Firewalls Don't Stop Dragons Podcast

Carey Parker
  • 5.0 (2)
  • Technology
  • Every two weeks

A Podcast on Computer Security & Privacy for Non-Techies

  1. 3 days ago

    We Can Do This

    With the 500th podcast and America’s 250th anniversary approaching, I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about how we can be better digital neighbors and digital citizens. We’re all in this together. Your security and privacy overlaps the security and privacy of many others. It’s important to improve our own situation, but we need to also realize that failing to do so can put others at risk who may be more vulnerable and have more to lose that we do. In the news: massive Fortinet breach; feds recover activists’ Signal messages; Visa partners with ChatGPT for agentic purchases; Anthropic models banned for export; US shortens cyber fix window to 3 days; EPIC endorses two new privacy bills; Canada’s spy agency hacks devices to clean out botnet; nearly half of LG smart TVs apps contain proxy SDKs; EFF calls out Amazon for shady Android devices containing proxies. Article Links Massive breach spills credentials for thousands of sensitive networks: https://arstechnica.com/security/2026/06/massive-breach-spills-credentials-for-thousands-of-sensitive-networks How Did the Feds Get Into Anti-ICE Activists’ Signal Messages?: https://theintercept.com/2026/06/17/signal-messages-minneapolis-ice-protests Visa plugs its payment network into ChatGPT, letting AI agents shop and pay for users: https://apnews.com/article/visa-chatgpt-openai-shopping-mastercard-d769dec86344cb4977c98789e8ec492f The Fable 5 Export Controls Harm US Cyber Defense: https://www.lutasecurity.com/post/the-fable-5-export-controls-harm-us-cyber-defense US shortens cyber fix window to three days as AI threats rise: https://www.reuters.com/legal/litigation/us-shortens-cyber-fix-window-three-days-ai-threats-rise-2026-06-10 EPIC Endorses Federal Bills Barring Worker Surveillance, Automated Workplace Decisions: https://epic.org/epic-endorses-federal-bills-barring-worker-surveillance-automated-workplace-decisions Canada’s Spy Agency Used First-of-Its-Kind Warrant to Clean Botnet-Infected Devices: https://thehackernews.com/2026/06/canadas-spy-agency-used-first-of-its.html Nearly Half of LG Smart TV Apps Contain Residential Proxy SDKs: https://spur.us/blog/smart-tv-apps-residential-proxy-sdks Primed for Malware: Stop Selling Compromised Android Devices: https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2026/06/primed-malware-stop-selling-compromised-android-devices Tip of the Week: https://firewallsdontstopdragons.com/we-can-do-this/  Further Info Loupe app (Mysk): https://apps.apple.com/us/app/loupe-what-apps-can-see/id6766152470  Loupe app overview (Techlore): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_n_SpEWtqog  Free Fable petition: https://freefable.org/  My book: https://fdsd.me/book  My newsletter: https://fdsd.me/newsletter  Support our mission! https://fdsd.me/support  Give the gift of privacy and security: https://fdsd.me/coupons  Get your Firewalls Don’t Stop Dragons Merch! https://fdsd.me/merch  Table of Contents 0:00:07: Intro 0:00:23: Quick news bits 0:02:46: News rundown 0:05:01: Massive Fortinet breach 0:12:27: Signal data security limits 0:17:58: Visa integrates with ChatGPT 0:23:01: Free Fable 0:30:35: US shortens cyber fix window 0:32:25: New federal privacy bills 0:35:18: Canada spy agency cleans up botnet 0:40:34: Shady Samsung TV apps 0:50:10: EFF on Android proxy devices 0:55:57: Tip of the Week 1:03:02: Patron podcast preview 1:03:27: Looking ahead

