Matt Suiche

Matt Suiche’s Medium Review Guide for Crypto Security: What to Read First + FAQ

Ever wondered if security research can actually help you protect your crypto, spot risks early, and make smarter calls? If you’ve tried to keep up with hacks and malware, you’ve probably hit a wall: posts that are too technical, too shallow, or full of hype. That’s why I keep going back to Matt Suiche’s Medium—it’s where complex threats turn into clear, practical takeaways you can use right away.

I spend my time separating signal from noise. Suiche’s work sits in that rare zone where you get clean timelines, evidence, and the “so what” for defenders—without wasting a second on fluff. Here’s how to get the most value from his posts on Cryptolinks.

Describe problems or pain

Crypto security moves fast—and it’s unforgiving. Bridges get drained, exchanges go down “for maintenance,” new credential-stealing kits hit inboxes, and vendors get compromised in ways that leak into your stack. The tough part is turning all that chaos into actions you can take today.

• Too technical or too vague: Threat write-ups often bury the point in jargon or skip the evidence altogether.
• Hype over help: Hot takes spread fast, but they rarely tell you what to monitor, change, or stop doing.
• Real risk is off-chain: Most crypto losses start with basic access failures—phishing, session hijacking, stolen keys, vendor leaks—then spill on-chain. Chainalysis reported a record $3.8B stolen in 2022 (with a big chunk from DeFi and cross-chain bridges), and while 2023 fell, it still counted in the billions—proof that fundamentals keep getting tested.

When your assets, your users, or your reputation are on the line, you don’t need noise. You need clarity, receipts, and steps you can run this week.

Promise solution

Here’s the plan: I’ll show you who Matt Suiche is, why his Medium matters for crypto security, the best posts to start with, what you’ll actually learn, and how to apply it fast. You’ll leave with a focused reading plan and a dead-simple way to turn insights into action—no fluff, no guesswork.

Who this review is for

• Crypto traders: Want early risk signals around exchanges, bridges, and wallets.
• Founders and operators: Need to spot weak processes, vendor exposure, and “this could be us” patterns.
• Security-curious readers: Want clear write-ups that don’t require a reverse engineering background.
• Incident responders: Looking for credible timelines, artifacts, and lessons you can plug into runbooks.

Quick look at his track record

• Respected researcher: Known for deep Windows internals and memory forensics work; founded Comae, a firm focused on incident response and forensics.
• High-impact incident analysis: His Medium features widely cited investigations—think the 2017 NotPetya “it’s actually a wiper” breakdown, WannaCry context, and Shadow Brokers/Equation Group commentary. These pieces are often used by practitioners to understand what really happened and what to do next.
• Credible voice on nation-state and big breaches: He sticks to evidence, connects primary sources, and avoids the speculation traps that mislead defenders.
• Conference presence: Regularly appears in serious security circles (Black Hat/DEF CON-level talks), which is a healthy credibility check.

Real sample you can look for on his profile: his timeline-heavy incident posts where he explains why “ransomware” sometimes isn’t ransomware at all (wipers disguised as ransomware change how you respond). That style is perfect for crypto teams who need to separate signal from panic during an exchange outage or a bridge exploit rumor.

How I review

• Relevance to crypto: Does this help protect wallets, infrastructure, or users? Does it touch exchanges, bridges, or vendor chains we rely on?
• Clarity: Are timelines, IOCs, and decisions laid out plainly—no guess-the-jargon required?
• Sourcing: Are there screenshots, artifacts, and references? Can you trace claims back to primary evidence?
• Practicality: Can you extract checks, alerts, or playbook steps and use them the same week?
• Risk decision value: Will this improve how you assess vendors, interpret “maintenance” notices, or spot early compromise signals?

If a post nails those, it’s worth your time—and it usually is when it’s coming from Suiche’s Medium.

So the obvious question: who is Matt Suiche, and why should crypto folks care about his work? Let’s answer that next and set you up with the smartest way to read his posts.

Who is Matt Suiche—and why crypto folks should care

If your assets live on-chain, most of your risks live off-chain. That’s the space Matt Suiche works in—the messy world of real incidents, memory forensics, and facts that tell you what actually happened. His pieces on Medium are the kind of security reporting that makes you rethink how you protect keys, vendors, and teams.

“Security is messy. Facts are oxygen.”

Short bio and credibility signals

Matt Suiche is a veteran security researcher and incident response leader with a reputation for turning raw forensic data into clear timelines and lessons.

• Founder of Comae — a memory forensics and incident response firm known for practical tools and deep Windows internals expertise. If you’ve used memory acquisition utilities like DumpIt in the field, you’ve felt his impact.
• Known for Windows internals and threat research — especially the stuff most people avoid because it’s hard: kernel behavior, crash dumps, and volatile memory analysis.
• Respected voice in major incidents — his breakdown of the 2017 NotPetya outbreak helped the industry understand it as a wiper (data destruction) event rather than typical ransomware—an important difference for response and recovery strategy.
• Trusted by pros — referenced by incident responders, cited in conference talks, and featured on big stages like Black Hat and DEF CON.

