Malicious Life
Hosted by Ran Levi
A finished archive of 260-plus narrated histories of hacks, from the Morris worm to Volt Typhoon.
- Level
- Beginner, no security background needed
- Status
- Ended, last episode
- Who's behind it
- Vendor-run, Cybereason sourceB-Side episodes often feature Cybereason researchers.
- Last verified
Listed underThreat intel and news
Editorial take
The best history course in security audio, and it is now complete. Ran Levi, an Israeli science writer and podcaster, narrated the stories behind the attacks that shaped the field, from 2017 to December 2024. Stuxnet, NotPetya, the RSA breach, Equifax, and Crypto AG all got multi-part treatment with interviews from the people involved. Episodes run about 30 minutes and assume no technical background, which makes this an ideal first security podcast. Cybereason owned and funded the show; the B-Side episodes often feature its researchers, but the main episodes rarely sell anything. No new episodes have appeared since December 2024, so treat it as a library.
Last hand-checked 2026-09-30, Show ended: last episode 2024-12-10; archive kept as a completed series.
Listen if you …
- are new to security and want the history that explains why controls exist
- like narrative storytelling and want more after Darknet Diaries
- teach or mentor and want 30-minute episodes to assign
Skip if you …
- you want current news, the show ended in December 2024
- you want technical depth, episodes are narrative history
Start with these 3 episodes
- 01
· 27 min · Beginner
The 1988 incident that created incident response as a field, told for listeners with no background.
- 02
· 33 min · Beginner
The show's multi-part format at full strength, on the most expensive cyberattack on record.
- 03
RSA Breach: The Untold Story, Part 1
· 25 min · Practitioner
Inside the breach of the company that sold SecurID tokens, essential for anyone working in identity.
About the show
Malicious Life was a narrative history podcast created by Cybereason and hosted by Ran Levi. It launched in June 2017 and published its final episode in December 2024.
Main episodes, often in multi-part series, retell historic hacks, malware outbreaks, and cybercrime cases with interviews from researchers, journalists, and participants. Shorter B-Side episodes are interviews, often with Cybereason staff. The full archive of over 260 episodes remains available in podcast apps.
Notable guests
- Gene Spafford
- Dave Kennedy
- Troy Hunt
- Graham Cluley
- Jack Rhysider
- Jeff Moss
- Chris Wysopal
- Roger Grimes
- Steve Wozniak
- Sam Curry
Pairs with
If Malicious Life works for you, these likely will too.
Darknet Diaries
PickJack Rhysider
Narrative true-crime stories from the cybersecurity world.
Listen if you you like long-form narrative non-fiction, think This American Life for hacking.
narrativebiweekly30–60mClick Here
PickDina Temple-Raston
Long-form cybersecurity journalism from a former NPR investigative reporter, with the production values to match.
Listen if you you prefer reported narrative journalism to panel-discussion formats.
narrativeweekly<30mHacking Humans
Dave Bittner · Joe Carrigan · Maria Varmazis
Weekly look at social engineering, phishing, and the human side of cybersecurity, accessible enough for non-technical colleagues.
Listen if you you work in or sell to security awareness training programs.
panelweekly30–60m