Host
Gary Ruddell
Former Intelligence Operator for the UK Military and Cyber Threat Intelligence expert for global banks, Gary Ruddell is highly experienced in the threat landscape in both hostile and corporate landscapes.
Masked Actors
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.
Contributors
Host
Nick Palmer
Financial crime fighter with deep expertise in threat intelligence, fraud prevention, and DFIR, Nick Palmer brings a consultative, problem-solving approach to the global fight against cybercrime.
Guests
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Guest
Craig Jones
Former INTERPOL Cybercrime Director Craig Jones is an Independent Strategic Advisor at Group-IB, where he leverages his global law enforcement expertise to shape strategy, combat cybercrime, and drive industry partnerships.
Guest
Fergus Hay
Fergus Hay is the Founder & CEO of The Hacking Games, a media and talent enterprise on a mission to inspire a generation of ethical hackers to defend against the $23.8 trillion cybercrime threat projected by 2027.
He is also Founder of growth and marketing advisory firm Elysian Fields, Venture Partner at Blue Lion Global VC, and serves on the advisory boards of NUOS and Ryse Asset Management.
Previously, he was CEO of Leagas Delaney, driving the agency’s rise from #55 to #3 for growth in the UK, and held senior roles at Ogilvy, where he led global clients and ran Asia’s largest social media agency.
An industry expert and regular commentator for BBC World News, Sky News, and NBC Euronews, he holds an EMBA from NYU Stern, LSE, and HEC Paris.
Guest appearance on:
Guest
Geoff White
As one of the world’s leading journalists covering organised crime and tech, Geoff White has spent decades investigating the shadowy forces of fraudsters, hackers and money launderers. His work’s been featured by BBC News, Audible, Sky News, The Sunday Times and many more.
His latest book, Rinsed, reveals technology’s impact on the world of money laundering. It springs from his work on the hit podcast and book The Lazarus Heist, which explored North Korea’s computer hacking campaign.
He has given more than 300 keynote talks for some of the biggest global brands, including Microsoft, HSBC, Sky, Mastercard and Atos.
Guest appearance on:
Guest
Jason Rebholz
Jason Rebholz is a cybersecurity and AI leader passionate about dissecting complex problems and building security programs from the ground up. His diverse experience in security start-ups contributes to his approach in leading and developing high-performing teams in fast-paced environments.
After spending over a decade as an Incident Response leader responding to sophisticated cyber attacks, he spent four years as a Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) at a cyber insurance company. He built a security program while developing a threat intelligence team to help identify and protect tens of thousands of policyholders from cyber attacks.