This podcast episode, "Decoded: The Cybersecurity Podcast," explains reverse shells, a method for attackers to gain remote control of a compromised computer. It details how these shells bypass firewalls by having the target initiate a connection back to the attacker's listener. The episode covers the anatomy of both the listener and the malicious payloads used to establish this connection, providing examples using tools like Netcat and Metasploit, as well as different scripting languages. Real-world attack scenarios illustrating the use of reverse shells in web vulnerabilities, phishing, and misconfigured services are presented. Finally, the episode outlines detection and defense strategies for security teams, including monitoring outbound traffic and employing endpoint security solutions.