Smashing Security
Episodes
LinkedIn is spying on you, and you agreed to nothing
08 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
LinkedIn has been secretly scanning your browser for over 6,000 installed extensions — on every single click you make. It can tell if you're job...
This man hid $400 million in a fishing rod. Then it vanished
01 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
A cannabis-growing, beekeeping, gyrocopter-flying Irishman invested his drug money in Bitcoin back in 2011 - and now sits on a fortune worth $400 mill...
Never knock on the door of a nuclear submarine base and ask for a selfie
26 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
A disgruntled data analyst decides that the best response to losing his contract is to steal the entire company payroll database and demand $2.5 milli...
This clever scam nearly hijacked a tech CEO's Apple ID
19 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
In episode 459 of Smashing Security, we dive into a chillingly clever account takeover attempt targeting WordPress co-founder Matt Mullenweg - involvi...
How not to steal $46 million from the US government
12 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
A Wikipedia security engineer accidentally wakes a dormant JavaScript worm that hadn't stirred since 2024 - and within minutes, giant woodpecker i...
How a cybersecurity boss framed his own employee
05 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
When a top cybersecurity firm discovered it had a leak, you would expect the FBI to be called. Instead, the person put in charge of the investigation ...
How to lose friends and DDoS people
26 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
When the mysterious operator of an internet archiving-service decided to silence a curious Finnish blogger, they didn’t just send a stroppy email - ...
Face off: Meta’s Glasses and America’s internet kill switch
19 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Could America turn off Europe's internet?That’s one of the questions that Graham and special guest James Ball will be exploring as they discuss ...
AI was not plotting humanity’s demise. Humans were
12 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
AI bots are having existential crises, inventing religions, and allegedly plotting against humanity... or so the internet would have you believe.We di...
The Epstein Files didn’t hide this hacker very well
05 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Supposedly redacted Jeffrey Epstein files can still reveal exactly who they’re talking about - especially when AI, LinkedIn, and a few biographical ...
The dark web's worst assassins, and Pegasus in the dock
29 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
In episode 452, a London-based YouTuber wins a landmark court case against Saudi Arabia after his phone was hacked with Pegasus spyware — exposing h...
I hacked the government, and your headphones are next
22 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
In episode 451 of "Smashing Security," we meet the cybercriminal who hacked the US Supreme Court, Veterans Affairs, and more - and then helpfu...
From Instagram panic to Grok gone wild
15 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Confusion reigns after claims that data linked to 17.5 million Instagram accounts is up for sale - sparked by a vague post, contradictory statements, ...
How to scam someone in seven days
08 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Romance scammers have apparently discovered astrology... and Taurus is their secret weapon.In episode 449 of "Smashing Security", we take a lo...
The Kindle that got pwned
18 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Think your Kindle is harmless? Think again! In this episode, Graham and special guest Danny Palmer unpack a Black Hat Europe talk revealing how a boob...
Grok the stalker, the Louvre heist, and Microsoft 365 mayhem
11 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
On this week's show we learn that AI really can be a stalker’s best friend, as we explore a strange tale that starts with a manatee-shaped mailb...
A hacker doxxes himself, and social engineering-as-a-service
04 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
A teenage cybercriminal posts a smug screenshot to mock a sextortion scammer... and accidentally hands over the keys to his real-world identity. Meanw...
The hack that brought back the zombie apocalypse
27 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
America's airwaves are haunted by zombies again, as we dig into a decade of broadcasters leaving their hardware open to attack, giving hackers the...
We’re sorry. Wait, did a company actually say that?
20 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Stop the press - a company has actually said "sorry" after a data breach, and hotels are helping hackers phish their own guests.In episode 444...
Tinder’s camera roll and the Buffett deepfake
13 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Tinder has got a plan to rummage through your camera roll, and Warren Buffett keeps popping up in convincing deepfakes dishing "number one investm...
