AI was not plotting humanity’s demise. Humans were

Smashing Security

Graham Cluley

Technology, News, Tech News

4.7 • 579 Ratings

🗓️ 12 February 2026

⏱️ 40 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

AI bots are having existential crises, inventing religions, and allegedly plotting against humanity... or so the internet would have you believe.

We dig into Moltbook, the “AI-only” social network that sent Twitter into a meltdown, attracted breathless talk of the singularity, and turned out to be far less Terminator and far more humans role-playing as bots.

Plus we discuss why "vibe coding" your app might be a catastrophically bad idea, when security researchers can easily peek inside rifle through your private messages, API keys, and databases.

Also this week we learn that pro-Russian hackers are circling the Winter Olympics - or is it the Jamaican Bobsleigh team?

All this and more is discussed in episode 454 of the "Smashing Security" podcast with cybersecurity veteran Graham Cluley, and special guest Iain Thomson.

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Theme tune: "Vinyl Memories" by Mikael Manvelyan.

Assorted sound effects: AudioBlocks.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Are we too quick, though, to assume that the authorities are right and it is a pro-Russian hacking group? I mean, could it be the Jamaican bobsleigh team who are just disappointed? Maybe they're just very bad sports. They say, this just isn't fair. How are we supposed to compete at the Winter Olympics?
0:30.9	Smashing Security.
0:33.5	Episode 454.
0:36.3	AI was not plotting humanity's demise.
0:40.4	Humans were. With Graham Cluley and special guest Ian Thompson.
0:43.9	Hello, hello and welcome to Smash Insecurity episode 454.
0:45.0	My name's Graham Clooney.
0:46.4	And I'm Ian Thompson.
0:49.0	Ian, welcome back to the show.
0:51.1	You haven't been with us for a while.
0:51.8	Always a pleasure.
0:53.6	Good to have you here, Ian. For people who don't know, what are you?
0:56.3	And why are you here talking about cybersecurity?
0:59.0	Well, I'm a carbon-based human life.
1:00.7	No, no.
1:01.8	I've been a tech journalist for, ooh, the last quarter of a century.
1:07.3	Covering security in the main for the register before going on to help edit.
1:11.9	And I'm currently a freelance journalist, again, concentrating on security, but also science and whatever else takes my fancy.
1:19.2	Fantastic. And you're joining us today from the west coast of the United States.
1:23.4	Well, I'm here stuck in Old Blighty. So we've truly gone transatlantic on today's episode.
1:30.3	How long have you been out in the States now?
1:32.2	Oh, 18 years. I first came over on a one-year contract in 2008. And six weeks after I arrived,
	...

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