    1hr 4min

  2. 22 Jun

    A More Personal AI

    Most of the chatbots in the news today are trained on public data (often including copyrighted data). But it doesn’t have to be that way. What if you had a chatbot that could access all of your personal or company data, but hosted locally so that all the data was secure and private? You could ask it all sorts of interesting questions about that data, run helpful reports, and tease out important trends or do in-depth analysis that would be very difficult for a human to do. Basically, there are lots of uses for AI beyond ChatGPT, Gemini and Claude – and done in ways that preserve the privacy of your data and queries. Today we’ll discuss how we can do AI better with the CEO and Founder of Empathy AI, Angel Maldonado. Interview Notes Empathy AI home page: Empathy.ai Manifesto: https://empathy.ai/manifesto/  Molly vs the Machines: MollyVsTheMachines.com  The New Age of Ethical Commerce: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_4d4outlFQ  Reddit LocaLLM: https://www.reddit.com/r/LocalLLM/ Also: https://www.reddit.com/r/LocalLLaMA/ Charlie Bridge: https://charliebridge.com/  Proton’s Lumo: https://lumo.proton.me  Project Gutenberg w/ Empathy.ai: https://projectgutenberg.empathy.ai/library/discover  Standard eBooks: https://standardebooks.org/  Calibre (free ebook manager): https://calibre-ebook.com/  Further Info My book: https://fdsd.me/book  My newsletter: https://fdsd.me/newsletter  Support the mission: https://fdsd.me/support  Give the gift of privacy and security: https://fdsd.me/coupons  Get your Firewalls Don’t Stop Dragons Merch! https://fdsd.me/merch  Table of Contents 0:00:18: Intro 0:03:17: Lingo 0:04:12: Why did you start Empathy.ai? 0:08:10: How should we interact with LLMs? 0:13:53: How will AI change the future of work? 0:20:49: Can we limit AI resource usage? 0:30:30: How can we make agentic AI safer? 0:39:19: How do we keep LLM sessions private? 0:47:55: What are the benefits & risks of AI? 0:50:01: What will the world be like for kids today? 0:56:29: How should a layman learn about AI? 1:00:12: What’s next for you and Empathy? 1:01:32: Wrap-up 1:05:34: Patron podcast preview 1:06:29: Looking ahead

    1hr 7min

  3. 15 Jun

    Backup Your Email Archive

    In the final part of my series on downloading all of your historical emails from the cloud, we’ll make backups of your archive and make sure we store them in multiple places, following the 3-2-1 backup rule. I’ll also tell you about an interesting open source email archive project that you might find interesting. In the news: the FCC wants to kill burner phones; the WeedHack malware targets Minecraft players; a new surveillance company wants to add personal radio IDs to our license plate reader data; Apple debuts new parental controls; a 17-million-device botnet has been dismantled; Slate Auto has a cheap new EV that’s got some great privacy features; Meta quickly deletes facial recognition features from smart glasses; FISA Section 702 is allowed to lapse; Signal alums reveal “Encrypted Spaces” tech for encrypted group collaboration. Article Links FCC Wants to Kill Burner Phones By Forcing Telecoms to Get All Customers’ IDs: https://www.404media.co/fcc-wants-to-kill-burner-phones-by-forcing-telecoms-to-get-all-customers-ids Teens are using $5 WeedHack malware to target Minecraft players: https://mashable.com/tech/minecraft-weedhack-malware-as-a-service-report This Company Will Add Phone, AirPod, and Smartwatch Trackers to License Plate Readers: https://www.404media.co/this-company-will-add-phone-airpod-and-smartwatch-trackers-to-license-plate-readers Apple’s new parental controls are for keeping Apple out of trouble: https://www.theverge.com/policy/946331/apple-parental-controls-child-accounts-wwdc Botnet of more than 17 million devices dismantled: https://arstechnica.com/security/2026/05/botnet-of-more-than-17-million-devices-dismantled Slate Auto gets serious about privacy for its bare-bones EV pickup: https://arstechnica.com/cars/2026/06/slate-says-its-electric-pickup-will-never-track-you Meta Deletes Face-Recognition System From Its Smart Glasses App After WIRED Report: https://www.wired.com/story/meta-removes-face-recognition-code-meta-ai-app-smart-glasses US surveillance law to expire for first time after lawmakers reject Trump’s controversial pick to lead spy agencies: https://techcrunch.com/2026/06/12/us-spy-law-to-expire-for-first-time-after-lawmakers-reject-trumps-controversial-pick-to-lead-spy-agencies Signal Alums Reveal ‘Encrypted Spaces,’ a System for Making Private Collaboration Apps: https://www.wired.com/story/signal-alums-release-encrypted-spaces-a-new-system-for-building-private-collaboration-apps Tip of the Week: https://firewallsdontstopdragons.com/backup-your-email-archive/  Further Info FCC, submit comment (docket # 17-59 and 02-278): https://www.fcc.gov/ecfs/filings/express  Slate Truck: https://www.slate.auto/en  My book: https://fdsd.me/book  My newsletter: https://fdsd.me/newsletter  Support our mission! https://fdsd.me/support  Give the gift of privacy and security: https://fdsd.me/coupons  Get your Firewalls Don’t Stop Dragons Merch! https://fdsd.me/merch  Table of Contents 0:00:08: Intro 0:01:32: News preview 0:03:36: FCC wants to ban burner phones 0:11:20: Teens using $5 WeedHack malware 0:17:23: ALPRs gain device tracking 0:22:39: Apple’s new child safety features 0:30:47: Botnet with 17M bots disabled 0:36:30: New Slate EV has no tracking 0:47:01: FISA Section 702 lapses 0:55:47: Secure Spaces for secure collaboration 1:02:12: Tip of the Week 1:07:51: Patron podcast preview 1:08:22: Looking ahead