The hack that messed with time, and rogue ransomware negotiators
06 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Time itself comes under attack as a state-backed hacking gang spends two years tunnelling toward a nation’s master clock — with chaos potentially ...
Inside the mob's million-dollar poker hack, and a Formula 1 fumble
30 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Basketball stars have allegedly joined forces with the mafia to fleece high-rollers in a poker scam involving hacked shufflers, covert cameras, and an...
How to hack a prison, and the hidden threat of online checkouts
22 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
A literal insider threat: we head to a Romanian prison where “self-service” web kiosks allowed inmates to run wild. Then we head to the checkout a...
A breach, a burnout, and a bit of Fleetwood Mac
15 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
A critical infrastructure hack hits the headlines - involving default passwords, boasts on Telegram, and a finale that will make a few cyber-crooks wi...
When your mouse turns snitch, and hackers grow a conscience
08 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Your computer's mouse might not be as innocent as it looks - and one ransomware crew has a crisis of conscience that nobody saw coming.We talk abo...
Salesforce's trusted domain of doom
01 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Researchers uncovered a security flaw in Salesforce’s shiny new Agentforce. The vulnerability, dubbed "ForcedLeak", let them smuggle AI-rea...
The €600,000 gold heist, powered by ransomware
24 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Ransomware doesn’t just freeze computers - it can silence alarms too. And when the Natural History Museum in Paris went dark, thieves helped themsel...
Lights! Camera! Hacktion!
17 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
When "bad actors" stop being hackers and start being... actual actors.This week, Graham and special guest Jenny Radcliffe play “Hacker or Ha...
Whopper Hackers, and AI Whoppers
10 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Ever wondered what would happen if Burger King left the keys to the kingdom lying around for anyone to use? Ethical hackers did - and uncovered drive-...
How hackers turned AI into their new henchman
03 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Your AI reads the small print, and that's a problem. This week in episode 433 of "Smashing Security" we dig into LegalPwn - malicious inst...
Oops! I auto-filled my password into a cookie banner
27 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
We unpack how some password managers can be tricked into coughing up your secrets, with a clickjacking sleight-of-hand, what website owners can do to ...
How to mine millions without paying the bill
20 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In episode 431 of the "Smashing Security" podcast, a self-proclaimed crypto-influencer calling himself CP3O thought he had found a shortcut to...
Poisoned Calendar invites, ChatGPT, and Bromide
13 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
A poisoned Google Calendar invite that can hijack your smart home, a man is hospitalised after ChatGPT told him to season his food with… pesticide, ...
Replit panics, and the AI that will kill you
06 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Those of you who tuned in to last week's episode (#428) will have heard the big news from my podcast pal Carole that she's decided to move on ...
Red flags, leaked chats, and a final farewell
30 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The viral women-only dating safety app Tea, built to flag red flags, gets flagged itself - after leaking over 70,000 private images and chat logs. We ...
When 2G attacks, and a romantic road trip goes wrong
23 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, Graham warns why it is high time we said goodbye to 2G - the outdated mobile network being exploited by cybercriminals with suitcase-...
Choo Choo Choose to ignore the vulnerability
16 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In episode 426 of the "Smashing Security" podcast, Graham reveals how you can hijack a train’s brakes from 150 miles away using kit cheaper ...
Call of Duty: From pew-pew to pwned
09 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In episode 425 of "Smashing Security", Graham reveals how "Call of Duty: WWII" has been weaponised - allowing hackers to hijack your e...
Surveillance, spyware, and self-driving snafus
02 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
A Mexican drug cartel spies on the FBI using traffic cameras and spyware — because "ubiquitous technical surveillance” is no longer just for d...
Operation Endgame, deepfakes, and dead slugs
25 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, Graham unravels Operation Endgame - the surprisingly stylish police crackdown that is seizing botnets, mocking malware authors with a...
The curious case of the code copier
18 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
A GCHQ intern forgets the golden rule of spy school — don’t take the secrets home with you — and finds himself swapping Cheltenham for a cell. M...
