Podcasts

Podcast and Downloads

digital_underground_98.mp3

Dennis Fisher talks with Ryan Naraine and Costin Raiu about the Flashback Mac botnet, why Apple is reluctant to let third parties update software on Macs and the future outlook for the security of Macs.

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chris_soghoian-_part2.mp3

Editor's Note: This is the second of a two-part podcast with independent security researcher Chris Soghoian. Chris Soghoian

In the first part of our podcast with independent security researcher Chris Soghoian, we talked about the way that the proliferation of "free" applications have forced consumers into the position of increasingly trading privacy for access to cool new Web sites and tools. The market, Soghoian argued, has failed to provide choice to consumers who may want to participate in social networks, but don't want their online activities passed along to advertisers.  

In the second half of his interview with Threatpost Editor Paul Roberts, Chris switched focus from consumer protections from advertisers, to the fast-growing market for surveillance products.

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Podcast and Downloads

chris_soghoian-_part1.mp3

Soghoian: Consumers Can't Choose PrivacyEditor's Note: This is the first of a two-part podcast with security researcher Chris Soghoian.

It's a truism that the pace of technological change outstrips society's ability to grasp the impact of that change. For the most part, the consequences of this are benign and the remedies straight-forward --think: "mobile phones ringing in the movie theater." Not infrequently, however, our failure to grasp the true significance of technological innovation can have tragic consequences. There's the Gatling gun during the American Civil War, or the rapid increase in traffic fatalities that came with the adoption of the automobile.

Chris Soghoian, an independent security and privacy researcher, thinks that we're again in a period of extreme, technology-fueled dislocation. The rapid growth of online social networking Web sites and the proliferation of Internet connected, location-aware mobile devices have empowered for-profit firms like Google, Microsoft and Facebook to collect reams of private information and then hand it to advertisers - often just different divisions within the same company. Consumers, Soghoian argues, are stuck with a cornucopia of free applications, but ones that readily collect and then "spew" their personal information, or provide meager privacy features that are spotty and difficult to use.

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Podcast and Downloads

digital_underground_97.mp3

Dennis Fisher talks with Dan Guido, security researcher and CEO of Trail of Bits, about the new company’s plan to help enterprises defend against targeted attacks, the way that attackers think and the value of exploits versus vulnerabilities. They also discuss a new initiative to help share security knowledge more broadly in the community.

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digital_underground_96.mp3

Dennis Fisher talks with Richard Boscovich of the Microsoft Digital Crimes Unit about the operation to take down the Zeus botnet, how the company works with partners and law enforcement on these operations and the importance of getting the word out to consumers about the danger of botnets.

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digital_underground_95.mp3

Dennis Fisher talks with Ryan Naraine about whether exploit mitigations such as ASLR and DEP really make any difference in preventing browser attacks and the seriousness of the MS12-020 RDP vulnerability that was patched during March’s Patch Tuesday release.

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digital_underground_94.mp3

Dennis Fisher talks with Paul Judge of Barracuda Labs about his new project, which uses data on the vendors and products on display at the RSA Conference to determine which topics and technologies are the hottest at the moment.

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chris_wysopal_rsa.mp3

SAN FRANCISCO - Companies that are hoping to catch a ride on the mobile wave should pay close attention to the application development firms they choose to work with, unless they want to be saddled with a buggy and insecure albatross bearing their corporate logo, a leading application security expert warns.

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Podcast and Downloads

digital_underground_93.mp3

Dennis Fisher talks with cryptographer and author Bruce Schneier about his new book, Liars and Outliers, the role of trust in society and security, the ways in which technology helps promote trust and how various groups and actors defect the norm and take advantage of that trust.

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Podcast and Downloads

digital_underground_92.mp3

Dennis Fisher talks with long-lost Threatpost editor Ryan Naraine about the intricacies of the disclosure of the identities of the alleged Koobface gang members, whether we’ll see more of that kind of action and whether the recent trend toward disclosing 0-days in SCADA systems will continue.

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