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Security & hacking: videos Hacker News recommends
Computer security: vulnerabilities, exploits, malware, reverse engineering, CTF, penetration testing, Black Hat and DEF CON talks, OS security, memory safety, zero-days, responsible disclosure. Below: every video in this topic that at least three HN users linked with real commentary, in at least three different months (131 talks, 17 demos, 8 explainers), best-scored first, with the comments on each video page.
- 9 HN recommenders 11 months 2016–2026HN repeatedly recommends it as the deepest public look at how iCloud Keychain and Apple's device and cloud security are designed.
- 11 HN recommenders 11 months 2020–2026HN treats it as the go-to layperson-friendly argument against e-voting and links it in nearly every voting-technology thread.
- 10 HN recommenders 10 months 2018–2026HN considers it a classic, hilarious and sobering talk on ML inscrutability and tech hubris, often rewatched.
- 6 HN recommenders 10 months 2012–2019K killab66661 · talkCited repeatedly to rebut 'just don't use Facebook' arguments and to explain why tracking becomes hard to escape at critical mass.
- 9 HN recommenders 9 months 2012–2024HN commenters call it one of the best security talks and the standard introduction to LANGSEC, which they use to argue for simpler, well-specified input formats.
- 11 HN recommenders 8 months 2017–2023Recommended whenever DNA testing, CRISPR or bioweapons come up, often as the talk that made commenters decide to keep their DNA out of databases.
- 9 HN recommenders 7 months 2014–2026HN commenters call it an absorbing, entertaining deep dive on elevator security and the go-to link whenever elevators come up.
- 8 HN recommenders 7 months 2018–2023HN fans call it a favorite engineering video and a showcase of Tom7's masterpiece-level, playful hacking.
- 6 HN recommenders 7 months 2017–2026HN calls it a legendary, clearly explained hacker talk whenever mov-only computing or anti-decompilation comes up.
- 9 HN recommenders 7 months 2011–2017HN commenters repeatedly recommend it as the best explanation of why the CA system is broken and what alternatives exist.
- 8 HN recommenders 7 months 2011–2024B basti0007 · talkHN recommends it as the definitive technical deep dive into Stuxnet's zero-days from someone who analyzed it first-hand.
- 8 HN recommenders 7 months 2018–2023Praised as a charismatic, engaging talk with practical security lessons, like why credit cards protect you better than debit cards.
- 9 HN recommenders 8 months 2013–2024H Hack In The Box Security Conference · talkHN treats it as the go-to talk on OPSEC and pseudonymity, recommended in threads about Tor, Silk Road and staying anonymous online.
- 9 HN recommenders 8 months 2017–2022HN recommends it as a clever, entertaining and easy-to-follow talk on finding hidden x86 instructions with the Sandsifter tool.
- 8 HN recommenders 8 months 2019–2026P Platform Security Summit · talkHN points to it constantly in console, DRM and hardware-security threads as the authoritative account of Xbox One's threat model.
- 1 HN recommenders 6 months 2014–2023Cited over and over as an important talk, with commenters borrowing its ideas on cheap surveillance, offense-favoring security and liability.
- 5 HN recommenders 6 months 2018–2025Recommended as a funny but depressing investigation, and the usual link in threads on predatory publishing and fake citations.
- 7 HN recommenders 6 months 2019–2026O OktaDev · talkHN repeatedly points people to it as the clearest way to finally understand OAuth, to the point that one team made it required viewing for new hires.
- 5 HN recommenders 7 months 2011–2019HN keeps pointing to it as a long, fascinating talk on cryptographic, verifiable voting whenever e-voting security comes up.
- 7 HN recommenders 6 months 2015–2025It is the go-to short explainer HN commenters link whenever e-voting, voting machines or online voting come up.
- 3 HN recommenders 6 months 2016–2021It is the usual cite for why good OPSEC is so hard, including entry and exit point correlation and digital exhaust.
- 6 HN recommenders 6 months 2016–2025Recommended repeatedly as the best account of container history and how Zones built on and went beyond Jails.
- 5 HN recommenders 6 months 2016–2026HN brings it up in any thread about elevators or physical security as a fascinating, entertaining deep dive.
- 4 HN recommenders 5 months 2014–2023T themarimbaincident · talkHN commenters call it one of the most entertaining and informative con talks, and a good window into elevators from a hacker's view.
- 7 HN recommenders 5 months 2013–2026Regarded as one of the coolest talks ever, with a futuristic binary visualization demo that has inspired later tools.
