The AI, Privacy, and Security Weekly Update

R. Prescott Stearns Jr.
  • 4.5 (4)
  • Tech News
  • Updated Weekly

Into year 7 for this award-winning, light-hearted, lightweight AI privacy and security podcast that spans the globe in terms of issues covered, with topics that draw in everyone from executive to newbie, to tech specialist. For season 7, we've renamed the IT Privacy and Security Weekly Update to the AI, Privacy, and Security Weekly Update to better reflect the content. Your investment of between 15 and 20 minutes a week will bring you up to speed on half a dozen current AI privacy and security stories from around the world to help you improve the management of your own privacy and security.

  1. EP 294. Deep Dive. Headache and the AI Privacy and Security Weekly Update for the Week Ending June 9th. 2026

    4d ago ·  Bonus

    EP 294. Deep Dive. Headache and the AI Privacy and Security Weekly Update for the Week Ending June 9th. 2026

    This week we highlight the dual-natured impact of artificial intelligence on global security, privacy, and administrative productivity. On the defensive side, tools like Google’s Gemini are blocking billions of fraudulent ads, while the NHS is deploying Microsoft Copilot to drastically reduce clinical paperwork. Conversely, bad actors are leveraging AI-driven phishing to compromise digital assets and developing adaptive malware that can reason through system defenses. Serious privacy concerns also emerge, evidenced by Meta’s controversial development of facial recognition for smart glasses and the misuse of automated license plate readers by law enforcement. Additionally, the reports detail how nation-state actors use professional networks like LinkedIn for espionage and how criminals exploit autonomous transit for physical crimes. Ultimately, the collection suggests that as AI becomes a central pillar of modern life, the most critical security skill is the ability to verify identity in an increasingly deceptive digital landscape.

    40 min

  2. 5d ago

    Headaches and the AI Privacy and Security Weekly Update for the Week Ending June 9th. 2026

    In this week's update:The NHS is about to hand half a million clinicians an AI assistant for their paperwork - and the question isn't whether it will work, it's whether healthcare will ever look the same again.An innocent man spent a month behind bars because an AI license plate reader put him in two places at once - and the cameras that could have cleared him were right there the whole time.China's military intelligence services have quietly turned LinkedIn into a recruitment tool, and the side gig that seemed too good to be true may be the most expensive mistake of your career.Anthropic spent a year watching how criminals actually use AI, and what they found is less about catastrophe and more about something far more unsettling: amplification.Researchers just demonstrated an AI-powered worm that doesn't just exploit weaknesses - it reasons, adapts, and chooses its own attack path in real time.Meta removed a facial recognition system from its smart glasses app this week - a system that, according to Meta, did not yet exist.A San Francisco burglar used a Waymo robotaxi as a getaway car, and between deleted footage and blurred faces, the case is still wide open months later.Hidden inside the GPS signal that guides every phone, every ship, and every missile on the planet, a researcher just found something the military has been quietly broadcasting for nearly two decades.Welcome back, everyone. This week, we are taking you from a British hospital corridor to a San Diego courtroom, from LinkedIn's shadowy recruitment pipeline to the hidden depths of a GPS signal that billions of people use every single day. Buckle up - this one covers the full spectrum, from the bureaucratic to the alarming to the genuinely mind-bending.  Find the full transcript to this podcast here.

    22 min
  3. Ep 294. Deep Dive. Bedtime and the A.I., Privacy, and Security Weekly Update for the Week ending June 2nd., 2026

    Jun 3 ·  Bonus

    Ep 294. Deep Dive. Bedtime and the A.I., Privacy, and Security Weekly Update for the Week ending June 2nd., 2026

    This deep dive explores the evolving landscape of artificial intelligence and its profound impact on global cybersecurity and infrastructure. Sources detail the dual nature of AI, highlighting its ability to uncover thousands of software vulnerabilities while simultaneously creating new risks through manipulated support bots and accelerated exploitation timelines. Beyond software, the text addresses physical security threats to undersea data cables and the potential repurposing of Cold War-era plutonium for private energy startups. Technical breakthroughs like certified quantum randomness and new browser-based spying techniques underscore a shifting digital perimeter where traditional trust models are failing. Furthermore, the economic reality of this shift is visible in Anthropic’s massive valuation, new usage-based AI pricing, and the unexpected role of remote work in sidelining junior talent. These developments suggest a future where automated containment and government oversight are becoming essential responses to the speed of algorithmic threats.

