Meta quietly ditches encryption for Instagram chats while TikTok also backpedals on privacy, shaking up assumptions about how much big tech really values your secrets. Meanwhile, Steve Gibson reveals why CISA's free government security scans are an absolute must for businesses—plus what he learned when GRC took the plunge.

• The Security Now "Caption That Photo" contest.
• A mega social media company says "no" to strong encryption.
• WhatsApp to give parents more control,
• Consumer bandwidth proxying is becoming a big deal.
• Meta buys the Moltbook duo.
• The EU gives up and settles upon the status quo.
• When a ransomware negotiation is not what it seems.
• CISA compels federal agencies to submit their logs.
• Is that a VPN in your pocket or something more malicious.
• Be careful what you download, thinking it's AI.
• A super-clever and super-simple A/V scanner bypass.
• Will AI write code for me?
• Another listener discovers the Joy of AI.
• Steve's CISA Internet scanning experience

Show Notes - https://www.grc.com/sn/SN-1070-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.

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Think your online alias keeps you safe? This episode reveals how advanced language models are making it trivial to de-anonymize users at scale, challenging everything we thought we knew about internet privacy.

• Anthropic & Mozilla improve Firefox's security.
• Apple & Google begin testing cross-platform RCS encryption.
• Ubuntu's SUDO starts echoing asterisks.
• Inviting a web proxy into your home.
• Apple devices cleared by Germany for NATO's use.
• A serious remote takeover of OpenClaw.
• TokTok won't encrypt messaging for visibility.
• Microsoft bans the term "Microslop" on Discord.
• Lot's of great listener feedback.
• LLMs could make Orwell's 1984 seem optimistic.

Show Notes - https://www.grc.com/sn/SN-1069-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.

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Steve Gibson and Leo Laporte host a special episode of Security Now live from ThreatLocker's Zero Trust World 2026 in Orlando, Florida.

The final frontier of security is internal. Today, we have the tools, techniques and technologies to thwart attacks originating from outside our perimeter. We're now good at protecting our borders. But major high profile breaches occurring over the past several years have revealed that insufficient attention has been given to the security of our internal systems and networks. Today's greatest security weaknesses result from decades of system design, deployment and policy that have placed far too much trust on the conduct of those on the inside, behind our borders. Whether deliberate, inadvertent, or externally penetrating, the greatest challenge we now face is that of designing and deploying our internal security with strict adherence to the principles of least privilege and zero trust.

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.

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A crafty new breed of social engineering attack is tricking users into launching malware straight from their clipboard, exposing a fresh vulnerability in Windows that even tech pros could fall for. Leo Laporte and Steve Gibson break down how the latest ClickFix and CrashFix exploits are outsmarting traditional defenses.

• The lowdown on last week's "no turn" picture of the week.
• Is an AI-driven hacking campaign a big deal now.
• Clause used in multiple Mexican government attacks.
• Apple continues to be confronted with age restrictions.
• COPPA needs an exception to allow age collection.
• Meta swamps law enforcement with AI-slop CSAM reports.
• Roskomnadzor has been busy blocking VPNs. Guess how many.
• The UK tries to report their self-scanning success.
• Remember that hacker who extorted the psychotherapy patients.
• Scattered Lapsus$ Hunters is actively recruiting women.
• Cisco lands another breathtakingly rare 10.0 CVSS.
• VulnCheck's report on 2025 vulnerabilities and exploits.
• Steve discovers a fabulous $72 Hardware Security Module.
• A listener shares an interesting AI service discovery.
• The very potent "ClickFix" exploit evolves

Show Notes - https://www.grc.com/sn/SN-1067-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.

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ETH Zurich's deep-dive into the world's top password managers exposes how feature overload and legacy design obscure real security flaws, forcing a rethink of what "zero knowledge" actually means for your vault. Learn why recent fixes matter—and why open source may be your safest bet.

• CA's warn us to urgently prepare for the inevitable.
• Three U.S. states attempt to ban 3D printed firearms.
• Denied ransom, ShinyHunters leaks 967,000 personal details.
• "Billions" of U.S. social security numbers leaked.
• Is Apple planning to add cameras to three new gadgets.
• No more security fixes for Firefox on Windows 7 & 8.
• Russia blocks the official Linux kernel site they need.
• Will the U.S."freedom.gov" site post EU blocked content.
• LLM's will offer secure passwords. Do Not Use Them.
• As predicted, the "ClickFix" attack strategy takes over.
• A listener believes his computer is compromised.
• How could three popular password managers get things wrong.

Show Notes - https://www.grc.com/sn/SN-1066-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!
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• material.security

How secure are your Chrome extensions and certificate signings really? This episode pulls back the curtain on a massive spyware discovery and exposes the convoluted hoops developers must jump through to prove their identity in 2026.

• Websites can place high demands upon limited CPU resources.
• Microsoft appears to back away from its security commitment.
• What's Windows 11 26H1 and where do I get it.
• Chrome 145 brings Device Bound Session Credentials.
• More countries are moving to ban underage social media use.
• The return of Roskomnadzor.
• Discord to require proof of adulthood for adult content.
• Might you still be using WinRAR 7.12 -- I was.
• Paragon's Graphite can definitely spy on all instant messaging.
• 30 malicious Chrome Extensions.
• 287 Chrome extensions from spying on 37.4 million users.
• The first malicious Outlook add-in steals 4000 user's credentials.
• Some AI "vibe" coding thoughts.
• What I just went through to obtain a new code signing certificate

Show Notes - https://www.grc.com/sn/SN-1065-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 audio and video feeds, a members-only Discord, and exclusive content. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit

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• canary.tools/twit - use code: TWIT
• joindeleteme.com/twit promo code TWIT
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From EU fines that never get paid to cyber warfare grounding missiles mid-battle, this week's episode uncovers the untold stories and real-world consequences shaping today's digital defenses.

• How is the EU's GDPR fine collection going.
• Western democracies are getting serious about offensive cybercrime.
• The powerful cyber component of the Midnight Hammer operation.
• Signs of psychological dependence upon OpenAI's GPT-4o chatbot.
• CISA orders government agencies to unplug end-of-support devices.
• How to keep Windows from annoying us after an upgrade.
• What is OpenClaw, how safe is it to use, what does it mean.
• Another listener uses AI to completely code an app.
• Coinbase suffers another insider breach. What can be done

Show Notes - https://www.grc.com/sn/SN-1064-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 audio and video feeds, a members-only Discord, and exclusive content. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit

Sponsors:

• zscaler.com/security
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When a popular antivirus and even Notepad++ turn into infection vectors after supply chain breaches, it's clear no software is safe from attack—or from its own update system. Steve and Leo unpack the risks hiding right inside your next auto-update.

• An anti-virus system infects its own users.
• Apple's next iOS release "fuzzes" cellular locations.
• cURL discontinues bug bounties under bogus AI flood.
• AI discovers and fixes 15 CVE-worthy 0-days in OpenSSL.
• Ireland did NOT already pass their spying legislation.
• AI irreversibly deletes all project files. Says it's sorry.
• Windows has a serious global clipboard security problem.
• ISPs have the ability to monetize their subscriber's identities.
• MongoDB has lowered the hacking skill level bar to the floor

Show Notes - https://www.grc.com/sn/SN-1063-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 audio and video feeds, a members-only Discord, and exclusive content. Join today: https://twit.tv/clubtwit

Sponsors:

• threatlocker.com/twit
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• material.security
• guardsquare.com