That combination—hands-on IR plus the ability to explain what matters—is rare. It’s why I pay attention when his byline pops up.

Where his work overlaps with crypto

Matt doesn’t chase token charts. He tracks the operational realities behind breaches—the same failures that drain exchanges, bridges, and wallets. Here’s how his research maps directly to crypto:

• Exchange and custodian breaches — Most crypto “hacks” start with off-chain access: compromised SSO, phished admins, abused remote tools, or stolen API keys. Matt’s incident timelines show exactly how those footholds are created and widened, which is gold for prevention.
• Ransomware financed in crypto — Ransomware operators still prefer crypto for payments and laundering. Chainalysis reported ransomware revenues rebounded past $1B in 2023, reversing the 2022 dip (source: Chainalysis Crypto Crime Report 2024). Matt’s posts explain how access is brokered, how encryption/wiping really works, and what artifacts defenders should grab first.
• Nation‑state activity touching blockchain ecosystems — DPRK-linked groups like Lazarus have repeatedly targeted crypto orgs via phishing, supply-chain pivots, and code-signing abuse. The TTPs Matt documents—valid account abuse, living-off-the-land tooling, signed-driver shenanigans—mirror the patterns seen in major crypto incidents and are the exact signals your SOC should monitor.
• Supply‑chain risks that hit crypto companies — From desktop app updates to identity providers, one weak vendor can become everyone’s problem. Think of high-profile software supply-chain compromises such as the 3CX desktop app incident analyzed by multiple firms (example coverage: Mandiant). Matt’s work gives you a framework to evaluate dependencies and spot early indicators when a partner is quietly burning.

Bottom line: if you run an exchange, bridge, DeFi platform, or even a small wallet team, the attacks he explains are the same ones knocking on your door—just wearing a different badge.

What sets him apart

• Timelines that calm chaos — He reconstructs what happened step by step (initial access → privilege → lateral movement → exfil/destruction) so you can map it to your environment fast.
• Primary sources over vibes — Screenshots, artifacts, hashes, process trees, memory snapshots. You can verify his claims or reproduce the steps with your own data.
• Clear separation of fact vs. hypothesis — You’ll see phrasing like “based on artifact X, likely Y” instead of Twitter-police certainty. In incidents that affect crypto, that restraint keeps you from overreacting—or reacting too late.
• No hot takes, just useful takes — He focuses on what defenders can change today: authentication, endpoint controls, monitoring gaps, response sequencing.
• Teaches you how to think — In the NotPetya analysis, for example, he inspected how the malware handled keys and disk structures to show it wasn’t built for recovery—changing the recommended response from “negotiate” to “rebuild.” That kind of thinking is exactly what you need when facing a “ransomware” note in an exchange backend at 2 a.m.

If you’ve ever felt that knot in your stomach when a vendor posts an “urgent maintenance” banner or an employee reports a weird SSO prompt, you’ll appreciate how his method turns panic into a checklist. Want to know what kinds of posts he publishes—and how to spot the high‑impact ones in under 30 seconds? Keep going.

What you’ll find on his Medium

When I open Matt Suiche’s Medium, I’m looking for one thing: signal I can use the same day. His feed consistently delivers that through well-sourced investigations, tight timelines, and practical notes that translate to better decisions for crypto teams and solo traders alike.

Main topic buckets

• Incident write-ups that cut through noise
  

  Example: His analysis of the 2017 NotPetya outbreak (famously framed as a wiper, not a real ransomware play) remains a masterclass in sticking to artifacts and timelines instead of hot takes. Expect a clear path from initial access to propagation, with the “fake ransom” angle explained by evidence, not guesswork. That disciplined style is exactly what you want when reading about exchange breaches or bridge compromises today.

• Malware analysis with defender-first takeaways
  

  You’ll see Windows internals, memory forensics, and persistence techniques broken down in language that lets you spot the same patterns in your stack. Think credential theft paths, service abuse, PsExec/WMIC usage, scheduled tasks, and MBR/boot modifications that turn “is this ransomware?” into “this is sabotage.” He often calls out concrete artifacts you can hunt for in EDR and logs.

• Ransomware ecosystem insights (minus the drama)
  

  Suiche is one of the few who will say, “the payment path is a decoy” and then prove it with behavior. That matters for crypto because the payment rail (often BTC) pulls attention, but the tactics tell you if you’re dealing with a criminal crew versus an influence operation. Independent research backs this focus: Chainalysis’ 2024 Crime Report shows ransomware revenues rebounded sharply, yet many headline “ransom” events still show non-financial motives. Suiche’s lens helps you separate the two quickly.

• Attribution discussions that stay grounded
  

  No chest-beating. He weighs code reuse, infrastructure overlap, and operational tempo against the messy reality of shared tooling and false flags. You’ll see phrases like “low confidence” and “working hypothesis,” which is exactly the mindset you want when your treasury or customers are on the line.

