Security Now

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

Sponsors:

• canary.tools/twit - use code: TWIT
• joindeleteme.com/twit promo code TWIT
• meter.com/securitynow
• zscaler.com/security
• hoxhunt.com/securitynow

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
• hoxhunt.com/securitynow
• trustedtech.team/securitynowCSS
• guardsquare.com

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
• 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