Looking for the episode in which Steve talked about the status of the Software industry

[Jordi]

Hi, Everyone,

I've been a Security Now! podcast listener for many years now. I remember Steve doing a fantastic speech about the current status of the software industry, but I don't remember the exact episode. I'd like to find to listen that part again, because it was enlightening to me, and I would also like to show it to my colleagues.

That speech was like a rant by Steve, in which he complained of how broken the software nowadays is, with software companies prioritizing new features over security and doing the things the right way. How this has caused many security issues, broken many products, etc. That once, the program is done, don't touch it, things like this.

Does anyone remember what episode was it (and the approximate time interval inside the episode)? I think it was an episode from 3 or 4 years ago, but I don't recall exactly.

Many thanks in advance!

 

[PHolder]

If you can remember any specific key phrase(s) then try google like the following.
site:grc.com security now key phrase 1 key phrase 2

 

[SeanBZA]

Yes the biggest thing Steve has is the transcripts, which are both searchable text files, and also a searchable PDF, plus you have a choice of the actual audio at 16k, direct from Steve, or, if you want the video, Leo has that hosted on TWIT, along with the higher quality audio, and also on Youtube as well. Does work really well, though if you search be aware that Steve has had a few rants on the state of things, mostly to do with software (in)security, and the monthly what got found out was messed up, and sort of fixed, for the month. Or not, as the case is, and how there are so many cases of the stable door being closed, long after the horse is over the hills.

 

[Jordi]

Hi, thanks for the answers.
I had already tried filtering by site and keywords, but unfortunately no luck so far

Google is able to search inside the transcripts, but I haven't found the right keywords, apparently.

It's funny because I tried asking about this to Google Bard (now Gemini) and it came up with a specific episode, providing its title, episode number and publishing date. It was very confident and even included and excerpt in the response of the content I was looking for... except that it was making everything up. When I went over the episode list, none of the clues it gave made any sense. There was no episode with that title. And looking for the episode with the number provided or the closest date, it didn't contain any of the content of the excerpt. Basically, it was a pure delusion. When I told it that he was wrong and why, it apologized profusely, and gave another answer which was also wrong. After apologizing several times it told that it was an experimental product still under test.

I'll keep trying though!

 

[Jordi]

Good morning,

To close the loop, I tell you that I finally managed to find the speech that I was looking for. At least one of them (I would swear that I've heard some other similar ones during the years I've been listening to this amazing podcast).

It's the episode 821 (Extrinsic Password Managers) in which Steve gives a presentation which he titled "The Great Cybersecurity Awakening of 2021". It's at the beginning of the episode, starting at min 14, and lasting around 20 min. It's very good.

Thanks for the suggestions, as I kept trying doing a search like this:

site:grc.com security now transcript shiny

"Shiny" was the keyword. Because, you know, the root of all security issues is frantic release of new shiny features that can be seen and sold. And this word, indeed, appeared in that presentation

 

[Badrod]

"Shiny" was the keyword. Because, you know, the root of all security issues is frantic release of new shiny features that can be seen and sold. And this word, indeed, appeared in that presentation

Clever. I would never have thought of using a key word like that.

But, I think the broken software industry theme has been there since the beginning.

 

[Steve]

Google is able to search inside the transcripts, but I haven't found the right keywords, apparently.

Also... This conversation reminded me that GRC's local site search had died some time ago. I've brought it back to life.

 

[Badrod]

Also... This conversation reminded me that GRC's local site search had died some time ago. I've brought it back to life.

Thank You Mr G!
I just used the local search to find SN-391, where Steve and Leo discuss background music to listen to while working (music that will drown out ambient noise without taking your mind off what you're doing).
I'd tried site searching with google and Duckduckgo, but hadn't hit the right set of key words. I even tried the Bing AI, which couldn't find anything for me, but helpfully suggested the I could try searching the transcripts myself.
All right--Chuck Wild Liquid Mind--Let's see how you sound.

 

[Steve]

All right--Chuck Wild Liquid Mind--Let's see how you sound.

That's the one. Very "Ethereal" -- may not be for everyone. My wife says it puts her to sleep.