Natto Thoughts is One Year Old
Or Two Years Old if You Count the Year of “Fermenting”
On April 6, 2022, the Natto Team registered on Substack and told the world that our newsletter was “coming soon.” One year later, on April 6, 2023, Natto Thoughts published its first post: “Putin: The Spy as Hero.” The post gave a look at what the 1973 Soviet spy movie “Seventeen Moments of Spring” could tell us about Russian psychological operations. The post was a delightful read and touched on a topic – Russian information operations - that many have discussed, but from a rare angle. This rare angle is to understand the human side of threat intelligence. The Natto Team believes threat groups are not just an advanced persistent threat (APT) number, such as APT1 or APT41, or a bear (i.e. FANCY BEAR), or a fish (i.e. POISON CARP), or a panda (i.e. AURORA PANDA) or a dragon (i.e. Night Dragon). No, there are real people behind the APT number, the bear, the fish, the panda, or the dragon. The Natto Team’s research, analysis and insight intend to understand the real people behind the keyboard by exploring the intersection of culture, technology, and security and by probing language, culture, institutions, political systems, and unwritten social rules to enrich understanding of the threat environment.
In the past year, we have done so and achieved a great deal of success with the support of subscribers from 29 US states and 45 countries around the world and the readers we couldn’t count. Natto Thoughts has been mentioned, quoted, and interviewed in various major media globally, including The Associated Press, The Guardian, NPR’s the World, Australian Financial Review, The Record, Krebs on Security, The Click Here Podcast, Risky Business Media, Lawfare, Sinocism, The Wire China, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, MediaPart, and Cybersecurity Advisors Network.
In October 2023, the Natto Team disclosed the Chinese information security company i-SOON’s connection with the identified threat group APT41, five months before i-SOON’s internal document leak that confirmed our findings. Subsequently, the Natto Team published a series of analyses of the i-SOON leak and what it means for practitioners and policymakers. The Natto Team’s three-part Disinformation Handbook provides a concise overview of the disinformation topic in one place, with how-to tips on protecting oneself from being deceived. As elections take place in many countries in 2024, the Disinformation Handbook has been recognized as “an absolutely invaluable resource.” In the coming months, the Natto Team is planning to publish a series called “Ransom-War,” which dives deep into Russian extortion operations. We hope the series will shed light on understanding both financial and political motives in ransomware attacks.
As the Natto Team looks forward to the second year of providing valuable research, analysis, and insight to our readers, the Natto Team is grateful for your support. All-access subscriptions of Natto Thoughts are free. If you wish to support our effort, and have the means, a pledge is one way to show you believe our work is valuable. If you or your organization sees that reports from the Natto Team meet your needs, the Natto Team also provides consulting services.
Once again, thank you so much for your support. Please spread the word about Natto Thoughts. The Natto Team appreciates it greatly.
Cheers,
The Natto Team, the team behind Natto Thoughts