Toothpick flirts, Google leaks, and ICE ICE scammers
11 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
What do a sleazy nightclub carpet, Google’s gaping privacy hole, and an international student conned by fake ICE agents have in common? This week’...
Fake Susies, flawed systems, and fruity fixes for anxiety
04 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
A bizarre case of political impersonation, where Trump’s top aide Susie Wiles is cloned (digitally, not biologically — we think), and high-ranking...
Star Wars, the CIA, and a WhatsApp malware mirage
28 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Why is a cute Star Wars fan website now redirecting to the CIA? How come Cambodia has become the world's hotspot for scam call centres? And can ...
Grid failures, Instagram scams, and Legal Aid leaks
21 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this week’s episode, Graham investigates the mysterious Iberian Peninsula blackout (aliens? toaster? cyberattack?), Carole dives in the UK legal ...
Hello, Pervert! - Sextortion scams and Discord disasters
14 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Don't get duped, doxxed, or drained! In this episode of "Smashing Security" we dive into the creepy world of sextortion scams, and investi...
High street hacks, and Disney's Wingdings woe
07 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Brits face empty shelves and suspended meal deals as cybercriminals hit major high street retailers, and a terminated Disney employee gets revenge wit...
Hacking hijinks at the hospital, and WASPI scams
30 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
He's not a pop star, but Jeffrey Bowie is alleged to have toured staff areas of a hospital in Oklahoma, hunting for computers he could install spy...
Zoom.. just one click and your data goes boom!
23 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Graham explores how the Elusive Comet cybercrime gang are using a sneaky trick of stealing your cryptocurrency via an innocent-appearing Zoom call, an...
Hacking the hackers... with a credit card?
16 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
A cybersecurity firm is buying access to underground crime forums to gather intelligence. Does that seem daft to you?And over in Nigeria, even if rom...
Signalgate sucks, and the quandary of quishing
09 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
QR codes are being weaponised by scammers — so maybe think twice before scanning that parking meter. And in a blunder so dumb it makes autocorrect l...
The fall of Troy, and whisky barrel scammers
02 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Renowned cybersecurity expert Troy Hunt falls victim to a phishing attack, resulting in the exposure of thousands of subscriber details, and don't...
Unleash the AI bot army against the scammers - now!
26 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
A YouTuber has unleashed an innovative AI bot army to disrupt and outwit the world of online scammers, and a New York Times investigation looks into t...
Peeping perverts and FBI phone calls
19 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In episode 409 of the "Smashing Security" podcast, we uncover the curious case of the Chinese cyber-attack on Littleton's Electric Light C...
A gag order backfires, and a snail mail ransom demand
12 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
What happens when a healthcare giant’s legal threats ignite a Streisand Effect wildfire… while a ransomware gang appears to ditch the dark web for...
HP's hold music, and human trafficking
05 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Journey with us to Myanmar's shadowy scam factories, where trafficked workers are forced to run romance-baiting and fake tech support scams, and f...
History's biggest heist just happened, and online abuse
26 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
We explore how the cryptocurrency exchange Bybit has been hacked to the jaw-dropping tune of $1.5 billion, and we look at what is being done to better...
A crypto con exchange, and soaring ticket scams
19 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
From shadowy Bitcoin exchanges to Interpol’s most wanted, Alexander Vinnik was the alleged kingpin behind BTC-e, a $4bn crypto laundering empire. Le...
Podcast not found
12 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The story of how hackers managed to compromise the US Government's official SEC Twitter account to boost the price of Bitcoins, AI isn't helpi...
Coinbase crypto heists, QR codes, and ransomware in the classroom
05 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In episode 403 of "Smashing Security" we dive into the mystery of $65 million vanishing from Coinbase users faster than J-Lo slipped into Grah...
Hackers get hacked, the British Museum IT shutdown, and social media kidnaps
29 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
What happens when eager computer enthusiasts unknowingly download a trojanized hacking tool and find themselves on the wrong side of cybersecurity? A...