- 4 HN recommenders 5 months 2019–2025Called a classic CCC talk, and the Xerox bug is cited as a cautionary tale about trusting scans and digitized archives.
- 6 HN recommenders 6 months 2019–2024M Microsoft Israel R&D Center · talkHN people point to it as the sober, technically grounded picture of hardware supply chain security, and an eye-opening one.
- 7 HN recommenders 6 months 2016–2025HN repeatedly recommends it whenever fake deaths, identity verification or records fraud come up, praising how easy the attack seemed.
- 6 HN recommenders 5 months 2014–2025J Jason Tubnor · talkFrequently linked as an entertaining and alarming account of OpenSSL code quality and why the fork happened.
- 9 HN recommenders 5 months 2014–2019H HUP · talkHN returned to it repeatedly, especially after Heartbleed, as an eye-opening argument about subverting open source and standards.
- 5 HN recommenders 5 months 2018–2021W Wild West Hackin' Fest · talkHN recommends it as an entertaining overview of physical pen testing, and cites it when threads discuss how easily doors and locks are bypassed.
- 4 HN recommenders 5 months 2017–2023HN cites it whenever people discuss rebuilding the web platform or what a better browser architecture could look like.
- 4 HN recommenders 4 months 2013–2026HN points to it as the classic overview of why TLS certificate trust is flawed, and it resurfaces whenever CA or HTTPS security comes up.
- 6 HN recommenders 4 months 2017–2023Recommended as the go-to talk on firmware security risks, Intel ME, and why replacing UEFI with Linux speeds up and hardens boot.
- 5 HN recommenders 4 months 2018–2026M max4warn · talkHN points to it as the definitive example of server-side, behavioral, non-invasive anti-cheat using machine learning, often as a counterpoint to kernel-level anti-cheat.
- 4 HN recommenders 4 months 2020–2025HN recommends it as a must-watch catalogue of C++ footguns, often cited in debates about Rust and C++ safety.
- 4 HN recommenders 4 months 2020–2025HN points to it as an entertaining and informative explanation of the economics of reshipping and stolen-card resale scams.
- 3 HN recommenders 3 months 2017–2022Strongly recommended as a formative talk on privacy, especially for its argument that voting with your feet fails as a privacy strategy.
- 5 HN recommenders 3 months 2021–2022HN points to it in lock-security threads as a good example of engineering meeting real-world exploitation, where flaws unrelated to the headline mechanism get found.
- 4 HN recommenders 3 months 2016–2026Recommended as an entertaining and well-explained talk on anti-reverse-engineering tricks.
- 2 HN recommenders 3 months 2020–2023HN commenters point to it whenever the question is how far hardware can be trusted, including FPGAs, supply chain attacks and firmware TPMs.
- 4 HN recommenders 4 months 2021–2026HN commenters recommend it as an entertaining demonstration of how scanners and antivirus software fail on unexpected input.
- 4 HN recommenders 3 months 2019–2026HN regulars treat Domas as a favorite hacker and bring this talk up in any discussion of CPU backdoors, hidden instruction sets or processor security.
- 2 HN recommenders 3 months 2014–2020S Schuyler Towne · talkHN commenters call it a passionate and educational history of locks and physical security, and a good starting point for the subject.
- 3 HN recommenders 3 months 2024HN people recommend it for a first-hand view of how Tor holds up in practice, from someone who had to rely on it.
- 3 HN recommenders 3 months 2014–2025Regarded as a favorite practical walkthrough of chip decapping, linked in threads on die shots, hardware backdoors and key extraction.
- 3 HN recommenders 3 months 2015–2024S Sébastien Duquette · talkHN commenters say it permanently changed how they think about inspecting binary data, and point to it as the origin of visual binary analysis tools.
- 3 HN recommenders 3 months 2014–2018T TheSecurityTube · talkHN recommends it as an entertaining talk and the original source on the stripping attack that motivated HSTS.
- 3 HN recommenders 3 months 2015–2024HN points to it to show that most Tor busts came from poor operational security by the user rather than a flaw in Tor itself.
- 2 HN recommenders 3 months 2020–2026M Microsoft Security Response Center (MSRC) · talkHN recommends it as a fascinating, authoritative account of console hardware security, often cited in threads on hardware security and anti-cheat.
- 3 HN recommenders 3 months 2015–2021T Techworld Sverige · talkHN people recommend it as a clear explanation of encrypted messaging challenges and of the thinking behind Signal.
