Steal This Show

Embedded in an increasing number of the devices and objects surrounding us, computers are turning the everyday world into a radically programmable attack surface.  This is the subject of computer security & cryptography legend Bruce Schneier (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bruce_Schneier?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss) ‘s latest book, Click Here To Kill Everybody (https://www.schneier.com/books/click_here/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss) .  In this episode we meet up with Bruce to explore how the profusion of insecure devices, capable of being put to a variety of unpredictable purposes, is radically shifting the balance of power. Via cyberattacks, smaller states get the ability to content with the great powers — and an entirely new class of ‘non-state actors’ are being granted the power to disrupt nations. Phenomena like the Mirai Botnet (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mirai_(malware)?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss) , Bruce argues, are just the beginning: we discuss a host of potential attacks on life and property

Advanced Persistent Threat is a  STEAL THIS SHOW special series looking at the 2016 Bangladesh Bank Heist (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bangladesh_Bank_robbery?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss) . Had it succeeded, this would easily have been the biggest bank robbery in history — and it was carried out almost entirely in the digital realm, using a variety of exploits and malware, in order to leverage access to the SWIFT banking network and the US Federal Reserve. In Part One, we look at exactly what happened in the Bangladesh heist, and walk through how it was carried out. To help us through the complex story, we hear from Cheryl Biswas (https://twitter.com/3ncr1pt3d?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss) , Strategic Threat Intel Analyst in Cyber Security at a Big Four consulting firm. After covering the how of the robbery, we consider whether trusted systems like SWIFT can remain secure in an information environment replete with radically heterogeneous, eminently hackable devices. Cheryl Biswas wishes to make clear tha

In this episode, I reflect on STEAL THIS SHOW episode S04E03, (http://stealthisshow.com/s04e03/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss)  with Cory Doctorow (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cory_Doctorow?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss) . One of the big themes to come up in the conversation was the European Copyright Directive (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Directive_on_Copyright_in_the_Digital_Single_Market?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss) — which, if passed early next year, will threaten the future of the Web as we know it. But does this threat to the future of the the traditional Web mean the moment of decentralized services like IPFS (https://ipfs.io/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss) and Blockstack (https://blockstack.org/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss) has finally come? Presented by TorrentFreak  (http://torrentfreak.com?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss) | Season Sponsor Private Internet Access (http://privateinternetaccess.com?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss) Showrunner & Host Jamie King (mailto:jamie@stealthisshow.com) | Edi

In our second interview with Emin Gün Sirer (the first one being lost to a catastrophic file system failure!), we discuss the current state of cryptocurrency, and just what Emin means when he says that Satoshi Nakamoto is ‘dead.’ We discover the secret shared lineage between BitTorrent and Cryptocurrency, and how they both tackle the ‘chaos of the commons’. Of course TRON’s recent acquisition of BitTorrent, Inc. comes in for some scrutiny — Emin remains, let’s say, skeptical. And, finally, we look at Emin’s work on and around the all-new Avalanche protocol, which he sees as the most significant contribution to cryptocurrency since Bitcoin itself.  Emin Gün Sirer is a co-director of The Initiative For Cryptocurrencies & Contracts (http://www.initc3.org/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss)  and associate professor of computer science at Cornell University. Known for significant contributions to peer-to-peer systems and computer networking, Emin was behind the first Proof-of-Work system for cryptocurrency, Karma, whi

In this episode we meet Zenna, Andre and Zack from Scuttlebutt (https://www.scuttlebutt.nz/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss) , a P2P-based social ‘network of networks’ based around a BitTorrent-like distribution technology.  After figuring out what Scuttlebutt is (and is not) we discuss: the roots of Scuttlebutt in New Zealand, the system’s politically anarchist/libertarian ethos, how Scuttlebutt survived (or shrugged off) a right-wing deluge; and how SSB’s technical architecture eliminates the need for moderators. With social networks like Facebook, Twitter and 4Chan increasingly becoming propagation tanks for viciously partisan net cultures, we talk about what makes Scuttlebutt different: it’s a network that resists aggregation, massification,  and centralisation. Scuttlebutt is succeeding where Diaspora (https://diasporafoundation.org/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss) failed precisely because it doesn’t seek to replace the social media behemoths: Scuttlebutt is tiny by design, happy to be human, and based arou

In this episode we meet Cory Doctorow (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cory_Doctorow?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss) , sci-fi author and co-founder of Boing Boing (https://boingboing.net/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss) . Cory’s most recent book, Walkaway, (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walkaway_(Doctorow_novel)?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss) is a story of refusing a life of surveillance and control under a high-tech oligarchy and the struggle to live in a post-scarcity (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post-scarcity_economy?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss)  gift economy (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gift_economy?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss)  where even death has been defeated. Over this one hour plus interview we discuss: Whether filesharing & P2P communities have lost the battle to streaming services like Netflix and Spotify, and why the ‘copyfight’ is still important How the European Copyright Directive eats at the fabric of the Web, making it even harder to compete with content giants Why breaking up companies