    35 min

  4. Jun 3

    Bedtime and the A.I., Privacy, and Security Weekly Update for the Week ending June 2nd., 2026

    Episode 294. For this week's update: The Trust Problem Nobody Has Solved. The AI verification problem isn't a bug to be patched; it's a structural flaw baked into the architecture of trust itself.  It's like asking a child to set their own bed time. Forget cookies and trackers, a website can now read your entire digital life from the rhythm of your hard drive. Meta's AI support bot did exactly what it was designed to do, and that turned out to be the problem. While the security world chases sophisticated threats, Google quietly closed one of the oldest and most exploited doors in session management. ETH Zurich researchers have done something cryptographers have wanted for decades produced randomness that the laws of physics themselves will guarantee forever. The generation entering the workforce during the remote-work era may be carrying a career penalty they didn't earn and can't yet see. The Software Industry Exhales  For Now. Wall Street spent a year writing software's obituary, and this month the patient sat up, ordered lunch, and posted its best returns since the dot-com era. GitHub just handed its most enthusiastic AI users their first real bill, and for many, the number is somewhere between shocking and career-defining. OK, let's tuck in! Find the full transcript to this podcast here.

    24 min
  5. Episode 293. Deep Dive. Movies, Music, and the AI, Privacy and Security Weekly Update for May 26th 2026

    May 27 ·  Bonus

    Episode 293. Deep Dive. Movies, Music, and the AI, Privacy and Security Weekly Update for May 26th 2026

    The corporate attack surface is expanding as autonomous AI agents and developer tools dissolve traditional security boundaries. The software supply chain is now a strategic vulnerability, allowing compromised “trusted tools” to bypass legacy defenses and move directly into internal environments. Recent incidents demonstrate the scale of the risk. GitHub confirmed unauthorized access to roughly 3,800 repositories after a malicious VS Code extension compromised a developer device. Google Cloud infrastructure also exposed a critical “time-to-vulnerability” gap: deleted API keys remained active for an average of 16 minutes, and in some cases up to 23 minutes, despite appearing revoked in the UI. These delays create exploitable windows for autonomous systems to access AI services or sensitive data before responders can intervene. The Cloud Security Alliance warns of an emerging “agentic threat” driven by excessive privileges, weak configurations, prompt injection, poor accountability, and flaws in machine-to-machine interaction. The challenge is no longer simply malicious code, but malicious intent expressed through natural language. Meanwhile, the labor market reflects a “low hire, low fire” reality rather than mass AI unemployment. Layoffs remain historically normal, but hiring and career mobility have slowed as firms adopt leaner operating models and assess automation’s long-term impact. Entry-level opportunities are narrowing as companies demand higher productivity from fewer employees using generative tools. Industry leaders remain divided. Steve Wozniak argues AI cannot replace human creativity, while figures such as Sam Altman and Elon Musk warn disruption may eventually require interventions like Universal Basic Income. Many firms are also using “AI transformation” narratives to justify restructuring and post-pandemic cost corrections. Creative industries are shifting from resisting AI to monetizing it. The AI-generated film Hell Grind reportedly required a $500,000 budget, with most costs tied to compute power. Maintaining visual consistency demanded prompts averaging 3,000 words, revealing that AI production remains management-intensive rather than effortless. Spotify and Universal Music Group are also developing licensing frameworks where artists retain control over AI-generated remixes while platforms monetize premium AI creative tools. Technology companies now face growing friction between rapid AI deployment and user trust. Google’s “disregard” search glitch showed how AI systems can misinterpret user queries as commands, undermining reliability. Apple’s roadmap, including context-aware Siri capabilities and private cloud compute, highlights the industry’s push toward personalized assistants. Ultimately, AI adoption depends on trust. Consumers will embrace assistants only if companies prove the infrastructure behind them is reliable, accountable, and secure enough to protect personal data.

