Security, Spoken

Latest Episodes:

Encrypted Messaging Isn’t Magic Jun 15, 2018

Show notes

Encrypted communication used to be too complicated for mainstream use, but approachable apps like WhatsApp and Signal have become a no-brainer for digital privacy. With all of their security-minded features, like disappearing messages and identity-confirming safety numbers, secure chat apps can rightfully give you peace of mind. You should absolutely use them. As the adage goes, though, there's no such thing as perfect security. And feeling invincible could get you in trouble.

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Going To the World Cup? Leave the Laptop at Home Jun 15, 2018

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A Russian sports official earlier this year estimated that as many as 2 million people would flock to the country during the World Cup, the month-long celebration of soccer—or football, fine—that kicks off today in Moscow. If you’re one of them, have fun! But also maybe leave your laptop at home. Yes, traveling to and between Russia’s 11 World Cup host cities should provide marvels aplenty.

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It's Nearly Impossible to Hold North Korea to Nuclear Promises Jun 14, 2018

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Throughout the Trump administration, the State Department has repeatedly called for the "complete, verifiable, and irreversible denuclearization” of North Korea. Heading into Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un's diplomatic negotiations in Singapore, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo reaffirmed this ambition on Monday.

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Feds Bust Dozens of Email Scammers, but Your Inbox Still Isn’t Safe Jun 13, 2018

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Your email spam filter works overtime to keep sketchy investing opportunities and cheap Viagra offers out of your inbox, but you've probably seen some scams sneak through. That's because email fraud operations are a multibillion-dollar business, often run by Nigerian-based syndicates that have members—not to mention targets—around the world.

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All the Times North Korea Promised to Denuclearize Jun 13, 2018

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The nuclear summit between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has concluded, with each securing something they value. The US will suspend the joint military exercises with South Korea that rattle the Hermit Kingdom. And North Korea has promised to denuclearize. At some point. Probably. But if the past is any sort of prologue, you shouldn't hold your breath. On the face of it, the agreement signed by Trump and Kim seems promising.

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The Elite Microsoft Hacker Team That Keeps Windows PCs Safe Jun 12, 2018

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One of them jailbroke Nintendo handhelds in a former life. Another has more than one zero-day exploit to his name. A third signed on just prior to the devastating Shadow Brokers leak. These are a few of the members of the Windows red team, a group of hackers inside Microsoft who spend their days finding holes in the world’s most popular operating system. Without them, you’d be toast.

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How NATO Defends Against the Dark Side of the Web Jun 12, 2018

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"Oops, your files have been encrypted!" This was the chilling message that greeted hundreds of thousands of computer users last summer. The WannaCry ransomware attack brought production to a standstill at Renault factories across France, put lives at risk by attacking hospitals in the UK, and cost companies around the world billions of dollars in lost revenue. WIRED OPINION ABOUT Jens Stoltenberg (@jensstoltenberg) is NATO secretary general and the former prime minister of Norway.

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Security News This Week: Flash Gets in One More Security Fail Before Retirement Jun 11, 2018

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As hard as it is to believe at this point, the week really did start with Apple's WWDC keynote. It feels like a lifetime ago! You can get a full recap here, but the two main security takeaways are that Safari is the best mainstream privacy browser now, and that it looks like Apple's going to slow down, take a breath, and try to release some major updates without quite so many bugs.

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WannaCry Hero’s New Legal Woes Spell Trouble for White Hat Hackers Jun 11, 2018

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British security researcher Marcus Hutchins, who was indicted and arrested last summer for allegedly creating and conspiring to sell the Kronos banking trojan, now faces four additional charges. Hutchins, also called MalwareTech and MalwareTechBlog, is well-known in the security community for slowing the spread of WannaCry ransomware as it tore through the world's PCs in May 2017.

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Facebook Bug Made Up to 14 Million Users' Posts Public for Days Jun 08, 2018

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Facebook has found itself the subject of another privacy scandal, this time involving privacy settings. A glitch caused up to 14 million Facebook users to have their new posts inadvertently set to public, the company revealed Thursday. The bug, which reportedly occurred while Facebook was testing a new feature, went live on May 18.

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