• Security operations lessons you can actually use
  

  Expect logging priorities, memory capture tips, collection checklists, and escalation notes that map to real incidents. This is the stuff you paste into an internal doc when you don’t have a full DFIR team. Studies like the Verizon DBIR (2024) keep reiterating that the human/identity layer drives most breaches; Suiche’s write-ups consistently give you practical countermeasures on that front.

“Evidence beats opinions. Screenshots beat tweets.”

Post formats

• Long-form investigations
  

  Deep looks at headline events with artifacts, screenshots, and indicators you can push to your SIEM or alerting. These are perfect for founders and security leads who need to brief a team and make decisions in hours, not weeks.

• Conference talk summaries
  

  Digestible notes from talks at events like Black Hat or DFIR-focused conferences, tuned to real-world defender needs. You’ll get the gist fast, minus the slide fatigue.

• Quick analysis notes during active incidents
  

  Short posts that say what’s known, what’s unknown, and what to do right now. This is gold when a vendor, exchange, or wallet provider you rely on is trending for the wrong reason.

• Response playbooks and checklists
  

  Step-by-step memory capture, isolation hygiene, and post-incident verification. If you’ve ever had to quarantine a host with keys on it, you’ll appreciate the detail here.

How to spot high-impact posts fast

Time is money—especially when an exchange pauses withdrawals or a bridge shows odd on-chain flows. Here’s how I triage his feed:

• Look for timelines that show initial access, lateral movement, and impact in sequence. If the post reconstructs events minute-by-minute, it’s usually essential reading.
• Scan for artifacts and IOCs: registry keys, services created, file hashes, YARA rules, C2 domains. If you can paste it into your tooling, you’re not wasting time.
• Find the “so what” for defenders: sections titled “Mitigation,” “Detections,” or “Recommendations.” He often calls out specific log sources (Windows event IDs, EDR telemetry) you should query first.
• Check sourcing: primary documents, malware samples, CERT advisories, and reputable DFIR cross-references. Posts with direct artifacts beat rumor-heavy threads every time.
• Note attribution restraint: careful language like “medium confidence” or “need more data” is a green flag. Overconfident posts in the first 24–48 hours of an incident are usually wrong.
• Prioritize supply-chain and identity angles: they’re the repeat offenders hitting crypto orgs. That aligns with trends highlighted by the CrowdStrike Global Threat Report—intrusions increasingly start with stolen credentials and abused SSO, not zero-days.

Why this matters for crypto: if you maintain wallets, handle custody, or run infra touching customer funds, these posts aren’t “nice to know.” They’re a shortcut to stronger decisions—what to monitor, which vendors to question, and when to hit the brakes before a small signal becomes a treasury event.

Short on time and want a no-BS reading plan that matches your role? In the next section I’ll share the exact first posts to read and a simple path that builds context without drowning you in jargon—want me to show you where to start if you’re a trader, a founder, or a builder?

Best starting posts and a simple reading path

Too many tabs and not sure where to begin? I’ve mapped out a clean route through Matt Suiche’s work so you learn fast, avoid jargon traps, and turn what you read into better crypto security decisions.

Beginner path: incident summaries and lessons learned

If you want clarity without getting stuck in hex dumps, start here. These pieces give you the “what happened” and the “what matters” without assuming you’ve spent nights in a SOC.

• NotPetya, explained like a defender — Look for his breakdown where he showed the 2017 “ransomware” wasn’t really ransomware at all, but a destructive wiper with no recovery path.
  

  Why it’s a perfect start: it shows how to separate media panic from technical reality in minutes.
  

  Find it on his Medium profile

  “NotPetya is a wiper, not ransomware.”

• WannaCry timeline and patch reality — A crisp reconstruction of what actually happened, when, and why the kill-switch mattered.
  

  What you’ll learn: patch debt compounds, and speed beats speculation when incidents break.
  

  Read via his profile

• Shadow Brokers/Equation-era lessons — Why leaked tooling changed attacker behavior and what defenders needed to change overnight.
  

  Use it to: train your brain to look for root cause over headlines.
  

  Browse related posts

Time-box it: spend 30–40 minutes total. By the end, you’ll spot the difference between noise and signal when the next “major breach” hits your feed.

Investor and founder path: blind spots, vendors, and infrastructure tells

If your job is to protect assets, teams, or a platform, read with a CEO/CISO mindset: where do failures begin, and what would have stopped them?

• Supply-chain attack narratives — Posts that trace how a trusted updater or partner became patient zero.
  

  Why it matters: most crypto blowups don’t begin on-chain; they start with access and vendors. The 2024 Verizon DBIR flags the “human element” in the majority of breaches and shows third-party risk continuing to bite.
  

• Ransomware economy primers — Clear-eyed looks at how access is brokered, staged, and monetized (often via crypto).
  

