Masked Actors
Masked Actors
Podcast Description
True crime meets cybercrime. Discover the people behind the keyboard.From Ransomware-as-a-Service (RaaS) gangs to global financial crime syndicates, the rise of sophisticated cyber threats is reshaping the world. These aren’t lone hackers — they’re organized groups running multi-million dollar operations in the shadows.In the Masked Actors podcast, cyber threat expert and former soldier turned hacker Gary Ruddell joins forces with Nick Palmer, a seasoned financial crime fighter, to investigate the top 10 most dangerous cybercriminal groups of 2025 — drawn from Group-IB’s High-Tech Crime Trends Report.Each episode explores the tactics, motivations, and impact of major cybercrime groups, uncovering their role in the latest cybercrime, RaaS, and financial crime trends. You’ll learn how these actors exploit vulnerabilities, fuel geopolitical tension, and affect businesses and consumers alike.Tune in to Masked Actors — and stay one step ahead of cybercrime.
Podcast Insights
Content Themes
The podcast delves into various aspects of cybercrime, focusing on topics such as Ransomware-as-a-Service, financial crime syndicates, and the tactics employed by cybercriminal groups. Notable episodes discuss the motivations behind high-stakes hacking operations and the impact of these groups on global security, revealing trends from Group-IB’s High-Tech Crime Trends Report.

True crime meets cybercrime. Discover the people behind the keyboard.
From Ransomware-as-a-Service (RaaS) gangs to global financial crime syndicates, the rise of sophisticated cyber threats is reshaping the world. These aren’t lone hackers — they’re organized groups running multi-million dollar operations in the shadows.
In the Masked Actors podcast, cyber threat expert and former soldier turned hacker Gary Ruddell joins forces with Nick Palmer, a seasoned financial crime fighter, to investigate the top 10 most dangerous cybercriminal groups of 2025 — drawn from Group-IB’s High-Tech Crime Trends Report.
Each episode explores the tactics, motivations, and impact of major cybercrime groups, uncovering their role in the latest cybercrime, RaaS, and financial crime trends. You’ll learn how these actors exploit vulnerabilities, fuel geopolitical tension, and affect businesses and consumers alike.
Tune in to Masked Actors — and stay one step ahead of cybercrime.
Cryptocurrency promised huge potential for investors. But it’s cybercriminals who are reaping the benefits. From multimillion-dollar ransomware payouts to borderless money laundering, cryptocurrency has quietly become the fuel powering a global cybercrime economy.
As regulation evolves across multiple jurisdictions, gaps, inconsistencies, and the borderless nature of crypto continue to give criminal threat actors a simple workaround: move somewhere the rules don’t reach. This has created opportunities for cybercrime that groups such as TeamTNT have been quick to exploit.
In this episode of Masked Actors, Group-IB’s Gary Ruddell and Nick Palmer are joined by Erica Stanford, Digital Asset, Crypto and AI Specialist at law firm CMS. She reveals the shadowy infrastructure and trail of crypto-enabled cybercrime that keeps hacking gangs like TeamTNT moving.
By understanding who these actors are and how they operate, you can better anticipate threats and protect yourself in an increasingly hostile digital world.
Subscribe to learn more about Group-IB's top 10 Masked Actors – and stay one step ahead in the fight against cybercrime.
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