Security Now (Audio)

TWiT

Expert Steve Gibson discusses the current threats, risks, and tech breaches everyone is facing in security today.

  • 2 hours 31 minutes
    SN 1013: Chrome Web Store is a mess - Apple Encryption in the UK, Texas Vs. DeepSeek
    • US lawmakers respond to the UK's outrageous demand about Apple's encryption.
    • What, exactly, is a "backdoor", and can a "backdoor" NOT be secret?
    • Highlights from last week's Windows' Patch Tuesday.
    • A look into RansomHub: The latest king of the Ransomware hill.
    • "TOAD": Telephone-Oriented Attack Delivery.
    • The state of Texas -versus- DeepSeek.
    • Disabling Apple's "Restricted Mode".
    • Where did I put that $800 million in Bitcoin?
    • A Sci-Fi author update.
    • And a deep dive into the misoperation of Chrome's critically important Web Extension Store

    Show Notes - https://www.grc.com/sn/SN-1013-Notes.pdf

    Hosts: Steve Gibson and Leo Laporte

    Download or subscribe to Security Now at https://twit.tv/shows/security-now.

    You can submit a question to Security Now at the GRC Feedback Page.

    For 16kbps versions, transcripts, and notes (including fixes), visit Steve's site: grc.com, also the home of the best disk maintenance and recovery utility ever written Spinrite 6.

    Join Club TWiT for Ad-Free Podcasts!
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    19 February 2025, 4:23 am
  • 2 hours 41 minutes
    SN 1012: Hiding School Cyberattacks - SparkCat, Decrypting ADP, AI Fuzzing
    • New "SparkCat" secret-stealing AI image scanner discovered in App and Play stores.
    • The UK demands that Apple does the impossible: decrypting ADP cloud data.
    • France moves forward on legislation to require backdoors to encryption.
    • Firefox moves to 135 with a bunch of useful new features.
    • The Five Eyes alliance publishes edge-device security guidance.
    • Six NetGear routers contain CVSS 9.6 and 9.8 vulnerabilities.
    • Sysinternals utilities allow malicious Windows DLL injection.
    • Google removes restrictive do-gooder language from AI application policies.
    • "AI Fuzzing" successfully jailbreaks the most powerful ChatGPT o3 model.
    • Examining the well and deliberately hidden truth behind ransomware cyberattacks on U.S. K-12 schools

    Show Notes - https://www.grc.com/sn/SN-1012-Notes.pdf

    Hosts: Steve Gibson and Leo Laporte

    Download or subscribe to Security Now at https://twit.tv/shows/security-now.

    You can submit a question to Security Now at the GRC Feedback Page.

    For 16kbps versions, transcripts, and notes (including fixes), visit Steve's site: grc.com, also the home of the best disk maintenance and recovery utility ever written Spinrite 6.

    Join Club TWiT for Ad-Free Podcasts!
    Support what you love and get ad-free shows, a members-only Discord, and behind-the-scenes access. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit

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    12 February 2025, 3:00 am
  • 3 hours 1 minute
    SN 1011: Jailbreaking AI - Deepseek, "ROUTERS" Act, Zyxel Vulnerability
    • Why was DeepSeek banned by Italian authorities?
    • What internal proprietary DeepSeek data was found online?
    • What is "DeepSeek" anyway? Why do we care, and what does it mean?
    • Did Microsoft just make OpenAI's strong model available for free?
    • Google explains how generative AI can be and is being misused.
    • An actively exploited and unpatched Zyxel router vulnerability.
    • The new US "ROUTERS" Act.
    • Is pirate-site blocking legislation justified or is it censorship?
    • Russia's blocked website count tops 400,000.
    • Microsoft adds "scareware" warnings to Edge.
    • Bitwarden improves account security.
    • What's still my favorite disk imaging tool?
    • And let's take a close look into the extraction of proscribed knowledge from today's AI

    Show Notes - https://www.grc.com/sn/SN-1011-Notes.pdf

    Hosts: Steve Gibson and Leo Laporte

    Download or subscribe to Security Now at https://twit.tv/shows/security-now.