    1hr 10min

  4. 8 Jun

    Transaction Denied

    What would you do if you suddenly lost your bank account – and potentially access to all your funds? What about your credit cards? How long could your business stay afloat if you could no longer receive payments? Most of us take financial services for granted, but they can be taken away at any time – for almost any reason. And sometimes the reason is just that they don’t like you – or someone in power doesn’t like you, who can put pressure on the financial company. In many cases, this amounts to financial censorship. My guest today, Rainey Reitman, is the head of the Freedom of the Press Foundation and author of a book on this very subject called Transaction Denied. We’ll learn about how this happens, what the impacts are, and what we can do about it. Interview Notes Freedom of the Press Foundation: https://freedom.press/  EFF: https://www.eff.org/  Protect the Stack: https://protectthestack.org/  Pretty much infra: https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2022/12/we-need-talk-about-infrastructure  Santa Clara Principles: https://santaclaraprinciples.org/  Cryptocurrency 101: https://podcast.firewallsdontstopdragons.com/2022/06/06/cryptocurrency-101/  The Curse of Cash (book): https://www.amazon.com/Curse-Cash-Large-Denomination-Constrain-Monetary/dp/0691178364  Further Info My book: https://fdsd.me/book  My newsletter: https://fdsd.me/newsletter  Support the mission: https://fdsd.me/support  Give the gift of privacy and security: https://fdsd.me/coupons  Get your Firewalls Don’t Stop Dragons Merch! https://fdsd.me/merch  Table of Contents 0:00:13: Intro 0:02:45: Why did you start FPF? 0:08:25: What are some examples of financial censorship? 0:14:44: What are the impacts of this? 0:20:35: What can you do when this happens? 0:23:45: Are you entitled to know why you were cut off? 0:26:10: How do KYC laws impact your rights? 0:31:14: How might regulators infringe free speech? 0:35:56: How might my reputation after me here? 0:41:40: Should we codify banking rights? 0:46:21: What about using cash or cryptocurrency? 0:50:18: What bank practices should we change? 0:54:32: What should the government be doing here? 0:58:36: What’s next for you and FPF? 0:59:47: Wrap-up 1:02:40: Patron podcast preview 1:04:08: Looking ahead

