{"podcast":{"title":"The Backup Wrap-Up","slug":"the-backup-wrap-up-758069","podcast_index_feed_id":758069,"rss_url":"https://feeds.captivate.fm/backupwrapup/","website_url":"https://www.backupwrapup.com","image_url":"https://artwork.captivate.fm/4670d4e3-81d6-4770-aeca-fe0331f5ce9e/IO00Uwof5u-hiUJElhkbBmKT.jpg","author":"W. Curtis Preston (Mr. Backup)","episode_count":355,"summary":"Formerly known as \"Restore it All,\" The Backup Wrap-up podcast turns unappreciated backup admins into cyber recovery heroes. After a brief analysis of backup-related news, each episode dives deep into one topic that you can use to better protect your organization from data loss, be it from accidents, disasters, or ransomware. The Backup Wrap-up is hosted by W. Curtis Preston (Mr. Backup) and his co-host Prasanna Malaiyandi. Curtis' passion for backups began over 30 years ago when his employer, a $35B bank, lost its purchasing database – and the backups he was in charge of were worthless. After miraculously not being fired, he resolved to learn everything he could about a topic most people try to get away from. His co-host, Prasanna, saw similar tragedies from the vendor side of the house and also wanted to do whatever he could to stop that from happening to others. A particular focus lately has been the scourge of ransomware that is plaguing IT organizations across the globe. That's why in addition to backup and disaster recovery, we also touch on information security techniques you can use to protect your backup systems from ransomware. If you'd like to go from being unappreciate…","last_synced_at":"2026-07-06T22:18:00.235096+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-backup-wrap-up-758069"},"episode":{"title":"Ransomware Sanctions, OFAC, and the Lazarus Group: A Real Case Study","slug":"ransomware-sanctions-ofac-and-the-lazarus-group-a-real-case-study","published_at":"2026-04-20T11:00:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-backup-wrap-up-758069/ransomware-sanctions-ofac-and-the-lazarus-group-a-real-case-study","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-backup-wrap-up-758069","url":"https://www.backupwrapup.com/ransomware-sanctions-ofac-lazarus-group","audio_url":"https://episodes.captivate.fm/episode/eafb139c-b721-4249-8d02-da0d6aed4150.mp3","summary":"Ransomware sanctions are something most companies never think about — until they're staring down a ransom demand from a group the US government has already put on a sanctions list. In this episode, Dr. Mike Saylor walks us through a real incident involving a construction company, hundreds of millions in active contracts, and the Lazarus Group — a North Korean state-sponsored threat actor. Before that company could pay a single dollar in ransom, they had to figure out whether doing so would trigger federal penalties that dwarfed the ransom itself. We're talking fines of 10x to 100x the payment amount, and in some jurisdictions, jail time. This is one of those episodes where the story alone is worth your time. Mike was in the room for this incident, negotiating directly with the Lazarus Group over a weekend — and yes, it turns out North Korean cybercriminals have a surprisingly functional help desk. But beyond the story, there's real actionable information here about OFAC (the Office of Foreign Asset Control), how the US Treasury tracks Bitcoin wallets to identify sanctioned actors, and what you actually need to do the moment ransomware hits your organization. We also get into why paying a ransom paints a target on your back — 70% of companies that pay get hit again within six months — and why immutable backups are the only thing that truly keeps you out of this situation. Chapters: 0:00 Intro 1:31 Meet the Guests: Curtis, Prasanna, and Dr. Mike Saylor 4:10 Case Study: A Construction Company and the Lazarus Group 6:34 Are These Bad Guys Sanctioned? Introducing OFAC 8:05 Why Ransomware Funds Terrorism, Drug Trafficking, and Worse 11:00 Sanctions Penalties: Fines That Can Put You Out of Business 12:24 Colonial Pipeline and Exceptions for Critical Infrastructure 13:26 How t…","meta_description":"Ransomware sanctions are something most companies never think about — until they're staring down a ransom demand from a group the US government has alread…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":2192,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/the-backup-wrap-up-758069/episodes/ransomware-sanctions-ofac-and-the-lazarus-group-a-real-case-study/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-backup-wrap-up-758069/ransomware-sanctions-ofac-and-the-lazarus-group-a-real-case-study.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}