The Cyber Show

Helen and I had the honour to talk to Dr. Luis Falcon, a Spanish computer scientist, physician (practising MD) and leader of the GNUHealth project. We spoke about health information ecosystems, medical management systems, wearable sensors, free software, privacy, community, and public health research. Dr. Falcon does a huge amount of very valuable and underappreciated work on systems that are extremely important in the world right now. (Music contributions from Cosmic Karine again and thanks to Guy for the Izotope reverb removal.)

Can systems security be measured and can custom language models working with constraints solving help automate security assurance? We talk to Dr Basel Katt and Ryan Marugah about how their company SeCore do automated system analysis. Will it make security better or worse?

In this first part of Cyberwar we meet the cast of Midnight In The War-Room, a Thomas LeDuc (Semperis) feature length documentary on the human side of cyber conflict. Lots of first-rate stories and commentary from the front lines of cyber.

We're talking about our mad times, mad leaders, culture and ever more insane technology

We talk to Dr. Megha Kumar about the history and politics of digital technology. How do we join the dots of ecology, sustainability, privacy and democratic control of tech? What are the forces shaping the Internet today? (additional music by DJ Cosmic Karine)

Helen and Andy review recent episodes and plans for 2026 (with potty-mouth warning). Side effects and backlash to Online Safety Act. Tech collapsing at scale. Funding and sposorhip for show.

Dr. Aaron Balick talks about the 'Algorithmic Self', digital harms and hope scrolling.

Discussion of our new guide for digital parenting and the new frontier in independent social media for young Europen people that doesn't use US Big Tech

Three track EP. Psycho-Girl - a song about icky-sticky tech. Better Already - a homage to Rick Roderick. Don't Find Me - poem about social media.

Air travel is increasingly a target for cyber-attacks because it is safety-critical. Rob Demain CEO of E2E Assure talks about continuity of operations at airports and why backing up technology with paper and pen processes saves the day.

Having the 'Cyber Thought Police' harass and humiliate your staff is counterproductive. Craig Taylor CEO of CyberHoot Security talks about humane behaviour-rewarding approaches to company cyber training..

International human rights law provides a clear and universal framework for the promotion and protection of the right to privacy. We chat with David Stonehill CTO of NetLib Security about how and why securing your personal medical data in smart-watches and other personal devices is so important.

Kim Crawley of StopGenAI.com talks to us about gaming, teaching, communicative trust, labour law, hacking, social values and the assault by BigTech to redefine computing technology in increasingly hostile, disobedient, inflexible and disempowering forms

A public presentation in Swindon Old Town, at Fringe Arts Festival in the Ecology track. We discuss how e-waste (WEEE), environmental and other societal harms are linked to monopoly and BigTech domination. How can we all help counter these harms as part of a civic cybersecurity public programme?

How can you know your phone, PC motherboard or home devices were not compromised before any software was even installed on them? From dubious 'management engines' to exploding pagers, hardware tampering, malicious manufacture and treacherous (defective by design) computing is becoming more common. We talk to Dr. Basel Halak about hardware supply chain verification, tampering countermeasures and how hardware security can work for the end-user too, for example protecting the contents of your stolen phone.

The NCSS is a major exhibition event held at Birmingham NEC. We caught up with a selection of vendors to hear about what they do. We picked a few categories, from education to bespoke hardware, pentesting, forensics, support and police and government advisory organisations.

We begin Season 6 by talking to Danny Jenkins, CEO and co-founder of Threatlocker, on the subjects of positive security, running a security product company, and what motivates us to be cyber-defenders

Today is the 21st Big SASIG conference. What is the Security Awareness Special Interest Group (SASIG) ? Helen and Andy talk to Martin Smith MBE about the history, function, philosophy and future of this much needed British cybersecurity forum.

