We discuss the rise of China’s early patriotic hacking scene, and a new report that unravels how some of its most skilled members eventually found their way into more formal, state-aligned cyber operations. This episode is brought to you by Push Security. Check them out at Pushsecurity.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We unpack how a Swedish entrepreneur used Pablo Escobar’s name to sell fake phones, flamethrowers, and crypto — and how a viral scam built on influencer hype finally came crashing down. That and other stories. Hacked is brought to you by Push Security, check them out at PushSecurity.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We start with the AI hiring chatbot used by McDonald’s, and the vulnerability hiding beneath the conversation. What looked like some janky job application exchanges led two security researchers, Ian Carroll and Sam Curry, to uncover a serious flaw. That and a bunch of Grok madness. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Just for fun: an actual no script, no plan, hot mic blather-athon. If you crave a nice structured story with lots of research, give the ep we dropped a few days ago about the Texas Lottery Courier App scandal a listen. This is to wash some dishes to. Links to some stuff we discuss below: CBC On Design First Episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zh4OLQxXEZ0&t=36s Input free generative AI by Terrence Broad: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_LLD8ffgVc Reverse Turring: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MxTWLm9vT_o Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A London syndicate used a phone app to buy nearly every combination in the Texas Lottery—and walked away with a $95 million jackpot. In this episode, we dig into how that happened, what it reveals about the modern lottery system, and a handful of other stories. Hacked is brought to you by PushSecurity.com. Check them out! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this episode: the inside story of Danabot, the malware-as-a-service platform that thrived in the shadows for nearly a decade—until a critical mistake exposed its creators. Just last week, U.S. prosecutors unsealed charges against sixteen alleged operators, using evidence pulled not from a takedown, but from Danabot’s own infection logs. Plus: a roundup of other top stories. Last week was a rerun—life got a little hectic—so we kept the mic hot and recorded a 90-minute marathon episode to make up for it. Let us know if you're intro it. Hacked is brought to you by Push Security Check them out at pushsecurity.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Today malware is all nation state actors and organized crime, but in the beginning it was more about making a statement. Dan is a malware historian. He finds old hardware and viruses, runs them, and sees what happens. So we sat down to discuss the history of malware, where it's come from, and where he thinks it's going next. Check out his amazing YouTube channel at ⁠https://www.youtube.com/user/danooct1 Hacked is brought to you by PushSecurity.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Schools out for summer. Another collection of computer confessions and strange tales of technology. Hacked is brought to you by Push Security. Check them out at Pushsecurity.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Content warning: This episode contains descriptions of exploitation, self-harm, and abuse. Listener discretion is advised. A network called 764 has turned abuse into currency. It spread through Discord, Telegram, and gaming platforms—built around “lorebooks,” collections of coerced violence traded for status. In a strange twist, this harm group has connections to cybercrime groups we've covered on this show before. Note: I was recording in an office, which between that and the subject matter, explains why my tone is pretty hushed in this one. Hacked is brought to you by Push Security—helping companies stop identity attacks before they happen. Phishing, credential stuffing, session hijacking—Push tackles it right where it starts: in the browser. Smart, seamless, and built for how people actually work. Check them out at pushsecurity.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We discuss a schism years in the making — the infamous imageboard 4chan gets hacked by its own offshoot, Soyjak.party, in a breach that exposed moderator identities, source code, and shattered the myth of online anonymity. Then, we look at Cluely — an AI tool built by a suspended student to help users “cheat” on job interviews — and the viral campaign pitching it as a revolution. Is it a tech breakthrough, a social bluff, or both? Hacked is brought to you by Push Security—helping companies stop identity attacks before they happen. Phishing, credential stuffing, session hijacking—Push tackles it right where it starts: in the browser. Smart, seamless, and built for how people actually work. Check them out at . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A tech worker stumbles upon mass fraud and brings receipts, a flag football prank goes very right, a teenager uses Net Send and gets in trouble — but not as much as the person they're in trouble with, and a guy almost sends his pal on a "Taken" style revenge mission to Kosovo. Got a strange tale of technology, security, or hacking? Share it at HotlineHacked.com. Hacked is brought to you by Push Security. Check them out at PushSecurity.