    1hr 5min

  5. 1 Jun

    Verify Your Email Archive

    As part of my ongoing series on creating a full backup of all your old emails, we want to take some time to verify that we got everything okay. In today’s Tip of the Week, I’ll give you several pointers on how to go about doing this. In the last installment, we’ll make a couple backups and (optionally) delete everything from your email provider. In the news: AI firms want your financial data; Google Search moves to AI chat format; AI bots transcribing all your meetings; Mayo Clinic using AI to transcribe ER visits; CISA exposes credentials in massive screw up; school buses are being turned into mass surveillance machines; FBI wants access to all the license plate readers; some in Congress are trying to kill license plate readers. Article Links Experts warn of privacy risks as AI firms looks to connect to financial accounts: https://therecord.media/experts-warn-of-privacy-cyer-risks-ai-finance Google Search as you know it is over: https://techcrunch.com/2026/05/19/google-search-as-you-know-it-is-over You Are Being Recorded: https://blog.yaelwrites.com/you-are-being-recorded Mayo Clinic is Using AI to Listen to Emergency Room Visits: https://www.404media.co/mayo-clinic-is-using-ai-to-listen-to-emergency-room-visits US cyber agency CISA exposed reams of passwords and cloud keys to the open web: https://techcrunch.com/2026/05/19/us-cyber-agency-cisa-exposed-reams-of-passwords-and-cloud-keys-to-the-open-web ‘BusPatrol’ Put AI Cameras in Tens of Thousands of School Buses. Now They Want to Give Cops Access: https://www.404media.co/buspatrol-put-ai-cameras-in-tens-of-thousands-of-school-buses-now-they-want-to-give-cops-access The FBI Wants to Buy Nationwide Access to License Plate Readers: https://www.404media.co/the-fbi-wants-to-buy-nationwide-access-to-license-plate-readers A Bipartisan Amendment Would End Police License Plate Tracking Nationwide: https://www.wired.com/story/a-bipartisan-amendment-would-end-police-license-plate-tracking-nationwide Tip of the Week: https://firewallsdontstopdragons.com/verify-your-email-archive/  Further Info Privacy Guides (search engines): https://www.privacyguides.org/en/search-engines/  My Proton referral link: https://pr.tn/ref/ZMNG3DNK  My book: https://fdsd.me/book  My newsletter: https://fdsd.me/newsletter  Support our mission! https://fdsd.me/support  Give the gift of privacy and security: https://fdsd.me/coupons  Get your Firewalls Don’t Stop Dragons Merch! https://fdsd.me/merch  Table of Contents Use these timestamps to jump to a particular section of the show. 0:00:07: Intro 0:00:47: News preview 0:02:13: AI financial advisors 0:08:42: Google Search making big changes 0:17:30: You are being recorded 0:25:07: Mayo Clinic ER AI transcripts 0:31:37: Major CISA credentials screwup 0:35:54: School bus surveillance 0:43:37: FBI wants nationwide ALPR access 0:49:04: Congress looks to ban ALPRs 0:53:19: Tip of the Week 1:00:32: Patron podcast preview 1:01:05: Looking ahead

