Max Smeets
@maxwsmeets.bsky.social
Author of No Shortcuts & Ransom War Co-director Virtual Routes (https://virtual-routes.org/), previously ECCRI Managing Editor Binding Hook (https://bindinghook.com) Senior Researcher, ETH Zurich
🙌 This was Binding Hook Live — a day filled with incredible conversations and discussions on and off stage. Read more insights from Binding Hook Live by our Managing Editors James Shires and @maxwsmeets.bsky.social: bindinghook.com/insights-fro... 🎞️ youtu.be/MOr-eZ_IJfo?...
This was Binding Hook Live!
YouTube video by Virtual Routes
youtu.be
🚨 #BindingHookLive tickets are going fast! 🚨 A little over a month to go until the very first Binding Hook Live! Don't miss the chance to be part of this one-of-a-kind event featuring a fantastic line-up of expert speakers. 🎟️ Request your invite: bindinghooklive.com
💭 Introducing #AI over Lunch - a new interview series exploring how leaders across sectors are grappling with the opportunities and risks of artificial intelligence. Read the first interview with #NATO CIO Manfred Boudreaux-Dehmer: virtual-routes.org/ai-over-lunc...
AI over Lunch: Manfred Boudreaux-Dehmer
Welcome to AI over Lunch, our new interview series exploring how leaders across sectors are grappling with the opportunities and risks of artificial intelligence.
virtual-routes.org
Where is #AI really shaping #ransomware – and where is it just hype? Join experts Ciaran Martin, Jamie MacColl, Will Thomas, Taylor Grossman & Max Smeets as they discuss AI’s role in ransomware. 📅 To join, register as a member: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
I've been thinking a lot about @maxwsmeets.bsky.social Ransomware Trust Paradox and how I think it's breaking. My analysis below (btw: if you haven't you should buy Max's book).
Is the Ransomware Trust Paradox Breaking?
And, is that a good thing?
open.substack.com
With more writers joining and more readers returning, we felt it was time for a better space. Our new @bindinghook.bsky.social website is now live! bindinghook.com
Expert commentary on tech and security - Binding Hook
Original, insightful analysis on digital and emerging technologies and security
bindinghook.com
#PublicAttribution of cyber activities is #China’s latest technique for pressuring #Taiwan and shaping the international dialogue around #cybersecurity. @benread.bsky.social digs into the details on Binding Hook: bindinghook.com/articles-hoo...
China is using cyber attribution to pressure Taiwan
Mirroring Western tactics, China’s main intelligence agency and private sector allies are publicly unmasking alleged Taiwanese hackers in a gambit to sway domestic and international opinion
bindinghook.com
New from me: China has been ramping up its public attribution against Taiwan, likely in an attempt to shift the conversation on cyber intrusions and pressure the island and they're using their private sector cybersecurity companies to do it. Read the piece, but a few highlights, take aways in this 🧵
Binding Hook@bindinghook.bsky.social · last yr.#PublicAttribution of cyber activities is #China’s latest technique for pressuring #Taiwan and shaping the international dialogue around #cybersecurity. @benread.bsky.social digs into the details on Binding Hook: bindinghook.com/articles-hoo...
The increasingly popular narrative that #AIthreats need to be fought with #AIsecuritysolutions fall short upon closer inspection, argue @virtualroutes.bsky.social’s Jamie Collier and @maxwsmeets.bsky.social in their latest: bindinghook.com/articles-bin...
Time to ditch the AI arms race analogy
You don’t need AI to beat AI. Most threats still fail in the face of ordinary, well-applied defences
bindinghook.com
Our #CyCon2025 #ransomware workshop, now in video! 🎞️ Watch the recap and join us for a quick trip back to Tallinn. 👇 @maxwsmeets.bsky.social @jamesshires.bsky.social www.youtube.com/watch?v=gb7G...
Virtual Routes at CyCon 2025
YouTube video by Virtual Routes
youtube.com
🎙️ The new episode of the @sansinstitute.bsky.social #CyberLeadersPodcast featuring @maxwsmeets.bsky.social is out now! Have a listen: sans.org/u/1Bxx
Gijs van Loon, Apolline Rolland, @jamesshires.bsky.social, and @maxwsmeets.bsky.social call for increased action from the EU to support and protect European drinking- and wastewater utilities. bindinghook.com/articles-bin...
Why Europe must finally secure its water sectors from cyber threats
Despite the vital importance of both drinking water and wastewater management, these sectors are highly vulnerable to cyberattacks. What policy actions can help?
bindinghook.com
On Lawfare Daily, @jshermcyber.bsky.social and Jonathan Cedarbaum spoke to @maxwsmeets.bsky.social about his book “Ransom War,” the history of ransomware, how the threats have evolved, and some of the major drivers of innovation within the ecosystem. www.lawfaremedia.org/article/lawf...
I enjoyed joining James Lyne and @ciaranm.bsky.social on the Cyber Leaders podcast. It was both fun and useful to discuss state and criminal cyber activity in one episode - and to explore where the two intersect. www.sans.org/podcasts/cyb...
