Security, Spoken

Latest Episodes:

Robert Mueller’s 2019 To-Do List Jan 08, 2019

Show notes

Last Friday, just like Punxsutawney Phil, DC District Court judge Beryl Howell emerged from her chambers, saw her shadow, and announced six more months of Bob Mueller. Judge Howell’s extension of Mueller’s grand jury, which was set to expire over the weekend, was widely expected—the special counsel’s office has made clear in recent weeks that it has plenty of unfinished business—but the extension underscores just how much work is still left in Mueller’s probe.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Security News This Week: The 'Twinning' Site Leaked Selfies Jan 07, 2019

Show notes

You know what they say, the first hacks of January set the tone for the rest of year. (Wait, no one has ever said that.) But with that in mind, we tried to bring you mostly good news this week. First up, we explained why Tor, that wondrous anonymizer, is now easier to use than ever. As the world descends further into digital authoritarianism, anonymity networks like Tor become even more important. And thanks to a slew of improvements last year, Tor has become accessible for just about everyone.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A Major Hacking Spree Gets Personal for German Politicians Jan 07, 2019

Show notes

In an extensive series of tweets throughout December, hackers leaked sensitive data from hundreds of German politicians, including members of the European parliament, German parliament, and regional state parliaments. The move reflects an insidious strategy criminals and hacktivists sometimes use to expose and endanger targets by leaking deeply person details about them and their families. The leaks also impacted Chancellor Angela Merkel to a degree, as well as some journalists and performers.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Elite Intel Team Still Fighting Meltdown and Spectre Jan 04, 2019

Show notes

A year ago today, Intel coordinated with a web of academic and independent researchers to disclose a pair of security vulnerabilities with unprecedented impact. Since then, a core Intel hacking team has worked to help clean up the mess—by creating attacks of their own.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Tor Is Easier Than Ever. Time to Give It a Try Jan 01, 2019

Show notes

You probably know about the digital anonymity service Tor, but for whatever reason you may not actually use it. Maybe between the nodes, traffic rerouting, and special onion URLs it seems too confusing to be worth the effort. In truth, Tor has been relatively accessible for years now, largely because of the Tor Browser, which works almost exactly like a regular browser and does all the complicated stuff for you in the background.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Worst Hacks of 2018 Dec 31, 2018

Show notes

After years of targeted hacks, epic heists, and run of the mill data breaches you might think that institutions would be getting wise to the importance of strong cybersecurity. It seems 2018 was not the year. Here’s WIRED’s look back at the biggest breaches, data exposures, ransomware attacks, state-sponsored campaigns, and general hacks of the year. Stay safe in 2019.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Most Dangerous People on the Internet in 2018 Dec 31, 2018

Show notes

This year thankfully avoided any world-breaking ransomware attacks like NotPetya. It even had some small victories, like GitHub beating back the biggest DDoS attack in history. Still, online threats are manifold, lurking and evolving, making the internet a more hostile place than ever. The biggest threats online continued to mirror the biggest threats in the real world, with nation states fighting proxy battles and civilians bearing the brunt of the assault.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Get Ready for a Privacy Law Showdown in 2019 Dec 27, 2018

Show notes

The global conversation around data privacy changed dramatically in March of 2018. That’s when Cambridge Analytica made international headlines. It was the story of a shadowy political firm misappropriating the data of tens of millions of Facebook users without their knowledge. But really, the story was how Facebook, keeper of 2 billion users' private messages, photos, and social connections, let it happen.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Internet Became Less Free in 2018. Can We Fight Back? Dec 26, 2018

Show notes

As democracies around the world struggle to hold back the rising tide of authoritarianism, a similar crisis is unfolding online. Three factors converged this year to make 2018 the eighth straight year that global internet freedom declined, according to an annual report from the nonprofit Freedom House: increasing censorship in response to disinformation, the widespread collection of personal data, and a growing group of countries emulating China’s model of digital authoritarianism.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Year Cryptojacking Ate the Web Dec 25, 2018

Show notes

Cybersecurity can feel like a chaotic free-for-all sometimes, but it's not every day that a whole new conceptual type of attack crops up. Over the last 15 months, though, cryptojacking has been exactly that. It's officially everywhere, and it's not going away. The concept of cryptojacking is pretty simple: An attacker finds a way to harness the processing power of computers she doesn't own—or pay the electric bills on—to mine cryptocurrency for herself.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Our TOPPODCAST Picks

Follow Us

Stay Connected

Related Podcasts

Links

Stay Connected