Steve Gibson, the man who coined the term spyware and created the first anti-spyware program, creator of SpinRite and ShieldsUP, discusses the hot topics in security today with Leo Laporte. Records live every Tuesday at 4:30pm Eastern / 1:30pm Pacific / 21:30 UTC.
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A security podcast geared towards those looking to better understand security topics of the day. Hosted by Kurt Seifried and Josh Bressers covering a wide range of topics including IoT, application security, operational security, cloud, devops, and security news of the day. There is a special open source twist to the discussion often giving a unique perspective on any given topic.
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We're not talking dentistry here; FLOSS all about Free Libre Open Source Software. Join host Doc Searls and his rotating panel of co-hosts every Wednesday as they talk with the most interesting and important people in the Open Source and Free Software community.
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SN 1095: AI-Driven Expertise Loss - Gemini, Hugging Face, and the AI Arms Race
OpenAI's latest advances have the rumor mill buzzing about "hidden thoughts" and unsupervisable models, but are AI safety experts panicking over the wrong threat? Get the clear-headed take behind the headlines.We start out with a classic old school hack against Dropbox.Next Patch Tuesday will be enabling "Memory Integrity" for many.Firefox moved to 155 and obtained a dumb Smart Window.CISA is terminating 6 most valuable cybersecurity services.OpenAI advanced to topof the heap with GPT-6 Astra.But... is it now hiding some of its thinking from monitoring?Nvidia is acquiring Hugging Face. Who's that good for?Google releases Gemini 3.8 Flash and Cyber. Is it good?Chinese cyberespionage is using AI to become more slippery.Matthew Green proposes a fascinating take on AI bug drought.A lifelong safety engineer contemplates AI-driven loss of expertise.Show Notes - https://www.grc.com/sn/SN-1095-Notes.pdfHosts: Steve Gibson and Leo LaporteDownload or subscribe to Security Now at https://twit.tv/shows/security-now.You can submit a question to Security Now at the GRC Feedback Page.For 16kbps versions, transcripts, and notes (including fixes), visit Steve's site: grc.com, also the home of the best disk maintenance and recovery utility ever written Spinrite 6.Join Club TWiT for Ad-Free Podcasts! Support what you love and get ad-free audio and video feeds, a members-only Discord, and exclusive content. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit Sponsors: doppel.com hoxhunt.com/securitynow guardsquare.com threatlocker.com/twit
SN 1094: AI Patching Shortcomings - Should You Trust AI-Generated Code?
AI-generated code is flooding the industry, but researchers reveal that almost half of it contains critical vulnerabilities. This week, we unpack what happens when the race for automation outpaces security best practices.A possible means for preventing prompt injection abuse.Clear evidence of Chinese-made router malicious intent.A cool before and after SpinRite graph of SSD performance.How about adding unpredictable hashes to role tags?What did Claude make of last week's podcast?Could much better harnesses prevent prompt injection?A listener wants us to stop saying AI "thinks".AI designers ignore well-understood security concepts.Can we explain LLM AI using conventional computer terms?A listener strongly dislikes the term "rotating credentials".The land of AI is being filled with "meat proxies".Researchers exhaustively test frontier model vulnerability remediation. (hint: It does not go well.)Show Notes - https://www.grc.com/sn/SN-1094-Notes.pdfHosts: Steve Gibson and Leo LaporteDownload or subscribe to Security Now at https://twit.tv/shows/security-now.You can submit a question to Security Now at the GRC Feedback Page.For 16kbps versions, transcripts, and notes (including fixes), visit Steve's site: grc.com, also the home of the best disk maintenance and recovery utility ever written Spinrite 6.Join Club TWiT for Ad-Free Podcasts! Support what you love and get ad-free audio and video feeds, a members-only Discord, and exclusive content. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit Sponsors: bitwarden.com/twit outsystems.com/twit threatlocker.com/twit doppel.com
SN 1093: Tokens in the Stream - Why LLMs are inherently insecure and prompt injection will persist