In this episode, we meet Primavera De Filippi, author of the recently published ‘Blockchain and the Law (http://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674976429&utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss) ‘, from Harvard University Press (co-authored with Aaron Wright). Primavera is interested in how the law will change to accommodate blockchain — and how blockchain might replace parts of the law. We’ve already seen how P2P filesharing strained the world’s copyright law: what changes will be ushered in by P2P money? We discuss the future of blockchain-based technologies, and whether decentral systems are doomed to create new incumbents and new forms of centralisation; whether (and how) forking could be a solution against this ‘re-centralisation’; and how Ethereum’s smart contracts may have a fatal flaw that the philosophy of law already knows about. Primavera De Filippi is a permanent researcher at the National Center of Scientific Research (CNRS) in Paris, a faculty associate at the Berkman-Klein Center for Internet &

In this episode we meet Abhishta, one of the authors of the paper ‘The Business Model Of A Botnet’ (https://arxiv.org/abs/1804.10848?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss) , from the University of Twente in Netherlands.  This fascinating research was widely discussed on release, at least partly due to its insights into the astonishing sums of money botnet operators are making — and how they’re doing it. We sit down with Abhishta to discuss  how Botnets are created, and the multiple ways they can be used to make profit for their operators; attacks on critical internet infrastructure like Dyn (https://dyn.com/dns/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss) ; and the surprising actors behind some big DDOS attacks on banks in the Netherlands. Abhishta fills us in on so-called ‘stresser (https://www.incapsula.com/ddos/booters-stressers-ddosers.html?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss) ‘ botnet operations like Lizard Stresser (https://krebsonsecurity.com/tag/lizard-stresser/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss) , a kind of rent-a-botnet model, an

This is the second part of our interview with Chris Beams, founder of the decentralised cryptocurrency exchange, Bisq (https://bisq.network/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss) . We discuss the inner workings of the Bisq service, how it compares to the widely used platform Local Bitcoins, and the intricacies of designing decentral P2P systems for financial operations. From there, we move into some of the political/philosophical implications of Bisq as a Distributed Autonomous Organisation (DAO): are we evolving, with Bitcoin and other P2P networks, functionalities which parallel certain present-day institutions, and which could one day eliminate the need for  establishment altogether? And could a future democracy be composed of “opt-in” components that actually do better at providing for our basic human needs? Showrunner & Host Jamie King (mailto:jamie@stealthisshow.com) | Editor Lucas Marston ( (mailto:lucas@hollagully.com) Hollagully (https://www.hollagully.com/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss) ) (mailto:lucas@hol

What is the alt-right, and what does it have to do with online culture? In this episode we meet Elizabeth Sandifer, author of Neoreaction, A Basilisk. Riffing off the material in her book, we talk...

In this episode we meet Chris Beams, founder of the decentralised cryptocurrency exchange Bisq. We discuss the concept of DAOs (Decentralised Autonomous Organisations), and whether The Pirate Bay was an early example; how the start...

In this episode we meet Sam Woolley, director of the Digital Intelligence Lab at the Institute for the Future, to dig deeper into the topic of troll farms, political disinformation and the use of social...

In this episode we meet Vinay Gupta: software engineer, disaster consultant and global resilience guru. Vinay served as Release Co-ordinator for the Ethereum project, and is now CEO of Mattereum, ‘the first Internet of Agreements...

It seems everyone’s getting in on the “fake news” game today, from far-right parties in Germany to critics of Catalan separatism — but none more concertedly than the Russian state itself. In this episode we...

In this episode we meet Diani Barreto from the Berlin Bureau of ExposeFacs. Launched in June 2014, ExposeFacts.org supports and encourages whistleblowers to disclose information that citizens need to make truly informed decisions in a...

Support STEAL THIS SHOW show via Patreon, get access to a Slack channel & the show’s creators, uncut interviews, and more. Your support keeps us going! In this episode we meet ZCash’s Paige Peterson. ZCash...

In this episode, we’re talking to Steve Phillips of The Pursuance Project. Pursuance is a new tool for organising activists and journalists online which springs directly from the work of journalist Barrett Brown and Barrett’s...

Support STEAL THIS SHOW show via Patreon, get access to a Slack channel & the show’s creators, uncut interviews, and more. Your support is essential! Dan Hassan is a very early Bitcoin enthusiast who’s taking...

Support STEAL THIS SHOW show via Patreon, get access to a Slack channel & the show’s creators, uncut interviews, and more. Your support is essential! In this episode, we meet two Dangerous Internet Hackers from...

This episode is powered by our amazing patrons! Support the show, get access to a Slack channel & the show’s creators, uncut interviews, and more. Your support is essential! In this episode, we meet Ryan...