How to lose friends and DDoS people

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 went out the window.

Plus a ransomware gang shoots itself in the foot with a classic case of buffoonery, accidentally corrupting the very keys victims would need to decrypt their data. When even the criminals can’t unlock your files, what happens next?

All this, a surprisingly zen Pick of the Week, and a gloriously splenetic rant against web forms, on episode 456 of the award-winning "Smashing Security" podcast, with cybersecurity veteran Graham Cluley and special guest Paul Ducklin.

EPISODE LINKS:

This App Will Detect People Wearing Smart Glasses Near You - Lifehacker.
Patients listed as dead after major NZ health app MediMap hacked - 1News.
Why fake AI videos of UK urban decline are taking over social media - BBC News.
FBI orders domain registrar to reveal who runs mysterious Archive.is site - Ars Technica.
Archive.today CAPTCHA page executes DDoS; Wikipedia considers banning site - Ars Technica.
Archive.today is directing a DDOS attack against my blog - Gyrovague.
Critical buffer overflow bug - in ESXi ransomware - SolCyber.
Yoga with Adriene - YouTube.
Smashing Security merchandise (t-shirts, mugs, stickers and stuff)

SPONSORS:

Coreview - Download "Total Tenant Takeover", a white paper about the Microsoft 365 Disaster No One Is Ready For.
Vanta - Expand the scope of your security program with market-leading compliance automation… while saving time and money. Smashing Security listeners get $1000 off!
ThreatLocker - Start your free trial and book a demo of ThreatLocker today to see how you can implement Zero Trust in your environment.

SUPPORT THE SHOW:

Tell your friends and colleagues about “Smashing Security”, and leave us a review on Apple Podcasts or Podchaser.

Become a supporter! Join Smashing Security PLUS via Patreon or Apple Podcasts for ad-free episodes on our early-release feed!

FOLLOW THE SHOW:

THANKS:

Theme tune: "Vinyl Memories" by Mikael Manvelyan.

Assorted sound effects: AudioBlocks.

Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Tämä jakso on lisätty Podme-palveluun avoimen RSS-syötteen kautta eikä se ole Podmen omaa tuotantoa. Siksi jakso saattaa sisältää mainontaa.

Jaksot(492)

How Jared Kushner's iPhone was allegedly hacked twice

Dutch spies, Russian hackers and Jared Kushner’s iPhone. It sounds like the ingredients for a thriller, but according to claims in a new book the US President's son-in-law may have been hacked twice. ...

29 Loka 1h 2min

How a brand new crypto wallet came with a spy inside

Imagine buying a brand new hardware wallet for your cryptocurrency with the shrink-wrap still on... what could possibly be hiding inside? We break out a Geiger counter and a cat to find out.Meanwhile,...

21 Loka 1h 2min

How a ransomware negotiator ended up arrested at his own conference

A ransomware negotiator attended a cybersecurity conference, only to be arrested by the FBI in connection with its investigation into the ShinyHunters gang.Meanwhile, hackers get the keys to ASOS's ap...

14 Loka 52min

Clippy's crypto comeback

Microsoft's Twitter account, with its 13 million followers, was hijacked by a paperclip. There was no ransomware or data theft, just Clippy, a dodgy crypto coin, and a corporate apology that wasn't fr...

7 Loka 58min

Vibe-coded shops, and hackable Flock cameras

A store in Auckland vibe-coded itself a new website. Within hours, its inventory had somehow expanded to include a pair of crusty socks, an $850 banana, and all of New Zealand's national parks. What c...

23 Syys 40min

These researchers got drunk to hack an LG TV

Researchers wanted to test if LG's smart TVs come with any security risks - but their lawyers noticed a snag: the terms and conditions would forbid it. So they came up with a solution. They got plaste...

16 Syys 1h 2min

How websites are tracking you with silence

When a chap called Matt noticed his Bluetooth headphones wouldn't switch to his phone, he was surprised to realise the reason was a single AliExpress webpage sitting open in his browser - playing noth...

9 Syys 45min

This AI helps thieves steal your iPhone

You've had your iPhone stolen. A day later, you get a text from Apple saying they've found it, and a very helpful woman called Alice from Apple Support calls to walk you through recovering it. She's p...

2 Syys 44min