    36 min

  6. May 27

    Movies, Music, and the AI, Privacy, and Security Weekly Update for the Week ending May 26th, 2026

    Episode 293 A two-week shoot, a half-million dollar budget, and not a single human behind the camera, welcome to the future of Hollywood. This year at Cannes, the most talked-about presence on the Croisette wasn't a movie star; it was artificial intelligence. The Cloud Security Alliance is sounding the alarm on a new breed of AI system that doesn't just answer questions, it takes action, on its own, across your entire digital infrastructure. GitHub just confirmed that roughly 3,800 internal repositories were compromised, and the attacker didn't need a zero-day exploit, just a poisoned developer tool your engineers trust every single day. Google API Keys: Here's a question every incident responder needs to answer: if you delete a compromised credential and the attacker keeps using it for the next twenty-three minutes, did you actually stop the breach? The same AI technology making phishing attacks more convincing may also be our best shot at catching them, and this week, a listener's inbox put that to the test. Spotify and Universal Music Group just agreed to let fans remix their favorite songs using AI, and for the music industry, it's the clearest sign yet that the question is no longer whether this happens, but who controls it when it does. In a spring full of AI doomsday commencement speeches, Steve Wozniak walked onto a stage in Michigan and reminded a room full of nervous graduates that they already carry the most powerful intelligence in the room. Welcome back, everyone. We’re glad you're here for Episode 293 of the AI, Privacy, and Security Weekly Update. It's May 26th, 2026, and this week we are going big. We're starting in Cannes, we're going to swing through some genuinely alarming security stories, and we're going to land somewhere a little more hopeful at the end. Let's get into it. Find the transcript to this podcast here.

    21 min
  7. EP 292. Deep Dive. Leaks and the AI, Privacy, Security Weekly Update for the Week Ending May 19th., 2026

    May 20 ·  Bonus

    EP 292. Deep Dive. Leaks and the AI, Privacy, Security Weekly Update for the Week Ending May 19th., 2026

    This update highlights a deteriorating security landscape where human error and advanced technology intersect to create significant digital risks. Critical infrastructure faces threats from sensitive credential leaks at federal agencies and the discovery of unpatched Windows zero-day exploits released by disgruntled researchers. Simultaneously, the rise of artificial intelligence is transforming both offense and defense, enabling experts to bypass modern hardware security in record time while overwhelming open-source maintainers with automated bug reports. Governments are responding by expanding surveillance capabilities, seeking nationwide access to vehicle tracking data and using AI to police financial markets. Meanwhile, geopolitical tensions have shifted toward digital choke points, with nations like Iran threatening the physical cables that underpin global internet connectivity. These shifts occur alongside corporate instability, evidenced by mass layoffs at Meta and legal friction between major tech partners over AI integration.

    47 min

  8. May 20

    Leaks and the AI, Privacy, and Security Weekly Update for the Week Ending May 19th., 2026

    EP 292. This week we kick off with a flood of updates: The agency trusted to protect America's critical infrastructure couldn't protect its own credentials.Canada is reopening one of tech's most consequential debates  and this time, your compliance architecture may be in the crosshairs.A researcher's very public falling-out with Microsoft is quietly becoming everyone's security problem.What once took a seasoned red team weeks now takes a small team and a frontier model less than five days.The race to use AI to find flaws faster than attackers is officially underway  and the audit trail question is already lagging behind.AI is flooding the Linux kernel security pipeline with noise, and Linus Torvalds has had enough.Regulators are quietly deploying AI surveillance at a scale that reframes what financial oversight even means.The world's most consequential digital chokepoint just became even more of a geopolitical bargaining chip. Let's go get soaked! Find the full transcript to this podcast here.

    20 min
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About

Into year 7 for this award-winning, light-hearted, lightweight AI privacy and security podcast that spans the globe in terms of issues covered, with topics that draw in everyone from executive to newbie, to tech specialist. For season 7, we've renamed the IT Privacy and Security Weekly Update to the AI, Privacy, and Security Weekly Update to better reflect the content. Your investment of between 15 and 20 minutes a week will bring you up to speed on half a dozen current AI privacy and security stories from around the world to help you improve the management of your own privacy and security.

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