Security Now (Audio)

SN 1088: A Nefarious Novel Use for AI - Ransomware Negotiations Go High-Tech

Tue, 21 Jul 2026 19:39:17 PDT

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 guys

Show Notes - https://www.grc.com/sn/SN-1088-Notes.pdf

Hosts: Steve Gibson and Leo Laporte

Download 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.

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SN 1087: HalluSquatting, GhostApproval & GitLost - Patch Tuesday Breaks Records

Tue, 14 Jul 2026 19:14:03 PDT

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 attacks
HalluSquatting, GhostApproval & GitLost

Show Notes - https://www.grc.com/sn/SN-1087-Notes.pdf

Hosts: Steve Gibson and Leo Laporte

Download 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.

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SN 1086: The Apex Agentic Adversary - Visual Prompt Injection Strikes

Tue, 07 Jul 2026 19:19:20 PDT

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 library

Show Notes - https://www.grc.com/sn/SN-1086-Notes.pdf

Hosts: Steve Gibson and Leo Laporte

Download 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.

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SN 1085: A SOTA State-Sponsored Campaign - AI's New Superpower: Loop Engineering

Tue, 30 Jun 2026 18:43:36 PDT

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 accessible

Show Notes - https://www.grc.com/sn/SN-1085-Notes.pdf

Hosts: Steve Gibson and Leo Laporte

Download 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.

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SN 1084: The Residential Proxy Threat - Malicious Proxies in Your Living Room

Tue, 23 Jun 2026 19:33:10 PDT

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 infections

Show Notes - https://www.grc.com/sn/SN-1084-Notes.pdf

Hosts: Steve Gibson and Leo Laporte

Download 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.

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SN 1083: Patch Tuesday à la AI - Arch Linux Repo Under Siege

Tue, 16 Jun 2026 19:14:17 PDT

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 discover

Show Notes - https://www.grc.com/sn/SN-1083-Notes.pdf

Hosts: Steve Gibson and Leo Laporte

Download 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.

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SN 1082: The Malicious Use of AI - Anthropic's Red Team Report

Tue, 09 Jun 2026 18:17:35 PDT

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 bad

Show Notes - https://www.grc.com/sn/SN-1082-Notes.pdf

Hosts: Steve Gibson and Leo Laporte

Download 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.

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SN 1081: AI Captured the Flag - Personal AI: Productivity Superpower or Privacy Threat?

Tue, 02 Jun 2026 20:08:50 PDT

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 training

Show Notes - https://www.grc.com/sn/SN-1081-Notes.pdf

Hosts: Steve Gibson and Leo Laporte

Download 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.

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SN 1080: Vulnerability Debt Repayment - Will Mythos Change Cybersecurity Forever?

Tue, 26 May 2026 20:00:00 PDT

Mozilla found 271 unknown Firefox vulnerabilities in days using AI—bugs that millions of automated test runs had missed for years. Steve Gibson argues this isn't a crisis. It's the industry finally paying down decades of security debt, and for the first time, defenders may have the advantage.

Cisco meets Mythos
Can the aging CVE system survive AI
Patch deployment latency in the AI age
MSFT's official YellowKey BitLocker bypass mitigation
Ubiquiti patches 5 serious vulnerabilities
Drupal attacked by a PostgreSQL injection
Microsoft terminates SMS as a second factor
GitHub hacked - all of its source code exfiltrated
Russia is using very old Western software
Why to get a no-charge AI chatbot account
New Sci-Fi on Netflix
What we learn from Mozilla's use of Mythos

Show Notes - https://www.grc.com/sn/SN-1080-Notes.pdf

Hosts: Steve Gibson and Leo Laporte

Download 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.

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SN 1079: Daybreak and Codename MDASH - Microsoft's Edge Password Blunder

Tue, 19 May 2026 20:09:17 PDT

OpenAI, Microsoft, and Google are racing to unleash next-gen AI that hunts for software vulnerabilities and hacks at scale. This episode explores how these advancements could shake up everything we thought we knew about cybersecurity.

Microsoft rethinks Edge's "intended behavior" after it gets press.
Chaotic Eclipse hacker strikes again with a Bitlocker bypass.
Google's threat analysis group documents malicious AI use.
Canada hasn't learned the lessons of the EU and the UK.
AI chatbots may be far more addictive than social media.
Project: Hail Mary now available to stream.
An apparently-serious zero-point quantum vacuum energy source.
A bit of listener feedback.
OpenAI's & Microsoft's vulnerability discovery systems

Show Notes - https://www.grc.com/sn/SN-1079-Notes.pdf

Hosts: Steve Gibson and Leo Laporte

Download 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.

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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

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