Smashing Security

News and views from the world of cybersecurity, hacking, and internet threats

About the show

A helpful and hilarious take on the week's tech SNAFUs. Computer security industry veterans Graham Cluley and Carole Theriault chat with guests about cybercrime, hacking, and online privacy. It's not your typical cybersecurity podcast...

Winner of the "Best Security Podcast 2018" and "Best Security Podcast 2019", Smashing Security has had over four million downloads. Past guests include Garry Kasparov, Mikko Hyppönen, and Rory Cellan-Jones.

Follow the podcast on Twitter at @SmashinSecurity, and subscribe for free in your favourite podcast app. New episodes released at 7pm EST every Wednesday (midnight UK).

Smashing Security on social media

Episodes

  • 200: Two flipping hundred

    October 15th, 2020  |  1 hr 11 mins
    ballet, career, cyber, cybersecurity, cybersex, fatima, privacy, smart watch, women

    We're in celebratory mood as we celebrate our 200th episode, but there's still time to discuss Fatima the ballerina who the UK government wants to become a cybersecurity expert, why women are quitting the tech industry, and a smartwatch which might be putting your kids at risk.

  • 199: A few tech cock-ups, and one cock lock-up

    October 8th, 2020  |  55 mins 11 secs
    cage, cellmate, coronavirus, covid-19, interview, iot, qiui, sex toy, tengia, tracing, vulnerability

    An internet-connected adult toy could leave its users encaged, the official NHS COVID-19 contact-tracing app alarms users, and would you be happy if a robot interviewed you for a job?

  • 198: Chucky the coffee maker

    October 1st, 2020  |  1 hr 7 mins
    climate change, coffee, cryptomining, hank the cow dog, iot, privacy, ransomware, the beatles, tracking, vulnerability

    Coffee machines catching ransomware, Blacklight shines a torch on website tracking, and a woman is freaked out that a complete stranger can turn off her home's security system.

  • 197: Greedy bosses, game cheats, and virtual beheadings

    September 24th, 2020  |  52 mins 48 secs
    cheating, counter-strike: global offensive, cs:go, doctor who, facial recognition, fortnite, fraud, hacking, pubg, trees, twitter, video game, zoom

    Why are Zoom and Twitter making some people disappear? How are Counter-Strike: Global Offensive cheats getting their just desserts? And the founder of a anti cyber-fraud firm is charged with fraud.

  • 196: Smart guns, smart cars, and smart street lights - oh my!

    September 17th, 2020  |  54 mins 27 secs
    iot, paris hilton, privacy, smart gun, streetlight, tesla, vulnerability

    Kalashnikov unveils its "smart" shotgun, San Diego struggles with its street lights, and a researcher reveals how he found a way to hack every Tesla on the planet.

  • 195: Selene Delgado Lopez is not your friend

    September 10th, 2020  |  50 mins 8 secs
    cars, education, facebook, hoax, iot, patching, zoom

    The Gadget Show's Jon Bentley joins us to discuss the mystery of a Facebook friend you never requested, software updates for the Mercedes S-Class, and risks in the online classroom.

  • 194: Carry on droning

    September 3rd, 2020  |  48 mins 19 secs
    bitcoin, cryptocurrency, drones, malware, tesla, vulnerability

    A Bitcoin bungle causes one user to lose millions, hackers attempt to bribe a Tesla employee into infecting the company's network, and are we ready for a sky full of drones?

  • 193: Hacking the CIA, Bridgefy, and college lockdowns

    August 27th, 2020  |  58 mins 57 secs
    albion college, bridgefy, cia, coronavirus, crackas with attitude, cwa, kane gamble, privacy, shampoo, tracking, vulnerability

    Whatever happened to Crackas with Attitude, perfidious Albion College's approach to locking down Coronavirus, and the Bridgefy mesh messaging app falls down when it comes to security.

  • 192: Ritz and robocalls with Rory

    August 20th, 2020  |  49 mins 27 secs
    contact tracing, coronavirus, robocall, scam, the ritz

    A scam involving restaurant bookings at The Ritz is suitably sophisticated, the second wave of UK coronavirus testing apps, and we take a look at one of the biggest studies ever into the scourge of robocalls.

  • 191: We are on the bird

    August 13th, 2020  |  54 mins 14 secs
    byte, hacking, password, privacy, satellite, tiktok, triller, video game

    Can a video game help your company's staff choose stronger passwords? Why might satellite-based internet communications be bad for security? And what are the alternatives to TikTok?

  • 190: Twitter hack arrests, email bad behaviour, and Fawkes vs facial recognition

    August 6th, 2020  |  48 mins 40 secs
    facial recognition, fawkes, getemails, hacking, ogusers, privacy, twitter

    Special guest Geoff White can't resist using the podcast to promote his new book, "Crime Dot Com", but other than that we also discuss the creepy (and apparently legal) way websites can find out your email and postal address even if you don't give it to them, take a look at how the alleged Twitter hackers were identified, and learn about Fawkes - the technology fighting back at facial recognition.

  • 189: DNA cock-up, Garmin hack, and virtual kidnappings

    July 30th, 2020  |  49 mins 2 secs
    australia, china, cryptocurrency, dna, dridex, evil corp, garmin, genealogy, golden state killer, kidnapping, malware, ransomware, tracing

    Why are students faking their own kidnappings? What's the story behind Garmin's ransomware attack? And a genetic genealogy website suffers a hack or two.

  • 188: Dinner with Elon Musk and Kris Jenner

    July 23rd, 2020  |  1 hr 2 mins
    binance, coinbase, coronavirus, cryptocurrency, elon musk, hacking, kanye west, russia, stalkerware, twitter, vaccine

    Who stopped Twitter's hackers from stealing more money? Why are Covid-19 researchers being told to ramp up their cybersecurity? How can you find out if your smartphone is infected with stalkerware? And who does Graham think he is turning down a celebrity dinner invite?

  • 187: Huawei ban, MGM hack, and a contact-tracing cock-up

    July 16th, 2020  |  1 hr 3 mins
    contact tracing, coronavirus, data breach, huawei, mgm resorts, password, seminconductors

    Login chaos for England's contact tracing service, our drill-down on the Britain's Huawei 5G ban, MGM's blockbuster breach, and how to pronounce "Gigabyte."

  • 186: This one's for all the Karens!

    July 9th, 2020  |  49 mins 38 secs
    bec, business email compromise, clipboard, cosmic lynx, fake news, hushpuppi, ios, karen, privacy, senegal

    A high-rolling Hushpuppi gets extradited to the United States, Carole details her problems with clipboards and Disposophobia, and our guest becomes the subject of fake news during the Senegalese election.

  • 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...