    You can submit a question to Security Now at the GRC Feedback Page.

    For 16kbps versions, transcripts, and notes (including fixes), visit Steve's site: grc.com, also the home of the best disk maintenance and recovery utility ever written Spinrite 6.

    Join Club TWiT for Ad-Free Podcasts!
    Support what you love and get ad-free shows, a members-only Discord, and behind-the-scenes access. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit

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    5 February 2025, 3:40 am
  • 2 hours 40 minutes
    SN 1010: DNS Over TLS - Record DDoS, Hackers Get Hacked
    • eM Client CAN be purchased outright.
    • An astonishing 5-year-old typo in MasterCard's DNS.
    • An unwelcome surprise received by 18,459 low-level hackers.
    • DDoS attacks continue growing, seemingly without any end in sight.
    • Let's Encrypt clarifies their plans for 6-day "we barely knew you" certificates.
    • SpinRite uncovers a bad brand new 8TB drive.
    • Listener feedback about TOTP, Syncthing and UDP hole punching, email spam, ValiDrive speed, AI neural nets, DJI geofencing, and advertising in the "New" Outlook.
    • A look into the tradeoffs required to obtain privacy for our DNS lookups

    Show Notes - https://www.grc.com/sn/SN-1010-Notes.pdf

    Hosts: Steve Gibson and Leo Laporte

    Download or subscribe to Security Now at https://twit.tv/shows/security-now.

    You can submit a question to Security Now at the GRC Feedback Page.

    For 16kbps versions, transcripts, and notes (including fixes), visit Steve's site: grc.com, also the home of the best disk maintenance and recovery utility ever written Spinrite 6.

    Join Club TWiT for Ad-Free Podcasts!
    Support what you love and get ad-free shows, a members-only Discord, and behind-the-scenes access. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit

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    29 January 2025, 2:54 am
  • 3 hours 7 minutes
    SN 1009: Attacking TOTP - Force-Installed Outlook, DJI Firmware Update
    • What do we learn from January's record breaking 0-day critical Patch Tuesday?
    • Microsoft to "force-install" a new Outlook into all Windows 10 and 11 desktops?
    • GoDaddy required to get much more serious about its hosting security.
    • More age verification enforcement is coming, including globally.
    • What another instance of a widely exposed management interface teaches us.
    • DJI drone's official firmware update lifts geofencing for unrestricted flight.
    • CISA's efforts pay off with MUCH improved critical infrastructure security.
    • Listener feedback about TOTP, HOTP and age-verification.
    • And we take a deep dive into cracking authenticator keys

    Show Notes - https://www.grc.com/sn/SN-1009-Notes.pdf

    Hosts: Steve Gibson and Leo Laporte

    Download or subscribe to Security Now at https://twit.tv/shows/security-now.

    Get episodes ad-free with Club TWiT at https://twit.tv/clubtwit

    You can submit a question to Security Now at the GRC Feedback Page.

    For 16kbps versions, transcripts, and notes (including fixes), visit Steve's site: grc.com, also the home of the best disk maintenance and recovery utility ever written Spinrite 6.

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    22 January 2025, 3:23 am
  • 2 hours 49 minutes
    SN 1008: HOTP and TOTP - SyncThing, Auto-Updates, Sci-Fi Recs
    • Meta winds down 3rd-party content filtering. Is encryption soon to follow?
    • Taking over abandoned Command & Control server domains (strictly for research purposes only).
    • IoT devices to get the "Cyber Trust Mark" — Will anyone notice or care?
    • "SyncThing" receives a (blessedly infrequent) update.
    • Government email is not using encryption? Really?
    • Email relaying prevents point-to-point end-to-end encryption and authentication.
    • Just because Let's Encrypt doesn't support email doesn't mean it's impossible.
    • What Sci-Fi does ChatGPT think I (Steve) should start reading next?
    • To auto-update or not to auto-update? — is that one question or two?
    • And, until today, we've never taken a deep dive into the technology of time-varying 6-digit one time tokens.