- 3 HN recommenders 3 months 2021–2022HN people recommend it, along with the Lock Picking Lawyer's response, as an engaging look at lock design and how clever mechanisms get bypassed.
- 3 HN recommenders 3 months 2014–2026HN cites it as the go-to overview of what SIM cards can run and do, usually in threads about Java Card, SIM attacks or phone security.
- 2 HN recommenders 3 months 2017–2023S Shakacon LLC · talkHN recommends it as an interesting talk on how weak real-world door security is, and cites it for the stories of bad doors.
- 3 HN recommenders 3 months 2014–2019V vissago · talkHN points to it when discussing exposed IoT and industrial devices, as an eye-opening look at how much is reachable online.
- 3 HN recommenders 3 months 2016–2019Recommended as a non-technical, concrete case study of how metadata and phone records expose covert operations.
- 3 HN recommenders 3 months 2015–2026Cited whenever aviation or vehicle communication security comes up, as the standard demonstration that ADS-B is naively designed and trivially spoofable.
- 3 HN recommenders 3 months 2020–2023S SXSW · talkShared in simulation-argument threads as an entertaining, hacker-minded take, though some commenters criticize Hotz himself.
- 2 HN recommenders 2 months 2017–2021It is a repeat pick in 'favorite tech talk' threads as a funny, eye-opening look at how easily physical security and people can be bypassed.
- 3 HN recommenders 3 months 2021–2024D DragonFartOutLoud · documentaryMentioned alongside The Cuckoo's Egg as the screen version of an early computer-security detective story.
- 4 HN recommenders 3 months 2017–2024Recommended as an approachable, detailed look at console hardware architecture, FreeBSD in the PS4 and console hacking.
- 2 HN recommenders 2 months 2019–2026HN commenters call his x86 internals talks spectacular and mention them whenever low-level processor surprises come up.
- 3 HN recommenders 3 months 2024–2025A Australian Phoenix CyberOps · documentaryRecommended as a documentary telling the early hacking and spy-hunting story, with the original people involved.
- 3 HN recommenders 3 months 2018–2025HN people cite it to show even technical users fall for phishing and that hardware security keys are the real fix.
- 3 HN recommenders 3 months 2017–2021Brought up in threads on elevators and locks as an engaging talk on common keys.
- 3 HN recommenders 3 months 2023–2025Used as the primary source for Apple's stated plan to make Swift its successor to C++ and for how interop supports gradual transition.
- 2 HN recommenders 2 months 2018–2023Recommended as a funny, engaging look at how Perl's quirks create real security vulnerabilities.
- 3 HN recommenders 3 months 2016–2017B Bill Johnson · tutorialHN users recommend it as an amusing, practical overview of padlocks from cheap to high security.
- 3 HN recommenders 3 months 2018–2023Recommended as the author's own explanation of the design and security of magic-wormhole.
- 3 HN recommenders 3 months 2014–2022A Andrea Ross · talkRecommended as a funny, fascinating tour of how bad the OpenSSL code was and what cleanup looks like.
- 3 HN recommenders 3 months 2012–2017N NewYorkRawVideos · lectureRecommended as a practical talk on privacy and anonymity options, including diskless laptops running Tails.
- 2 HN recommenders 2 months 2016–2022HN points to it whenever hard drive destruction or fast physical data wiping comes up, as an empirical test of what actually works.
- 2 HN recommenders 2 months 2019–2023HN commenters point to it as a well-researched primer when airport security theatre and Israeli-style screening come up.
- 2 HN recommenders 2 months 2024HN recommends it as a gripping look at what nation-state attackers can do, used as the primary source in threads about iPhone security and Kaspersky.
- 2 HN recommenders 2 months 2012–2016HN commenters point to it in threads about medical device security and software transparency as an excellent, personal case for open source in implants.
- 2 HN recommenders 2 months 2023–2025Recommended as a thorough preparedness talk, and cited for specifics such as lawyers, password managers and gun ownership.
- 2 HN recommenders 2 months 2018–2023Recommended as a fun, practical talk on why bit flips matter for security, and cited in ECC memory discussions.
- 2 HN recommenders 2 months 2017–2025E ExileLord · talkHeld up as a favorite tech talk and a great hard-debugging story about patching a game binary.
- 2 HN recommenders 2 months 2020–2025M MattKC · demoHN admires it as a creative hack and cites it as the inspiration for later tiny-game and QR-code projects.
