Episode 183 
In our sweetest update yet, we go from “Jam” to chocolate as we cover all subtle flavors and nuances of IT Privacy and Security.
Then for our second story we have an EU member in trouble with GDPR with what some would call complete disregard for the regulation they helped create.
In the third story of our update we explain the two things you should be aware of as you scroll through TikTok videos.
General Motors has a new lawsuit driven at it after one customer discovered he couldn’t get car insurance because his Cadillac was tattling on him.
In our fifth segment we spill “Top Secret” detail with you that is, frankly, a little over our heads.
And finally we round the update off with a bittersweet story that will have you running out to corner the market after you read it.
This week’s update is sweet like chocolate.

Find the full transcript to this week's podcast here.

Episode 182
This week we take you from credential stuffing to whistle-blowing by way of a bolted horse.
We start with the compromise of your beloved Roku account and no more vivid a lesson on the value of unique passwords.
From there it’s on to closing the barn doors after the horse has bolted with the US’ new report on controls for AI.
Airbnb takes you off camera for your next rental while the EU seems to have gotten caught in their own GDPR trap.
Signal’s new username feature is available now and it takes the application to new heights of privacy and security that no other messaging app comes close to.
Finally we end with the story of a Boeing whistle-blower doffed shortly before he was to give his deposition and how sad Boeing are.
Like a bolted horse, this update is fast and frenetic yet we think you’ll be glad you came along for the ride!

Find the full transcript here.

For this episode we go searching for the needle in the haystack and it appears that someone or something in our fourth story found it!
But we end Q1 with what we end every Q1 with in the US. Taxes. And relief that the already onerous tax prep process that so many have to have buy special software for just to complete, now asks you for permission to sell your data …. and how you can avoid it.
Americans see their privacy eroded at every lamp post, but North of the border in Canada the supreme court passed a bill that increases privacy for every Canadian.
And while we hold our breath and turn blue waiting for Microsoft to fix their zero day vulnerabilities, we apparently have demonstrated an unwitting hospitality to guests visiting from North Korea.
From there it’s AI, and while one finds needles in haystacks, others are generating things that crawl a network in an altogether more unsavory manner.
The U.S. Whitehouse, apparently now a subscriber to our podcast continues to call out the dangers of “Smart” devices. This time it’s cars and the takeaway that has the POTUS calling out a new investigation.
Finally we finish with a device called the ShotSpotter that is turning up in neighbourhoods across the US in high numbers. It doesn’t have a camera attached, but it still has potential to to remove even more of our privacy. Can you guess how?
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This is our best update yet, so grab your metal detectors and let’s hit the hay!

Click here for the full transcript to this podcast.

Episode 180. The IT Privacy and Security Weekly Update Loses the Car for the week ending February 27th., 2024

This week one vendor announced we’d be getting post-Quant encryption for our messages, while another works feverishly to ensure we can find our car when we are done at the supermarket.
We have a discovery at one vending machine that does its tracking while you are snacking.
We shine some new light into nation-state spy versus spy wars.
Then the FTC lets loose on a free antivirus provider that slurped up so much of your data for the last 10 years that it’s making the NSA look amateur.
Following that is a class action lawsuit against a license plate scanning company out in Cali that you can join if your plate been scanned at least 15 times. You’ll want to be sitting when we do the reveal on how many people will be joining you.
This week’s update is all about right and wrong, left and right, and er... “where did you say we parked the car?”

Find the full transcript to this week's podcast here

 This week’s update is our most exciting yet:

Whatever it is, this update fixes it, so come join in the adventure!

Find the full transcript for this podcast here.

It’s that time of year again when love is in the air and this week’s update will be as embracing as a hug from Taylor Swift after a big Super bowl win.
We start with a great misstep story about a hypothetical bot infection of millions of toothbrushes that is sure to leave a glint in your eye and a grin on your face.- click the pic to hear the podcast -As we recover from all the betting ads being hurled at us as US states legalize online betting one by one, we have a story about how the world’s biggest (by volume) casino faltered.
From there we go underground, literally, with a newly released disclosure about real time survelliance that could have those in the world’s 37th largest city running for cover.
Fresh and hot, we deliver an Apple turnover on the right to repair.
Then an update from Google that might make spyware companies like Israel’s NSO group even less popular.
And we finish with something that might have you reminiscing about school days and fake IDs, but this time we add in the artful hand of AI.
You're in the mood, you’ll love this update.

Find the full transcript to this podcast here.

This week we start with your dear Gran.  When’s the last time you called her to see how she was doing?
​After our first update we hope that call will happen within the next day or two.

 From there we move to a model corporate citizen in CloudFlare and discover further repercussion from last year’s Okta Breach and a remote desktop solution that could almost use their breech as a PR exercise.
We are reminded that everyone on that Zoom call might not be as they seem, and find a glorious dip in ransomware payouts that hopefully indicate the new direction of ransomware attacks.
Then... we go dark with a report that has probably crossed all of our minds since the Covid-19 outbreak.
We get some good news for the environment from some joint work between MIT and IBM and we end with what some would call a regulatory imbalance.
From empathy to entropy and back again this week’s update gets the balance right.

For the full transcript to this week's podcast click here.

Episode 176
This week the update gets dialed in:  First via a new spy tool called Patternz then via a photo contest where we share who rates what in the race at the top.
From there we have an update on the “Mother of all breaches”  a newly surfaced collection of over 26 Billion records for you to wonder if you are part of.

It’s onto the the US’ efforts to thwart Chinese hacking within critical US infrastructure before we read  a letter from a US senator to the NSA asking why they are buying up phone data on US Citizens.
Then there is an update about Chat GPT placing random private conversations (including PII) in one users conversation list.
Britain gives us a timeline for the development of AI ransomware and Russia goes dark.  

This week’s update might have you reminiscing about the physical security of an old payphone, but we’ll  get you reconnected.

Find the full transcript to this week's podcast here.

Episode 175
As you were walking home from work did you ever feel like someone was watching you?  In this weeks’ update we tell you why.
We have some disturbing news on a cyber attack where the data from 1 million cancer patients is stolen, and then used to threaten and spam them.
Mandiant discovers a Zero-day attack that could have allowed many businesses like hospitals to be compromised for up to 2 years before a patch was delivered.
Microsoft’s executive suite got hacked by a Russian intelligence agency.
Troy Hunt adds another 71 million emails addresses to his “haveIBeenPwned” database, which means, now is a great time to check and see if your emails are among them.
We finish with stories about a couple of devices that are making the news:  One detects skin cancer using AI and the other seemed to be minting Monero while it cleans your socks.
This week’s IT Privacy and Security Update is full of surprises, but each and every one is delivered to you “Clean and Fresh smelling”!

Find the full transcript to this podcast here.

Episode 174 This week we are pumping, probing, questioning and querying on all fronts. We start with a couple of fan faves from the Consumer Electronics show, but wonder if we’ll get as much use out of them as the V-logging contingent.- click the pic to hear the podcast -From there we siphon out some subtle word-smithing that might mean we are not the only ones left quaking in our boots.
Apple, the company selling us on the importance of privacy, drops another privacy bomb on us.
We tap into supply-side typo that should have everyone in San Francisco more than a little angry at the lack of due care and attention being paid by their judges
The Emmy’s are over yet Reddit pushes out an update about being chased by the movie studios and it doesn’t to want to be caught in this spotlight.
The swell of Quantum computing-proof encryption difficulties continues to grow with another set of vulnerabilities exposed.
And we finish this week with a story about a water pump that “spills” a little more detail from one of the biggest security mysteries in years.
The pace is bumping, the beat is thumping, the stories pumping so let’s get jumping.

Find the full transcript for this podcast here