Security Now with Steve Gibson and Leo Laporte

Dec 23rd 2025

Security Now 1057

GhostPoster

Free VPNs, Hidden Risks

Records live every Tuesday at 4:30pm Eastern / 1:30pm Pacific / 21:30 UTC.
Category: Help & How To

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

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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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