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PODCAST

Smashing Security

Stories from the world of hacking, cybersecurity, and rogue AI.Smashing Security isn’t your typical tech podcast. Hosted by cybersecurity veteran Graham Cluley, it serves up weekly tales of cybercrime, hacking horror stories, privacy blunders, and tech mishaps - all with sharp insight, a sense of humour, and zero tolerance for tech waffle.Winner of the best and most entertaining cybersecurity podcast awards in 2018, 2019, 2022, 2023, and 2024, Smashing Security has had over ten million downloads

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All Episodes

54:43

This clever scam nearly hijacked a tech CEO's Apple ID

Smashing Security ·

2026/03/19

In episode 459 of Smashing Security, we dive into a chillingly clever account takeover attempt targeting WordPress co-founder Matt Mullenweg - involving MFA fatigue, real Apple alerts, a convincing support call, and a phishing page that oh-so-nearly worked. If a famous techie could have this happen to you, can you be sure you're immune?Plus: would you donate your lifetime medical history to science if you were promised anonymity? We unpack serious concerns around UK Biobank, where

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41:16

How not to steal $46 million from the US government

Smashing Security ·

2026/03/12

A Wikipedia security engineer accidentally wakes a dormant JavaScript worm that hadn't stirred since 2024 - and within minutes, giant woodpecker images are plastered across the internet's favourite encyclopaedia.Meanwhile, a crypto contractor hired to help the US Marshals manage seized digital assets allegedly decides to help himself to $46 million of it - and then brags about it on a recorded Telegram call.Plus: Graham champions Asterix, Trisha discovers the fantasy novels of Robin Hobb,

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49:31

How a cybersecurity boss framed his own employee

Smashing Security ·

2026/03/05

When a top cybersecurity firm discovered it had a leak, you would expect the FBI to be called. Instead, the person put in charge of the investigation was the actual leaker... who promptly sent an innocent colleague into a career-ending ambush.In this episode, we unravel the jaw-dropping tale of a defence contractor caught selling zero-day exploits to a Russia-linked broker.Plus: are nation states quietly poisoning AI models to bend reality itself? We explore how “foreign information manipulation

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48:43

How to lose friends and DDoS people

Smashing Security ·

2026/02/26

When the mysterious operator of an internet archiving-service decided to silence a curious Finnish blogger, they didn’t just send a stroppy email - they allegedly weaponised their own CAPTCHA page to launch a DDoS attack, threatened to invent an entirely new genre of AI porn, and tampered with parts of their own archive to smear the blogger's name.In this episode, we unravel how a website designed to preserve history may have trashed its own credibility - and how Wikipedia responded when trust

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44:53

Face off: Meta’s Glasses and America’s internet kill...

Smashing Security ·

2026/02/19

Could America turn off Europe's internet?That’s one of the questions that Graham and special guest James Ball will be exploring as they discuss tech sovereignty. Could Gmail, cloud services, and critical infrastructure really become geopolitical leverage? And is anyone actually building a Plan B?Plus we explore if Meta is quietly plotting to turn its smart glasses into face-recognising surveillance specs? With reports of internal memos suggesting they plan to launch controversial features while

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40:19

AI was not plotting humanity’s demise. Humans were

Smashing Security ·

2026/02/12

AI bots are having existential crises, inventing religions, and allegedly plotting against humanity... or so the internet would have you believe.We dig into Moltbook, the “AI-only” social network that sent Twitter into a meltdown, attracted breathless talk of the singularity, and turned out to be far less Terminator and far more humans role-playing as bots.Plus we discuss why "vibe coding" your app might be a catastrophically bad idea, when security researchers can easily peek inside rifle

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36:38

The Epstein Files didn’t hide this hacker very well

Smashing Security ·

2026/02/05

Supposedly redacted Jeffrey Epstein files can still reveal exactly who they’re talking about - especially when AI, LinkedIn, and a few biographical breadcrumbs do the heavy lifting.Sloppy redaction leads to explosive claims, and difficult reputational consequences for cybersecurity vendors, and we learn how trust - once cracked - can be almost impossible to fully restore.Elsewhere, the spotlight turns to insider threat in the age of AI, after a senior US cybersecurity official uploads sensitive

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45:37

The dark web's worst assassins, and Pegasus in the dock

Smashing Security ·

2026/01/29

In episode 452, a London-based YouTuber wins a landmark court case against Saudi Arabia after his phone was hacked with Pegasus spyware — exposing how a single, seemingly harmless text message can turn a smartphone into a round-the-clock surveillance device.Plus, we go looking for professional hitmen online - only to uncover uncomfortable questions about why some crimes attract customers but very few complaints.All this and more is discussed in the latest edition of the "Smashing Security"

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45:15

I hacked the government, and your headphones are next

Smashing Security ·

2026/01/22

In episode 451 of "Smashing Security," we meet the cybercriminal who hacked the US Supreme Court, Veterans Affairs, and more - and then helpfully posted screenshots (and even someone’s blood type) on an account called "I hacked the government."Plus we discuss how researchers uncovered a creepy flaw that lets attackers hijack wireless headphones, listen in on calls, inject audio, and even turn your earbuds into a stalking device - all without you noticing.All this, and much more, in

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36:30

From Instagram panic to Grok gone wild

Smashing Security ·

2026/01/15

Confusion reigns after claims that data linked to 17.5 million Instagram accounts is up for sale - sparked by a vague post, contradictory statements, and a flood of password reset emails nobody asked for.And we dig into Grok, Elon Musk’s AI chatbot, after it started generating sexualised images of women and children - raising uncomfortable questions about guardrails, accountability, and why playing the censorship card doesn’t make the problem go away.All this, and much more, in this episode of the