Turns out, every chatbot conversation runs on a messy hack at the heart of language models, making prompt injection an unsolved—and possibly unsolvable—security threat. Steve and Leo unravel the research that explains why "roles" in AI aren't what you think they are.Understanding the controversy surrounding "AI Model Distillation"Anthropic moves to make their most powerful Mythos 5 model more widely available.Bitwarden's "Secrets Manager" offering prevents agentic and prompt injection abuse.The astounding and disturbing truth about the way conversation AI actually worksShow Notes - https://www.grc.com/sn/SN-1093-Notes.pdfHosts: Steve Gibson and Leo LaporteDownload or subscribe to Security Now at https://twit.tv/shows/security-now.You can submit a question to Security Now at the GRC Feedback Page.For 16kbps versions, transcripts, and notes (including fixes), visit Steve's site: grc.com, also the home of the best disk maintenance and recovery utility ever written Spinrite 6.Join Club TWiT for Ad-Free Podcasts! Support what you love and get ad-free audio and video feeds, a members-only Discord, and exclusive content. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit Sponsors: threatlocker.com/twit box.com/AI hoxhunt.com/securitynow guardsquare.com material.security
SN 1092: Restraint Abliteration - Rotating Keys, Broken Guardrails
From autocorrect to full-fledged conversationalists, discover how a few tweaks transformed language models—and why understanding this shift exposes urgent questions about AI safety and control.Trusting an open source AI proxy might bite you.France's under-15 social media ban hits its constitution.A bit of AI prompting found a serious bug in Zoom.AI-based network defenders see a stock price jump.A (very) deep dive into the operation of AI chatbotsShow Notes - https://www.grc.com/sn/SN-1092-Notes.pdfHosts: Steve Gibson and Leo LaporteDownload or subscribe to Security Now at https://twit.tv/shows/security-now.You can submit a question to Security Now at the GRC Feedback Page.For 16kbps versions, transcripts, and notes (including fixes), visit Steve's site: grc.com, also the home of the best disk maintenance and recovery utility ever written Spinrite 6.Join Club TWiT for Ad-Free Podcasts! Support what you love and get ad-free audio and video feeds, a members-only Discord, and exclusive content. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit Sponsors: canary.tools/twit - use code: TWIT joindeleteme.com/twit-biz doppel.com threatlocker.com/twit scribe.how/securitynow
SN 1091: The Post BlackHat State of AI - When AI Writes Malware
AI agents are breaking free from their test environments, outsmarting their creators and breaching real-world networks in ways that no one predicted. Discover how these agentic models are changing the game for both cyber offense and defense.Anthropic's agentic AI also broke free and hacked others.We know much (much!) more about the OpenAI breakout.OpenAI posts that they're pausing "Astra" - even internally.What was that about AI recently cracking (or denting) cryptography.Bruce Schneier brilliantly equates AI agents to capricious genies.Apple doesn't react so well to the new deluge of security reports.Chrome 149 + 150 updates together fix 1,072 bugs. Yikes.psSense's creator is working to finish its nfSensei, its successorShow Notes - https://www.grc.com/sn/SN-1091-Notes.pdfHosts: Steve Gibson and Leo LaporteDownload or subscribe to Security Now at https://twit.tv/shows/security-now.You can submit a question to Security Now at the GRC Feedback Page.For 16kbps versions, transcripts, and notes (including fixes), visit Steve's site: grc.com, also the home of the best disk maintenance and recovery utility ever written Spinrite 6.Join Club TWiT for Ad-Free Podcasts! Support what you love and get ad-free audio and video feeds, a members-only Discord, and exclusive content. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit Sponsors: hoxhunt.com/securitynow guardsquare.com threatlocker.com/twit box.com/AI
SN 1090: Black Hat - The Hidden Flaws in AI Security Nobody Saw Coming
At Black Hat Las Vegas, the Security Now crew digs into how AI is not just finding hidden software bugs but also fueling both groundbreaking innovation and alarming new exploits. When open models can launch surprise Bitcoin heists, who draws the line between forbidden knowledge and genuine progress?• Black Hat and DEF CON: Hacking Stories and Conference Culture • Zoox Ride-Hailing Hack and Over-the-Air Vulnerabilities • Autonomous Vehicles, AI, and the Security Implications • Hosts Share Personal Adoption and Use of AI Tools • AI-Powered Coding: From Hobbyists to Advanced Agency Chains • Local Models vs. Cloud AI: Privacy, Cost, and Control • App Development Democratized: Listeners Build Custom Solutions With AI • Code Generation, Testing, and Managing AI-Driven Project Cycles • AI's Role in Security: Vulnerability Discovery, Exploitation, and Patch Challenges • Technical Debt and the Race to Patch Decades-Old Bugs • The Dual-Use Dilemma: AI Tools for Both Attack and Defense • Guardrails, Model Partitioning, and the Fight Over Forbidden Knowledge • Open vs. Restricted AI: Global Models, Distillation, and Free Speech • LLM Security Weaknesses: Prompt Injection and Role Confusion Exposed • The