The Allure and Perils of Influencer Culture

What happens when eager computer enthusiasts unknowingly download a trojanized hacking tool and find themselves on the wrong side of cybersecurity? A former employee's actions led to chaos and raise urgent questions about the security of cultural treasures. And join us as we explore the alarming trend of social media influencers staging fake kidnappings.

All this and much much more is discussed in the latest edition of the "Smashing Security" podcast by cybersecurity veterans Graham Cluley and Carole Theriault, joined this week by Lianne Potter from the "Compromising Positions" podcast.

Warning: This podcast may contain nuts, adult themes, and rude language.

Episode links:

• No Honour Among Thieves: Uncovering a Trojanized XWorm RAT Builder Propagated by Threat Actors and Disrupting Its Operations - CloudSEK.
• British Museum forced to partly close after alleged IT attack by former employee - The Guardian.
• Chart: What Do You Want to be When You Grow Up?- Statista.
• Tikked off: What happens when TikTok fame fades - Vox.
• Influencer burnout is real - Vox.
• Influencer slammed for staging fake kidnapping plot because she was ‘bored’ - Mirror Online.
• "Mom influencer" Katie Sorensen sentenced to jail for falsely claiming couple tried to kidnap her kids at a crafts store - CBS News.
• Stock market influencer on the way to Coldplay concert kidnapped by data theft gang - The New Indian Express.
• Raycast.
• “Thank Goodness You’re Here” video game.
• The We Society Podcast - Academy of Social Sciences. 
• Smashing Security merchandise (t-shirts, mugs, stickers and stuff)

Sponsored by:

• Tailscale – Tailscale is perfect for work or personal projects, making networking simple. Its free plan covers up to 100 devices and 3 users. Get started at tailscale.com and be up and running in less than 10 minutes!
• 1Password – Secure every app, device, and identity – even the unmanaged ones at 1password.com/smashing.

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THANKS:

Theme tune: "Vinyl Memories" by Mikael Manvelyan.

Assorted sound effects: AudioBlocks.