August 29, 2023

Security Now 937: The Man in the Middle

2 hours 9 minutes

Picture of the Week: Steve shares a funny "what we say vs what we mean" image about tech support conversations.

WinRAR v6.23 fixes: Steve explains that updating to the latest WinRAR is more important than initially thought, with two critical vulnerabilities being actively exploited by hackers since April to install malware.

HTTPS for local networks: Responding to listener email, Steve agrees HTTP is fine for local network devices like routers but notes risks in larger corporate networks.

Portable domains for email: Steve endorses a listener suggestion to purchase your own domain and use third-party services, retaining control if a provider shuts down.

Google Topics and monopolies: Steve and Leo debate whether Topics favors large advertisers with greater reach to get user targeting data.

Voyager 2 antenna analysis: A listener calculates the antenna beam width mathematically, showing 2 degrees off-axis may not be as remarkable as it sounded.

Windows time settings: Steve clarifies the STS issue does not impact end users changing Windows clock settings, it's enterprise server-side.

Unix time in TLS handshakes: The hosts discuss why Unix time stamps are sent but not required for TLS, tracing back to early nonce generation.

Fake flash drives: Steve warns of a slew of fake high-capacity thumb drives flooding the market, explaining how SpinRite tests detected the flaw.

Man-in-the-middle attacks: While agreeing HTTPS helps prevent malicious injection, Steve examines MITM attack practicality, arguing they are difficult for hackers to pull off.

Show Notes - https://www.grc.com/sn/SN-937-Notes.pdf

Hosts: Steve Gibson and Leo Laporte

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For 16kbps versions, transcripts, and notes (including fixes), visit Steve's site: grc.com, also the home of the best disk maintenance and recovery utility ever written Spinrite 6.

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