In Episode 33 of IT SPARC Cast, John and Lou tackle the rising tension between global tech suppliers and national security concerns—starting with TP-Link’s efforts to unlink from its Chinese roots to stay in the U.S. market. They also explore how AI is powering a nuclear energy renaissance, dig into Doom’s most absurd collector’s edition yet, and reflect on Zoom’s rare outage. In the CVE of the Week, they sound the alarm on a terrifying new cyber threat: drones as digital attack vectors. The future of cybercrime is airborne—and it’s closer than you think.

Show Notes

00:00 - Intro

News Bytes

01:20 - TP-Link’s Future in the US Amid China Scrutiny

•TP-LINK co-founder relocates to California, pledging $700M investment and U.S. citizenship

•Lou and John debate: Can trust be rebuilt after suspicions of state-sponsored espionage?

•Echoes of TikTok’s regulatory battles

•https://slashdot.org/story/25/04/11/2050255/wi-fi-giant-tp-links-us-future-hinges-on-its-claimed-split-from-china 

08:08 - AI Meets Nuclear Power

•Oak Ridge National Lab unveils AI-driven digital twin system to optimize reactor design

•Fusion of machine learning with energy infrastructure to meet AI’s energy demands

•John draws parallels to using AI digital twins in enterprise networks

•https://www.wsj.com/articles/nuclear-power-is-back-and-this-time-ai-can-help-manage-the-reactors-5ce03ae7?mod=tech_feat1_ai_pos3 

15:41 - Doom’s ‘Will It Run’ Collector’s Edition

•Yes, the box runs Doom—because of course it does

•Limited to 666 units at $666.66 each, complete with cassette soundtracks and a Doom-playing cacodemon

•https://games.slashdot.org/story/25/04/16/0038222/limited-edition-of-doom-includes-game-box-that-itself-plays-doom 

19:04 - Zoom Restores Service After an Hours-Long Outage

•A rare ~2 hour outage makes headlines

•Highlights growing reliance on real-time communication tools in the age of remote work

•https://techcrunch.com/2025/04/16/zoom-restores-service-after-an-hours-long-outage/ 

22:57 - CVE of the Week - Drones Are The Future of Cybercrime

•Inspired by military tactics, commercial drones are now being weaponized in digital warfare

•A U.S. financial firm was targeted using a drone carrying a Wi-Fi Pineapple to spoof access points and intercept data

•Van Eck phreaking, electromagnetic emissions, and aerial man-in-the-middle attacks are no longer theoretical

•Lou and John stress the need for RF monitoring and proactive countermeasures—even rooftop surveillance

•https://www.computerworld.com/article/3958458/drones-are-the-future-of-cybercrime.html 

32:05 - Wrap Up

•Feedback and topic suggestions always welcome

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•X: @itsparccast

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