Darknet Diaries

Recent Episodes

1. 179: The Courthouse - Revisited

   Sep 1, 2026

   A revisit to Episode 59 featuring Justin Wynn and Gabby DeMercurio, seasoned penetration testers with Coal Fire Systems (and now Kaiju Security), who recount their 2019 physical security assessment of Iowa courthouses that went wrong after they were wrongfully arrested. The episode replays the original story and then provides a comprehensive five-year update on their legal battle against Dallas County, their $300,000 settlement per person, and the precedent their case has set for penetration testers.

2. LOW - Trailer

   Aug 6, 2026

   Jack Rhysider announces the release of LOW, a limited audio series featuring an in-depth narrative from a person named Zachariah about an extraordinary and dark life story. After eight years of silence from Zachariah and years of production work, Rhysider has completed a five-episode series exploring themes of human experience, choices made in darkness, and personal reckoning. The series launches as exclusive early access for Darknet Diaries Plus subscribers before a free public release.

3. 178: Ubiquiti

   Aug 4, 2026

   Nickolas Sharp, a cloud engineer at Ubiquiti, orchestrated a sophisticated cyber attack on his own employer to extort $2 million in Bitcoin, framing it as an unsanctioned security demonstration. After downloading over 100 private repositories from Ubiquiti's GitHub and AWS systems, Sharp sent a ransom demand, later leaked the data publicly via Keybase, and contacted journalist Brian Krebs with allegations of corporate malfeasance. Arrested in December 2021 and convicted of wire fraud and intentional damage to protected computers, Sharp was sentenced to six years in prison.

4. 177: National Public Data

   Jul 21, 2026

   Episode 177 of Darknet Diaries explores three interconnected stories of identity theft and data exploitation. The episode begins with William Woods, whose identity was stolen by Matthew Kierans in 1988, leading to a devastating legal nightmare where Woods was wrongly imprisoned and institutionalized while the actual thief operated freely for 31 years. It then shifts to Luan Barbosa (USDOD), a Brazilian hacker who breached the U.S. Department of Defense, FBI InfraGard, NATO, and numerous other government entities, selling stolen military intelligence. Finally, the episode reveals how Salvatore Varini Jr., operator of the data broker National Public Data, profited from scraping and selling billions of personal records, which were subsequently breached and sold by Luan, affecting 2.9 billion people across the U.S., UK, and Canada.

5. The FBI told him to keep a secret. He risked everything to fight it. ✉ Darknet Diaries Ep. 176: NSL

   Jul 7, 2026

6. One Unencrypted File Broke This 10-Year Investigation Wide Open 🎙 Darknet Diaries Ep. 175: Bayrob

   Jun 2, 2026

7. The Only Cure For This Malware Is to Throw Your Router in the Trash 🔌 Episode 174: Pacific Rim

   May 5, 2026

8. Cashers and the Magic Debit Card With Unlimited Withdrawals 💳 Darknet Diaries Ep. 173: Tarjeteros

   Apr 21, 2026

9. The Insidious True Purpose of These Cheap Chinese Streaming Boxes 📺 Darknet Diaries Ep 172 SuperBox

   Apr 7, 2026

10. Your Spotify Account Might Be Laundering Dirty Money 🎵 Darknet Diaries Ep. 171: Melody Fraud

    Mar 3, 2026