    Show Notes - https://www.grc.com/sn/SN-1008-Notes.pdf

    Hosts: Steve Gibson and Leo Laporte

    Download or subscribe to Security Now at https://twit.tv/shows/security-now.

    Get episodes ad-free with Club TWiT at https://twit.tv/clubtwit

    You can submit a question to Security Now at the GRC Feedback Page.

    For 16kbps versions, transcripts, and notes (including fixes), visit Steve's site: grc.com, also the home of the best disk maintenance and recovery utility ever written Spinrite 6.

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    15 January 2025, 3:57 am
  • 2 hours 46 minutes
    SN 1007: AI Training & Inference - Unencrypted Email, Doom Captcha
    • The consequences of Internet content restriction.
    • The measured risks of 3rd-party browser extensions.
    • The consequences of SonicWall's unpatched 9.8 firewall severity.
    • The incredible number of still-unencrypted email servers.
    • SonicWall vulnerability patching
    • Shadowserver Foundation & eMail Encryption
    • Salt Typhoon Evicted
    • HIPAA gets a long-needed cybersecurity upgrade.
    • The EU standardizes on USB-C for power charging. What?
    • Believe it or not, a CATCHA you solve by playing DOOM.
    • And... what I learned from three weeks of study of AI

    Show Notes - https://www.grc.com/sn/SN-1007-Notes.pdf

    Hosts: Steve Gibson and Leo Laporte

    Download or subscribe to Security Now at https://twit.tv/shows/security-now.

    Get episodes ad-free with Club TWiT at https://twit.tv/clubtwit

    You can submit a question to Security Now at the GRC Feedback Page.

    For 16kbps versions, transcripts, and notes (including fixes), visit Steve's site: grc.com, also the home of the best disk maintenance and recovery utility ever written Spinrite 6.

    Sponsors:

    8 January 2025, 3:40 am
  • 2 hours 32 minutes
    SN 1006: Best of 2024 - Apple's Secret Backdoor, CrowdStrike Catastrophe, Recall's Privacy Nightmare

    Leo revisits some of the year's top Security Now segments of 2024.

    • 956. Apple's Hardware Backdoor: Steve reflects on the previous week's 'The Mystery of CVE-2023-38606' deep-dive. Did Apple deliberately designed a secure backdoor?
    • 960. Unforeseen Consequences of Google's 3rd-party Cookie Cutoff: As Google moves to phase out third-party cookies, the advertising industry scrambles to find new ways to track users, potentially leading to more intrusive methods like requiring users to create accounts on websites.
    • 961. Bitlocker: Chipped or Cracked?: A clever hacker demonstrates how BitLocker-encrypted drives can be compromised on systems using separate TPM chips, highlighting the importance of integrating TPM functionality directly into the CPU.
    • 964. So, What Is Apple's PQ3?: Steve analyzes Apple's new "PQ3" post-quantum safe iMessaging protocol, uestioning whether it truly offers superior security compared to Signal's existing solution.
    • 976. Recall - The 50 Gigabyte Privacy Bomb: Examining Microsoft's new "Recall" feature that records users' screens every few seconds, raising significant privacy concerns.
    • 984. CrowdStruck: A look at the disastrous global IT outage caused by a faulty CrowdStrike Falcon update, affecting airports, hospitals, banks, and more.
    • 1000. Steve and Leo reflect on 1000 episodes of Security Now.
    • 1001. Artificial General Intelligence: Steve and Leo discuss the challenges in achieving artificial general intelligence (AGI) and the debate surrounding its potential timeline and societal impact.

    Host: Leo Laporte

    Download or subscribe to Security Now at https://twit.tv/shows/security-now.

    Get episodes ad-free with Club TWiT at https://twit.tv/clubtwit

    You can submit a question to Security Now at the GRC Feedback Page.

    For 16kbps versions, transcripts, and notes (including fixes), visit Steve's site: grc.com, also the home of the best disk maintenance and recovery utility ever written Spinrite 6.