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In 2009, a Pennsylvania high school accused sophomore Blake Robbins of dealing drugs—based on a photo secretly taken through his school-issued laptop. The image, captured without his knowledge in his own bedroom, turned out to show candy. But the real story wasn’t about what was in his hand—it was about how the school got the photo in the first place. In this episode, we speak with filmmaker Jody McVeigh-Schultz, creator of SPY HIGH, and Blake himself, about surveillance, bias, and what happens when institutions cross the line between protecting kids and controlling them. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A former developer at Eaton Corp, Davis Lu, is convicted of deploying a kill switch script that disrupted thousands of users worldwide—he’s now facing up to 10 years in prison. A major AI image generator, GenNomis, accidentally exposed 95,000 image prompts online, raising serious privacy and security concerns. And finally, researchers discover debug commands in the popular ESP32 Bluetooth chip, sparking worries about potential exploitation. Note: We mention and explain this in the last episode, but we’re in the process of pumping the brakes on the ads and keeping our reads faster. Things got overstuffed—that’s on us. Thanks for the honest feedback. Got a strange tale of technology, security, or hacking? Share it at HotlineHacked.com. Hacked is brought to you by Push Security. Check them out at PushSecurity.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hacked Discord accounts, zombie emergency alerts on TV, and a crime spree in Diablo 3—just another day. As always, thanks for sharing your calls with us—we had a blast listening. Note: We mention and explain this in the episode, but we’ve pumped the brakes on the ads. Things got overstuffed—that’s on us. Thanks for the honest feedback. Got a strange tale of technology, security, or hacking? Share it at HotlineHacked.com. Hacked is brought to you by Push Security. Check them out at PushSecurity.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Double Digits! Featuring caller stories of sarcastic keyboard pranks, failed SEO birthday gifts, vending machine hijinks and more. Hacked is brought to you by Push Security—helping companies stop identity attacks before they happen. Phishing, credential stuffing, session hijacking—Push tackles it right where it starts: in the browser. Smart, seamless, and built for how people actually work. Check them out at pushsecurity.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Adam used to break into companies for a living—legally. As a red teamer, he watched the attack surface shift from networks to endpoints to something new: identity. The Snowflake breach proved it—attackers aren’t breaking in anymore, they’re logging in. Adam saw it coming, founded Push Security to stop it, and now he’s here to break it all down. They’re our new sponsor, so if that’s not your thing, no worries—catch you in the next one. But his story? Fascinating. Hacked is brought to you by Push Security—helping companies stop identity attacks before they happen. Phishing, credential stuffing, session hijacking—Push tackles it right where it starts: in the browser. Smart, seamless, and built for how people actually work. Check them out at pushsecurity.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We dive into the story of Silk Road—the infamous darknet marketplace that changed the internet. We revisit its rise under Ross Ulbricht, aka "Dread Pirate Roberts," and how law enforcement finally brought it down. With Ulbricht’s recent presidential pardon in 2025, his release reignites debates on digital privacy, cybercrime, and government overreach. Plus, we’ve got a lot to catch up on—DeepSeek, the latest in AI, and much more.  Hacked is brought to you by Push Security—helping companies stop identity attacks before they happen. Phishing, credential stuffing, session hijacking—Push tackles it right where it starts: in the browser. Smart, seamless, and built for how people actually work. Check them out at pushsecurity.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Quantum computing raises big questions—about security, power, and who benefits as the technology advances. To kick off 2025, the International Year of Quantum, I sat down with Joan Etude Arrow—Founder and CEO of the Quantum Ethics Project and a Womanium Quantum Solutions Launchpad Fellow—to talk about what’s real, what’s next, and why it matters. This is our chat with Joan Etude Arrow, here on Hacked. 🔗 More from Joan: quantumjustice.bsky.social Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A bunch of great stories, including a prank between brothers with video evidence, a DOS frat war, and a person who tried to buy a building with a credit card. Want to share your story? Check out hotlinehacked.com. Hotline Hacked is brought to you by DeleteMe. Take control of your data and keep your private life private by signing up for DeleteMe. Now at a special discount for our listeners: Today get 20% off your DeleteMe plan when you go to joindeleteme.com/HACKED and use promo code HACKED at checkout.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices