Episode 173

This week we need some space, man.

We start with phones and cellphone towers in low Earth orbit, then we move on to one of the most intriguing iPhone compromises we’ve ever heard andwe have heard plenty. Who is behind this one? That’s for you to decide.
From there we learn about a Mandiant account hijack (wait aren’t they one of the most elite security companies? Weren’t they the second most expensive company that Google ever purchased?)
Then we have a section of the update for slow learners, and we promise it’s not this audience!
Then it's: “why we need to patch our Windows machines” before a story about catching a pest that finds a new home every Sunday.
We end with an update that is good enough to be out of the Jetsons.
This is the best IT Privacy and Security Update so far this year! We love it and we know you will too!

Episode 172
This week we focus on our amazing kids. From the effect the phone we send them off with “to keep them safe” has, to an amazing 13 year old crushing a 34 year old arcade game. We even end with advice from a Nobel prize winner about what you might not want to study.
From, the kids, we turn to Apple and what is going on between them and the world’s biggest democracy. We then follow Apple to a researcher who thinks he has found the perfect way to keep Apple Air tags from being used for tracking people.
We get an update on the failure of the open source GPL (General Public License) and what one key figure thinks could replace it.
The Google gets some bad news as it is denied a request to have a court case thrown out and then some great news on the safety record of it’s Waymo subsidiary.
It’s a new dawn, it’s a new day it’s a new life… and we’re feeling good!

Find a full transcript of this podcast here.

If you missed getting that special someone that special gift, we have more solid ideas for you this week: A concept jet engine and the source code for Grand Theft Auto 5 as possible suggestions.
We get some insight on why the compromise of your personally identifiable information is not something to take lightly as well as the world coming to realize that you can build a nuclear program on someone else blockchain.- click on the pic to hear the podcast - We get some great insight on just how easy it is to trick ChatGPT into divulging it’s training data.
Then the US government slaps a 5 year ban on Rite Aid for using facial recognition software, just as the UK is sneaking a country wide integration into place.
We end this week with something so basic a child could figure it out. And did. Leaving television content producers to catch up from behind.
This brings us to the end of a year that has profoundly changed the course of humankind, from the decimation of animal species, to the environment, to each other. Let’s all learn from 2023 and make 2024 so much better. Come on! It’s boxing day and time to reveal your last gift.

Episode 171 Find the full transcript to this week's podcast here.

Episode 170​
Our first few stories present some unique gifting ideas. Who needs another Rolex when you can give “large”?

We get new breach reporting requirements from the US’ SEC and China’s MIIT. Wait, what is this, a competition?
In that same vein, we get something less than super from Mr. Cooper.
After a court ruling that you cannot be forced to reveal your phone pin, there’s great news from Google about a change to your location data.
And we finish up this update in front of a crackling fire.
Quick, get the eggnog, we’ll go get a cat, and let's settle in comfortably for this week's update!

Find the transcript for this week's podcast here

Episode 169
This week we hang up the phone with a couple of definitive stories, the first coming from a huge US phone company and the last a Dutch phone company that is ripping the title of “The phone to be seen with” out of the hands of Apple, Google and Samsung.

Second in our stories this week is a blatant example from the UK of an individual in the public sector courting the private sector.
In at story three is yet another US healthcare provider getting breached.
Then we find Apple commissioning a report about data breaches and ransomware while at the same time crippling an app that delivered their secure iMessages to Android.
We have a creepy move by Google to potentially provide context to your interactions with their bots by feeding them your photo data.
And we bring Microsoft into the mix with a story about how their Active Directory could end up delivering what it shouldn’t to a certain type of query.
There’s only one way to stop that ringing in your ear. Let’s pick up the phone!

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

Episode 168
It seemed excessive, but you agreed on the rent and even though it’s “way more” than you wanted to pay, you manage, until you read our first story.
Facebook published their quarterly adversarial threat report, and they say that one country is firing up “way more” fake accounts to influence your opinion than just about anyone.

asso Security says they discovered “way more” API tokens exposed related to AI models and datasets from one AI community than they’d expected.
We got initial numbers and a couple of revisions that are “way more” related to breaches from 23andMe and Okta.
There’s concealment, compromise and danger as we learn “way more” about the UK’s Sellafield Nuclear Power Plant.
Finally, ”way more” exposure and a judge’s opinion that Amazon may be responsible.
The plain truth is this week’s update gives you “way more”!

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

Episode 167

This week we start with the dollar bill ranking of the top US Universities for earnings potential
We then throw some light on a global disappearing act, first the presenters and then a whole developer conference. This is one you have to hear to believe!

From there, in our third story, it’s a thumbs down for the security that fingerprint reader on your laptop is delivering.
In at four is a new agreement between the US, UK and a dozen countries pitched at making AI safer.
From there it’s hot water, and wait, one martial artist’s company that seems to be soaking in it.
We get a “better late than never” from “Down under” in the fight on cyber crime and finally for our last story, an Internet of Things thing that you’re spending a third of your life on that may be sharing more about you than you want.
This week’s update is all over the place and all over the world, but you get it served up fresh right here!
​Dig in!

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

Episode 166
This week we have a revelation related to a world famous someone who has managed to avoid arrest through the careful application of privacy. We reveal how that may now be at an end.

We share how a phone manufacturer who promised to bring Apple’s iMessage to Android ended up with “Nothing”
From there a new revelation about how the US Government is using our phones to compromise our privacy (again) and then a really cool must see result from a dev who integrated his computer and camera into GPT-4V and an AI voice and got his own nature program.
Then it’s on to how kids in school can protect themselves against accusations of cheating with AI, and why it’s wrong for schools to be trusting bad software over their students.
From there we find a group that has done more damage trying to do the right thing than if they did nothing at all.
Finally, we have a new use case for blockchain that might be to blockchain what killer apps were to PCs.
We are coming up to Thanksgiving in the US and so we are giving thanks for all our readers and listeners. You keep the drive and the passion flowing.  Subscribe to the podcast, share us with your colleagues and friends. “Thank you”.

​Now, let’s get this party started!

Episode 165

This week we let the cat out of the bag with the FTCs probe into one databroker’s dealings.
We follow with our second update that has a cat on a hot tin roof … of your car and just what the automobile manufacturers are collecting from you that is available to the police, but not you.

For story three we swing the cat ‘round to the EU to find out a bit more about QWACs, while in Australia we put the cat among the pigeons of one telecom provider with an update and a request that had a judge decide they didn’t have a cat in hell’s chance.
In at story five is what happened to the cool cats over at Open AI right after their first developer conference.
We look at a couple things the cat dragged in one affecting older older bitcoin wallets and the other particular Python packages.
And we end with the cats meow of an update to a great communications app.
The cat got the cream but we’ve got an even tastier menu in this week’s dishy update

Episode 164

This week we let you know why you feel so great after staying up all night with us.
For our second story, we move into one of the world’s most prestigious resorts only to get no sleep because of its leaks.
Our third update covers the blackout of about 31% of the Australian mobile market.
In at number four is the nightmare of just how easily a study found it to be to obtain Sensitive Personally Identifiable Information (SPII) on the US Military.
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At five news updates on Apple: malware, Macbreaks and Massive tracking devices.
Then we move onto the screen actors guild staying very much awake on the point of not releasing the rights to an actors likeness in perpetuity.
Finally we close out with a story that allows no shut eye: the intense appetite to string all camera feeds together that started in one town and has caught on like a rash.
This week we’re chasing the sun with a collection of global stories that ensure there will always be sunshine on this update! Let’s go!

Find the full transcript to this weeks' podcast here.