Hacks on the high seas, and how your home can be stolen under your nose
22 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
An Italian hacker makes the grade and ends up in choppy waters, and hear true stories of title deed transfer scams.All this and more is discussed in t...
Hacker games, AI travel surveillance, and 25 years of IoT
15 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The video game Path of Exile 2 suffers a security breach, we explore the issues of using predictive algorithms in travel surveillance systems, and the...
Honey in hot water, and reset your devices
08 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Ever wonder how those "free" browser extensions that promise to save you money actually work? We dive deep into the controversial world of Ho...
Fake CAPTCHAs, Harmageddon, and Krispy Kreme
18 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
This week, we delve into the dark world of fake CAPTCHAs designed to hijack your computer. Plus, the AI safety clock is ticking down – is doomsday c...
Snowflake hackers, and under the influence
11 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
A Canadian man is arrested in relation to the Snowflake hacks from earlier this year - after a cybersecurity researcher managed to track his identity,...
Dishy DDoS dramas, and mining our minds for data
04 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
A CEO is arrested for turning satellite receivers into DDoS attack weapons, and we journey into the world of bossware and "affective computing"...
Gym hacking, disappearing DNA, and a social lockout
27 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
A Kansas City man is accused of hacking into local businesses, not to steal money, but to... get a cheaper gym membership? A DNA-testing firm has vani...
Digital arrest scams and stream-jacking
20 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In our latest episode we discuss how a woman hid under the bed after scammers told her she was under "digital arrest", how hackers are hijacki...
Who needs a laptop to hack when you have a Firestick?
13 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Arion Kurtaj, a teenager from the UK, amassed a fortune through audacious cybercrimes. From stealing Grand Theft Auto 6 secrets to erasing Brazil'...
Pasta spies and private eyes, and are you applying for a ghost job?
06 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Mamma Mia! A major hacking scandal in Italy has expanded to include alleged involvement from Israel and the Vatican, and just why are companies advert...
The secret Strava service, deepfakes, and crocodiles
30 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In this week's episode your hosts practice standing on one leg, Carole gives Graham a deepfake quiz, and we investigate how Strava may be exposing...
When security firms get hacked, and your new North Korean remote worker
23 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The SolarWinds have returned to haunt four cybersecurity companies who tried to hide their breaches and ended up with their trousers around their ankl...
WordPress vs WP Engine, and the Internet Archive is down
16 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
WordPress's emperor, Matt Mullenweg, demands a hefty tribute from WP Engine, and a battle erupts, leaving millions of websites hanging in the bala...
Vacuum cleaner voyeur, and pepperoni pact blocks payout
09 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Join us as we delve into the world of unexpected security breaches and legal loopholes, where your robot vacuum cleaner might be spying on you, and or...
Breaches in your genes, and Kaspersky switcheroo raises a red flag
02 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
From family tree to jail cell? A hacker is alleged to have exploited information on genealogy websites to steal millions from public companies. Meanw...
The $230 million crypto handbag heist, and misinformation on social media
25 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Two men are accused of stealing almost a quarter of a billion dollars from one person's cryptocurrency wallet, but why on earth would they be hand...
TFL security derailed, and is Trump the king of crypto?
18 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Transport for London (TfL) suffers a cybersecurity incident and tells its 30,000 staff they will all have to their identities verified... in-person. ...
A room with a view, AI music shenanigans, and a cocaine bear
11 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
It's a case of algorithm and blues as we look into an AI music scam, Ukraine believes it has caught a spy high in the sky, and a cocaine-fuelled b...
The Godfather club, and AirTags to the rescue
04 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
There's a whole new dating scam that could mean you end up out of pocket (or beaten up) after a first date with a glamorous admirer, and a woman i...
Smashing Security presents The AI Fix: An AI cookery dumpster fire, the ARC prize, and a creepy new AI friend
05 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
While "Smashing Security" is on its summer holiday, here's a chance to listen to an episode of its sister show - "The AI Fix".In e...
