Security Now

AI-generated code is flooding the industry, but researchers reveal that almost half of it contains critical vulnerabilities. This week, we unpack what happens when the race for automation outpaces security best practices.

• A possible means for preventing prompt injection abuse.
• Clear evidence of Chinese-made router malicious intent.
• A cool before and after SpinRite graph of SSD performance.
• How about adding unpredictable hashes to role tags?
• What did Claude make of last week's podcast?
• Could much better harnesses prevent prompt injection?
• A listener wants us to stop saying AI "thinks".
• AI designers ignore well-understood security concepts.
• Can we explain LLM AI using conventional computer terms?
• A listener strongly dislikes the term "rotating credentials".
• The land of AI is being filled with "meat proxies".
• Researchers exhaustively test frontier model vulnerability remediation. (hint: It does not go well.)

Show Notes - https://www.grc.com/sn/SN-1094-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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Turns out, every chatbot conversation runs on a messy hack at the heart of language models, making prompt injection an unsolved—and possibly unsolvable—security threat. Steve and Leo unravel the research that explains why "roles" in AI aren't what you think they are.

• Understanding the controversy surrounding "AI Model Distillation"
• Anthropic moves to make their most powerful Mythos 5 model more widely available.
• Bitwarden's "Secrets Manager" offering prevents agentic and prompt injection abuse.
• The astounding and disturbing truth about the way conversation AI actually works

Show Notes - https://www.grc.com/sn/SN-1093-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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• threatlocker.com/twit
• box.com/AI
• hoxhunt.com/securitynow
• guardsquare.com
• material.security

From autocorrect to full-fledged conversationalists, discover how a few tweaks transformed language models—and why understanding this shift exposes urgent questions about AI safety and control.

• Trusting an open source AI proxy might bite you.
• France's under-15 social media ban hits its constitution.
• A bit of AI prompting found a serious bug in Zoom.
• AI-based network defenders see a stock price jump.
• A (very) deep dive into the operation of AI chatbots

Show Notes - https://www.grc.com/sn/SN-1092-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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AI agents are breaking free from their test environments, outsmarting their creators and breaching real-world networks in ways that no one predicted. Discover how these agentic models are changing the game for both cyber offense and defense.

• Anthropic's agentic AI also broke free and hacked others.
• We know much (much!) more about the OpenAI breakout.
• OpenAI posts that they're pausing "Astra" - even internally.
• What was that about AI recently cracking (or denting) cryptography.
• Bruce Schneier brilliantly equates AI agents to capricious genies.
• Apple doesn't react so well to the new deluge of security reports.
• Chrome 149 + 150 updates together fix 1,072 bugs. Yikes.
• psSense's creator is working to finish its nfSensei, its successor

Show Notes - https://www.grc.com/sn/SN-1091-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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Sponsors:

• hoxhunt.com/securitynow
• guardsquare.com
• threatlocker.com/twit
• box.com/AI

At Black Hat Las Vegas, the Security Now crew digs into how AI is not just finding hidden software bugs but also fueling both groundbreaking innovation and alarming new exploits. When open models can launch surprise Bitcoin heists, who draws the line between forbidden knowledge and genuine progress?

• Black Hat and DEF CON: Hacking Stories and Conference Culture
• Zoox Ride-Hailing Hack and Over-the-Air Vulnerabilities
• Autonomous Vehicles, AI, and the Security Implications
• Hosts Share Personal Adoption and Use of AI Tools
• AI-Powered Coding: From Hobbyists to Advanced Agency Chains
• Local Models vs. Cloud AI: Privacy, Cost, and Control
• App Development Democratized: Listeners Build Custom Solutions With AI
• Code Generation, Testing, and Managing AI-Driven Project Cycles
• AI's Role in Security: Vulnerability Discovery, Exploitation, and Patch Challenges
• Technical Debt and the Race to Patch Decades-Old Bugs
• The Dual-Use Dilemma: AI Tools for Both Attack and Defense
• Guardrails, Model Partitioning, and the Fight Over Forbidden Knowledge
• Open vs. Restricted AI: Global Models, Distillation, and Free Speech
• LLM Security Weaknesses: Prompt Injection and Role Confusion Exposed
• The Reliability Problem: Probabilistic AI and Non-Deterministic Software
• AI Progress: Public Perception, Skepticism, and "Hogwash" Rebuttals
• Reflections on AI's Fast Evolution and the Sci-Fi Reality Gap
• Closing Thoughts: Tech Community, Listener Feedback, and the Future of Security Now

Hosts: Steve Gibson, Leo Laporte, Richard Campbell, and Paul Thurrott

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
• bitwarden.com/twit
• XBOW.com
• hoxhunt.com/securitynow
• threatlocker.com/twit

What happens when an unconstrained OpenAI model goes rogue and hacks into Hugging Face, breaching real-world security boundaries? This episode unpacks a watershed moment for AI safety that has everyone in cybersecurity talking.

