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Our weekly audio security column
& podcast by Steve Gibson and Leo Laporte
TechTV's Leo Laporte and I spend somewhat shy of two hours each week to discuss important issues of personal computer security. Sometimes we'll discuss something that just happened. Sometimes we'll talk about long-standing problems, concerns, or solutions. Either way, every week we endeavor to produce something interesting and important for every personal computer user.

SteveAndLeoAsPicardAndRiker
(This was not our idea. It was created by a fan of the podcast using GIMP (similar to
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Episode Archive

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Episode #1079 | 19 May 2026 | ... min.
Daybreak and Codename MDASH

• Microsoft rethinks Edge's “intended behavior” after it gets press. • Chaotic Eclipse hacker strikes again with a Bitlocker bypass. • Google's threat analysis group documents malicious AI use. • Canada hasn't learned the lessons of the EU and the UK. • AI chatbots may be far more addictive than social media. • Project: Hail Mary now available to stream. • An apparently-serious zero-point quantum vacuum energy source. • A bit of listener feedback. • OpenAI's & Microsoft's vulnerability discovery systems.
 338 KB   <-- Show Notes

Episode #1078 | 12 May 2026 | 141 min.
DigiCert Does It Right

• The FCC decides router firmware updates are useful. • Netgear applies for and gets a full FCC pass. AI uncovers a 21-year old critical FreeBSD RCE. • What was behind that Let's Encrypt outage. • AI model repositories are overflowing with malware. • The CISA 2015 info-sharing act is being renewed. • Edge leaves ALL usernames and passwords in the clear. • An examination of DigiCert's breach and their response.
68 MB 17 MB  267 KB   <-- Show Notes 158 KB 110 KB 359 KB

Episode #1077 | 05 May2026 | 136 min.
A Browser AI API?

• Hackers AI-code a portal, forget to add authentication. • The UK's NCSC issues a Mythos warning. Where's CISA? • Another (of many) Linux local privilege escalations. • AI may be spelling the end of bug bounties. • Anthropic releases "Claude Security" mini-Mythos. • ChatGPT gets very serious about login security. • Syncthing's SyncTrayzor v1 abandoned; v2 created. • Google drops an AI API into Chrome; Mozilla objects.
65 MB 16 MB  315 KB   <-- Show Notes 149 KB 110 KB 338 KB

Episode #1076 | 28 Apr 2026 | 133 min.
FAST16.SYS

• Bitwarden's CLI hit with a supply-chain attack. • Commercial routers in Iran fail shortly before the war. • Meta logging all employee activity to train replacement AI. • GRC's DNS Benchmark Release 5. • Two miscellaneous AI thoughts. • A bunch of terrific listener feedback. • Unravelling the diabolical history of “fast16.sys.”
64 MB 16 MB  394 KB   <-- Show Notes 178 KB 106 KB 374 KB

Episode #1075 | 21 Apr 2026 | 136 min.
Yes. Exactly.

• A disgruntled developer discloses multiple Windows 0-days. • Microsoft purchases its own bugs in massive campaign. • VeraCrypt & Wireshark suddenly lost their dev accounts. • A serious problem with re-captured domain names. • How might AI help to secure open source repositories. • A listener wonders what we thought of Project Hail Mary. • Cyber security professionals tell us What Mythos Means.
65 MB 16 MB  545 KB   <-- Show Notes 162 KB 108 KB 357 KB

Episode #1074 | 14 Apr 2026 | 156 min.
What Mythos Means

• A San Francisco AI developer conference in two weeks. • Thank goodness Anthropic was the one who created Mythos rather than any of our cyber-adversaries.
75 MB 19 MB  242 KB   <-- Show Notes 182 KB 124 KB 399 KB

Episode #1073 | 07 Apr 2026 | 146 min.
The FCC Bans New Consumer Routers

• Apple's 26.4 age queries catches many by surprise. • LinkedIn's 2.7 MB of privacy-invading javascript. • Microsoft starts forcing Win11 24H2 to 25H2. • Cisco loses source code to the Trivy supply-chain mess. • Proton introduces privacy-first voice and video "Meet". • GitHub to fix lagging security of its Actions feature. • Cloudflare reaffirms the privacy of its 1.1.1.1 DNS. • Cloudflare uses AI to re-code better secure Wordpress. • The FCC drops a ban on all new consumer-grade routers.
70 MB 17 MB  377 KB   <-- Show Notes 163 KB 114 KB 366 KB