Reliability Problem: Probabilistic AI and Non-Deterministic Software • AI Progress: Public Perception, Skepticism, and "Hogwash" Rebuttals • Reflections on AI's Fast Evolution and the Sci-Fi Reality Gap • Closing Thoughts: Tech Community, Listener Feedback, and the Future of Security NowHosts: Steve Gibson, Leo Laporte, Richard Campbell, and Paul ThurrottDownload or subscribe to Security Now at https://twit.tv/shows/security-now.You can submit a question to Security Now at the GRC Feedback Page.For 16kbps versions, transcripts, and notes (including fixes), visit Steve's site: grc.com, also the home of the best disk maintenance and recovery utility ever written Spinrite 6.Join Club TWiT for Ad-Free Podcasts! Support what you love and get ad-free audio and video feeds, a members-only Discord, and exclusive content. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit Sponsors: material.security bitwarden.com/twit XBOW.com hoxhunt.com/securitynow threatlocker.com/twit
SN 1089: Models Go Rogue & ExploitGym - Regulators, Start Your Engines
What happens when an unconstrained OpenAI model goes rogue and hacks into Hugging Face, breaching real-world security boundaries? This episode unpacks a watershed moment for AI safety that has everyone in cybersecurity talking.OpenAI's unconstrained internal testing AI got loose, attacked Hugging Face.We hear from OpenAI, Hugging Face and Andrew Ng.GRC went off the air Friday. Was GRC hacked? What happened?The Linux kernel project repairs 442 CVEs in a single batch.LG's PC monitors cause PC adware installation.France bans all social media access below age 15.WordPress' recent CRITICAL vulnerability claims victims.Amazing details about "Rocky" from Andy Weir.The new AI exploit ranking benchmark that caused the breakoutShow Notes - https://www.grc.com/sn/SN-1089-Notes.pdfHosts: Steve Gibson and Leo LaporteDownload or subscribe to Security Now at https://twit.tv/shows/security-now.You can submit a question to Security Now at the GRC Feedback Page.For 16kbps versions, transcripts, and notes (including fixes), visit Steve's site: grc.com, also the home of the best disk maintenance and recovery utility ever written Spinrite 6.Join Club TWiT for Ad-Free Podcasts! Support what you love and get ad-free audio and video feeds, a members-only Discord, and exclusive content. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit Sponsors: adaptivesecurity.com XBOW.com cohesity.com/Resilience threatlocker.com/twit
SN 1088: A Nefarious Novel Use for AI - Ransomware Negotiations Go High-Tech
Cybercriminals are harnessing AI not to break in, but to make sense of their stolen loot and increase their leverage in multi-million dollar ransomware heists. This episode unpacks how AI is now turbocharging extortion and negotiations on the dark side.The "bone crushing" didn't happen this month.Revisiting and inspecting July's Patch Tuesday.A widespread and worrisome flaw in OpenSSL.Claude can now access your 1Password credentials.Bitwarden is aware that we need whole new security.The day ends in "y" so a new prompt injection attack.A true (and rare) core Wordpress emergency update.Lots of interesting listener feedback.And new ways AI is being used by bad guysShow Notes - https://www.grc.com/sn/SN-1088-Notes.pdfHosts: Steve Gibson and Leo LaporteDownload or subscribe to Security Now at https://twit.tv/shows/security-now.You can submit a question to Security Now at the GRC Feedback Page.For 16kbps versions, transcripts, and notes (including fixes), visit Steve's site: grc.com, also the home of the best disk maintenance and recovery utility ever written Spinrite 6.Join Club TWiT for Ad-Free Podcasts! Support what you love and get ad-free audio and video feeds, a members-only Discord, and exclusive content. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit Sponsors: canary.tools/twit - use code: TWIT zscaler.com/security adaptivesecurity.com joindeleteme.com/twit-biz arcticwolf.com/trends
SN 1087: HalluSquatting, GhostApproval & GitLost - Patch Tuesday Breaks Records
AI is rewriting the rules of cybersecurity, and this week, massive government and private sector moves show just how quickly the stakes are rising. Find out how regulators, attackers, and defenders are all scrambling to keep up as vulnerabilities surface at record speed.Europe warns their largest banks to prepare for AI attack.The EU launches an action plan for AI Cybersecurity.China considers keeping its budget AI to itself.The UK's NCSC & GCHQ announce their "Cyber Shield".CISA is using Mythos to audit U.S. government code.Microsoft warns of their upcoming patch flood."RoguePlanet" receives an on-the-fly patch.An underused mode to kid-proof an iPhone.Listener feedback and three new AI attacksHalluSquatting, GhostApproval & GitLostShow Notes - https://www.grc.com/sn/SN-1087-Notes.pdfHosts: Steve Gibson and Leo LaporteDownload or subscribe to Security Now at https://twit.tv/shows/security-now.You can submit a question to Security Now at the GRC Feedback Page.For 16kbps versions, transcripts, and notes (including fixes), visit Steve's site: grc.com, also the home of the best disk maintenance and recovery utility ever written Spinrite 6.Join Club TWiT for Ad-Free Podcasts! Support what you love and get ad-free audio and video feeds, a members-only Discord, and exclusive content. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit Sponsors: blackhat.com/us-26 and use code TWIT arcticwolf.com/trends threatlocker.com/twit XBOW.com adaptivesecurity.com cohesity.com/Resilience
