Firewalls Don't Stop Dragons Podcast

Available Episodes

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Slay Browser Ads Forever
Google's Chrome browser is rolling out changes that will hamstring ad blockers - so there's never been a better time to try a better browser. There are a handful of good options, but I'm going to recommend that you try Firefox with a fantastic ad blocker called uBlock Origin. If you've never tried this powerful combination, you won't believe what you've been missing. In other news: the UK scrubs all encryption advice from government sites; Signal's CEO threatens to leave Sweden over backdoor demands; UK private health services hit by Medusa ransomware; Australian IVF provider has patient data stolen; Brazil gives Apple 90 days to allow side loading of apps; millions of Android TVs hijacked by a botnet; Qualcomm and Google team up to offer 8 years of Android updates; Google rolls out AI voice call scam detector; and confusion over Trump admin orders regarding Russia cyber threats. Article Links [techcrunch.com] UK quietly scrubs encryption advice from government websites https://techcrunch.com/2025/03/06/uk-quietly-scrubs-encryption-advice-from-government-websites/ [swedenherald.com] Signal's CEO: Then We're Leaving Sweden https://swedenherald.com/article/signals-ceo-then-were-leaving-sweden [theregister.com] Medusa ransomware gang demands $2M from UK private health services provider https://www.theregister.com/2025/02/20/medusa_hcrg_ransomware/ [techcrunch.com] Hackers publish sensitive patient data allegedly stolen from Australian IVF provider Genea https://techcrunch.com/2025/02/26/hackers-publish-sensitive-patient-data-allegedly-stolen-from-australian-ivf-provider-genea/ [9to5mac.com] Brazilian court gives Apple 90 days to allow sideloading on iOS https://9to5mac.com/2025/03/06/brazilian-court-apple-sideloading-ios/ [tomsguide.com] Millions of Android TVs hijacked in massive botnet https://www.tomsguide.com/computing/online-security/millions-of-android-tvs-hijacked-in-massive-botnet-how-to-see-if-yours-is-at-risk [arstechnica.com] Qualcomm and Google team up to offer 8 years of Android updates https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2025/02/qualcomm-and-google-team-up-to-offer-8-years-of-android-updates/ [The Hacker News] Google Rolls Out AI Scam Detection for Android to Combat Conversational Fraud https://thehackernews.com/2025/03/google-rolls-out-ai-scam-detection-for.html [zetter-zeroday.com] Did Trump Admin Order U.S. Cyber Command and CISA to Stand Down on Russia? https://www.zetter-zeroday.com/did-trump-admin-order-u-s-cyber-command-and-cisa-to-stand-down-on-russia/ [theregister.com] uBlock Origin dead for many as Google purges Manifest v2 extensions https://www.theregister.com/2025/02/24/google_v2_eol_v3_rollout/ Tip of the Week: Slay Browser Ads: https://firewallsdontstopdragons.com/dragon-hacks-slay-browser-ads/ Further Info My book: https://fdsd.me/book My newsletter: https://fdsd.me/newsletter Support our mission! https://fdsd.me/support Check out my dragon challenge coin: https://fdsd.me/coin2 Give the gift of privacy and security: https://fdsd.me/coupons Recommend news stories: send to news [at] firewallsdontstopdragons.com Send me your questions! https://fdsd.me/qna Get your Firewalls Don’t Stop Dragons Merch! https://fdsd.me/merch Table of Contents Use these timestamps to jump to a particular section of the show. 0:00:07: Intro 0:00:26: Update your Android devices 0:00:47: News rundown 0:02:50: UK quietly scrubs encryption advice from government websites 0:08:45: Signal's CEO: Then We're Leaving Sweden 0:11:01: Medusa ransomware gang hits UK health services provider 0:15:32: Hackers publish patient data allegedly from Australian IVF provider 0:19:13: Brazilian court gives Apple 90 days to allow sideloading on iOS 0:22:32: Millions of Android TVs hijacked in massive botnet 0:32:17: Qualcomm and Google offer 8 years of Android updates 0:39:18: Google Rolls Out AI Scam Detection for Android
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1:07:31
Back to The L0pht
