August 24, 2025 • 13 mins
If your router’s blinking like it’s possessed, it probably is. James exposes how ISPs, governments, and bad actors hijack your home network—for profit, for surveillance, and maybe even for warfare.
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Get more info from Caloroga Shark Media and if you have any comments, suggestions, or just want to get in touch our email is info@caloroga.com
Get the show without ads. Five bucks.
For Apple users, hit the banner on your Apple Podcasts app which says UNINTERRUPTED LISTENING. For Spotify or other players, visit caloroga.com/plus.
Stay paranoid.
Unlock an ad-free podcast experience with Caloroga Shark Media! Get all our shows on any player you love, hassle free! For Apple users, hit the banner on your Apple podcasts app. For Spotify or other players, visit caloroga.com/plus. No plug-ins needed!
Subscribe now for exclusive shows like 'Palace Intrigue,' and get bonus content from Deep Crown (our exclusive Palace Insider!) Or get 'Daily Comedy News,' and '5 Good News Stories’ with no commercials! Plans start at $4.99 per month, or save 20% with a yearly plan at $49.99. Join today and help support the show!
We now have Merch! FREE SHIPPING! Check out all the products like T-shirts, mugs, bags, jackets and more with logos and slogans from your favorite shows! Did we mention there’s free shipping? Get 10% off with code NewMerch10 Go to Caloroga.com
Get more info from Caloroga Shark Media and if you have any comments, suggestions, or just want to get in touch our email is info@caloroga.com
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:03):
Caloroga Shark Media. This is Paranormal Aliens, Episode four. Why
are your router lights blinking so fast? Who else is
(00:27):
using your Internet?
Speaker 2 (00:37):
You can call me James, and I want you to
do something right now. Stop what you're doing and go
look at your Internet router. Look at those little led lights.
See how they're blinking, how fast they're flashing. Now ask yourself,
what exactly is your router doing right now? You're not
downloading a movie, You're not video calling any one, You're
(01:01):
just listening to a podcast. So why is that data
light flickering like a strobe at a rave? Because someone
else is using your Internet connection and they don't need
your permission. I spent fifteen years designing network security systems
(01:23):
for companies that make the routers sitting in your living room,
and what I'm about to tell you will make you
want to unplug every connected device in your house and
throw them in the garbage. Your router isn't just connecting
you to the Internet. It's connecting the Internet to everything
in your house. Every smart TV, every Alexa, every ring doorbell,
(01:50):
every smart appliance you've bought in the last five years.
They're all talking constantly. Sending data streams you never authorized
to servers you've never heard of. But it's worse than that,
much worse. Your Internet service provider, your cable company, your
(02:11):
phone company, whoever you're paying every month. They've been quietly
turning your router into a public Wi Fi hotspot, without
telling you, without asking permission, and definitely without reducing your bill.
It's called hotspot sharing, and it's buried in the terms
(02:31):
of service you never read. They're using a portion of
your bandwidth to provide Internet access to anyone within range
of your router. Strangers can connect to your internet using
your electricity, slowing down your connection, and you're paying for
the privilege. My source at that cable company whose trucks
you see in every neighborhood tells me this isn't about
(02:54):
customer convenience. It's about surveillance. Every device that can to
these shared hotspots gets logged, tracked, and profiled. They know
where you go, when you leave, who visits your house,
and how long they stay. But let's talk about what's
(03:14):
really happening to those blinking lights, Because there's traffic on
your network that has nothing to do with hotspots sharing.
Traffic that's specifically designed to be invisible to you. Every
modern router has something called remote management enabled by default,
your ISP can access your router anytime they want change settings,
(03:38):
update firmware, monitor traffic patterns. They call it customer support.
I call it backdoor access to every device in your home.
And here's the kicker, they're not the only ones with access.
My contact at that telecommunications equipment manufacturer you've definitely heard
(03:59):
of tells me that every device shipped in the last
decade has multiple access points built into the firmware, not
just for your ISP, for law enforcement, for intelligence agencies,
for authorized third parties that are never specifically identified. Your
(04:20):
router is legally required to allow government access under the
Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act, but the access they've
built goes way beyond what's legally required. They can see
everything every website you visit, every file you download, every
device you connect, every conversation you have over Wi Fi calling,
(04:45):
and those firmware updates that happen automatically in the middle
of the night. You think they're just security patches and
bug fixes, But my source inside that government agency you
think a TV show made up tells me some of
those updates are installing new monitoring capabilities, new data collection algorithms,
(05:06):
new ways to analyze your digital behavior and predict your
future actions. But wait, there's more. Because it's not just
your ISP and the government accessing your router. There's something
called the Internet of Things botnet, and your router is
probably part of it, whether you know it or not.
(05:27):
Hackers figured out years ago that home routers are the
weakest link in Internet security. Most people never change the
default passwords, most people never update the firmware manually. Most
people don't even know what firmware is, so these devices
get compromised by the millions and turned into zombie networks.
(05:47):
Your router could be sending spam emails right now. It
could be participating in cryptocurrency mining operations. It could be
part of a distributed denial of service attack against infrastructure
you've never heard of, and you'd never know, because this
traffic is designed to use just a tiny fraction of
your bandwidth, not enough to slow down your Netflix, but
(06:12):
enough to generate massive collective computing power when multiplied across
millions of infected devices. My source at that cybersecurity company
that protects half the fortune five hundred tells me. They've
identified botnets with more computing power than most government supercomputers,
networks of compromised home routers that can crack encryption, mine cryptocurrency,
(06:37):
or launch coordinated attacks against any target on the Internet.