The Cyber Battlefield with Max Smeets | 13 | Cyber Leaders Podcast | SANS Institute
In this episode, Ciaran and James meet Max Smeets, Co-Director of Virtual Routes and Senior Researcher at the Center for Strategic Studies at ETH Zurich, to discuss how digital threats are reshaping g...
sans.org
Ransom War is now available as an audiobook! www.amazon.com/Ransom-War-B...
⏰ Hurry up - only 1️⃣ week left until the deadline! 📝 Submit your Lightning Talk proposal by May 31: bindinghooklive.com
Updates to our speakers list! Looking forward to the talks by Mattijs Dijkstra & Zawadi Done (@huntandhackett.com), @joshagoldstein.bsky.social (Georgetown's CSET), & @maxwsmeets.bsky.social (@virtualroutes.bsky.social + @ethz.ch). Registration closing 1 June: www.thehagueprogram.nl/the-hague-ti...
Excited to be speaking at The Hague TIX this year. Great line up once again from @monicakello.bsky.social and team! www.thehagueprogram.nl/the-hague-ti...
The Hague Program: Hague TIX 2025 Welcome
thehagueprogram.nl
@virtualroutes.bsky.social is expanding the Google.org Cybersecurity Seminars program to the Netherlands, focusing on defending local communities against ransomware. Current university students can register interest now virtual-routes.org/initiatives/...
Cybersecurity Seminars NL - Virtual Routes
The Google.org Cybersecurity Seminars program has been successfully implemented in higher education institutions across Europe, Africa, and the Middle East, and is now being launched in the Netherland...
virtual-routes.org
We are excited to launch a new program in the Netherlands. The goal is to give students hands-on experience in cybersecurity, with courses like malware reverse engineering, digital forensics, and ransomware economics.
Virtual Routes@virtualroutes.bsky.social · last yr.🇳🇱 #Cybersecurity Seminars program expands to the Netherlands under the leadership of Virtual Routes! It focuses on enabling students to help local community organizations defend against #RansomwareAttacks. Learn more about the program and register interest: virtual-routes.org/initiatives/...
The arrest of a suspect after a spate of #RansomwareAttacks in the Netherlands is an unusual win for law enforcement, but a more holistic approach is required. Read the new piece by @jamesshires.bsky.social and @maxwsmeets.bsky.social: bindinghook.com/articles-hoo...
Ransomware groups are not always out of reach
The arrest of a suspect after a spate of ransomware attacks in the Netherlands is an unusual win for law enforcement, but a more holistic approach is required.
bindinghook.com
⏳ 𝗦𝘂𝗯𝗺𝗶𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗟𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗧𝗮𝗹𝗸 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗕𝗶𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗛𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝗟𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗯𝘆 𝗠𝗮𝘆 𝟯𝟭, 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟱! We're looking for talks on: 👉 Cyber & AI 👉 Surveillance 👉 Info ops 👉 Critical infra 👉 Cybercrime and more ✅ If accepted you’ll receive a 𝗳𝗿𝗲𝗲 𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗸𝗲𝘁 to the event and a £𝟱𝟬𝟬 𝗵𝗼𝗻𝗼𝗿𝗮𝗿𝗶𝘂𝗺. 📝 𝗦𝘂𝗯𝗺𝗶𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗼𝘀𝗮𝗹: bindinghooklive.com
Binding Hook Live
Binding Hook Live is a one-of-a-kind event bringing together leading voices in digital and emerging technologies and global affairs. This exclusive event takes place at the iconic Underbelly Boulevard...
bindinghooklive.com
The G7 Cybersec Working Group has finally put nat cyber agencies in one room to align on critical infra and AI safeguards. Now let us see if a small task force can truly overcome the deep institutional silos that have long slowed collective cyber security/defense: bindinghook.com/articles-hoo...
Sowing the seeds of enhanced cybersecurity cooperation within the G7
Officials from the Italian National Cybersecurity Agency discuss the challenges and successes of creating the new G7 Cybersecurity Working Group
bindinghook.com
One month left to submit a proposal for a Lightning Talk at Binding Hook Live. 10-minute presentations that should fit the same editorial scope as Binding Hook. We are interested in how digital and emerging technologies shape security. bindinghooklive.com
Binding Hook Live
Binding Hook Live is a one-of-a-kind event bringing together leading voices in digital and emerging technologies and global affairs. This exclusive event takes place at the iconic Underbelly Boulevard...
bindinghooklive.com
Published a new Pharos report today - and learned a lot in the process from @milenkowski.bsky.social Jiro, @julianferdinand.bsky.social @tgrossman.bsky.social. The report takes a closer look at how states are using ransomware. virtual-routes.org/wp-content/u...
Published a new Pharos report today - and learned a lot in the process from @milenkowski.bsky.social Jiro, @julianferdinand.bsky.social @tgrossman.bsky.social. The report takes a closer look at how states are using ransomware. virtual-routes.org/wp-content/u...
