Smashing Security
News and views from the world of cybersecurity, hacking, and internet threats
About the show
Join computer security industry veterans Graham Cluley and Carole Theriault as they chat with guests about cybercrime, hacking, and online privacy.
Follow the podcast on Twitter at @SmashinSecurity. New episodes released every Thursday. Bonus "splinter" episodes when we feel like it...
Smashing Security on social media
Episode List
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090: Fortnite for Android, and the FCC's DDoS BS
August 9th, 2018 | 36 mins 47 secs
android, ddos, fcc, fortnite, google play, overcooked, verizon, vpn
Fortnite players are told they'll have to disable a security setting on Android, the FCC finally admits that it wasn't hit by a DDoS attack, and Verizon's VPN smallprint raises privacy concerns.
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089: Data breaches, ransomware, Bitcoin robberies, and typewriters
August 2nd, 2018 | 44 mins 31 secs
bitcoin, cosco, cryptocurrency, data breach, dixons, legion, port out, ransomware, sim swap, slow burn
Ransomware rears its head again, Dixons Carphone reveals its data breach was almost 1000% worse than they previously thought, a man is accused of stealing five million dollars worth of cryptocurrency through hijacking mobile phones, and a Canadian guy called Norman is rushing to get the typewriters out of storage.
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088: PayPal’s Venmo app even makes your drug purchases public
July 26th, 2018 | 42 mins 55 secs
drugs, google, google chrome, http, https, venmo
Websites still using HTTP are marked as "not secure" by Chrome, 85,000 Google employees haven't been phished for a year, and if you're buying drugs via PayPal’s Venmo app you should say goodbye to privacy.
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087: How Russia hacked the US election
July 19th, 2018 | 44 mins 32 secs
amazon, donald trump, elon musk, facial recognition, google, hacking, ice, jeff bezos, privacy, russia, surveillance, vladimir putin, walmart
Regardless of whether Donald Trump believes Russia hacked the Democrats in the run-up to the US Presidential election or not, we explain how they did it. And Carole explores some of the creepier things being done in the name of surveillance.
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086: Elon Musk submarine scams and 2FA bypass
July 12th, 2018 | 39 mins 5 secs
caves, data breach, elon musk, justified, rescue, thailand, timehop, what3words, youtube
Crypto scamming Thai cave scoundrels! $25 million to make anti-fake news videos! TimeHop data breach! Phone number port out scams!
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085: Doctor Who, Facebook patents, and Bob's Burgers
July 5th, 2018 | 37 mins 10 secs
bob's burgers, data leak, dating, doctor who, facebook, jodie whittaker, privacy
Doctor Who's TARDIS has sprung a data leak, Facebook's creepy patents are unmasked, and an app to keep women safe on dates has surprising origins.
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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?
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083: Fake email derails clarinetist's dream
June 21st, 2018 | 27 mins 32 secs
chromecast, clarinet, email, google, google home, password, privacy, this american life, vulnerability
Hell hath no fury like a jealous clarinetist's girlfriend! Your Google ChromeCast could be letting stalkers find out where you live! And why on earth is Graham recommending people write their passwords down in a book!?
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082: World Cup cybersecurity, crypto crashes, and a bang of a password fail
June 14th, 2018 | 39 mins
bitcoin, coinrail, cryptocurrency, football, gun control, hiking, password, russia, tapas, tv5 monde, vpnfilter, world cup
Coinrail cryptocurrency exchange goes offline after hack, Russia appears to be 'live testing' cyber attacks, and Florida stopped running background checks on gun buyers because of forgotten password.
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081: Hacker no-hopers, Wessex Water has a word, and we win an award
June 7th, 2018 | 25 mins 32 secs
awards, botnet, evil genius, internet of things, owari, simplenote, standard notes, wessex water
The mastermind behind the Owari botnet doesn't seem to have learnt anything from his victims, someone at Wessex Water forgets to remove an embarrassing sentence from a letter sent to customers, and we're officially the best security podcast!
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080: Country bans Facebook, eavesdropping Alexa, and PornHub VPN
May 31st, 2018 | 34 mins 25 secs
alexa, amazon, brave, facebook, papua new guinea, pornhub, privacy, vpn
Papua New Guinea is planning a month-long nationwide ban of Facebook, PornHub wants to keep your online activities more private, and Amazon Alexa forwards a married couple's private conversation to a random contact.
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079: Mugshots, mobile mania, and back end gurus
May 24th, 2018 | 51 mins 13 secs
a very english scandal, ben whishaw, donald trump, encryption, fbi, hugh grant, jeremy thorpe, moment, mugshots, paddington 2, percentages, sharenting
A website which demands money if you want your police mugshot removed, could "sharenting" lead to a rise in fraud and identity theft, and how could the FBI have overcounted encrypted phones so badly?
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078: Hounds hunt hackers, too-human Google AI, and ethnic recognition tech - WTF?
May 17th, 2018 | 43 mins 51 secs
dog, facial recognition, google assistant, google duplex, hacking, phishing, signal
Dogs are trained to sniff out hackers' hard drives, facial recognition takes an ugly turn, and do you trust Google to book your hair appointment?
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077: Why Paris Hilton doesn’t use iCloud, lottery hacking, and Facebook dating
May 9th, 2018 | 39 mins 54 secs
dating, facebook, hacking, icloud, kingdom rush, lottery, paris hilton
Paris Hilton's hacker gets 57 months in the clink, we hear the story of the man who hacked the lottery and almost got away with $16.5 million, and Facebook thinks it is the perfect partner to find you a date.
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076: Spying phones, hacked ski lifts, and World Password Day
May 3rd, 2018 | 44 mins
abba, android, blu, chess, hacking, mobile, password, ski lift, smartphone, sound effects, vulnerability
Cheap Android smartphones sold on Amazon have been sending customers' full text messages to a Chinese server, ski lifts are found to be the latest devices left open to abuse by hackers, and we remind you why password managers are a good idea on World Password Day. Oh, and our guest serenades us with a hit from the 1980s!
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075: Quitting Facebook
April 26th, 2018 | 28 mins 8 secs
facebook, privacy
Should you quit Facebook? How do you delete your Facebook account? What do you need to consider before leaving Facebook for good? And what's the easiest way to successfully go cold turkey on Facebook?