Podcast Episodes

800 arrests, 40 tons of drugs, and one backdoor, or what a phone startup gave the FBI, with Joseph Cox

Season 5 Episode 12

This is a story about how the FBI got everything it wanted.

For decades, law enforcement and intelligence agencies across the world have lamented the availability of modern technology that allows susp…

Published on 1 year, 6 months ago

Your vacation, reservations, and online dates, now chosen by AI

Season 5 Episode 11

The irrigation of the internet is coming.

For decades, we’ve accessed the internet much like how we, so long ago, accessed water—by traveling to it. We connected (quite literally), we logged on, and w…

Published on 1 year, 6 months ago

"No social media 'til 16," and other fixes for a teen mental health crisis, with Dr. Jean Twenge

Season 5 Episode 10

You’ve likely felt it: The dull pull downwards of a smartphone scroll. The “five more minutes” just before bed. The sleep still there after waking. The edges of your calm slowly fraying.

After more th…

Published on 1 year, 7 months ago

Picking fights and gaining rights, with Justin Brookman

Season 5 Episode 9

Our Lock and Code host, David Ruiz, has a bit of an apology to make:

“Sorry for all the depressing episodes.”

When the Lock and Code podcast explored online harassment and abuse this year, our guest pr…

Published on 1 year, 7 months ago

Porn panic imperils privacy online, with Alec Muffett (re-air)

Season 5 Episode 8

A digital form of protest could become the go-to response for the world’s largest porn website as it faces increased regulations: Not letting people access the site.

In March, PornHub blocked access t…

Published on 1 year, 8 months ago

Securing your home network is long, tiresome, and entirely worth it, with Carey Parker

Season 5 Episode 7

Few words apply as broadly to the public—yet mean as little—as “home network security.”

For many, a “home network” is an amorphous thing. It exists somewhere between a router, a modem, an outlet, and …

Published on 1 year, 8 months ago

Going viral shouldn't lead to bomb threats, with Leigh Honeywell

Season 5 Episode 6

A disappointing meal at a restaurant. An ugly breakup between two partners. A popular TV show that kills off a beloved, main character.

In a perfect world, these are irritations and moments of vulnera…

Published on 1 year, 9 months ago

How to make a fake ID online, with Joseph Cox

Season 5 Episode 5

For decades, fake IDs had roughly three purposes: Buying booze before legally allowed, getting into age-restricted clubs, and, we can only assume, completing nation-state spycraft for embedded inform…

Published on 1 year, 9 months ago

If only you had to worry about malware, with Jason Haddix

Season 5 Episode 4

If your IT and security teams think malware is bad, wait until they learn about everything else.

In 2024, the modern cyberattack is a segmented, prolonged, and professional effort, in which specialist…

Published on 1 year, 10 months ago

Bruce Schneier predicts a future of AI-powered mass spying

Season 5 Episode 3

If the internet helped create the era of mass surveillance, then artificial intelligence will bring about an era of mass spying.

That’s the latest prediction from noted cryptographer and computer secu…

Published on 1 year, 10 months ago