SN 1076: FAST16.SYS - Unmasking the NSA's Most Diabolical Digital Sabotage

Security Now (Audio)

Leo Laporte

Twit, Steve Gibson, Leo Laporte, Hacking, Technology, Cyber Crime, Malware, Security, Encryption, Spyware

4.6 • 2.3K Ratings

🗓️ 28 April 2026

⏱️ 155 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

What if your engineering calculations secretly sabotaged your nation's best efforts? This week, we reveal how a newly uncovered 21-year-old NSA rootkit quietly corrupted scientific research in hostile states and why it changes everything you think you know about cyberwarfare.

Bitwarden's CLI hit with a supply-chain attack.
Commercial routers in Iran fail shortly before the war.
Meta logging all employee activity to train replacement AI.
GRC's DNS Benchmark Release 5.
Two miscellaneous AI thoughts.
A bunch of terrific listener feedback.
Unraveling the diabolical history of "fast16.sys"

Show Notes - https://www.grc.com/sn/SN-1076-Notes.pdf

Hosts: Steve Gibson and Leo Laporte

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Transcript

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0:00.0	It's time for Security Now.
0:01.3	Steve Gibson is here with a great picture of the week and an amazing spy story,
0:07.2	21-year-old malware that only now has been discovered.
0:11.8	The story of Fast16.6.com.
0:14.5	Coming up next on Security Now.
0:19.0	Podcasts you love.
0:22.1	From people you trust.
0:24.8	This is Twitter.
0:36.8	This is Security Now with Steve Gibson, episode 176, recorded Tuesday, April 28th, 2026.
0:39.6	Fast16.Sys.
0:43.7	It's time for security now, ladies and gentlemen, get ready.
0:47.7	Here's the hero, the star of our show, Mr. Steve Gibson.
0:49.1	Hello, Steve.
0:51.3	Oh, Leo.
0:52.0	Oh, no.
0:56.3	This. Oh, we have a story today.
0:58.6	You know, the title is a little weird.
1:04.5	Yes, it is, the title of today's podcast is fast16.s.
1:07.6	That sounds like fat 16.s.
1:13.2	Yeah, not fat. Maybe it was meant to look like it or maybe a quick, or maybe a quick, it could have been like a math library alternate name, but it's kind of
1:20.3	an unbelievable name.
1:21.7	Right.
	...

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