logo
episode-header-image
Dec 2020
12m 2s

What is a weapon in the Information Age?...

TED
About this episode
From microscopic "smart dust" tracking devices to DNA-tracing tech and advanced facial recognition software, journalist Sharon Weinberger leads a hair-raising tour through the global, unregulated bazaar of privatized mass surveillance. To reign in this growing, multibillion-dollar marketplace that often caters to customers with nefarious intents, Weinberger believes the first step is for governments to classify surveillance tools as dangerous and powerful weapons.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Up next
Jul 10
A story of moral imagination and bold entrepreneurship | Sitoyo Lopokoiyit and Jacqueline Novogratz
In a conversation about visionary leadership, M-PESA CEO Sitoyo Lopokoiyit speaks with impact investor and Acumen CEO Jacqueline Novogratz about how he grew a nascent mobile payment service into Africa’s largest fintech platform — which now handles nearly 60 percent of Kenya's GD ... Show More
19m 36s
Jul 9
"Marigolds," a poem about wonder | Safiya Sinclair
Poet Safiya Sinclair performs "Marigolds: A Letter to Wonder," an original poem she created for TED that explores memory, beauty and the fragility of life. After the poem, she talks with TED's Helen Walters about her writing process — and what it feels like when the creative muse ... Show More
9m 2s
Jul 8
The miraculous device that saved my farm — and changed my life | Josephine Waweru
Exhausted from carrying water up a hill to keep her small farm in Kenya thriving, Josephine Waweru received an unexpected call that offered a nearly unbelievable solution. She shares how one simple device allowed her crops (and her dreams) to flourish — and offers a glimmer of ho ... Show More
10m 18s
Recommended Episodes
Dec 2021
Inside the massive (and unregulated) world of surveillance tech | Sharon Weinberger
What is a weapon in the Information Age? From microscopic "smart dust" tracking devices to DNA-tracing tech and advanced facial recognition software, journalist Sharon Weinberger leads a hair-raising tour through the global, unregulated bazaar of privatized mass surveillance. To ... Show More
12m 2s
Apr 2019
Twitter Beats and Grows, Google’s ‘Wing’ Gets Okay from FAA, Family Offices Take More Risk
Jitendra Waral, Bloomberg Intelligence Senior Internet & Consumer Products Analyst and Selina Wang, Bloomberg News Global Technology Reporter, discuss Twitter topping first-quarter sales projections and reporting strong user growth, bolstered by changes to its social-media servic ... Show More
36m 32s
Apr 2020
NSO Employee Abused Phone Hacking Tech to Target a Love Interest
Back in 2013, between the many revelations on mass surveillance abuses by the NSA coming from the trove of Snowden leaks, Americans also learned agents at the signals intelligence agency were snooping on their love interests. Dubbed LOVEINT (a play on ‘Love-Intelligence,’ apparen ... Show More
28m 57s
Oct 2017
Reaper looks like a criminal booter on the Chinese black market. BadRabbit shows some moves. Catch-All malicious Chrome extension. Android currency miners in Google Play. Indictments in Russia probe.
In today's podcast, we hear that the Reaper botnet is still quiet, and looking like a booter-for-hire. BadRabbit shows some odd stealth, and some interesting strategic selectivity. A malicious Chrome extension steals everything you put on a website. Currency miners on phones seem ... Show More
14m 40s
Sep 2023
Cyberespionage in East and Southeast Asia, for both intelligence collection and domestic security, Spyware tools tracked. Shifting cyber targets in Russia’s hybrid war. Securing the Super Bowl.
The Gelsemium APT is active against a Southeast Asian government. A multi-year campaign against Tibetan, Uighur, and Taiwanese targets. Stealth Falcon's new backdoor. Predator spyware is deployed against Apple zero-days. An update on Pegasus spyware found in Meduza devices. There ... Show More
30m 50s
Mar 2020
Caution in the Play store. EU power consortium’s business systems hacked. Cablegate--a look back. Schulte trial ends in minor convictions, but a hung jury on major counts. The cyber underworld.
Google removes from the Play store an app nominally designed to track COVID-19 infections. An EU power distribution consortium says its business systems were hacked. An assessment of Cablegate has been declassified. Ex-CIA employee Schulte’s trial for disclosing classified inform ... Show More
21m 41s
Dec 2023
Operational Safety With AI: Chevron's Ellen Nielsen
Ellen Nielsen, Chevron’s first chief data officer, sees data as the common thread throughout a career that has spanned systems, digital data, procurement, and supply chain. In her current role, she applies what she’s learned to Chevron’s wide-ranging AI and machine learning initi ... Show More
35m 13s
Aug 2023
China accuses the US of cyberespionage. Backdoors found in NetScaler. Account hijacking campaigns. Raccoon Stealer gets an update. Cryptocurrency recovery scams. Narrative control in the hybrid war.
China accuses the US of installing backdoors in a Wuhan lab. NetScaler backdoors are found. A Phishing scam targets executives. LinkedIn sees a surge in account hijacking. Raccoon Stealer gets an update. Cryptocurrency recovery scams. We kick off our new Learning Layer segment wi ... Show More
30m 58s
Jul 2019
GandCrab hoods may be back with new ransomware. Video-on issues. Broadcom-Symantec talks are off, for now. Treason or just business? Robo-calls. A decryptor for Ims0rry ransomware.
The retirement of GandCrab’s hoods may have been exaggerated. Video conferencing tools RingCentral and Zhumu may have picked up Zoom’s issues in the tech they licensed. Broadcom’s projected acquisition of Symantec is on hold, at least for now. One Silicon Valley executive calls a ... Show More
21m 29s
Jan 2021
More on that Solorigate threat actor, especially its non-SolarWinds activity. Chimera’s new target list. Executive Order on reducing IaaS exploitation. The case of the stolen laptop.
Another security company discloses a brush with the threat actor behind Solorigate. Advice on hardening Microsoft 365 against that same threat actor. Chimera turns out to be interested in airlines as well as semiconductor manufacturing intellectual property. Former President Trum ... Show More
23m 2s