  Investor signal: use these patterns to evaluate Binance or other exchange, bridge, or custodian operational maturity.
  

• Incident communication done right vs wrong — Posts that contrast hand-wavy statements with evidence-led timelines.
  

  Action: build your vendor DD list from his “what good looks like” cues.
  

  Find examples on his Medium

How to read: skim for three things in each post — the first compromise, the missed control, and the one change that would have prevented impact. That’s your board slide and your vendor question list.

Builder and security path: behavior, memory, and runbooks

Want material you can turn into playbooks by tomorrow morning? Go hands-on with his technical pieces and harvest the parts that plug into your stack.

• Malware behavior breakdowns — Execution flow, persistence logic, lateral movement cues.
  

  Turn it into: EDR detection ideas, Sigma rules, and canaries for your lab.

• Memory forensics angles — Where credentials and keys tend to linger, what artifacts actually survive, and when memory beats disk.
  

  Turn it into: a “grab RAM first” step in your IR checklist and a safe acquisition SOP.

• Response playbooks — Posts that map from symptom to triage to containment without heroics.
  

  Turn it into: a one-pager runbook: who to page, what to collect, how to decide rollback vs rebuild.

Pro tip: while you read, copy any Indicators of Compromise and defensive steps into a shared doc, tag them by tactic (persistence, lateral movement, exfil), and link the original post. That doc becomes your team’s “break-glass” sheet.

How to stack posts for maximum impact

Don’t read randomly. Chain posts in a way that mirrors a real breach and you’ll learn twice as fast.

• 1) Timeline piece → get the sequence of events and the attacker’s goals.

• 2) Root-cause notes → pinpoint the control that failed (creds, MFA gaps, vendor updater, exposed service).

• 3) Defense recommendations → extract 3–5 specific countermeasures you can apply in your environment.

• 4) Monitoring tips → add log sources, IOCs, and queries to your SIEM/EDR today, not “next quarter.”

Example stack to try tonight:

• Start: his WannaCry or NotPetya timeline
• Then: the post where he separates destructive intent from ransom theater
• Next: a defense lesson post you can translate into your patch, backup, and segmentation policy
• Finally: update monitoring with one new alert tied to the behaviors highlighted

Why this works: you’re training the same muscles you’ll use during a real incident — quickly form a hypothesis, validate with evidence, and act on the few steps that matter.

Want the quickest wins you can apply to your wallet setups, exchange choices, and team playbooks right now? Keep going — next I’ll lay out the simple, battle-tested checks I use myself so you can spot trouble early and avoid the traps that hurt most crypto users.

Practical takeaways for crypto users

Wallet and key safety

I keep one rule front and center: the asset that saves you is the habit you practice every day, not the tool you buy once.

• Isolate by purpose:

  • Cold (treasury/never-sign): hardware wallet with a passphrase; seed stored offline; no browser extensions on the signing machine.
  • Warm (staking/long-term): hardware wallet; strict allowlists and time-delayed withdrawals.
  • Hot (spend/experiments): small limits; separate browser profile or a cheap “clean” laptop/Chromebook that touches nothing else.

• Device hygiene that actually reduces risk:

  • Auto-update OS and browser; remove unused extensions; use a dedicated browser profile for your wallet.
  • Turn off SMS 2FA everywhere; use a hardware security key (FIDO2) for accounts that guard wallets and exchange access.
  • Full-disk encryption on laptop/phone; no sideloaded apps; USB debugging off; lock screen with a real password.

• Phishing patterns I keep seeing in real incidents:

  • Clean-looking popups that ask for unlimited spend approvals (remember the Ledger Connect Kit npm hijack, 2023).
  • Google Ads and lookalike domains for wallets/bridges; “support” on Telegram/Discord asking for seed phrases.
  • WalletConnect sessions left open for days; malicious sites piggyback an old session to request new approvals.

• Signing discipline that saves funds:

  • Enable EIP-712 clear signing on your hardware wallet; avoid blind signing. If your wallet can’t show human-readable details, don’t sign.
  • Check the spender and token every time. Prefer custom spending caps instead of “unlimited.”
  • Review and prune allowances monthly with revoke.cash or Etherscan’s Approval Checker. Watch for Permit/Permit2 and setApprovalForAll popups.
  • For treasuries, use multisig or MPC with independent devices and operators. One key should never be a single point of failure.

“Attackers rarely hack blockchains. They hack people, browsers, and habits.”

Independent research like Verizon’s DBIR keeps showing the majority of breaches involve the human element; that’s your signal to tighten behavior, not just buy another gadget.

Exchange, bridge, and custodian checks

I don’t look for perfection. I look for proof of discipline under stress.

• Fast checks you can run in 10 minutes:

  • Do they publish hot wallet addresses and a status page with incident history?
  • Is there a security page with SOC 2/ISO claims, bug bounty, and the most recent audit or review?
  • Can you set withdrawal allowlists, time delays, and API key scopes with IP whitelists? If not, move on.
  • Do they show meaningful proof-of-reserves alongside liabilities methodology, not just a snapshot?