• OpenAI's unconstrained internal testing AI got loose, attacked Hugging Face.
• We hear from OpenAI, Hugging Face and Andrew Ng.
• GRC went off the air Friday. Was GRC hacked? What happened?
• The Linux kernel project repairs 442 CVEs in a single batch.
• LG's PC monitors cause PC adware installation.
• France bans all social media access below age 15.
• WordPress' recent CRITICAL vulnerability claims victims.
• Amazing details about "Rocky" from Andy Weir.
• The new AI exploit ranking benchmark that caused the breakout

Show Notes - https://www.grc.com/sn/SN-1089-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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Sponsors:

• adaptivesecurity.com
• XBOW.com
• cohesity.com/Resilience
• threatlocker.com/twit

Cybercriminals are harnessing AI not to break in, but to make sense of their stolen loot and increase their leverage in multi-million dollar ransomware heists. This episode unpacks how AI is now turbocharging extortion and negotiations on the dark side.

• The "bone crushing" didn't happen this month.
• Revisiting and inspecting July's Patch Tuesday.
• A widespread and worrisome flaw in OpenSSL.
• Claude can now access your 1Password credentials.
• Bitwarden is aware that we need whole new security.
• The day ends in "y" so a new prompt injection attack.
• A true (and rare) core Wordpress emergency update.
• Lots of interesting listener feedback.
• And new ways AI is being used by bad guys

Show Notes - https://www.grc.com/sn/SN-1088-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
• zscaler.com/security
• adaptivesecurity.com
• joindeleteme.com/twit-biz
• arcticwolf.com/trends

AI is rewriting the rules of cybersecurity, and this week, massive government and private sector moves show just how quickly the stakes are rising. Find out how regulators, attackers, and defenders are all scrambling to keep up as vulnerabilities surface at record speed.

• Europe warns their largest banks to prepare for AI attack.
• The EU launches an action plan for AI Cybersecurity.
• China considers keeping its budget AI to itself.
• The UK's NCSC & GCHQ announce their "Cyber Shield".
• CISA is using Mythos to audit U.S. government code.
• Microsoft warns of their upcoming patch flood.
• "RoguePlanet" receives an on-the-fly patch.
• An underused mode to kid-proof an iPhone.
• Listener feedback and three new AI attacks
• HalluSquatting, GhostApproval & GitLost

Show Notes - https://www.grc.com/sn/SN-1087-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:

• blackhat.com/us-26 and use code TWIT
• arcticwolf.com/trends
• threatlocker.com/twit
• XBOW.com
• adaptivesecurity.com
• cohesity.com/Resilience

From the sudden retirement of Internet pioneer Vint Cerf to the unstoppable advance of "apex agentic adversaries," get a front-row seat to the unfolding security revolution and its massive real-world stakes.

• Why Fable5's re-release has disappointed.
• Opera becomes the first browser to offer "Paste Protect."
• Microsoft BlueHammer exploit is "hammering" systems.
• Industry legend (TCP creator) Vint Cerf on AI.
• Chrome turns 150 with too many fixes to load.
• Google fails to sidestep a $4.67 billion EU fine.
• One last (we can hope) Chat Control vote next week.
• AirDrop & Android Quick Share are exploitable.
• How to bypass Claude's and ChatGPT's guardrails.
• My own Sunday spin with SpinRite.
• A legendary hacker uses AI on a widespread library

Show Notes - https://www.grc.com/sn/SN-1086-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:

• blackhat.com/us-26 and use code TWIT
• cohesity.com/Resilience
• bitwarden.com/twit
• zscaler.com/security
• XBOW.com
• adaptivesecurity.com

AI is now uncovering and fixing thousands of hidden software bugs faster than humans can keep up, but not everyone is playing by the rules. Find out how state-sponsored attackers and careless disclosures are turning the cybersecurity playbook upside down.

• Win10's popularity forces another year of free updates.
• CISA directs all federal agencies to update their UniFi OS devices.
• CISA gave federal agencies "the weekend" to update Cisco devices.
• Australia is disturbed by a deeply compromised infrastructure provider.
• OpenAI introduces Daybreak-powered "Patch the Planet" initiative.
• Meta's employee monitoring-for-AI-training backfired badly.
• Script Kiddies figure out how to use AI to find vulnerabilities.
• AI improves with "looping", "repeating" or "iterating".
• A wonderful story about Kevin Mitnick.
• Serious hackers mistakenly left a server directory accessible

Show Notes - https://www.grc.com/sn/SN-1085-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:

• blackhat.com/us-26 and use code TWIT
• XBOW.com
• hoxhunt.com/securitynow
• cohesity.com/Resilience
• zscaler.com/security