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61:10

How to scam someone in seven days

Smashing Security ·

2026/01/08

Romance scammers have apparently discovered astrology... and Taurus is their secret weapon.In episode 449 of "Smashing Security", we take a look inside an actual romance-fraud handbook - complete with scripts, personality “types”, corporate jargon, and a seven-day plan to get victims from hello to hand over the crypto.Then Lesley "hacks4pancakes" Carhart delivers a reality check on the dire cybersecurity jobs market for juniors: why entry-level roles are evaporating, how automated CV

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36:41

The Kindle that got pwned

Smashing Security ·

2025/12/18

Think your Kindle is harmless? Think again! In this episode, Graham and special guest Danny Palmer unpack a Black Hat Europe talk revealing how a boobytrapped audiobook could exploit the Amazon eBook reader - potentially letting an attacker break into your account and seize control of your credit card.Plus a blast from 2021's "summer of ransomware" returns to haunt Ireland's Health Service Executive, as victims are offered €750 each.And because it's the last show before the

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55:38

Grok the stalker, the Louvre heist, and Microsoft 365...

Smashing Security ·

2025/12/11

On this week's show we learn that AI really can be a stalker’s best friend, as we explore a strange tale that starts with a manatee-shaped mailbox on a millionaire's lawn and ends with Grok happily doxxing real people, mapping out stalking "strategies," and handing out revenge-porn tips.Then we go inside the Louvre heist, where thieves in hi-vis and a hire van waltzed off with the French crown jewels in broad daylight, exploiting our assumptions about what "looks normal" -

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44:32

A hacker doxxes himself, and social...

Smashing Security ·

2025/12/04

A teenage cybercriminal posts a smug screenshot to mock a sextortion scammer... and accidentally hands over the keys to his real-world identity. Meanwhile, we look into the crystal ball for 2026 and consider how stolen data is now the jet fuel of cybercrime – and how next year could be even nastier than 2025.Plus, Graham rants about recipe sites that won’t shut up, and there's even more love for Lily Allen's album "West End Girl" album.All this and more is discussed in episode 446 of

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40:58

The hack that brought back the zombie apocalypse

Smashing Security ·

2025/11/27

America's airwaves are haunted by zombies again, as we dig into a decade of broadcasters leaving their hardware open to attack, giving hackers the chance to hijack TV shows, blast out fake emergency alerts, and even replace religious sermons with explicit furry podcasts.Meanwhile, we look at how a worker at a cybersecurity firm allegedly leaked internal information to a hacking gang - raising big questions about insider threats.Plus: Frankenstein on Netflix, Vine nostalgia, and why Barney the

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55:22

We’re sorry. Wait, did a company actually say that?

Smashing Security ·

2025/11/20

Stop the press - a company has actually said "sorry" after a data breach, and hotels are helping hackers phish their own guests.In episode 444 of "Smashing Security" we examine a refreshingly honest breach response (and why legacy systems are still going to ruin your week), dig into a nasty hotel-booking malware campaign that abuses trust in apps and CAPTCHAs, and chat about autonomous pen testing, AI-turbocharged cybercrime, and what CISOs should really be asking on Monday

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38:21

Tinder’s camera roll and the Buffett deepfake

Smashing Security ·

2025/11/13

Tinder has got a plan to rummage through your camera roll, and Warren Buffett keeps popping up in convincing deepfakes dishing "number one investment tips."Meanwhile, will agentic AI replace your co-hosts before you can say "EDR for robots"? and why you should still read books.All this, plus Lily Allen's new album and Claude Code come up for discussion in episode 443 of the "Smashing Security" podcast, with special guest Ron Eddings.EPISODE LINKS:‘Landfall’ spyware abused

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38:43

The hack that messed with time, and rogue ransomware...

Smashing Security ·

2025/11/06

Time itself comes under attack as a state-backed hacking gang spends two years tunnelling toward a nation’s master clock — with chaos potentially only a tick away.Plus when ransomware negotiators turn to the dark side, what could possibly go wrong?All this and more is discussed in episode 442 of the "Smashing Security" podcast with cybersecurity veteran Graham Cluley, and special guest Dave Bittner.EPISODE LINKS:Alleged Meduza Stealer malware admins arrested after hacking Russian org -

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40:54

Inside the mob's million-dollar poker hack, and a...

Smashing Security ·

2025/10/30

Basketball stars have allegedly joined forces with the mafia to fleece high-rollers in a poker scam involving hacked shufflers, covert cameras, and an X-ray card table.Meanwhile, researchers have found they could poke around an FIA driver portal to pull up the personal details of Formula 1 megastars.Plus: Graham’s “Pick of the Week” turns CAPTCHA hell into a delightfully deranged browser game that will make you question vegetables, geometry, and your life choices, while Danny takes a trip to ancient

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44:04

How to hack a prison, and the hidden threat of online...

Smashing Security ·

2025/10/22

A literal insider threat: we head to a Romanian prison where “self-service” web kiosks allowed inmates to run wild. Then we head to the checkout aisle to ask why JavaScript on payment pages went feral, and how new PCI DSS rules are finally muzzling Magecart-style skimmers.Plus: Graham reveals his new-found superpower with Keyboard Maestro, and Scott describes a slick new way to whip up beautiful how-to videos with Screen Studio.All this and more is discussed in episode 440 of "Smashing

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462 results

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