Today, we travel back in time and back to The L0pht with one of the original founders of L0pht Heavy Industries, Weld Pond (aka Chris Wysopal). We'll talk about how hacker culture has impacted modern technology, cybersecurity practices and digital rights, while sprinkling in some classic and hilarious stories from hacker history by someone who lived them. Interview Notes Veracode: https://www.veracode.com/ L0pht.com: https://l0pht.com/ L0pht Congressional testimony 1998: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VVJldn_MmMY DEF CON 26 reunion panel: https://archive.org/details/youtube-noE4o-roAWM MIT Lockpicking guide: https://archive.org/details/mit-guide-to-lock-picking-v05/mode/2up The Open Organisation Of Lockpickers (TOOOL): https://toool.us/ 2600: https://www.2600.com/ Classic engineering references: https://bitsavers.org/ Further Info Send me your questions! https://fdsd.me/qna Check out my book, Firewalls Don’t Stop Dragons: https://fdsd.me/book Subscribe to the newsletter: https://fdsd.me/newsletter Become a patron! https://www.patreon.com/FirewallsDontStopDragons Get your Firewalls Don’t Stop Dragons Merch! https://fdsd.me/merch Give the gift of privacy and security: https://fdsd.me/coupons Support our mission! https://fdsd.me/support Generate secure passphrases! https://d20key.com/#/ Table of Contents Use these timestamps to jump to a particular section of the show. 0:00:16: intro 0:00:40: Interview setup 0:03:19: How did you come to be in The L0pht? 0:08:36: How did meeting in real life as well as online affect L0pht's dynamics? 0:09:34: How did you find so much free and adandoned computer hardware? 0:13:44: How did you manage to just drive your van in the NSA parking lot? 0:19:20: What has been the lasting impact of your Congressional testimony in 1998? 0:21:45: How did you come to invite cyber czar Richard Clarke to The L0pht? 0:27:17: How have hackers pushed back against overreach from corporations? 0:36:05: Why are lockpicking and computer hacking so closely related? 0:40:55: Is it easier or harder to be a hacker today versus when you started? 0:45:56: Are we still fighing the Crypto Wars of the 90s? Are we winning? 0:51:17: Are there any glaring misconceptions about The L0pht you'd like to fix? 0:55:16: Where are The L0pht folks now and what are they up to? 0:57:51: Interview wrap-up 1:00:59: Patron bonus preview 1:01:35: Looking ahead
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1:03:21
Onion Routing
Not all Privacy Enhancing Technologies are new - but this one is probably new to you. Onion routing was developing in the 1990's by the US government and is the basis for the Tor Network. Onion routing does one thing very well: it masks your actual IP address. While you can use a VPN for this purpose, onion routing adds a different layer of anonymity - and it's just a cool technology. Today I'll explain how it works, how to use it, and the pros and cons of doing so. In other news: Bitly is leveraging its URL-shortening empire to monetize your links; a major car company is experimenting with in-car pop up ads; a cautionary tale about law enforcement's access to private phone data; Russian spies are using a clever new phishing technique to gain access to Microsoft 365 accounts; Apple pulls its Advanced Data Protection feature from the UK market in response to demands to 'backdoor' its encryption; and whatever your political beliefs, the chaos and careless changes made by the DOGE group are seriously undermining national security. Article Links [tedium.co] Broken Bits https://tedium.co/2025/02/07/bitly-terms-of-service-change/ [techstory.in] Stellantis Introduces Pop-Up Ads in Vehicles, Sparking Outrage Among Owners https://techstory.in/stellantis-introduces-pop-up-ads-in-vehicles-sparking-outrage-among-owners/ [arstechnica.com] No warrant or crimes—but Oregon woman’s nudes were shared after illegal phone search https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2025/02/no-warrant-or-crimes-but-oregon-womans-nudes-were-shared-after-illegal-phone-search/ [arstechnica.com] Russian spies use device code phishing to hijack Microsoft accounts https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2025/02/russian-spies-use-device-code-phishing-to-hijack-microsoft-accounts/ [bbc.com] Apple pulls data protection tool after UK government