• Red flags I watch like a hawk:

  • Sudden “maintenance,” pauses, or withdrawal throttling without specifics.
  • Comms tone shifts: vague “we’re looking into it,” support pushes you to DMs, or new deposit addresses with no signed notice.
  • On-chain anomalies: hot wallets sending to fresh, unlabeled addresses; approvals changed on custody contracts; large hops to mixers right after “maintenance.”
  • Partner trouble: SSO/helpdesk vendor breaches (see Okta support breach, 2023) often cascade. Ask how they isolate support tools from production access.

• Real-world reminders:

  • Ronin (2022): social engineering led to validator key compromise—classic off-chain failure that became on-chain theft.
  • 3Commas API key leak (2022): “trusted” vendor exposure turned into exchange account drains. Scope API keys; disable withdrawals; IP-restrict.

On-chain vs. off-chain: harden where attacks start

Most crypto losses don’t start in solidity—they start in identity, access, and vendors.

• Identity and access

  • Mandate phishing-resistant MFA (FIDO2 keys) for email, Git, cloud, and any system that can move funds. Google famously reported near-zero successful takeovers after moving staff to security keys.
  • No SMS 2FA. Enforce device posture: screen locks, disk encryption, auto-update.
  • Separate roles: one account for trading, another for treasury actions, each with minimum privileges.

• Vendors and bots

  • API keys: scope to read/trade-only; disable withdrawals; IP-allowlist; rotate quarterly; one key per bot.
  • SSO/helpdesk: if they use Okta/Identity providers, ask how session tokens and support access are segregated.
  • Wallet code and extensions: pin exact versions; audit permissions; avoid mixing work and wallet extensions.

• Keys and approvals

  • Use 2-of-3 multisig or MPC for team funds; split operators across different hardware and networks.
  • Keep one signer offline for emergencies; store seeds with geographic and method diversity (safe + sealed envelope + hardware backup).
  • Quarterly approval hygiene: export allowances, prune risky dapps, and re-establish only what you use.

Team playbooks you can copy

When trouble hits, the gap between “we think” and “we know” is your burn rate. Pre-pack the basics.

• Incident contacts

  • Exchanges and custodians: emergency lines and account managers.
  • Chain analytics: TRM, Chainalysis, or trusted independents.
  • IR firms and law enforcement cyber units; domain registrar and cloud provider abuse desks.

• Logging must-haves

  • Wallet addresses and labels; approval history; signer device serials; transaction nonces.
  • Exchange audit logs, API key last-used, IPs; SSO sign-in logs; email forwarding and OAuth grants.
  • Slack/Discord admin logs; Git commit history; CloudTrail/GWS/M365 audit trails with at least 90-day retention.

• If X happens, do Y (keep it printed)

  • Someone clicked a phishing link: disconnect internet, capture disk/memory if you can, rotate passwords and session tokens, invalidate OAuth grants, check wallet approvals, and reimage the device.
  • Suspicious approval noticed: pause dapp activity, revoke with revoke.cash, move assets to a clean wallet, and flag the spender address to your exchange/analytics contacts.
  • Hot wallet drain: halt automations, rotate remaining keys, broadcast destination addresses to exchanges and analytics, file police report, and switch operations to a pre-prepared cold signer.
  • Exchange API abuse: kill API keys, contact exchange security, freeze withdrawals, reconcile trades, and review IP logs to refine allowlists.
  • Bridge exploit rumor: stop new deposits, monitor official channels, set alerts on bridge contracts, and be ready to exit liquidity positions if confirmed.

The cheapest lesson is someone else’s breach. The most expensive is yours.

Now, here’s the twist: when you read a security post—any post—how do you know what to act on today versus what’s just noise? In the next section, I’ll show you exactly how I judge evidence, spot bias, and verify claims before I change my setup. Ready to separate signal from speculation?

Credibility check: evidence, bias, and how to verify claims

Sourcing style: screenshots, artifacts, timelines, and references—what good looks like in his posts

When I read a security post, I’m scanning for proof, not opinions. The strongest pieces from Matt Suiche’s Medium usually share the same DNA:

• Primary artifacts: file hashes, code snippets, memory dump notes, or C2 domains. If you can’t reproduce it, you can’t trust it.
• Clear timelines: hour-by-hour breakdowns with log excerpts, screenshots, and UTC timestamps. Timelines turn chaos into something you can act on.
• Direct quotes: embedded references from vendors, CERTs, indictments, or court filings. Primary sources beat hot takes every time.
• Reasoned language: phrases like “we assess with moderate confidence” instead of chest-thumping certainty in hour one of an incident.
• Action hooks: indicators of compromise, YARA rules, or configuration clues you can plug into your tooling immediately.