SN 1086: The Apex Agentic Adversary - Visual Prompt Injection Strikes
From the sudden retirement of Internet pioneer Vint Cerf to the unstoppable advance of "apex agentic adversaries," get a front-row seat to the unfolding security revolution and its massive real-world stakes.Why Fable5's re-release has disappointed.Opera becomes the first browser to offer "Paste Protect."Microsoft BlueHammer exploit is "hammering" systems.Industry legend (TCP creator) Vint Cerf on AI.Chrome turns 150 with too many fixes to load.Google fails to sidestep a $4.67 billion EU fine.One last (we can hope) Chat Control vote next week.AirDrop & Android Quick Share are exploitable.How to bypass Claude's and ChatGPT's guardrails.My own Sunday spin with SpinRite.A legendary hacker uses AI on a widespread libraryShow Notes - https://www.grc.com/sn/SN-1086-Notes.pdfHosts: Steve Gibson and Leo LaporteDownload or subscribe to Security Now at https://twit.tv/shows/security-now.You can submit a question to Security Now at the GRC Feedback Page.For 16kbps versions, transcripts, and notes (including fixes), visit Steve's site: grc.com, also the home of the best disk maintenance and recovery utility ever written Spinrite 6.Join Club TWiT for Ad-Free Podcasts! Support what you love and get ad-free audio and video feeds, a members-only Discord, and exclusive content. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit Sponsors: blackhat.com/us-26 and use code TWIT cohesity.com/Resilience bitwarden.com/twit zscaler.com/security XBOW.com adaptivesecurity.com
SN 1085: A SOTA State-Sponsored Campaign - AI's New Superpower: Loop Engineering
AI is now uncovering and fixing thousands of hidden software bugs faster than humans can keep up, but not everyone is playing by the rules. Find out how state-sponsored attackers and careless disclosures are turning the cybersecurity playbook upside down.Win10's popularity forces another year of free updates.CISA directs all federal agencies to update their UniFi OS devices.CISA gave federal agencies "the weekend" to update Cisco devices.Australia is disturbed by a deeply compromised infrastructure provider.OpenAI introduces Daybreak-powered "Patch the Planet" initiative.Meta's employee monitoring-for-AI-training backfired badly.Script Kiddies figure out how to use AI to find vulnerabilities.AI improves with "looping", "repeating" or "iterating".A wonderful story about Kevin Mitnick.Serious hackers mistakenly left a server directory accessibleShow Notes - https://www.grc.com/sn/SN-1085-Notes.pdfHosts: Steve Gibson and Leo LaporteDownload or subscribe to Security Now at https://twit.tv/shows/security-now.You can submit a question to Security Now at the GRC Feedback Page.For 16kbps versions, transcripts, and notes (including fixes), visit Steve's site: grc.com, also the home of the best disk maintenance and recovery utility ever written Spinrite 6.Join Club TWiT for Ad-Free Podcasts! Support what you love and get ad-free audio and video feeds, a members-only Discord, and exclusive content. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit Sponsors: blackhat.com/us-26 and use code TWIT hoxhunt.com/securitynow cohesity.com/Resilience zscaler.com/security
SN 1084: The Residential Proxy Threat - Malicious Proxies in Your Living Room
A flood of everyday gadgets, from cheap streaming boxes to digital photo frames, are being secretly conscripted into global proxy networks and used to mask major cyberattacks—possibly even targeting your own home network.Worries of AI-power cyberattacks are spreading.Mythos "missed some" important vulnerabilities in Firefox.Every recent patch Tuesday Nightmare Eclipse has struck. What now?Massive store of valid FortiGate VPN credentials found.F5 issues emergency updates to their NGINX-based server offerings.Introducing "AI Potpourri" -- deeply altering an AI's personality.A close look at the explosion in malicious proxy networks.A Canadian judge okayed the illegal removal of such infectionsShow Notes - https://www.grc.com/sn/SN-1084-Notes.pdfHosts: Steve Gibson and Leo LaporteDownload or subscribe to Security Now at https://twit.tv/shows/security-now.You can submit a question to Security Now at the GRC Feedback Page.For 16kbps versions, transcripts, and notes (including fixes), visit Steve's site: grc.com, also the home of the best disk maintenance and recovery utility ever written Spinrite 6.Join Club TWiT for Ad-Free Podcasts! Support what you love and get ad-free audio and video feeds, a members-only Discord, and exclusive content. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit Sponsors: doppel.com trustedtech.team/securitynow365 XBOW.com threatlocker.com/twit guardsquare.com
