CYBER

Stories of the death of religion in America are overblown. If you’re in the right part of the country, there are vibrant Christian communities developing apps, working in Christian-startups, and spreading their faith on Instagram and YouTube. There is a whole community and culture just outside of the mainstream using tech in all sorts of wild and interesting ways.This week on Cyber, we explore the weird world of evangelical tech with Corrina Laughlin. She is a professor of media studies at Loyola Marymount University and author of the book Redeem All: How Digital Life is Changing Evangelical Culture.We’re recording CYBER live on Twitch. Watch live on Wednesdays at 4pm EST. Follow us there to get alerts when we go live. We take questions from the audience and yours might just end up on the show.Subscribe to CYBER on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to your podcasts. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It started with SIM swapping and escalated into hacks of Okta, Microsoft, Nvidia, and EA. They’re LAPSUS$, a hacking collective that’s been the boogeyman of big corporations for the past few years. People have wondered about their motivations and identities.Now, seven of them have been arrested. They’re mostly teenagers who used unsophisticated methods to get the better of some of the world’s most powerful companies.On today’s episode of Cyber, Motherboard staff writer Joseph Cox walks us through what happened. It’s the subject of his story “LAPSUS$: How a Sloppy Extortion Gang Became One of the Most Prolific Hacking Groups.”We’re recording CYBER live on Twitch. Watch live on Wednesdays at 4pm EST. Follow us there to get alerts when we go live. We take questions from the audience and yours might just end up on the show.Subscribe to CYBER on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to your podcasts. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We all type it. Some of us say it. Three little letters. L O L. Whether you’re laughing out loud or softening the blow of bad news, it’s so ubiquitous in the English speaking world that it’s almost become punctuation. But where did it come from and does it have a strict definition?If you know anything about linguistics, you may already know the answers to those questions. Motherboard senior staff writer Shayla Love knows. She’s here today to talk about the origins of the phrase that’s part of our online world. It’s the subject of her new piece: “Why We Use ‘lol’ So Much.”We’re recording CYBER live on Twitch. Watch live on Wednesdays at 4pm EST. Follow us there to get alerts when we go live. We take questions from the audience and yours might just end up on the show.Subscribe to CYBER on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to your podcasts. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The internet encourages the best and absolute worst of human behavior. Online led hate campaigns and conspiracy theories are often more than just frivolous distractions. They can ruin lives. In the U.S., I think the Gamergate movement from 2015 and 2016 opened a lot of people’s eyes to what was brewing under the surface of some of the darker places online. If Gamergate didn’t, then Qanon certainly did. But, across the Pacific Ocean, the people of Korea had a pretty good idea of how the internet can destroy lives long before it became a topic of think pieces in America.That is the subject of the excellent Podcast, Authentic, a new show from VICE that focuses on the life of the Korean rapper Tablo and how the internet turned it upside down. With us today is its host and producer, Dexter Thomas. Authentic is available on iTunes, Spotify, iHeart Radio and pretty much every other podcast platform.We’re recording CYBER live on Twitch. Watch live on Wednesdays at 4pm EST. Follow us there to get alerts when we go live. We take questions from the audience and yours might just end up on the show.Subscribe to CYBER on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to your podcasts. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jason Koebler and Jordan Pearson talk about CRYPTOLAND, Motherboard's brand new documentary series about all things cryptocurrency. Watch CRYPTOLAND now at www.youtube.com/motherboard (please!!!) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Amazon. The company none of us can seem to get away from. Whether you’re a Prime member or just surfing the web on sites hosted by AWS, the company is inescapable. But it’s worse when you work for them. Especially if you’re an independent contractor running delivery vans. It’s a job where crushing debt, sudden shifts in policy, and impossible demands are the norm. These Amazon Delivery Service Partners, or DSPs, are key to Amazon's dominant position, and the way many people are able to get what they order from the company so quickly, the next day or even within hours. But as Amazon gets unimaginably rich, some of these small companies are going bankrupt and leaving owners in crushing debt.EMBEDThis week on CYBER, Motherboard Senior Staff writer Lauren Kaori Gurley walks us through her piece ‘‘I Had Nothing to My Name’: Amazon Delivery Companies Are Being Crushed by Debt.We’re recording CYBER live on Twitch. Watch live on Wednesdays at 4pm EST. Follow us there to get alerts when we go live. We take questions from the audience and yours might just end up on the show.Subscribe to CYBER on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to your podcasts. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Joseph Cox and Jason Koebler discuss various website defacements, leaks, and hacks associated with Russia's war in Ukraine. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

There are a lot of companies out there willing to sell shady customers the tools they need to spy on just about anyone. All over the world software vendors like Hacking Team and NSO Group will help you break into a cellphone or read an email you’re not supposed to. But that might soon be changing.On this episode of Cyber, Motherboard senior staff writer Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai joins host Matthew Gault to talk about spyware vendors. It’s the subject of Lorenzo’s new piece, “The US Crackdown on Spyware Vendors Is Only Beginning.”After a brief break, Gault and Franceschi-Bicchierai discuss the war in Ukraine. It’s a wide ranging conversation about the digital battleground. As of this recording, Russian Government Websites are Down and the world is discussing whether it's feasible and effective to prevent Russia from updating its software. Gault also talks about how a college professor used Google Maps traffic data to figure out the war had started before news had even broken.We’re recording CYBER live on Twitch. Watch live on Wednesdays at 4pm EST. Follow us there to get alerts when we go live. We take questions from the audience and yours might just end up on the show.Subscribe to CYBER on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to your podcasts. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The internet has created an explosion in audio and video captured from the frontlines of war zones. As Russia escalates the conflict in Ukraine, it’s also pushing propaganda harder than ever. But there’s so much information available online, and so many people willing to call bullshit on propaganda, that it’s hard to make a believable video that justifies a war these days.That hasn’t stopped Russia from trying.On today’s episode of Cyber, Motherboard journalist Matthew Gault sits down with Motherboard editor-in-chief Jason Koebler to discuss the community of people online who are debunking Russian disinformation in real time. It’s a wide ranging conversation that goes from incredible memes to ethical considerations and a brief remembering of the Boston Marathon Bombing.We’re recording CYBER live on Twitch. Watch live on Wednesdays at 4pm EST. Follow us there to get alerts when we go live. We take questions from the audience and yours might just end up on the show.Subscribe to CYBER on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to your podcasts. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Cops love technology. From robot dogs to drones to Ring cameras to tasers to facial recognition software, America’s police are often early adopters of the world’s newest dystopian tech. How does it happen? Often the tech companies are actively pitching police departments on stuff they say will make the cops’ life easier. Every month, conferences across the country are stuffed with tech companies and officers breaking bread and cutting deals.What goes on at these conferences, exactly? This week on Cyber, Matthew sits down with Jack Poulson of Tech Inquiry to talk about a tech conference for cops he recently attended. It’s the subject of a new article on Motherboard—Please Delete Your Recordings: Inside a Police Conference.EMBEDWe’re recording CYBER live on Twitch. Watch live on Wednesdays at 4pm EST. Follow us there to get alerts when we go live. We take questions from the audience and yours might just end up on the show.Subscribe to CYBER on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to your podcasts. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.