversing
    1:32:19 - Antiy Labs' Chinese rebuttal and the apparatchik tone
    1:43:04 - Shoutouts: Sergey Mineev, LabsCon CFP, PivotCon, and Ekoparty

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    1 hr and 48 mins
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