Case in point: his widely cited analysis of the 2017 Petya/NotPetya event showed it wasn’t real ransomware at all—it was a wiper. He laid out how the malware irreversibly trashed disk structures (no viable recovery path), which Kaspersky and ESET later echoed in their reports. That kind of precise, artifact-driven call matters when you’re deciding whether to pull plugs, isolate systems, or just patch and move on.

Another example: earlier Petya variants could sometimes be decrypted if the system hadn’t rebooted yet. He documented how to recover keys from memory—classic memory forensics clarity, and a good reminder that specifics matter more than slogans.

“Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.” That line isn’t from him—but it’s the perfect rule for reading incident posts when your money is on the line.

How to cross-check: compare with DFIR reports, official statements, reputable threat intel, and on-chain analytics where relevant

I practice a quick three-layer verification before I change anything in my stack or move funds:

• Layer 1: Artifact sanity check

  • Hash the samples he mentions and look them up on VirusTotal or MalwareBazaar. Do multiple vendors agree?
  • Run his IoCs against your logs. Any hits? If yes, confirm timestamps and network context—no blind panic.
  • Check the C2 domains or IPs via passive DNS (SecurityTrails, RiskIQ). Are they active, parked, or already sinkholed?

• Layer 2: Independent sources

  • Scan DFIR blogs: Kaspersky, ESET, Mandiant, Cisco Talos, CrowdStrike. Does the technical story line up?
  • Check advisories or statements: CISA, CERTs, affected vendors, or targeted exchanges.
  • If attribution is implied, compare with public indictments or sanctions that name TTPs or infrastructure.

• Layer 3: On-chain confirmation (if crypto is touched)

  • Look for fund flows cited in the post on Etherscan/BTC explorers. Are transfers, mixers, or bridges consistent with the timeline?
  • Cross-reference with Chainalysis, TRM Labs, or Elliptic writeups. For context: Chainalysis reported ransomware revenues bouncing back above $1B in 2023—pattern shifts matter when a new family emerges.

Fast rule of thumb: two strong independent confirmations plus artifacts you can touch beats a dozen quote-retweets.

Bias watch: how to spot assumptions, differentiate hypothesis vs evidence, and avoid attribution traps

Even solid research can get warped by cognitive bias or community narratives. Here’s how I keep my balance:

• Highlight the verbs: “likely,” “assess,” “confirm,” “observed,” “suspected.” I color-code these in my notes. Hype disappears when you separate facts from hypothesis.
• Beware tool reuse ≠ actor reuse: After the Shadow Brokers leak, multiple groups used NSA-grade exploits. Tool overlap isn’t proof of who’s behind an incident.
• Look for victimology and infrastructure, not just code: Target sectors, working hours in logs, recurring hosting providers—these weigh more than a shared string in a binary.
• Check incentives: If the post comes during a major news spike, ask who benefits from speed over accuracy. Corrections later don’t refund your losses.
• Guard against confirmation bias: If you want it to be Lazarus, you’ll see Lazarus everywhere. I force myself to list two alternative explanations before I accept the first.

When to wait: signs you should hold off acting until more facts land

Act fast on containment, not on narratives. I hit pause on big decisions when I see:

• Missing artifacts: opinions without hashes, domains, or screenshots. No indicators, no action—only monitoring.
• Single-source exclusives: especially on attribution. I quarantine and log, but I won’t escalate to “breach of X vendor” without corroboration.
• Early-hour chaos: fresh incidents with moving numbers (“$200M drained!”) that get revised down. Wait for the first stable timeline.
• Ambiguous on-chain data: addresses labeled “associated with” but not proven. I track flows but avoid public claims or drastic asset moves.
• No reproduction path: if PoCs or detection steps can’t be replicated in lab, I tag as “monitor” until a second method appears.

On the flip side, I act immediately when posts include concrete, high-confidence indicators tied to my tech stack (e.g., a specific vendor token leak, signed binaries with my EDR’s driver name, or traffic to a domain my firewall logs show). Harden first, argue later.

My 90-second “trust but verify” checklist for any incident post

• Does it include IoCs, hashes, or timelines I can test? If yes, pull and check.
• Are there two independent confirmations within 24 hours? If not, tag as preliminary.
• Is attribution separated from evidence? If blended, split them in your notes.
• Do proposed mitigations map to my environment? Prioritize those regardless of attribution.
• Is there a rollback or fail-safe if the post is wrong? If no, delay irreversible actions.

One last thing: watch for humility. The best researchers—including Suiche—tend to update posts, add errata, and link to others who found more. That’s a green flag. It tells me the goal is truth, not clicks.

Want a simple way to follow him without drowning in tabs or hitting walls mid-incident? I’ve got a painless setup next—alerts, saves, and a rhythm that won’t burn you out. Ready to make that automatic?

UX, frequency, and how to follow him smartly

Publishing rhythm: what to expect

Expect thoughtful bursts, not daily noise. When a major incident hits, you’ll often see a fast initial post with verified facts, followed by a deeper analysis once artifacts and timelines firm up. In quieter periods, you’ll get fewer—but heavier—pieces worth saving.