Episode #1072 | 31 Mar 2026 | 147 min.
LiteLLM

• Will California require Linux to verify its user's age. • Apple's iOS 26.4 requires UK users to prove their age. • Russia chooses to use home grown 5G mobile encryption. • Ukraine knew the webcam was installed by Russian spies. • Google moves quantum computing "Q Day" to 2029. • At RSA, UK's NCSC CEO warns of vibe-coded SaaS replacements. • More information about nasty ClickFix campaigns. • More than one in seven Reddit postings are an AI-bot. • The story behind the LiteLLM disaster that was averted.
71 MB 18 MB  225 KB   <-- Show Notes 175 KB 115 KB 383 KB

Episode #1071 | 24 Mar 2026 | 153 min.
Bucketsquatting

• H&R Block's tax software does something SO WRONG. • The Intoxalock breathalyzer calibration cyber attack. • Firefox now offers a 100% free built-in VPN. • TikTok and Meta's tracking pixels are so much more. • Russians beg for the return of Telegram, WhatsApps and others. • Never connect your crypto-wallet to an unknown service. • What would a week be without a Cisco CVSS of 10.0. • Ubiquiti patches a 10.0 critical flaw. • Listener feedback and... • What's "Bucketsquatting" and what can be done to prevent it.
73 MB 18 MB  768 KB   <-- Show Notes 127 KB 110 KB 321 KB

Episode #1070 | 17 Mar 2026 | 139 min.
CISA's Free Internet Scanning

• The Security Now “Caption That Photo” contest. • A mega social media company says “no” to strong encryption. • WhatsApp to give parents more control. • Consumer bandwidth proxying is becoming a big deal. • Meta buys the Moltbook duo. • The EU gives up and settles upon the status quo. • When a ransomware negotiation is not what it seems. • CISA compels federal agencies to submit their logs. • Is that a VPN in your pocket or something more malicious. • Be careful what you download, thinking it's AI. • A super-clever and super-simple A/V scanner bypass. • Will AI write code for me? • Another listener discovers the Joy of AI. • Steve's CISA Internet scanning experience.
67 MB 17 MB  490 KB   <-- Show Notes 163 KB 107 KB 358 KB

Episode #1069 | 10 Mar 2026 | 146 min.
You can't hide from LLMs

• Anthropic & Mozilla improve Firefox's security. • Apple & Google begin testing cross-platform RCS encryption. • Ubuntu's SUDO starts echoing asterisks. • Inviting a web proxy into your home. • Apple devices cleared by Germany for NATO's use. • A serious remote takeover of OpenClaw. • TokTok won't encrypt messaging for visibility. • Microsoft bans the term “Microslop” on Discord. • Lot's of great listener feedback. • LLMs could make Orwell's 1984 seem optimistic.
70 MB 17 MB  328 KB   <-- Show Notes 174 KB 114 KB 383 KB

Episode #1068 | 04 Mar 2026 | 49 min.
The Call is Coming from Inside the House

ThreadLocker Special – Steve & Leo take to the stage during ThreatLocker's 4th annual Zero Trust World security conference to discuss the final frontier of enterprise security and the need to rethinking the need for true “least privilege” security design.
23.3 MB 5.8 MB (No show notes or transcripts for this live on-stage presentation.)

Episode #1067 | 03 Mar 2026 | 135 min.
KongTuke's CrashFix

• The lowdown on last week's “no turn” picture of the week. • Is an AI-driven hacking campaign a big deal now. • Clause used in multiple Mexican government attacks. • Apple continues to be confronted with age restrictions. • COPPA needs an exception to allow age collection. • Meta swamps law enforcement with AI-slop CSAM reports. • Roskomnadzor has been busy blocking VPNs. Guess how many? • The UK tries to report their self-scanning success. • Remember that hacker who extorted the psychotherapy patients? • Scattered Lapsus$ Hunters is actively recruiting women. • Cisco lands another breathtakingly rare 10.0 CVSS. • VulnCheck's report on 2025 vulnerabilities and exploits. • Steve discovers a fabulous $72 Hardware Security Module. • A listener shares an interesting AI service discovery. • The very potent “ClickFix” exploit evolves.
65 MB 16 MB  330 KB   <-- Show Notes 194 KB 121 KB 396 KB

Episode #1066 | 24 Feb 2026 | 148 min.
Password Leakage

• CA's warn us to urgently prepare for the inevitable. • Three U.S. states attempt to ban 3D printed firearms. • Denied ransom, ShinyHunters leaks 967,000 personal details. • "Billions" of U.S. social security numbers leaked. • Is Apple planning to add cameras to three new gadgets. • No more security fixes for Firefox on Windows 7 & 8. • Russia blocks the official Linux kernel site they need. • Will the U.S."freedom.gov" site post EU blocked content. • LLM's will offer secure passwords. Do Not Use Them. • As predicted, the "ClickFix" attack strategy takes over. • A listener believes his computer is compromised. • How could three popular password managers get things wrong.
71 MB 18 MB  365 KB   <-- Show Notes 168 KB 116 KB 371 KB

