The curious case of the code copier
Smashing Security
Graham Cluley
4.7 • 579 Ratings
🗓️ 18 June 2025
⏱️ 32 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
A GCHQ intern forgets the golden rule of spy school — don’t take the secrets home with you — and finds himself swapping Cheltenham for a cell. Meanwhile, an Australian hacker flies too close to the sun, hacks his way into a US indictment, and somehow walks free... only to get booted back Down Under.
Plus: flow states, Bob Mortimer, and the joys of pretending to carry an owl around on a cushion.
All this and more is discussed in the latest edition of the "Smashing Security" podcast by cybersecurity veterans Graham Cluley and Carole Theriault.
Warning: This podcast may contain nuts, adult themes, and rude language.
Episode links:
- The Cheltenham Doughnut - Wikipedia.
- Summer placements - GCHQ.
- Spy school dropout: GCHQ intern jailed for swiping classified data - The Register.
- Former GCHQ intern jailed for taking top secret files home - Crown Prosecution Service.
- United States government says it will deport Australian hacker David Kee Crees - ABC News.
- Australian national known as “DR32” sentenced in U.S. federal court – DataBreaches.
- ICE takes steps to deport the Australian hacker known as “DR32” – DataBreaches.
- Aussie Travel Cover has hundreds of thousands of records stolen in hacking, policy holders not informed - ABC News.
- Australian cybercriminal to be deported from US - Information Age.
- Government sites hit by Aussie Travel Cover hacker - ZDNET.
- Abdilo, Australia-based computer hacker, live streams attack on US education sites - ABC News.
- Bob Mortimer's Pet Owl - YouTube.
- And Away… by Bob Mortimer - Simon & Schuster.
- Flow by Mihaly Csikszentmihaly - HarperCollins.
- 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!
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- Trelica by 1Password - Access Governance for every SaaS app. Discover, manage, and optimize access for any of your SaaS apps - whether managed or unmanaged.
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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 | Do you know what it means, Krill? |
| 0:05.3 | Yes, I've had many interns in my time. |
| 0:08.1 | Oh, really? |
| 0:09.1 | Yes. |
| 0:09.7 | I can't stress this enough. |
| 0:11.7 | If you were to end up as an intern at, oh, I don't know, the White House, for instance, serving the president's pleasure, that kind of thing gives interns a bad name. |
| 0:20.1 | Oh my God, Was that a Monica |
| 0:21.3 | Lewinsky reference? Yes. Security, Episode 422, The Curious Case of the Code Copier, with Carol Terrio and Graham Cluley. |
| 0:43.4 | Hello, hello, and welcome to Smashing Security episode 422. My name's Graham Cluelly. |
| 0:48.6 | And I'm Carol Terriot. |
| 0:50.3 | Correl, what's coming up on the show this week? |
| 0:52.4 | Well, first, let's thank this week's wonderful sponsors, Flair, Vanta, and OnePasswords. |
| 0:58.8 | It's their support that help us give you this show for free. |
| 1:01.6 | So coming up on today's show, Graham, what do you got? |
| 1:04.6 | I'm going to be talking about the curious case of the GCHQ intern. |
| 1:09.1 | Ooh, okay. |
| 1:10.4 | And I will be talking about the hacker who maybe should have been called Icarus. |
| 1:15.7 | All this and much more coming up on this episode of Smashing Security. |
| 1:21.8 | Now, chums, chums, today we are heading into the world of espionage, secrets, and someone who clearly didn't understand what being an intern involves. |
| 1:33.8 | Do you know what that means? |
| 1:35.1 | Do you know what it involves? |
| 1:36.7 | Yes, yes, yes. |
... |
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