Adversary Universe Podcast

He’s back, and he’s ready to talk botnet takeovers.

Tillmann Werner, VP of Intelligence Production at CrowdStrike, returns to the podcast to discuss CrowdStrike’s coordinated takeover of the Glassworm botnet. Glassworm was a global threat targeting software developers through the open-source supply chain. This infection vector stood out — open-source ecosystems are based on trust, and adversaries are learning they can reach a vast pool of victims by compromising the supply chain. Some open-source libraries get 100 million downloads per week.

Glassworm was described as an “unkillable” botnet. Resilience was built into its design, which relied on four different command-and-control channels. This made the takeover complicated because a botnet can’t be taken over until all command-and-control mechanisms are suppressed.

“Once it’s down, you gotta make sure it’s down,” said Adam, who calls Tillmann the “bot slayer.”

In this episode, they get into the details: what Glassworm was after, how its unknown operators strengthened its infrastructure, and the planning and execution behind the takeover. Tillmann and his team facilitated the process by conducting extensive technical analysis, understanding Glassworm’s evolution, and spotting the opportunity to disrupt it. They worked with partners across the private and public sectors, as well as internally at CrowdStrike, to do it safely and avoid disrupting critical systems.

Come for the behind-the-scenes details, and stay for the debate around baking the perfect pizza in this episode of the Adversary Universe podcast.

Learn more in our blog: https://www.crowdstrike.com/en-us/blog/inside-crowdstrike-takedown-of-a-developer-targeting-botnet/.

The technology sector is the most targeted in the world by eCrime and state-sponsored threat actors. Between April 1, 2025, and March 31, 2026, China-nexus adversaries drove more than 58% of state-sponsored interactive intrusions against the sector, creating the greatest intelligence collection threat to tech companies.

These threat actors are escalating espionage against tech businesses to steal the AI capabilities and intellectual property they can’t build fast enough on their own. Adversaries such as MURKY PANDA, MUSTANG PANDA, OVERCAST PANDA, SUNRISE PANDA, and WARP PANDA targeted the tech sector more than any other industry. And China isn’t alone — Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) adversaries also have their sights set on tech.

The CrowdStrike 2026 Technology Threat Landscape Report, now live, sheds light on how nation-state and eCrime adversaries are targeting this critical industry. From FAMOUS CHOLLIMA’s IT infiltration campaigns to eCrime adversaries accelerating extortion, there is a broad range of threats that tech organizations must prepare for.

Modern tech companies are creating the world’s most valuable and targeted assets, and their cutting-edge innovations represent both competitive advantage and greater risk. Tune in to learn the report’s key takeaways and hear Adam and Cristian dive into the report’s findings.

The CrowdStrike 2026 Financial Services Threat Landscape report is now live! Adam and Cristian are here to break down the trends and techniques affecting an industry that has become a major target for adversaries.

Financial services is the fourth most-targeted industry as of Q1 2026 and accounts for 12% of all observed adversary activity. eCrime adversaries target the industry for financial gain. MUTANT SPIDER, the most active eCrime threat in the past 12 months, is tied to several intrusions in which they sell access to ransomware groups. The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea set its sights on cryptocurrency and fintech entities to steal funds for its military programs.

While financial gain may seem the obvious goal in targeting financial services, it’s not the only one. Nation-state adversaries in China, Iran, and Russia launched operations against the sector for intelligence collection. Hacktivists conducted DDoS campaigns and data breach operations, primarily driven by ideological conflicts.

Even if you don’t work in the financial services sector, you most likely work with it — consumer banks, credit card companies, insurers, payment processors, and related businesses are all part of everyday business and personal life. Tune in to hear which adversaries are targeting them and why, which regions are in the crosshairs, and how companies should defend themselves. And stick around to hear about Adam’s foray into ice cream cakes.

The previous episode of the Adversary Universe podcast explored the “vuln-pocalypse” and the implications of advanced AI models accelerating vulnerability discovery and exploitation. Now, we’re diving into how companies are working together to face these evolving security risks.

CrowdStrike Chief Business Officer Daniel Bernard spends much of his time talking with partners and customers about how to address their growing concerns: Is their business protected? Do they know which vulnerabilities are in their environment? What do they do about them?

In this episode, Daniel joins Adam and Cristian to discuss why it takes an ecosystem of partners to answer these questions and help each business evaluate risk. He sheds light on the newly expanded Project Quiltworks — CrowdStrike’s coalition for securing frontier AI risk — as well as Anthropic’s Project Glasswing and OpenAI’s Trusted Access for Cyber as initiatives the industry needs in this critical time.

“It feels like right now we’re at this fever-pitch moment ... where we’re going to do more patching in the next 6-12 months than we’ve probably done in the last 6-12 years," he says in this episode.

To handle this, partner efforts are picking up speed. The “digital line” to join the project is growing as organizations jump in to help with solving the new problems companies face. Tune in to hear the latest on Project Quiltworks, the issues coming up most in CISO conversations, and of course, everyone’s favorite bread of the moment in this episode of the Adversary Universe podcast.

Many cybersecurity conversations of late are discussing the impending “vuln-pocalypse” — a term used to describe a scenario in which AI-powered tools are used to discover and exploit vulnerabilities faster than defenders can patch them.

It’s a valid concern. Even without advanced AI algorithms, researchers can build tools to automate the vulnerability discovery process. Now, the rise of increasingly sophisticated AI models is rapidly expanding the volume of vulnerabilities defenders will need to handle. “I’ve been saying since November, we’re looking at three to nine months until a massive influx of zero-day vulnerabilities,” Adam says in this conversation.

Which begs the question: Are we cooked? No, he says, but it’s getting hot in here.

In this episode, Adam and Cristian explore the vuln-pocalypse from the defender's perspective. They dive into the economics of this shift and explain how organizations should approach their patching strategy going forward. This isn’t an “end of the world” problem, they say, but it will require a more thoughtful approach to which vulnerabilities are patched, how they’re patched, and when.

Tune in for this timely conversation as adversaries and defenders alike explore the potential of AI.