security row https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cgj54eq4vejo [schneier.com] DOGE as a National Cyberattack https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2025/02/doge-as-a-national.html Tip of the Week: How Onion Routing Works: https://firewallsdontstopdragons.com/how-onion-routing-works/ Further Info Safe link shortener: https://kutt.it/ Read before using the Tor Browser: https://www.privacyguides.org/en/tor/ Tor Browser: https://www.torproject.org/download/ Onion sites that don’t suck: https://github.com/neilzone/onion-sites-that-dont-suck My book: https://fdsd.me/book My newsletter: https://fdsd.me/newsletter Support our mission! https://fdsd.me/support Give the gift of privacy and security: https://fdsd.me/coupons Recommend news stories: send to news [at] firewallsdontstopdragons.com Send me your questions! https://fdsd.me/qna Get your Firewalls Don’t Stop Dragons Merch! https://fdsd.me/merch Table of Contents Use these timestamps to jump to a particular section of the show. 0:00:07: News preview 0:02:19: Broken Bits 0:13:50: Stellantis Introduces Pop-Up Ads in Vehicles 0:20:28: Oregon woman’s nudes were shared after illegal phone search 0:28:03: Russian spies use device code phishing to hijack Microsoft accounts 0:35:07: Apple pulls data protection tool after UK government security row 0:45:58: DOGE as a National Cyberattack 0:59:54: Tip of the Week: Onion Routing 1:11:53: Wrap-up
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1:13:45
Security Planner
Generic security advice is good, but tailored advice is much better. Everyone's situation is a little different. What are you trying to protect? Who or what are you trying to protect it from? What are the consequences of failure? This is called threat modeling. And thankfully, the wonderful folks at Consumer Reports have a free, easy-to-use Security Planner tool that will help anyone do this assessment and provide custom solutions. My guest today is Yael Grauer, who will help us understand how to think about our security and how the CR tool can help you protect your data and devices. Interview Notes Consumer Reports Security Planner tool: https://securityplanner.consumerreports.org/ Yael’s website: https://yaelwrites.com/ Big Ass Data Broker Opt Out List (BADBOOL): https://github.com/yaelwrites/Big-Ass-Data-Broker-Opt-Out-List Consumer Reports advocacy: https://advocacy.consumerreports.org/ CR’s Digital Standard: https://thedigitalstandard.org/ CR’s Consumer Readiness Report 2024 (PDF): https://innovation.consumerreports.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/2024-Consumer-Cyber-Readiness-Report.pdf How to choose a PIN code: https://firewallsdontstopdragons.com/how-to-choose-a-pin/ Further Info Send me your questions! https://fdsd.me/qna Check out my book, Firewalls Don’t Stop Dragons: https://fdsd.me/book Subscribe to the newsletter: https://fdsd.me/newsletter Become a patron! https://www.patreon.com/FirewallsDontStopDragons Get your Firewalls Don’t Stop Dragons Merch! https://fdsd.me/merch Give the gift of privacy and security: https://fdsd.me/coupons Support our mission! https://fdsd.me/support Generate secure passphrases! https://d20key.com/#/ Table of Contents Use these timestamps to jump to a particular section of the show. 0:00:07: Intro 0:01:07: Interview setup 0:02:35: Yael introduction 0:04:19: What questions should we answer to get useful security advice? 0:06:41: How does Security Planner work? 0:08:03: How does Security Planner tailor its suggestions? 0:10:58: How do you decide what the most important factors are for security? 0:15:11: What might trigger me to re-run this tool and get a fresh report? 0:17:18: How does Consumer Reports research its recommendations? 0:19:59: How does CR vet the products and services that it recommends? 0:23:18: How do you weight things like convenience and ease of use? 0:27:34: Is it okay to make people pay for basic security features? 0:35:08: What role should government play in pushing for better security? 0:36:55: How important is transparency for driving better security? 0:39:15: What did the CR Cyber Readiness survey reveal? 0:43:22: Why do we choose bad passwords? 0:45:55: Why don't companies provider better support for security problems? 0:51:39: What's next for you and CR? How do we get updates? 0:53:43: Interview wrap-up 0:56:20: Patron bonus content preview 0:57:06: Looking ahead