Episode #1065 | 17 Feb 2026 | 134 min.
Attestation

• Websites can place high demands upon limited CPU resources. • Microsoft appears to back away from its security commitment. • What's Windows 11 26H1 and where do I get it. • Chrome 145 brings Device Bound Session Credentials. • More countries are moving to ban underage social media use. • The return of Roskomnadzor. • Discord to require proof of adulthood for adult content. • Might you still be using WinRAR 7.12 -- I was. • Paragon's Graphite can definitely spy on all instant messaging. • 30 malicious Chrome Extensions. • 287 Chrome extensions from spying on 37.4 million users. • The first malicious Outlook add-in steals 4000 user's credentials. • Some AI "vibe" coding thoughts. • What I just went through to obtain a new code signing certificate.
65 MB 16 MB  244 KB   <-- Show Notes 136 KB 103 KB 329 KB

Episode #1064 | 10 Feb 2026 | 139 min.
Least Privilege

• How is the EU's GDPR fine collection going. • Western democracies are getting serious about offensive cybercrime. • The powerful cyber component of the Midnight Hammer operation. • Signs of psychological dependence upon OpenAI's GPT-4o chatbot. • CISA orders government agencies to unplug end-of-support devices. • How to keep Windows from annoying us after an upgrade. • What is OpenClaw, how safe is it to use, what does it mean. • Another listener uses AI to completely code an app. • Coinbase suffers another insider breach. What can be done.
67 MB 17 MB  252 KB   <-- Show Notes 171 KB 115 KB 366 KB

Episode #1063 | 03 Feb 2026 | 150 min.
Mongo's Too Easy

• An anti-virus system infects its own users. • Apple's next iOS release “fuzzes” cellular locations. • cURL discontinues bug bounties under bogus AI flood. • AI discovers and fixes 15 CVE-worthy 0-days in OpenSSL. • Ireland did NOT already pass their spying legislation. • AI irreversibly deletes all project files. Says it's sorry. • Windows has a serious global clipboard security problem. • ISPs have the ability to monetize their subscriber's identities. • MongoDB has lowered the hacking skill level bar to the floor.
72 MB 18 MB  286 KB   <-- Show Notes 187 KB 121 KB 398 KB

Episode #1062 | 27 Jan 2026 | 147 min.
VoidLink: AI-Generated Malware

• CISA's uncertain future remains quite worrisome. • Worrisome is Ireland's new "lawful" interception law. • The EU's Digital Rights organization pushes back. • Microsoft acknowledges it turns over user encryption keys. • Alex Neihaus on AI enterprise usage dangers. • Gavin confesses he put a database on the Internet. • Worries about a massive podcast rewinding backlog. • What does the emergence of AI-generated malware portend?
70 MB 18 MB  216 KB   <-- Show Notes 171 KB 118 KB 372 KB

Episode #1061 | 20 Jan 2026 | 134 min.
More GhostPoster

• RAM pricing to affect enterprise firewall equipment. • Anthropic provides sizeable support to Python Foundation. • The FTC clamps down on GM's secret sale of driving data. • “ANCHOR” replaces “CIPAC” for industry-government sharing. • Germany planning to legislate total access to global data. • Grubhub becomes the latest ShinyHunters extortion victim. • Let's Encrypt's 6-Day certs are available to everyone. • Iran planning to permanently take itself off the Internet. • HD Tune before and after a SpinRite Level 3 refresh. • Some great listener feedback, and • More trouble from GhostPoster malicious browser extensions.
64 MB 16 MB  475 KB   <-- Show Notes 170 KB 108 KB 360 KB

Episode #1060 | 13 Jan 2026 | 147 min.
3-Day Certificates

• A look at Microsoft's Azure cloud code signing. • California implements DROP, global data broker opt-out. • Where's the town of “Whata Bod” Idaho. • iOS built-in Mail app worked itself out of a job. • A 30-minute tutorial for non-coders about AI coding. • Claude Code appears to be winning over the AI coding world. • Various listener musings on code signing. • A bit of Magnesium feedback. • What use are 3-day code signing certs?
71 MB 18 MB  437 KB   <-- Show Notes 182 KB 121 KB 392 KB

Episode #1059 | 06 Jan 2026 | 171 min.
MongoBleed

• Code-signing certificate lifetimes shortened by two years. • Sadly, ChatGPT is heading toward an advertising profit model. • The Python Package Index is strengthening its security. • BitLocker gets hardware acceleration, but not today. • New York City's mayoral inauguration banned Raspberry Pi's. • An astonishingly good British time travel series. • A critical link between Vitamin D and Magnesium. • A look inside the very bad MongoBleed vulnerability.
82 MB 20 MB  454 KB   <-- Show Notes 224 KB 137 KB 455 KB
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