Formerly the Chief of Operations at Virus Bulletin, running independent anti-malware testing there since 2006, John is currently the Chief Operating Officer of the Anti-Malware Testing Standards Organisation (AMTSO).
John Hawes has been a guest on 11 episodes.
-
185: Bieber fever, Roblox, and ransomware
July 2nd, 2020 | 47 mins 10 secs
conspiracy theory, donald trump, hacking, justin bieber, netwalker, pizzagate, ransomware, roblox, tiktok
Who's been dressing Robox players up in red baseball caps? Which ransomware victim's negotations got spied on by the media? And should Jason Bieber think twice before touching his hat? Oh, and we need to talk about squirrels...
-
154: A buttock of biometrics
November 14th, 2019 | 50 mins 2 secs
apple, credit card, ddos, fitness, google, health data, labour, monopoly
The UK's Labour Party kicks off its election campaign with claims that it has suffered a sophisticated cyber-attack, Apple's credit card is accused of being sexist, and what is Google up to with Project Nightingale?
-
125: Pick of the thief!
April 25th, 2019 | 47 mins 18 secs
apple, facial recognition, fingerprint, malwaretech, marcus hutchins, nokia, passwords, samsung
WannaCry's "accidental hero" pleads guilty to malware charges, Samsung and Nokia have fingerprint fumbles, the NCSC publishes a list of 100,000 dreadful passwords, and Apple finds itself at the centre of an identity mix-up.
-
113: FaceTime, Facebook, faceplant
January 31st, 2019 | 45 mins 50 secs
apple, facebook, facetime, iot, iphone, japan, privacy, vulnerability
A FaceTime bug allows callers to see and hear you before you answer the phone, Facebook's Nick Clegg tries to convince us the social network is changing its ways, and IoT hacking is big in Japan.
-
084: No! My voice is not my password
June 28th, 2018 | 33 mins 54 secs
biometrics, domestic abuse, hmrc, iot, privacy, smartphone, spying, voice prints
Who's been collecting the voice prints of millions of people saying "My voice is my password"? Why has it become tougher for law enforcement to scoop up cellphone data? And who's been turning up your central heating?
-
069: Cryptomining, China, and Bob Ross
March 15th, 2018 | 42 mins 11 secs
airgap, app store, apple, bob ross, china, cryptomining, mac, mosquito, rubik's cube
How come Apple's Mac App Store authorised a buggy app that mined for cryptocurrency in the background? How can a Mosquito attack steal data from an air-gapped computer? And is China keeping score on its social media-loving citizens?
-
052: Facebook tackles vengeful scumbags, and a sex toy privacy boob
November 16th, 2017 | 39 mins 27 secs
android, ddos, facebook, google, privacy, revenge porn, sex toy, vulnerability
Is your dildo listening to you? Do you trust Facebook with your most intimate photos? And just how did a vengeful DDoSer come up with that nickname?
-
037: Boobs, dragons and data breaches
August 10th, 2017 | 37 mins 38 secs
bit9, carbon black, data breach, disney, extortion, game of thrones, hbo, marcus hutchins, privacy
Hackers are holding HBO to ransom after a massive data breach, and have leaked the phone numbers and email addresses of "Game of Thrones" cast members. Has security firm Carbon Black been leaking customers's sensitive files while trying to scan them? And Disney's mobile apps are accused of spying on kids...
-
023: Covfefe
May 31st, 2017 | 40 mins 27 secs
blackmail, british airways, donald trump, facebook, germany, twitter
Hackers are blackmailing cosmetic surgery patients, and threatening to release their naked photos. A British Airways IT snafu causes travel chaos for thousands. And Germany is threatening to throw hefty fines at Facebook if it can't police its content...
-
019: The Love Bug virus
May 4th, 2017 | 29 mins 20 secs
love bug, malware
On May 4th 2000, the Love Bug virus (also known as ILOVEYOU or LoveLetter) rapidly spread around the world, clogging up email systems. Computer security veterans Graham Cluley and Carole Theriault are joined this week by special guest John Hawes...
-
015: Bad vibrations
April 6th, 2017 | 26 mins 54 secs
android, epicenter, nfc, samsung, sex toy
Don't let an internet-enabled sex toy make your most private moments oh-so-public. Samsung's wannabe-Android-killer is found lacking. And did you hear about the firm that is micro-chipping its employees? All this and more is discussed by...