- 2 HN recommenders 2 months 2015–2022H Hackfest Communication · talkHN points to it as the canonical overview of pledge and the ideas behind OpenBSD's exploit mitigations.
- 2 HN recommenders 2 months 2020–2025K Kitboga · comedy videoHN commenters point to Kitboga as an entertaining, righteous example of wasting scammers' time.
- 2 HN recommenders 2 months 2020–2022HN points to it as a fun, technically deep talk that makes memory-safety bugs vivid through a beloved game.
- 2 HN recommenders 2 months 2020–2023T Troy Hunt · talkCited as a must-watch persuasive case for HTTPS everywhere.
- 2 HN recommenders 2 months 2014–2019HN commenters cite it as a compelling demonstration that metadata identifies people, and as a great watch on sloppy CIA tradecraft.
- 2 HN recommenders 2 months 2022–2023J Joe Grand · talkRecommended as a gripping real-world hardware hacking story and a showcase of Joe Grand's skill.
- 2 HN recommenders 2 months 2017–2019HN recommends it as an amazing, entertaining talk and cites it in threads on power-line sabotage and coup tactics.
- 3 HN recommenders 2 months 2020–2023Referenced in debates over Chrome hiding URLs as a compelling case for why full URLs are hard even for experts.
- 2 HN recommenders 2 months 2019–2022Recommended as a rare insider look at Apple's security architecture and the reasoning behind its hardware choices.
- 3 HN recommenders 2 months 2020–2022HN points to it as a deep dive into the surveillance features of North Korea's OS and the extent of that state's digital tracking.
- 3 HN recommenders 2 months 2023–2025M Microsoft Israel R&D Center · talkHN uses it as the primary source for Microsoft's Rust adoption and its reasoning on TPM and security requirements.
- 2 HN recommenders 2 months 2011–2021HN points people to it as the short, accessible account of how Stuxnet was dissected, usually when Stuxnet or state-sponsored malware comes up.
- 2 HN recommenders 2 months 2017–2025HN repeatedly cites it for Midori lessons: compatibility matters for adoption, and the Windows team stayed sceptical even with Midori running real workloads.
- 2 HN recommenders 2 months 2019–2026HN recommends it as the primary source on Sony's ECDSA nonce-reuse blunder and the history of console cracking.
- 2 HN recommenders 2 months 2016–2019G GBPPR2 · documentaryHN lists it among favorite nerdy documentaries and enjoys hearing Stoll tell the story himself.
- 2 HN recommenders 2 months 2017–2025L linux conf au 2017 - Hobart, Australia · talkHN people cite it as an approachable, hands-on introduction to hardware and firmware reverse engineering, and as the author's own account of the Thinkpad keyboard patch effort.
- 2 HN recommenders 2 months 2026Shared as a funny example of jailbreaking AI voice bots, and as the source of the bolognese prompt-injection phrase.
- 2 HN recommenders 2 months 2015–2018HN points to it as a good overview of Chip and PIN attacks and the consumer-liability downsides.
- 2 HN recommenders 2 months 2021–2022Named as a favorite LPL video, where a skeptical locksmith's challenge gets answered quickly.
- 2 HN recommenders 2 months 2020–2024HN recommends it as the best calm explanation of unsafe Rust, from a speaker commenters trust on the topic.
- 2 HN recommenders 2 months 2019–2020HN recommends it as the video version of the argument that JOSE/JWT is a flawed standard, and as a help in understanding token design choices.
Showing the 100 best-scored of 182. Use search to find the rest.
Questions
What is the most recommended security & hacking video on Hacker News?
Behind the Scenes of iOS Security by Black Hat: HN repeatedly recommends it as the deepest public look at how iCloud Keychain and Apple's device and cloud security are designed.
How is this security & hacking list ranked?
By HackerTube's score: the number of distinct months in which an HN comment recommended the video, plus half a point for every month with a strong recommendation. One viral thread counts less than steady recommendations over years.
Where do the videos come from?
From every Hacker News comment between 2007 and 2026 that linked a YouTube video, labeled by an AI model as a recommendation, a citation, a joke or a criticism. The list is published by HackerTube under ODC-By 1.0; this edition adds indexable pages and the comment context.
Video list and Hacker News comment labels from HackerTube (prompted by @karpathy), released under ODC-By 1.0, built on the open-index/hacker-news archive. Hacker News data is provided by Y Combinator; comments remain the work of their authors. Video titles, channel names and thumbnails belong to their creators and are shown via YouTube. HackerTube Watch is an unofficial edition. Data export of 2026-10-31.