Safe Mode Podcast Podcast By Safe Mode Podcast cover art

Safe Mode Podcast

Safe Mode Podcast

By: Safe Mode Podcast
Listen for free

Podcast by Safe Mode PodcastAll rights reserved Politics & Government
Episodes
  • Behind the scenes of the Socksescort takedown

    Behind the scenes of the Socksescort takedown
    Mar 19 2026
    In this episode, we sit down with Chris Formosa to break down the Socksescort disruption—a proxy botnet powered by AVRecon that compromised edge devices at scale. Chris walks us through why the operation was so dangerous, how investigators tracked its command-and-control infrastructure, and what changed between the 2023 disclosure and the eventual takedown in coordination with the Department of Justice. We also dig into why edge devices remain prime targets, where most organizations still have visibility gaps, and what the next evolution of this threat could be. In our reporter chat, Greg Otto and Tim Starks break down DarkSword, a iOS exploit kit that could impact hundreds of millions of people.
    Show more Show less
    37 mins
  • What comes next for Trump's cybersecurity plan?

    What comes next for Trump's cybersecurity plan?
    Mar 12 2026
    On this episode of Safe Mode, Greg Otto and Tim Starks look past the headline release of President Trump’s new cyber strategy and focus on what comes next: the promised follow-on guidance, the rollout of an interagency “cell” spanning DOJ, State, FBI, DoD and others that pairs cyber operations with diplomacy and arrests, and the state-by-state critical infrastructure pilot programs designed to test what actually works before scaling. In our interview segment, acting Federal CISO Mike Duffy lays out his priorities for 2026.
    Show more Show less
    29 mins
  • A plea to improve quantum security in the federal government

    A plea to improve quantum security in the federal government
    Mar 5 2026
    In this episode, we sit down with Gharun Lacy, Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Cyber and Technology Security Directorate at the U.S. Department of State, who issues a stark warning: no organization can defend against quantum-enabled cyber threats alone. Hear Lacy explain why adversaries like China are already harvesting encrypted data today—planning to crack it years from now when quantum computers arrive. He breaks down the "harvest now, decrypt later" threat and why your encrypted data may outlive multiple leadership cycles, creating risks that stretch across generations like an accordion through time. Lacy challenges both public and private sector defenders to stop thinking about their post-quantum encryption plans in isolation. Instead, he argues we must defend "holistically as an ecosystem," with industries and sectors coordinating their transition to quantum-resistant algorithms by 2035. But is that timeline fast enough? In our reporter chat, Greg talks with Derek Johnson about a new study that finds that LLMs can used to deanonymize online profiles.
    Show more Show less
    18 mins
No reviews yet