    1hr 2min

  6. 25 May

    Bossware & Boundaries

    When you’re working for your employer, no matter where you are, you’re on company time, using company equipment. Your employer has a responsibility to protect their assets – not just their equipment and facilities, but their data, as well. That gives employers several reasons to monitor you and any devices you might be using for work – including your mobile phone, potentially. While your rights to privacy are limited, they’re not eliminated. Today I’ll ask Jodi Daniels (Red Clover Advisors) and Jan Rosenfeld (iVerify) to help us understand what personal information might be gathered, how it might be used, and what we should do to protect ourselves. Interview Notes iVerify (Jan Rosenfeld): https://iverify.io/  Red Clover Advisors (Jodi Daniels): https://redcloveradvisors.com/our-team/jodi-daniels/  Microsoft Recall: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/retrace-your-steps-with-recall-aa03f8a0-a78b-4b3e-b0a1-2eb8ac48701c  WiFi Pineapple: https://shop.hak5.org/products/wifi-pineapple  Further Info My book: https://fdsd.me/book  My newsletter: https://fdsd.me/newsletter  Support the mission: https://fdsd.me/support  Give the gift of privacy and security: https://fdsd.me/coupons  Get your Firewalls Don’t Stop Dragons Merch! https://fdsd.me/merch  Table of Contents 0:00:20: Intro 0:01:54: Lingo 0:03:45: Why do employers monitor employees? 0:10:23: What privacy rights do employees have? 0:17:27: How do employers monitor mobile phones? 0:24:07: What can be learned using mobile profiles? 0:30:27: How are laptops monitored? 0:34:31: Can employers monitor encrypted traffic? 0:36:17: What are the privacy risks for computor monitoring? 0:41:41: How else might I be tracked at work? 0:48:05: How might my data be correlated with my colleagues? 0:52:38: What about job applicant privacy? 0:55:59: What happens when I leave a company? 1:02:15: How can we best protect employment data? 1:05:22: How do I handle privacy violations? 1:06:55: Wrap-up 1:10:49: Patron podcast preview 1:11:25: Looking ahead

    1hr 12min

  7. 18 May

    Download All Your Emails

    In the next phase of withdrawing our email data from the cloud, we’re going to download a complete archive of every email we’ve ever sent. It’s not as easy as it should be, but it’s also not that difficult. I’ll give you an overview in today’s Tip of the Week, but you should read the full blog for detailed steps. In the news: Venmo finally makes transactions private by default; FCC extends software update window for banned routers; Meta employees push back on surveillance; Proton Mail adds post-quantum crypto; turn off ChatGPT ad tracking; AI chatbots giving out people’s real phone numbers; Canada’s updated surveillance bill is still bad; Utah wants to effectively ban anonymous VPN use; LLMs want access to your health records; Microsoft Edge is a poor password manager; Canvas hacked during finals; Chrome installing a 4GB AI model on everyone’s computers. Article Links Venmo privacy finally being fixed eight years after ‘alarming’ fails: https://9to5mac.com/2026/05/11/venmo-privacy-finally-being-fixed-eight-years-after-alarming-fails US: FCC Relaxes Foreign-Made Router Ban to Allow for Security Updates: https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/us-fcc-relaxes-foreign-router-ban Meta employees launch protest against mouse-tracking tech at US offices: https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/society-equity/meta-us-employees-organize-protest-against-mouse-tracking-tech-2026-05-12 Proton Mail introduces post-quantum encryption: https://proton.me/blog/introducing-post-quantum-encryption Turn Off ChatGPT’s New Ad Tracking: https://onlinesafety.substack.com/p/turn-off-chatgpts-new-ad-tracking AI chatbots are giving out people’s real phone numbers: https://www.technologyreview.com/2026/05/13/1137203/ai-chatbots-are-giving-out-peoples-real-phone-numbers Canada’s Bill C-22 Is a Repackaged Version of Last Year’s Surveillance Nightmare: https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2026/05/canadas-bill-c-22-repackaged-version-last-years-surveillance-nightmare Utah’s New Law Targeting VPNs Goes Into Effect May 6th: https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2026/04/utahs-new-law-regulating-vpns-goes-effect-next-week A.I. Chatbots Want Your Health Records. Tread Carefully.: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/12/technology/personaltech/microsoft-copilot-health-ai-chatbots.html Microsoft Edge security alert: All saved passwords unencrypted: https://proton.me/business/blog/microsoft-edge-passwords-exposed ‘The Biggest Student Data Privacy Disaster in History’: Canvas Hack Shows the Danger of Centralized EdTech: https://www.404media.co/the-biggest-student-data-privacy-disaster-in-history-canvas-hack-shows-the-danger-of-centralized-edtech Chrome silently installs a 4 GB local LLM on your computer: https://www.theregister.com/ai-and-ml/2026/05/07/chrome-silently-installs-a-4-gb-local-llm-on-your-computer/5230893 Tip of the Week: https://firewallsdontstopdragons.com/download-all-emails/  Further Info PG’s Data Protection Authority: https://www.privacyguides.org/en/activism/legal/dpa-directory/  Donate to Session: https://getsession.org/donate  My book: https://fdsd.me/book  My newsletter: https://fdsd.me/newsletter  Support our mission! https://fdsd.me/support  Give the gift of privacy and security: https://fdsd.me/coupons  Get your Firewalls Don’t Stop Dragons Merch! https://fdsd.me/merch  Table of Contents 0:00:07: Intro 0:00:19: News tidbits 0:02:53: News rundown 0:05:21: Venmo finally private by default 0:08:57: Banned router updates extended 0:11:28: Meta employees protest surveillance 0:15:47: Proton Mail gets post-quantum crypto 0:19:44: ChatGPT’s new ad tracking 0:24:37: Chatbots giving our people’s phone numbers 0:28:57: Canada C-22 bill still a privacy nightmare 0:32:49: Utah VPN law delayed 0:40:47: AI wants your health info 0:48:14: Edge decrypts all saved passwords 0:53:40: Canvas hit with ransomware 0:56:08: Chrome silently installs 4GB LLM 1:01:06: Tip of the Week 1:09:28: Patron podcast preview 1:09:55: Looking ahead

