Security Now

Could banning VPNs really become law in the US? This episode breaks down the jaw-dropping legislation in Wisconsin and Michigan that targets VPN access for everyone, not just kids—and what it means for your digital privacy. The EU finally comes to its “Chat Control” senses. Windows 11 to include SysInternals Sysmon natively. Chrome’s tabs (optionally) go vertical. The Pentagon begins its investment in warfare AI. Members of the military are being doxed by social media. A look inside the futility of trying to corral AI. The surprising lack of WhatsApp user privacy. Exactly what happened last week to Cloudflare? Britain (over)reacts to the Jaguar Land Rover incident. Project: Hail Mary’s second trailer released. US state legislatures want to ban VPNs altogether Show Notes – https://www.grc.com/sn/SN-1053-Notes.pdf Hosts: Steve Gibson and Leo Laporte Download or subscribe to Security Now at https://twit.tv/shows/security-now. You can submit a question to Security Now at the GRC Feedback Page. 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. Join Club TWiT for Ad-Free Podcasts! Support what you love and get ad-free shows, a members-only Discord, and behind-the-scenes access. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit Sponsors: bigid.com/securitynow zscaler.com/security Melissa.com/twit hoxhunt.com/securitynow 1password.com/securitynow

Think your cell phone is safe from tracking? Steve reveals how global networks let anyone pinpoint your location—no hacking required and no malware involved. Apple introduces a new Digital ID inside Wallet. Checkout.com refuses to pay a ransom demand. Google announces “Private AI Compute” in the cloud. Google backpedals on their “devs must register” demand. Win11 added a Passkeys API which 1Password & Bitwarden support. Russia tracks SIM card appearances to thwart drone usage. Google sues Chinese Phishing as a Service platform. Lots of interesting listener feedback. Global cellphone tracking is alive, well, malware free and a distressingly common commercial enterprise Show Notes – https://www.grc.com/sn/SN-1052-Notes.pdf Hosts: Steve Gibson and Leo Laporte Download or subscribe to Security Now at https://twit.tv/shows/security-now. You can submit a question to Security Now at the GRC Feedback Page. 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. Join Club TWiT for Ad-Free Podcasts! Support what you love and get ad-free shows, a members-only Discord, and behind-the-scenes access. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit Sponsors: threatlocker.com for Security Now bigid.com/securitynow veeam.com bitwarden.com/twit joindeleteme.com/twit promo code TWIT

Amazon is taking Perplexity AI to court over its agentic browser that shops on your behalf, raising urgent questions about who controls your online buying experience when bots do the heavy lifting. FFmpeg teaching assembly language for performance. The state of Nevada recovers after not paying ransom. A “rounding error” nets a clever attacker $128 million. Why would Chrome decide to start form-filling driver’s licenses. The UK’s six major telecom providers to block number spoofing. XSLT support being removed from browsers. Will anyone notice. Firefox introduced paid support options for organizations. Russia continues to fight against non-Russian Internet. Google acquires another Internet security company (Wiz). The EU to finally fix their cookie permission mistake. More countries drop Microsoft office for open choices. More countries question and examine Chinese made buses. Microsoft discovers some information leakage from LLMs. What does Amazon’s lawsuit against Perplexity’s agents mean for next-generation browsers Show Notes – https://www.grc.com/sn/SN-1051-Notes.pdf Hosts: Steve Gibson and Leo Laporte Download or subscribe to Security Now at https://twit.tv/shows/security-now. You can submit a question to Security Now at the GRC Feedback Page. 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. Join Club TWiT for Ad-Free Podcasts! Support what you love and get ad-free shows, a members-only Discord, and behind-the-scenes access. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit Sponsors: veeam.com hoxhunt.com/securitynow zscaler.com/security zapier.com/securitynow vanta.com/SECURITYNOW