SN 1083: Patch Tuesday à la AI - Arch Linux Repo Under Siege
This episode unpacks the jaw-dropping surge in vulnerabilities unearthed by AI, revealing how Microsoft shattered its own patch records while adversaries and defenders race to outpace each other. The conversation gets real about whether AI is fixing our broken software or just making attacks easier for everyone.Rootkits found in more than 400 ArchLinux User Repository packages.The US government requests Anthropic to remove Mythos and Fable.CISA responds to AI-driven attacks with new patching requirements.NPM to switch to more secure install defaults. Will it help.Our listeners react to last week's PHP commentary.June shows that AI has arrived for vulnerability discoverShow Notes - https://www.grc.com/sn/SN-1083-Notes.pdfHosts: Steve Gibson and Leo LaporteDownload or subscribe to Security Now at https://twit.tv/shows/security-now.You can submit a question to Security Now at the GRC Feedback Page.For 16kbps versions, transcripts, and notes (including fixes), visit Steve's site: grc.com, also the home of the best disk maintenance and recovery utility ever written Spinrite 6.Join Club TWiT for Ad-Free Podcasts! Support what you love and get ad-free audio and video feeds, a members-only Discord, and exclusive content. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit Sponsors: meter.com/securitynow canary.tools/twit - use code: TWIT joindeleteme.com/twit-biz zscaler.com/security adaptivesecurity.com
SN 1082: The Malicious Use of AI - Anthropic's Red Team Report
Discover how Anthropic's secretive red team and the MITRE ATT&CK framework are mapping the chilling rise of malicious AI use, revealing cyber threats that now move faster than defenders can respond.Was a U.S. law firm right to pay a $20 million ransom.Could Cisco have yet another SD-WAN 0-day in the wild.Why is it so difficult to author secure PHP code.Teens use "WeedHack" to spy and attack each other.Researchers create the first AI-enabled Internet worm.Google Chrome pops-up "Shop with confidence." What...The discovered and irresponsibly disclosed HTTP/2 Bomb.What Anthropic learns from their past year of Claude abuse: It's badShow Notes - https://www.grc.com/sn/SN-1082-Notes.pdfHosts: Steve Gibson and Leo LaporteDownload or subscribe to Security Now at https://twit.tv/shows/security-now.You can submit a question to Security Now at the GRC Feedback Page.For 16kbps versions, transcripts, and notes (including fixes), visit Steve's site: grc.com, also the home of the best disk maintenance and recovery utility ever written Spinrite 6.Join Club TWiT for Ad-Free Podcasts! Support what you love and get ad-free audio and video feeds, a members-only Discord, and exclusive content. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit Sponsors: threatlocker.com for Security Now outsystems.com/twit guardsquare.com doppel.com cyberhoot.com/securitynow
SN 1081: AI Captured the Flag - Personal AI: Productivity Superpower or Privacy Threat?
AI vulnerability discovery just upended the legendary Capture the Flag competitions, leaving top hackers sidelined while algorithms dominate the scoreboard. Hear why one seasoned researcher says the entire game is over for humans.As expected, UnFiOS devices are under attack.CISA commands federal agencies to update Drupal.Can the largest botnet ever, be killed.Defender endpoint can cutoff a PC from the network.Charter Communications big account leak.Chrome moves device-bound session cookies from beta.Anthropic to release Mythos shortly.cURL and Daniel Stenberg.IBM & RedHat commit to fixing open source with AI.LOTS of terrific listener feedback this week.AI spells the end of a terrific source of trainingShow Notes - https://www.grc.com/sn/SN-1081-Notes.pdfHosts: Steve Gibson and Leo LaporteDownload or subscribe to Security Now at https://twit.tv/shows/security-now.You can submit a question to Security Now at the GRC Feedback Page.For 16kbps versions, transcripts, and notes (including fixes), visit Steve's site: grc.com, also the home of the best disk maintenance and recovery utility ever written Spinrite 6.Join Club TWiT for Ad-Free Podcasts! Support what you love and get ad-free audio and video feeds, a members-only Discord, and exclusive content. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit Sponsors: bitwarden.com/twit hoxhunt.com/securitynow zscaler.com/security material.security meter.com/securitynow