    23 December 2024, 4:10 pm
  • 2 hours 24 minutes
    SN 1005: 6-Day Certificates? Why? - Android Anti-Tracking, MFA lLogin Bypass, BIMI
    • Is AI the Wizard of Oz? Or is it more?
    • Microsoft's long standing effective MFA login bypass.
    • Is TPM 2.0 not required after all for Windows 11?
    • Meet 14 North Korean IT workers who made $88 million from the West.
    • Android updates its Bluetooth tracking with anti-tracking.
    • The NPM package manager repository has had 540,000 malicious packages discovered hiding in plain sight.
    • The AskWoody site remains alive, well, and terrific.
    • My iPhone is linked to Windows and it's wonderful. Yay.
    • How has email been finding logos before BIMI?
    • If we use Him and Her for people, how about Hal for AI?
    • Another very disturbing conversation with ChatGPT.
    • What's going on with the new ChatGPT o1 model? It wants to escape? What??
    • Let's Encrypt plans to reduce its certificate lifetime from 90 to just 6 days. Why in the world?
    • And all the best holiday wishes. See you in January

    Show Notes - https://www.grc.com/sn/SN-1005-Notes.pdf

    Hosts: Steve Gibson and Leo Laporte

    Download or subscribe to Security Now at https://twit.tv/shows/security-now.

    Get episodes ad-free with Club TWiT at https://twit.tv/clubtwit

    You can submit a question to Security Now at the GRC Feedback Page.

    For 16kbps versions, transcripts, and notes (including fixes), visit Steve's site: grc.com, also the home of the best disk maintenance and recovery utility ever written Spinrite 6.

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    18 December 2024, 3:18 am
  • 2 hours 33 minutes
    SN 1004: A Chat with GPT - China's Telecom Hack, Microsoft Activation Cracked, Coding with ChatGPT 4o

    This week, Steve and Leo discuss the recent 'Salt Typhoon' hack of U.S. telecom providers by China, TPM 2.0 requirement for Windows 11, Microsoft's newly hacked Windows activation system, Apple patenting AI facial and body recognition, and much more. Steve also shares an intriguing conversation he had with the ChatGPT 4o AI system while working on an update to GRC's DNS Benchmark tool.

    • All telecom providers have been hacked and may still not be safe to use. So now the government is recommending that we use our own encrypted communications.
    • The plan to obsolete all non-TPM 2.0 PCs remains well underway. Microsoft must be feeling the heat, so they're taking time to not apologize.
    • Whoops. Microsoft's product activation system has been fully hacked. All Windows and Office products may now be easily activated without any licensing.
    • Here come the AI patents. Apple patents AI recognizing people by what they're wearing after earlier seeing their faces and noting what they're wearing.
    • Zoom wasn't encrypting their early video conferencing. They're still trying to get out from under the mess their lies created for them.
    • AWS introduces physical data terminal locations where users can go to perform massive data transfers to and from the cloud.
    • The FTC has set its sights on data brokers. Let's hope something comes of it.
    • GRC's email finally gets BIMI. (Can you see the Ruby-G logo?)
    • Lot's a terrific listener feedback about authenticator policy, a new and free point-to-point link service, Tor's "Snowflake", linking PCs and Smartphones, and even recharging spent SodaStream canisters.
    • Then we look at a recent conversation Steve had with "ChatGPT 4o with canvas" and the new plan that resulted

    Show Notes - https://www.grc.com/sn/SN-1004-Notes.pdf

    Hosts: Steve Gibson and Leo Laporte

    Download or subscribe to Security Now at https://twit.tv/shows/security-now.

    Get episodes ad-free with Club TWiT at https://twit.tv/clubtwit

    You can submit a question to Security Now at the GRC Feedback Page.

    For 16kbps versions, transcripts, and notes (including fixes), visit Steve's site: grc.com, also the home of the best disk maintenance and recovery utility ever written Spinrite 6.

    Sponsors:

    11 December 2024, 3:20 am
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