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 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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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?
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074: Smashing Security isn't bullsh*t
April 19th, 2018 | 48 mins 42 secs
action fraud, facebook, fraud, santa clarita diet, scam, social media, wpp
Crime forums on Facebook, fraudsters pose as anti-fraud hotlines, and how big advertising companies are in bed with the rampant data collection of internet giants.
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073: Rick Astley: Never gonna hack you up...
April 12th, 2018 | 39 mins 13 secs
bertram fiddle, hacking, harriet harman, kemi badenoch, passwords, politicians, sirens, t-mobile, vulnerability
Politician admits to hacking a rival's website, T-Mobile Austria ends up in a Twitter security storm, and siren systems are hit by a Rick Astley attack over the airwaves.
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072: Why are firms so cr*p with our private data?
April 5th, 2018 | 33 mins 41 secs
april fool, data breach, grindr, myfitnesspal, panera bread, privacy, vikings, vulnerability
Grindr, MyFitnessPal, and Panera Bread. They've all had data breach scares of varying degrees this week. Some handled the security breaches well, some didn't. We took a look at how well different firms are respecting your data privacy.
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071: Pony-tailed pundit ponders privacy problems
March 29th, 2018 | 41 mins 36 secs
adventure games, cryptocurrency, cryptomining, facebook, internet archive, privacy, video games, vpn
Endangering your friends online, the fibs told by VPN vendors, developments from the world of cryptomining, and Carole shares an animated GIF with Mikko and Graham.
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070: Facebook and Cambridge Diabolica
March 22nd, 2018 | 40 mins 38 secs
cambridge analytica, donald trump, driverless cars, facebook, sextortion, uber
It’s not fair to describe what happened at Facebook and Cambridge Analytica as a data breach - it’s much worse than that. An autonomous Uber vehicle kills a pedestrian. And sextortion continues to be a serious problem.
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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?
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068: Malware from outer space!
March 8th, 2018 | 44 mins 57 secs
aliens, car rental, cycling, eti, extra terrestrial, infocom, interactive fiction, malware, moviepass, privacy, text adventure, wethepeople
If aliens did contact us would it be safe to open the email? Why would MoviePass track film lovers after they leave the cinema? Would you know how to get around Malaysia when your car rental website lets you down? And will Graham please stop talking about text adventure games?
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067: Cyber stalking and gun control
March 1st, 2018 | 35 mins 39 secs
browsers, gun control, incognito mode, privacy, private browsing, spyware, stalking, veil
Incognito mode on your browser not as private as you think, consumer spyware companies get hacked, Graham is accused of "multitasking" in his hotel room, and Carole champions the students of Parkland, Florida.