AI-powered web browsers are hitting the scene fast, but Steve and Leo unpack why these smart assistants could usher in an era of security chaos most users aren’t ready for. Brace yourself for the wild risks, real-world scams, and the privacy questions no one else is asking. Secret radios discovered in Chinese-made busses. Edge & Chrome introduce LLM-based “scareware” blocking. A perfect example of what scareware blocking hopes to prevent. Aardvark: OpenAI’s new vulnerability scanner for code. Italy to require age verification from 48 specific sites. Russia to require the use of only Russian software within Russia. Russia further clamping down on non-MAX Telegram and WhatsApp messaging. 187 new malicious NPM packages. Could AI help with that? BadCandy malware has infiltrated Australian Cisco routers. Github’s 2025 report with the dominance of TypeScript. Windows 11 gets new extra-secure Admin Protection feature. A bunch of interesting feedback and listener thoughts. And why the new AI-driven web browsers may be bringing a whole new world of hurt Show Notes – https://www.grc.com/sn/SN-1050-Notes.pdf Hosts: Steve Gibson and Leo Laporte Download or subscribe to Security Now at https://twit.tv/shows/security-now. You can submit a question to Security Now at the GRC Feedback Page. 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. Join Club TWiT for Ad-Free Podcasts! Support what you love and get ad-free shows, a members-only Discord, and behind-the-scenes access. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit Sponsors: bitwarden.com/twit joindeleteme.com/twit promo code TWIT canary.tools/twit – use code: TWIT bigid.com/securitynow threatlocker.com for Security Now

Just when you thought DNS cache poisoning was a thing of the past, Steve and Leo reveal why this 17-year-old bug is making a dramatic comeback—and why most DNS resolvers still can’t manage high-quality random numbers after all this time. The unsuspected sucking power of a Linux-based robot vacuum. Russia to follow China’s vulnerability reporting laws. A pair of Scattered Spider UK teen hackers arrested. Facebook,Instagram and TikTok violating the EU’s DSA. Microsoft Teams bringing user WiFi tracking bypolicy. You backed up. That’s great. Did you test that backup? Coveware reports all-time lowransomware payment rate. Ransomware negotiator reports how the bad guys get in. Lots of listener thoughts and feedback about NIST passwords. And against all reason and begging credulity, it seems we still haven’t managed to put high-quality random number generators into our DNS resolvers. Show Notes – https://www.grc.com/sn/SN-1049-Notes.pdf Hosts: Steve Gibson and Leo Laporte Download or subscribe to Security Now at https://twit.tv/shows/security-now. You can submit a question to Security Now at the GRC Feedback Page. 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. Join Club TWiT for Ad-Free Podcasts! Support what you love and get ad-free shows, a members-only Discord, and behind-the-scenes access. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit Sponsors: hoxhunt.com/securitynow zapier.com/securitynow 1password.com/securitynow veeam.com zscaler.com/security

Think your mouse is harmless? Steve and Leo uncover how modern optical mice might be secretly “listening” in, and reveal why satellite data pouring down on us is almost entirely unsecured. The long awaited lawsuit to block Texas SB2420. Embattled Texas SB2420 also impacts Google Play. At long last, NIST modernizes their password policy. Scattered LAPSUS$ Hunters demise was exaggerated. China claims that the NSA has been hacking them. Half of all geosynchronous satellite traffic is unencrypted. The AWS outage highlights the rising risk of Internet monoculture. A terrific collection of listener feedback and… Could your PC’s mousehave much bigger ears than you know? https://www.grc.com/sn/SN-1048-Notes.pdf Hosts: Steve Gibson and Leo Laporte Download or subscribe to Security Now at https://twit.tv/shows/security-now. You can submit a question to Security Now at the GRC Feedback Page. 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. Join Club TWiT for Ad-Free Podcasts! Support what you love and get ad-free shows, a members-only Discord, and behind-the-scenes access. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit Sponsors: Melissa.com/twit hoxhunt.com/securitynow threatlocker.com for Security Now joindeleteme.com/twit promo code TWIT bitwarden.com/twit

Texas is on the brink of forcing Apple and Google to overhaul app downloads with strict age verification laws—are tech giants ready, or is your privacy about to get caught in the crossfire? The EU aborted their Chat Control vote knowing it would fail. Salesforce says it’s not going to pay; customer data is released. Hackers claim Discord breach netted 70,000 government IDs. Microsoft to move Github to Azure. What could possibly go wrong. New California law allows universal data sharing opt-out. OpenAI reports that it’s blocking foreign abuse. Who cares. IE Mode refuses to die, so Microsoft is burying it deeper. The massive mess created by Texas legislation SB2420. The BreachForums website gets a makeover. 100,000 strong global botnet attacking U.S. RDP services. UI experts weigh in on Apple’s iOS 26 user-interface. 330,000 publicly exposed REDIS servers are RCE-vulnerable Show Notes – https://www.grc.com/sn/SN-1047-Notes.pdf Hosts: Steve Gibson and Leo Laporte Download or subscribe to Security Now at https://twit.tv/shows/security-now. You can submit a question to Security Now at the GRC Feedback Page. 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. Join Club TWiT for Ad-Free Podcasts! Support what you love and get ad-free shows, a members-only Discord, and behind-the-scenes access. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit Sponsors: zscaler.com/security expressvpn.com/securitynow vanta.com/SECURITYNOW canary.tools/twit – use code: TWIT bigid.com/securitynow