Under the guide of 'efficiency' US America is destroying its own government. But, efficiency is a lie! Ruthless, radical and reckless actions of DOGE show all the hallmarks of a cyberattack, according to experts Kate and Milo, who say it's designed to be destructive, and worse, it will all need rebuilding again at great cost. Maybe this is an opportunity to rebuild better, immune to another top-down 'decapitation attack'.

Concluding a three-part special on the Florida ZTW2025 event sposored by Threatlocker, the crew talk to TryHackMe and KnowBe4 on topics of cybersecurity education. Episode produced and edted by Helen Plews

In part 2 we've more interviews with infosec providers, both established and startups from the Florida ZTW2025 event sposored by Threatlocker. Ed, Helen and Alicja visit Games Bars and meet more heroic comic-book characters

The sneaky payload of the UK Online Safety Bill is active. British cloud industry is quaking in its sheds. We discuss the government's senior moment with technology (again).

Kate talks to Rose MacDonald, one of Australia's top digital forensic detectives, about domestic violence, intimate-partner abuse, coercive control, smartphones, stalking, spying and much more. What steps can you take if you suspect your phone is being used against you?

Crew discuss social media, TikTok, bigtech, monopoly, technofascism, megalomaniac broligarchs and the rise of the Nerd Reich. They decide the only way to be sure is to nuke the entire site from orbit!

A new generation of network bots is upon us. James Sherlow, Systems Engineering Director at Cequence Security talks to Dr. Andy Farnell about attacks on APIs and how intelligent behavioural monitoring can help in the fight.

We're back to classic Cybershow banter for this episode, with extra beats and fresh cuts. A tasty smorgasbord of trending topics in digital security and rights, with some emphasis on the relentless AI hype circus.

In the first episode of Season 5 and 2025, Helen and Andy speak with Luke Dash and Sam Peters from ISMS.online about whether regulation can protect us — or if it risks backfiring, leaving us more exposed in the battle for digital security.

In this episode of The Cyber Show, we channel the hustle of the 2002 film 'Paid in Full' into the world of digital payments. Martin Petrov of Integrity360, a 20-year veteran in the field, breaks down the upcoming PCI DSS 4.0 changes, combatting fraudsters, and the art of embedding security into point-of-sale systems, amongst other important topics on the ever-changing landscape of digital currency.

Dive into one of our most electrifying episodes of the series as Ed sits down with Jeff Wichman, Director of Incident Response aka Chief Negotiator, at Semperis. Get ready to uncover the gritty world of ransomware negotiations—the tactics, the stakes, and the high-stakes chess game that keeps hackers and defenders locked in a digital standoff.

Tara Garcia Mathewson of The Markup discusses digital censorship in schools colleges and universities. Modern day book-burning is rampant and its harming education. How our schools are ruled by fear and BigTech decides what kids can learn.

Featuring guest Stephen Monslow AKA fakedac~/M-onz alongside our regular Robert Thomas. We talked again about AI in music, PureData, Arts hacking, Generative music, Reactive music, VJing and visual synthesis, DJ culture and much more. With some musical interludes

In an earlier episode, we explored Marcus Ranum’s Six Dumbest Ideas in Cybersecurity and uncovered why Enumerating Badness just doesn’t cut it. Yet even now, application-level whitelisting remains messy. In this episode, Helen puts Seamus Lennon, VP of European Operations at ThreatLocker, in the hot seat to dig into the Default Deny approach—a principle at the heart of ThreatLocker’s independent product offering. Why is blocking everything by default such a powerful concept, and why does it remain relevant in today’s security landscape? Seamus shares insights, stories, and practical thoughts on navigating the challenges of whitelisting, tackling threats, and rethinking what secure really means. Is Default Deny too restrictive, or is it the secret to cutting through the chaos?

We continue the current season with an 'In the Chair' discussion episode, this time with Christian Have, CTO of Logpoint and former head of cyber affairs for Danish national police and intelligence. Some timely reflections on the state of international cyber-relations and very relevant to topical discussions for this month on the state of international affairs, technology, politics and sovereignty.

