How 14 orders of chicken McNuggets helped nail a suspected Russian hacker

A Russian intelligence-linked hacker is arrested in Thailand while enjoying a beach holiday - and the trail of evidence that nailed him to the Russian government includes 14 separate orders of chicken McNuggets.

Meanwhile, AI music generator Suno has been hacked - and the stolen data appears to show exactly how much copyrighted music they hoovered up to train their models.

All this and more in episode 477 of the "Smashing Security" podcast with cybersecurity expert and keynote speaker Graham Cluley, and special guest James Ball.

EPISODE LINKS:

• Bengaluru triple murder: Accused allegedly used AI chatbot to plan killings, police say - The News Minute.
• Microsoft July 2026 Patch Tuesday fixes massive 570 flaws, 3 zero-days - Bleeping Computer.
• DO NOT BUY: LG’s Spyware TVs, Monitors, and Wiretapping Concerns - YouTube.
• New Russia-affiliated actor Void Blizzard targets critical sectors for espionage - Microsoft Security Blog.
• Russia Advises Citizens Wanted in U.S. Against Visiting Thailand - The Moscow Times.
• Alleged Russian cyber spy in Boston case previously worked for Kaspersky, source says and documents show - Reuters.
• Burnt by Burgers: Highlighting Void Blizzard’s Russian State Links - Ctrl-Alt-Intel.
• Hack Reveals Suno AI Music Generator Scraped YouTube, Deezer, and Genius - 404 Media.
• "Shai-Hulud" Worm Compromises npm Ecosystem in Supply Chain Attack - Unit 42.
• Black Is The Color Of My Voice trailer - YouTube.
• Black Is The Color Of My Voice - Official Site - Black is the Colour of my Voice.
• Avatar: The Last Airbender (2007)  - Netflix.
• Smashing Security merchandise (t-shirts, mugs, stickers and stuff)

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Theme tune: "Vinyl Memories" by Mikael Manvelyan.

Assorted sound effects: AudioBlocks.

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