• Depth beats volume: most posts land in the 1,000–2,500 word range, with big investigations stretching beyond that.
• Incident-driven cadence: activity spikes around notable events and conference seasons. A classic example: the 2017 NotPetya coverage that reframed it as a wiper, not “just ransomware”—a correction that changed how teams responded industry-wide.
• Evergreen value: timelines, IOCs, and response notes tend to age well; I revisit older posts when similar TTPs resurface.

“If you don’t know what normal looks like, you’ll never spot the abnormal.”

Reading experience: clean layout, small frictions, easy ways to save

Medium’s layout makes the heavy stuff readable: clean headings, code blocks, screenshots, and timelines you can actually follow. The snag is Medium’s metered paywall—non‑members only get a limited number of stories each month.

• Beat the friction (legit): follow his profile for email updates, and watch his friend links shared on X/Twitter, which often bypass the meter.
• Save now, act later: use Medium’s Highlights to mark IOCs or action steps, or clip to Pocket, Notion, or Zotero so your team can retrieve it fast during an incident.
• Make it team-friendly: paste defense checklists into a shared doc and link the original post. When stress hits, nobody wants to hunt through a Medium UI.

Follow tips that actually work

• Medium profile: follow medium.com/@msuiche and subscribe to the RSS feed: medium.com/feed/@msuiche. Pipe that feed into Slack, Telegram, or email with IFTTT/Zapier so your team doesn’t miss a post.
• X/Twitter: add @msuiche to a high-signal List and enable notifications. I keep a TweetDeck/“X Pro” column filtered for terms like CVE, ransomware, wiper, exchange, and bridge to catch incident threads in real time.
• Talks and replays: watch for Black Hat/DEF CON and DFIR conference talks—subscribe to their YouTube channels and set alerts for his name. Long-form talks often preview or expand on written posts.
• Incident alert stack: pair his updates with a Feedly board for official advisories (CISA, vendor PSIRTs) and a separate on-chain analytics feed. When the timelines and IOCs line up, you know it’s time to move.

How I keep notes so nothing slips through

When something important drops, I run a 15‑minute capture routine. It sounds simple, but it saves me hours during real incidents.

• My template:

  • Summary: one paragraph, what happened and why it matters
  • IOCs: hashes, domains, IPs, filenames
  • TTPs (MITRE ATT&CK): initial access, lateral movement, exfil
  • Controls to check: auth, endpoint, email, vendor access
  • Action items: patch/rollbacks, detections to ship, comms
  • Links: the post, vendor advisories, relevant CVEs

• Tags that pay off:ransomware, wiper, vendor risk, auth, IR runbook. Later, I can pull every “vendor risk” note across incidents in seconds.
• Make it stick: quick reviews beat long rewrites. Research shows retrieval practice outperforms re-reading for retention; a 2–3 minute recap a few days later embeds the key signals far better than skimming again (see a plain-English summary at retrievalpractice.org).

I’ve learned the hard way: missing a single early warning can cost real money. A tight follow setup and simple notes mean you see the hit coming—and act before it lands.

Want the quickest answers on posting cadence, paywall quirks, and whether this is beginner-friendly? That’s up next—short, clear, no fluff.

FAQ: quick answers for busy readers

Is this beginner-friendly?

Yes. If you’re new to security, start with incident summaries and “what we learned” sections. They’re written in plain language and give you the story, the cause, and the fix—fast. Once that clicks, move into the more technical posts to see how investigators actually confirmed the root cause.

Real-world example: when researchers showed that “NotPetya” was a wiper masquerading as ransomware (a landmark 2017 finding Matt Suiche helped popularize), the big takeaway for non-experts wasn’t the assembly code—it was the operational lesson: not all “ransomware” wants your money; some attacks aim to destroy. That single insight changes how you triage alerts and evaluate exchange or vendor statements.

• Tip: Skim the timeline first, then jump to the recommendations. You’ll still get value even if you skip the deep malware analysis.

Does this help traders and investors?

Absolutely. You’ll get early risk signals—the kind that help you reduce exposure before headlines hit. I watch for:

• Shaky ops tells: vague incident statements, missing timelines, or “investigating” posts that stretch for days without specifics.
• Vendor dependency risk: if the incident points to identity providers, CI/CD, or MSPs getting hit, that often cascades to crypto companies.
• Social engineering upticks: after major breaches, expect phishing waves that target users and support desks.

Why this matters: The 2024 Verizon DBIR notes that about 68% of breaches involve the human element (phishing, stolen creds, or misuse). IBM’s 2024 Cost of a Data Breach report also shows breach lifecycles often stretch across months—meaning you can catch tells in comms and infrastructure activity before losses spiral. Security-informed investors spot these patterns sooner.

How often does he post?

Think quality over quantity. Expect well-sourced, timeline-rich pieces when there’s something meaningful to add—especially during complex incidents or when attribution claims need reality checks. If you want daily noise, you won’t find it here. If you want clarity that actually changes your playbook, you will.

