Risk & Repeat: More Equation Group cyberweapons leaked

The Shadow Brokers recently released another trove of exploits from the Equation Group, but, once again, the cyberweapons weren't all they were cracked up to be.

The latest collection of Equation Group exploits included Microsoft Windows and the SWIFT bank messaging system, among others, and were made public earlier this month by the hacking group known as the Shadow Brokers.

The Windows exploits were initially viewed by some security researchers as critical zero-day flaws, but Microsoft later confirmed that the vast majority of the vulnerabilities had already been patched (the exploits that weren't patched were for unsupported versions of Windows, Microsoft said).

The timing of the some of the patches, however, has raised questions about both the Shadow Brokers' motives and the U.S. government's role in the matter. On Twitter, the Shadow Brokers published a list of Windows exploits it had stolen from the Equation Group, including several vulnerabilities that were released in this month's dump. Just a few weeks later, Microsoft canceled February's Patch Tuesday because of a last minute issue. Then, three of the Equation Group's Windows exploits were patched in Microsoft's March Patch Tuesday (Microsoft did not credit any individuals or organizations for these vulnerability reports).

Did the National Security Agency disclose the Windows exploits to Microsoft? What are the Shadow Brokers after? Why did the hacking group release the Windows exploits after they had already been patched? In this week's episode of SearchSecurity's Risk & Repeat podcast, editors Rob Wright and Peter Loshin discuss those questions and more on the topic of the latest Equation Group cyberweapons dump.