    1hr 11min

  8. 11 May

    Cindy Cohn: Privacy’s Defender

    Cindy Cohn has been on the front lines, defending your digital rights, for three decades. With the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), she has litigated several seminal legal cases that have directly impacted the lives of all Americans. As she retires from her role as Director of the EFF, she’s written a memoir about her time there and documents several of these legal fights called Privacy’s Defender. Today I’ll ask Cindy about the key parts of these cases, how we interpret our rights in the digital realm, and what we can do to ensure a free and open internet. Interview Notes Cindy Cohn: https://www.eff.org/about/staff/cindy-cohn  Privacy’s Defender: https://mitpress.mit.edu/9780262051248/privacys-defender/  Give thanks (donate): https://firewallsdontstopdragons.com/give-thanks-donate/  Clipper Chip: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clipper_chip  Secure Drop: https://securedrop.org/  Geofence warrants case: https://www.eff.org/press/releases/eff-supreme-court-shut-down-unconstitutional-geofence-searches  404 Media’s FOIA Forum: https://www.404media.co/foia-forum-archive/  Further Info My book: https://fdsd.me/book  My newsletter: https://fdsd.me/newsletter  Support the mission: https://fdsd.me/support  Give the gift of privacy and security: https://fdsd.me/coupons  Get your Firewalls Don’t Stop Dragons Merch! https://fdsd.me/merch  Table of Contents 0:00:15: Intro 0:01:13: Lingo 0:03:52: What if you had lost the Bernstein case? 0:09:18: What re-ignited the Crypto Wars? 0:13:54: Can we prevent all crime with surveillance? 0:16:37: How do our rights apply in the digital world? 0:21:29: Should national security trump our rights? 0:26:58: Can’t courts handle secret evidence? 0:29:20: How does loss of privacy create a power imbalance? 0:35:02: How does privacy improve democracy? 0:36:54: How to you translate technogy to law? 0:40:49: Are we losing online anonymity? 0:44:13: How important are whistleblowers? 0:47:08: How can we protect privacy from the next crisis? 0:54:24: How do we avoid burnout and keep fighting? 0:57:47: How do we get a federal privacy law? 1:02:37: What’s next for you and the EFF? 1:06:48: Wrap-up 1:08:37: Donate to rights organizations 1:10:27: Patron podcast preview 1:11:05: Looking ahead

    1hr 12min
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A Podcast on Computer Security & Privacy for Non-Techies

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