Star Wars, the CIA, and a WhatsApp malware mirage
Smashing Security
Graham Cluley
4.7 • 579 Ratings
🗓️ 28 May 2025
⏱️ 48 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Why is a cute Star Wars fan website now redirecting to the CIA? How come Cambodia has become the world's hotspot for scam call centres? And can a WhatsApp image really drain your bank account with a single download, or is it just a load of hacker hokum?
All this and much more is discussed in the latest edition of the award-winning "Smashing Security" podcast by computer security veterans Graham Cluley and Carole Theriault, joined this week by Allan Liska.
Warning: This podcast may contain nuts, adult themes, and rude language.
Episode links:
- How I found a Star Wars website made by the CIA - Ciro Santilli on YouTube.
- How the CIA failed Iranian informants in its secret war with Tehran - Reuters.
- Isis and al-Qaeda sending coded messages through eBay, pornography and Reddit - Independent.
- Games Without Frontiers: Investigating Video Games as a Covert Channel - IEEE.
- General David Petraeus used clever Gmail trick during affair - Network World.
- Cambodia is home to world’s most powerful criminal network: report - SCMP.
- How to protect yourself from suspicious messages and scams- WhatsApp.
- Is WhatsApp Safe? Tips for Staying Secure - WhatsApp.
- Hacked on WhatsApp – how to stay safe when using the messaging app - BBC.
- Just a GIF Image Could Have Hacked Your Android Phone Using WhatsApp - The Hacker News.
- Kon-Tiki: The Epic Raft Journey Across the Pacific - YouTube.
- Still Standing with Jonny Harris - CBC.
- Niki de Saint Phalle & Jean Tinguely - Myths & Machines - Hauser & Wirth.
- Smashing Security merchandise (t-shirts, mugs, stickers and stuff)
Sponsored by:
- Vanta– Expand the scope of your security program with market-leading compliance automation… while saving time and money. Smashing Security listeners get $1000 off!
- 1Password Extended Access Management– Secure every sign-in for every app on every device.
- MetaCompliance - MetaCompliance's Security Awareness Planner is your free 12-month roadmap to reduce risk and build a culture of cyber awareness.
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THANKS:
Theme tune: "Vinyl Memories" by Mikael Manvelyan.
Assorted sound effects: AudioBlocks.
Privacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacyTranscript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | For goodness sake, he travels for 111 days, 8,000 miles, and a bit of cardboard, effectively, halfway across the Pacific. Good for him! Well, good for him! And you're saying, oh dear, what a trial it will be to watch a movie with the occasional ad in it. |
| 0:39.9 | Smashing Security, Episode 419, Star Wars, the CIA, and a WhatsApp malware mirage with Carol Terrio and Graham Cluley. |
| 0:45.0 | Hello, hello and welcome to Smash Incurity Episode 419. My name's Graham Cluley. |
| 0:46.6 | And I'm Carol Terrio. |
| 0:51.1 | And Corral Ward, this week we are joined by special guests. Somebody hasn't been on the show for a while. |
| 0:59.8 | It's our pleasure to welcome back to the stage Rantamware Somelier. It's none other than Alan Liska. Hello, Alan. Hello. Thank you for having me. |
| 1:05.3 | Hi, Alan. I missed you all so much. It's so good to be back. I'm a little disappointed that I couldn't get episode 420, but I'll take 419. Yep, wait for that one next week, folks. |
| 1:13.1 | What's coming up this week, Carol? |
| 1:14.7 | Well, first, before we kick off, let's thank this week's wonderful sponsors, |
| 1:19.4 | Metaccompliance, One Password, and Vanta. |
| 1:22.4 | It's their support that help us give you this show for free. |
| 1:25.1 | Now, coming up on today's show, Graham, what do you got? |
| 1:27.9 | I'm going to be asking the question, why does the cute Star Wars fan website now redirect to the CIA? |
| 1:36.0 | Okay. What about you, Alan? I'm going to talk about a country full of call scam centers that you may not be aware of. |
| 1:44.5 | Okay. And I'm looking at what's up and what new scams are hitting it. |
| 1:49.5 | All this and much more coming up on this episode of Smashing Security. |
| 1:57.1 | Now, chums, chums, are we all Star Wars fans? |
| 2:01.5 | How do we feel about Star Wars? |
| 2:03.7 | Yeah. |
| 2:04.8 | I'm a Star Wars fan. |
| 2:06.6 | Yeah. |
| 2:07.2 | Well, like a diehard? |
... |
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