Google’s new demand for developer registration could spell the end for open-source app stores, while Europe’s controversial chat control vote threatens privacy for everyone—Steve and Leo break down what’s at stake for devs and users alike. Qantas says no one can releak their stolen data. Brave’s usage is up. But is it really 3 times faster. Next Tuesday the EU votes on “Chat Control”. Microsoft formally launches a “Security Store”. Outlook moves to block JavaScript in SVG’s. A new release of Chrome. Gmail will no longer pull external email via POP. Googe Drive starts blocking ransomware encryptions. The UK issues another order to Apple. Researchers create a “Battering RAM” attack device. HackerOne’s significant bug bounty payouts. The Imgur service goes dark across the UK. Guess why. The Netherlands plans to say NO to “Chat Control.” Discord was breached and government IDs leaked. Salesforce says it’s not another new breach. Signal introduces a new post-quantum ratchet. Your motherboard MIGHT support TPM 2.0. Google to force Android app devs to register and pay Show Notes – https://www.grc.com/sn/SN-1046-Notes.pdf Hosts: Steve Gibson and Leo Laporte Download or subscribe to Security Now at https://twit.tv/shows/security-now. You can submit a question to Security Now at the GRC Feedback Page. 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. Join Club TWiT for Ad-Free Podcasts! Support what you love and get ad-free shows, a members-only Discord, and behind-the-scenes access. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit Sponsors: threatlocker.com for Security Now joindeleteme.com/twit promo code TWIT hoxhunt.com/securitynow bitwarden.com/twit veeam.com

Cisco’s routers just exposed more than two million networks thanks to a “security optional” SNMP setup that’s being actively exploited—Steve and Leo break down why this is a worst-case scenario for the industry and how easily it could have been avoided. Gmail’s spam filtering false-positive spree. iOS 26’s Safari randomizes its fingerprint by default. Cisco’s SNMP stands for “Security Not My Problem”. Windows’ “stuck” Extended Security Updates (ESU). Europe complains, gets 1-year of ESU with no strings. Where to get $6 TLS certs (really) while they last. The lessons to learn from Jaguar Land Rover’s mess. The NEON app: get paid to have your voice recorded. Bluesky’s age verification, now coming to Ohio. What is “Kids Web Services” for age verification. More than 10K Ollama instances publicly exposed. GRC’s DNS Benchmark reaches “release candidate” Show Notes – https://www.grc.com/sn/SN-1045-Notes.pdf Hosts: Steve Gibson and Leo Laporte Download or subscribe to Security Now at https://twit.tv/shows/security-now. You can submit a question to Security Now at the GRC Feedback Page. 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. Join Club TWiT for Ad-Free Podcasts! Support what you love and get ad-free shows, a members-only Discord, and behind-the-scenes access. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit Sponsors: vanta.com/SECURITYNOW 1password.com/securitynow Melissa.com/twit threatlocker.com/twit zapier.com/twit

Consumer Reports on Windows 10 updates. Waste (not fraud or abuse) within DoD Cyberoperations. China’s DeepSeek produces deliberately flawed code. WebAssembly v3.0 officially released. Firefox v143 updates and new features. Firefox for Android now offers DoH. A nearly terminal flaw in Microsoft’s Entra ID. Chrome hits its 6th 0-day this year. Emergency update. DRAM (now DDR5) still vulnerable to RowHammer. SAMSUNG kitchen refrigerators begin showing ads. China says no to NVIDIA. 300 more (new) NPM maliciouspackages found and removed. The EU is already testing proper online age verification. Show Notes – https://www.grc.com/sn/SN-1044-Notes.pdf Hosts: Steve Gibson and Leo Laporte Download or subscribe to Security Now at https://twit.tv/shows/security-now. You can submit a question to Security Now at the GRC Feedback Page. 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. Join Club TWiT for Ad-Free Podcasts! Support what you love and get ad-free shows, a members-only Discord, and behind-the-scenes access. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit Sponsors: bigid.com/securitynow go.acronis.com/twit zscaler.com/security 1password.com/securitynow hoxhunt.com/securitynow