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.

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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:

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• meter.com/securitynow
• bitwarden.com/twit
• material.security
• guardsquare.com

Can AI really write malware better than hackers ever could? This episode exposes the first real-world case of advanced, fully AI-generated malware and why it signals a seismic shift in cybersecurity risk.

• CISA's uncertain future remains quite worrisome.
• Worrisome is Ireland's new "lawful" interception law.
• The EU's Digital Rights organization pushes back.
• Microsoft acknowledges it turns over user encryption keys.
• Alex Neihaus on AI enterprise usage dangers.
• Gavin confesses he put a database on the Internet.
• Worries about a massive podcast rewinding backlog.
• What does the emergence of AI-generated malware portend?

Show Note - https://www.grc.com/sn/SN-1062-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:

• hoxhunt.com/securitynow
• trustedtech.team/securitynow365
• zscaler.com/security

Soaring RAM prices are about to hit your security gear where it hurts, and the fallout could change what's protecting your network. Find out who's about to pay and why the AI gold rush is reshaping more than just your server specs.

• RAM pricing to affect enterprise firewall equipment.
• Anthropic provides sizeable support to Python Foundation.
• The FTC clamps down on GM's secret sale of driving data.
• "ANCHOR" replaces "CIPAC" for industry-government sharing.
• Germany planning to legislate total access to global data.
• Grubhub becomes the latest ShinyHunters extortion victim.
• Let's Encrypt's 6-Day certs are available to everyone.
• Iran planning to permanently take itself off the Internet.
• HD Tune before and after a SpinRite Level 3 refresh.
• Some great listener feedback, and
• More trouble from GhostPoster malicious browser extensions

Show Notes - https://www.grc.com/sn/SN-1061-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
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• joindeleteme.com/twit promo code TWIT

Why are code signing certificates suddenly so expensive, short-lived, and tangled in red tape? Leo Laporte and Steve Gibson dig into Microsoft's "three-day certificates," the hidden costs for developers, and the security tradeoffs no one saw coming.

• A look at Microsoft's Azure cloud code signing.
• California implements DROP, global data broker opt-out.
• Where's the town of "Whata Bod" Idaho.
• iOS built-in Mail app worked itself out of a job.
• A 30-minute tutorial for non-coders about AI coding.
• Claude Code appears to be winning over the AI coding world.
• Various listener musings on code signing.
• A bit of Magnesium feedback.
• What use are 3-day code signing certs?

Show Notes - https://www.grc.com/sn/SN-1060-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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• hoxhunt.com/securitynow

Why are code signing certificates suddenly getting shorter, pricier, and more restrictive? Steve Gibson and Leo Laporte expose the "cabal" rewriting the rules for everyone who builds software—and what it means for your security and your wallet.

• Code-signing certificate lifetimes shortened by two years.
• Sadly, ChatGPT is heading toward an advertising profit model.
• The Python Package Index is strengthening its security.
• BitLocker gets hardware acceleration, but not today.
• New York City's mayoral inauguration banned Raspberry Pi's.
• An astonishingly good British time travel series.
• A critical link between Vitamin D and Magnesium.
• A look inside the very bad MongoBleed vulnerability

Show Notes - https://www.grc.com/sn/SN-1059-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:

• meter.com/securitynow
• threatlocker.com/twit
• material.security
• bitwarden.com/twit

In this special holiday episode, Steve Gibson and Leo Laporte revisit their classic conversation about vitamin D—diving into the science, surprising updates, and practical tips for your health. Whether you've heard it before or are tuning in for the first time, this "blast from the past" is the perfect way to kick off 2026 with wisdom, laughs, and a little bit of eggnog recovery.

Read more at https://www.grc.com/health

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

What if your smart TV and Firefox extensions were secretly hijacking your security and privacy? This episode reveals the jaw-dropping discovery of a massive TV botnet and the surprisingly clever malware lurking behind innocent browser icons.

• North Korea's profitable fixation on cryptocurrency.
• Amazon uncovers a cryptomining sneaking into customer clouds.
• Insecure Docker API servers are also hosting cryptominers.
• A new and truly massive SmartTV-based botnet discovery.
• DNS Benchmark's 4th release.
• Who, besides Let's Encrypt, offers free automated certs.
• Some interesting listener feedback.
• And how a PNG Icon was used to infect 50,000 Firefox users

Show Notes - https://www.grc.com/sn/SN-1057-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

Sponsor:

• zscaler.com/security