This spine-chilling Halloween, Cybershow delves into the eerie intersection of technology and the paranormal. Are those glitchy computers and mysterious messages signs of cyberattacks—or something far more sinister? Join us as we explore the internet’s strangest “haunted computer” tales. Packed with creepy stories, digital folklore, and a touch of tech skepticism, this episode dares to ask: when it comes to the supernatural and software, are we being hacked—or haunted?

The crew discuss democratic culture, voter motivation and what makes fair elections

Andy talks to Rob Thomas about creativity, AI, generative and reactive music. How will music evolve as an art form?

This episode is a recording of our live-stream from Friday May 10th 2024. The crew discuss cyber current affairs including the latest leaks and hacks.

We are back! It is not closed, it is not a circuit, and it is not even television! In the first episode of Season 3, Andy, Helen and Ed discuss the issues surrounding CCTV in society, why CCTV makes your life worse, ferments fear, the massive insecurity industry, and much, much more! Featuring special guests Kate and Guy. Credit to Lianhao Qu for episode thumbnail.

The crew discuss things that are being displaced by digital technology, and what that means for society, democracy and governance.

In part 2, of this Inscrutable Systems mini series, we recap on Part 1, and draw some essential conclusions, on both the techical and political sides of the argument. We also go discuss issues at large, including modern day software complexity. Kate and Andy discuss some important psychological factors, including issues like the public's blind faith in technology and software, and how do we make ourselves less vulnerable to this?

In this episode we go into the background of this scandal, its technical, legal and cultural aspects. We examine where British justice gets things wrong, and what it gets right. We look at technical issues of syncing distributed databases, and talk about forensic issues, reliable logs, back doors, software engineering and standards of evidence. We also look at psychological notions of user error bias, spirals of silence, identification and victim blaming.

In this first visual episode, Ed and Helen speak to special guest, Mercy Ageitu, about Fake Women in Tech, what that means, and many of the problems still faced by women in the workplace, especially in the tech industry.

In this episode of reflections, Helen and Andy continue to analyse the work of the late Dana Meadows, one of the greatest systems thinkers. This episode covers part 2, communications and delays.

In this episode of In The Chair, we speak to Dr Kate Brown about online dating and how people meet each other using phones. Do online dating apps lead to healthy and successful relations, or are they just best for hookups and fun?

In this episode of reflections, Helen and Andy analyse the work of the late Dana Meadows, one of the greatest systems thinkers. Helen starts by reading from Leverage Points: Places to Intervene in a System.

Helen and Andy go out into Southampton's East Park for a day, collecting vox pops. These informal street-interviews were our own market research for the podcast and our teaching activities. Do you get the idea of personal cybersecurity or digital self-defence? Who would benefit most from it? Would you attend classes like that? Who can teach it? Who pays for it and how much should it cost?

In Episode 2 of our Audio, Music and Poetry series, Ed reads 'Without a Phone Poem' by JourneyHolm, Dr Kate Brown reads 'Text' by Carol Ann Duffy, and 'Words Heard, By Accident, Over The Phone' by Sylvia Plath, and Helen reads 'Robot Revolution' by Elaine Perrin.

On this feature length special episode marking the start of Season 2, join Andy, Helen and Ed, special guest Dr Kate Brown, in-house tenacious investigative reporter Faith and various members of the public as they tear apart (and lovingly put back together) the UK Online Safety Bill, currently progressing through our parliament. After countless revisions, modifications and additions, is the premise of the bill still what it was originally intended to be?

This international sysadmin day, to celebrate all sysadmins around the world, and our official Cyber|Show Launch, Helen interviews both: Matt, a Windows sysadmin in the UK of 21 years, and Lucas, a Linux Sysadmin. They echo many of the same thoughts. We see you sysadmins, our heroes of the world!

Welcome to the first episode of CyberShow Kids. Today we will be listening to their thoughts on gadget use, who supervises use, and getting some of their own thoughts on the benefits and hazards of computer tech!