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58:34
Crypto Wars 2.0
Privacy is a human right - and you don't have to justify rights, you just have them. That's kinda the whole point. But you do need to exercise them and defend them sometimes. It has been leaked that the UK is telling Apple to reveal the encrypted data of every single one of their users to the UK government under the auspices of the Investigatory Powers Act (and its recent controversial Amendment). This would be a privacy and security disaster, and we were not even supposed to know about it. In other news: Netgear warns of serious router bugs (so update your firmware now); DeepSeek AI app has serious security and privacy problems, but the AI model has real promise in other ways; AngelSense personal customer data exposed; Cybercrime groups exploit 7-Zip app flaws to bypass Windows protections; some clever Mac and iOS malware making the rounds; new Android Identity Check feature released, and I introduce some Privacy Enhancing Technologies. Article Links [Bleeping Computer] Netgear warns users to patch critical WiFi router vulnerabilities https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/netgear-warns-users-to-patch-critical-wifi-router-vulnerabilities/ [krebsonsecurity.com] Experts Flag Security, Privacy Risks in DeepSeek AI App https://krebsonsecurity.com/2025/02/experts-flag-security-privacy-risks-in-deepseek-ai-app/ [techcrunch.com] AngelSense exposed location data and personal information of tracked users https://techcrunch.com/2025/01/30/angelsense-exposed-location-data-and-personal-information-of-tracked-users/ [The Hacker News] Russian Cybercrime Groups Exploiting 7-Zip Flaw to Bypass Windows MotW Protections https://thehackernews.com/2025/02/russian-cybercrime-groups-exploiting-7.html [appleinsider.com] New macOS malware disguises itself as Chrome & Zoom installers https://appleinsider.com/articles/25/02/04/new-macos-malware-disguises-itself-as-chrome-zoom-installers [macrumors.com] Apple Removed Apps Infested With Screen Reading Malware https://www.macrumors.com/2025/02/06/apple-removed-screen-reading-malware-apps/ [Bleeping Computer] New Android Identity Check locks settings outside trusted locations https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/new-android-identity-check-locks-settings-outside-trusted-locations/ [theverge.com] Apple ordered to open encrypted user accounts globally to UK spying https://www.theverge.com/news/608145/apple-uk-icloud-encrypted-backups-spying-snoopers-charter Tip of the Week: https://firewallsdontstopdragons.com/privacy-enhancing-technologies-pet/ Further Info Securing your router: https://firewallsdontstopdragons.com/secure-your-network-4-remediate/ Objective-See tools: https://objective-see.org/ Recommend news stories: send to news [at] firewallsdontstopdragons.com Check out my book, Firewalls Don’t Stop Dragons: https://fdsd.me/book Subscribe to the newsletter: https://fdsd.me/newsletter Become a patron! https://www.patreon.com/FirewallsDontStopDragons Get your Firewalls Don’t Stop Dragons Merch! https://fdsd.me/merch Give the gift of privacy and security: https://fdsd.me/coupons Support our mission! https://fdsd.me/support Generate secure passphrases! https://d20key.com/#/ Table of Contents Use these timestamps to jump to a particular section of the show. 0:00:06: Intro 0:00:20: Tax scams, ID.me 0:02:54: News preview 0:05:01: Netgear router vulnerabilities 0:08:17: DeepSeek AI has security problems, but also shows promise 0:19:36: AngelSense exposed personal information of tracked users 0:26:23: Russian Cybercrime Groups Exploiting 7-Zip Flaw 0:35:44: macOS stealer malware disguises itself as fake installer 0:42:30: New Apple malware uses OCR to mine secrets 0:46:00: New Android Identity Check locks settings outside trusted locations 0:49:10: Apple ordered to open encrypted user accounts globally to UK spying 1:04:56: Tip of the Week: Privacy Enhancing Technologi...
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1:08:30