CrowdStrike, Dark Wire, and the Paris Olympics
24 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Computers blue-screen-of-death around the world! The Paris Olympics is at risk of attack! And the FBI pull off the biggest sting operation in history ...
Trump assassination conspiracies, Squarespace account hijacks, and the butt stops here
17 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Social media fuels conspiracies galore after Donald Trump is shot at a rally, cryptocurrency websites are hijacked after a screw-up at Squarespace, an...
Teachers TikTok targeted, and fraud in the doctors’ waiting room
10 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Execs at a health tech startup are sentenced to jail after a massive ad fraud, and a school is shaken after teachers are targeted via TikTok.All this ...
Private nights, evil twins, and crypto home invasions
03 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Apps can let you spy on strangers in bars, a gang of cryptocurrency thieves turns to kidnap and assault, and have you joined the mile-high evil twin c...
Julian Assange, inside a DDoS attack, and deepfake traumas
26 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Wikileaks's Julian Assange is a free man, deepfakes cause trouble in the playground, and we hear hot takes about ransomware and tales from inside ...
An unhealthy data dump, railway surveillance, and a cheater sues Apple
19 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
There's a wee data breach with unhealthy implications in Scotland, privacy has gone off the rails in the UK, and a cheater blames Apple for his ex...
iOS 18 for cheaters, and a model cop extortionist?
12 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Apple announces a new privacy feature in iOS that will allow you to hide and lock away your apps - but will it be philanderers who benefit the most? ...
Crashing robo-taxis, and name-dropping rappers
05 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Drones, some coloured cardboard, and a piece of tinfoil may be all the kit you need to crash a robot-driven taxi, and a rapper is accused of using Jus...
Microsoft’s Recall controversy, and the North Korean insider threat
29 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Microsoft gets itself into a pickle with a privacy-popping new feature on its CoPilot+ PCs, the FTC warns of impersonated companies, and is your compa...
iPhone undeleted photos, and stealing Scarlett Johansson’s voice
22 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
iPhone photos come back from the dead! Scarlett Johansson sounds upset about GPT-4o, and there's a cockup involving celebrity fakes.All this and m...
The fake deepfake, and Estate insecurity
15 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Remember when a US mother was accused of distributing explicit deepfake photos and videos to try to get her teenage daughter's cheerleading rivals...
Unmasking LockBitsupp, company extortion, and a Tinder fraudster
08 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The kingpin of the LockBit ransomware is named and sanctioned, a cybersecurity consultant is charged with a $1.5 million extortion, and a romance frau...
The closed loop conundrum, default passwords, and Baby Reindeer
01 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The UK Government takes aim at IoT devices shipping with weak or default passwords, a man spends two years incarcerated after being mistaken for the p...
Keeping the lights on after a ransomware attack
24 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Leicester City Council suffers a crippling ransomware attack, and a massive data breach, but is it out of the dark yet? And as election fever hits Ind...
Gary Barlow, and a scam turns deadly
17 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Take That's Gary Barlow chats up a pizza-slinging granny from Essex via Facebook, or does he? And a scam takes a sinister turn - for both the per...
WhatsApp at Westminster, unhealthy AI, and Drew Barrymore
10 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
MPs aren't just getting excited about an upcoming election, but also the fruity WhatsApp messages they're receiving, can we trust AI with our ...
Money-making bots, and Incognito isn’t private
03 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Google says it is deleting your Google Chrome Incognito private-browsing data that it should never have collected anyway. Can a zero-risk millionaire-...
Hacking hotels, Google’s AI goof, and cyberflashing
27 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Security researchers find a way to unlock millions of hotel rooms, the UK introduces cyberflashing laws, and Google's AI search pushes malware and...
Bing pop-up wars, and the British Library ransomware scandal
20 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
There's a Bing ding dong, after Microsoft (over?) enthusiastically encourages Chrome users to stop using Google, and silence hits the British Libr...