Any paywall issues on Medium?

Medium uses a metered model, so you may hit a monthly limit. A few simple ways to stay current without stress:

• Follow from multiple channels: track his Medium profile and social updates for links and summaries.
• Save what matters: use the Medium app’s “Save” feature or your team’s knowledge base to keep must-reads handy.
• Share responsibly: circulate key takeaways and indicators (IOCs, phishing tells, vendor risks) in your internal docs.

Is this financial advice?

No. It’s security intelligence that sharpens your judgment. You’ll still make your own calls—but with better inputs: stronger vendor checks, cleaner wallet hygiene, smarter incident read-throughs, and faster “do/don’t” decisions when rumors start flying.

What’s the fastest way to put lessons into action?

I keep a two-column sheet for every major incident analysis:

• Signals: specific comms patterns, infrastructure changes, and known phishing lures.
• Actions: freeze-risk checklist (pause deposits? raise auth prompts?), logging to verify, and who to ping on the team.

It’s simple, but it turns reading into protection.

What tools or checks pair well with this?

Combine his analysis with trusted intel so you see both off-chain and on-chain sides of a risk:

• DFIR and threat intel: CISA Alerts, Mandiant, Microsoft Threat Intelligence, Google TAG, SANS ISC, Securelist.
• On-chain analytics: Chainalysis Crime reports, TRM Labs research, Nansen dashboards.
• Crypto incident trackers: Immunefi loss reports, SlowMist Hacked, DeFiLlama’s hacks database, Rekt News case files.

Pattern you’ll notice: incidents usually start off-chain (auth, vendor access, build systems) and finish on-chain. Reading both angles keeps you from being blindsided.

Is this useful if I’m not technical?

Yes. You don’t need to reverse malware to spot weak comms, bad access practices, or risky vendor relationships. If you manage assets, teams, or vendors, you’ll get the “so what” you need to act faster and with less second-guessing.

Bottom-line FAQ take: If you value signal over hot takes, these posts turn confusing incidents into practical decisions—whether you’re trading, building, or just guarding your stack.

So here’s the real question: is it worth your time to work this into your routine—and who gets the biggest payoff? Let’s answer that next.

Bottom line: is Matt Suiche’s Medium worth your time?

Yes. If you care about protecting crypto assets, avoiding preventable mistakes, and learning from real-world incidents, his Medium is one of the most efficient “signal-over-noise” sources you can keep in your toolkit. You get clear timelines, evidence, and takeaways that actually change how you operate—without getting buried in jargon.

Who gets the most value

• Active traders: spot early red flags around exchanges, wallets, and vendors before the crowd.
• Founders and ops leads: convert incident patterns into control checks your team can implement fast.
• Security-minded builders: sharpen threat models, from access abuse to supply-chain and memory-level malware.
• Anyone responsible for assets or infrastructure: translate “what happened” into “what we should do next.”

When to skip

If you only want price charts and memes, you won’t love this. But skipping security is how people end up holding the bag on hot-wallet drains, phishing approvals, or “maintenance mode” mysteries that freeze withdrawals. Reality check: studies like the Verizon DBIR consistently show the human element and access abuse driving most breaches, and Chainalysis keeps documenting how ransomware and social engineering evolve around crypto rails. If you’re serious about risk, these lessons pay for themselves.

How I use it

• Track posts fast: I follow his Medium and cross-check major incident threads on X/Twitter.
• Extract the useful bits: timelines, indicators, attacker objectives, and “what actually broke.”
• Turn into action: I fold the practical steps into risk checks and vendor reviews—think 2FA/SSO scope, access boundaries, logging must-haves, and “if X happens, do Y” triggers.
• Share only what matters: I highlight the key reads on Cryptolinks Blockchain Security so you get the lessons without the rabbit hole.

Why this actually saves money

• Mistaken attribution = bad decisions: His breakdown of the 2017 NotPetya incident (wiper, not real ransomware) is a classic example of why precise analysis matters. Mislabel the threat and you waste time and budget on the wrong fixes—crypto teams can’t afford that during an incident.
• Supply-chain and vendor reality: His timelines and sourcing style help you ask better questions when a wallet provider, analytics vendor, or managed service touches your stack. One weak vendor can quietly become your single point of failure.
• From “weird behavior” to action: Posts that show evidence patterns—suspicious updates, credential access, lateral movement—map cleanly to crypto risks like sudden “maintenance,” delayed withdrawals, and on-chain anomalies that don’t fit the public story.

Rule I keep taped to my screen: treat early claims as hypotheses until artifacts, logs, and timelines line up. Act fast, but don’t guess.

Final take

Bookmark https://medium.com/@msuiche and plug it into your research routine. It’s a low-time, high-upside way to sharpen your security lens and avoid costly blind spots. I’ll keep testing, curating, and flagging the most useful posts on https://cryptolinks.com/news/ so you always know what’s worth your attention.