And the beautiful part from the attacker's perspective is that
homeowners are completely unaware their devices are being used. The
attacks happen during off peak hours, when you're asleep or
at work. They used protocol and ports you've never heard of,
(07:00):
and they're designed to look like normal background Internet traffic.
But here's where it gets really paranoid. What if some
of those botnets aren't run by criminals. What if they're
run by intelligence agencies that need massive distributed computing networks
for surveillance and code breaking operations. Think about it. Why
(07:22):
build expensive government data centers when you can hijack millions
of home ruters for free. Why develop your own supercomputers
when you can borrow processing power from every household in America.
We'll be right back now. Let's talk about what those
(07:53):
smart devices in your house are really doing. Because every
time you ask your smart speaker a question or tell
your voice assistant to turn on the lights, you're not
just talking to your device. You're talking to servers owned
by companies that have more data about you than your
spouse does. But it's not just the conversations they're recording.
(08:16):
It's everything, every click, every pause, every time you pick
up your phone. Smart TVs are watching what you watch,
when you watch it, how long you watch it, and
what you do during commercial breaks. Smart thermostats know when
you're home, when you're asleep, when you're on vacation. Smart
(08:39):
doorbells know who visits you, when they arrive, how long
they stay. All of this data flows through your router,
and all of it gets stored permanently on servers you'll
never see, owned by companies that have agreements with government agencies.
You'll never know about my contact at that search engine
(09:00):
company that knows everything about everyone tells me they've built
psychological profiles on every user that are more accurate than
clinical assessments. They know if you're depressed before you do.
They know if you're planning to leave your job, break
up with your partner, or buy a house before you've
consciously made those decisions. How Because your digital behavior patterns
(09:27):
are incredibly predictable. The websites you visit the time you
spend on each page, the searches you make, the videos
you watch. It all adds up to a complete picture
of your mental state, your intentions, your vulnerabilities. And it's
not just for advertising. That data is being used to
(09:48):
predict and influence your behavior, to nudge you towards certain decisions,
to suppress information that might change your mind about important issues,
to keep you consuming, clicking, and staying distracted. But here's
the most insidious part. They're using your own router to
spy on your offline behavior too. Modern routers can detect
(10:12):
how many devices are in your house, where they are,
how they move around. They can tell if you're alone
or with someone. They can detect unusual movement patterns that
might indicate illness, depression, or other changes in behavior. Wi
Fi signals bounce off your body differently than they bounce
(10:33):
off furniture. Advanced algorithms can analyze these signal variations to
determine how many people are in a room where they're sitting,
even their approximate size and movement patterns. Your router is
essentially a low resolution radar system that's constantly scanning your
living space, and all of this data your online activity,
(10:57):
your offline movement patterns, device usage, your sleep schedule, your
social interactions. It's all being correlated and analyzed to build
a real time model of your life that's more comprehensive
than anything that's ever existed in human history. They know
you better than you know yourself. They can predict your
(11:19):
behavior better than your family can, and they're using this
knowledge to manipulate your decisions in ways you're not even
aware of. The Next time you wonder why you suddenly
felt like ordering takeout, or why you decided to buy
something you didn't really need, or why you clicked on
a particular article or video, ask yourself, was that really
(11:43):
your decision or was it the result of algorithmic manipulation
based on comprehensive surveillance data collected through the blinking lights
on your router. Because those lights aren't just indicating network activity,
they're indicating the real time transfer of your private life
to corporate and government databases that will never delete what
(12:06):
they know about you. And the scariest part, this is
just the beginning. With five G networks and satellite internet
and the Internet of Things expanding into every aspect of
daily life, the amount of surveillance data flowing through your
router is going to increase exponentially. Soon, they won't just
(12:30):
know what you're doing online. They'll know everything you're doing,
everywhere you go, everyone you talk to, everything you think about,
and it'll all be flowing through that little box in
your living room with the blinking lights. So the next
time you look at your router, remember those lights aren't
(12:51):
just showing your Internet activity. They're showing your life being uploaded, analyzed,
and stored forever by people who know you better than
you know yourself. My lawyers, my safety and my NDA
compel me to tell you this is all parody. None
of this is real, right, stay paranoid,
Caloroga Shark Media. This is Paranormal Aliens, Episode four. Why
are your router lights blinking so fast? Who else is
(00:27):
using your Internet?
Speaker 2 (00:37):
You can call me James, and I want you to
do something right now. Stop what you're doing and go
look at your Internet router. Look at those little led lights.
See how they're blinking, how fast they're flashing. Now ask yourself,
what exactly is your router doing right now? You're not
downloading a movie, You're not video calling any one, You're
(01:01):
just listening to a podcast. So why is that data
light flickering like a strobe at a rave? Because someone
else is using your Internet connection and they don't need
your permission. I spent fifteen years designing network security systems
(01:23):
for companies that make the routers sitting in your living room,
and what I'm about to tell you will make you
want to unplug every connected device in your house and
throw them in the garbage. Your router isn't just connecting
you to the Internet. It's connecting the Internet to everything
in your house. Every smart TV, every Alexa, every ring doorbell,
(01:50):
every smart appliance you've bought in the last five years.
They're all talking constantly. Sending data streams you never authorized
to servers you've never heard of. But it's worse than that,
much worse. Your Internet service provider, your cable company, your
(02:11):
phone company, whoever you're paying every month. They've been quietly
turning your router into a public Wi Fi hotspot, without
telling you, without asking permission, and definitely without reducing your bill.
It's called hotspot sharing, and it's buried in the terms
(02:31):
of service you never read. They're using a portion of
your bandwidth to provide Internet access to anyone within range
of your router. Strangers can connect to your internet using
your electricity, slowing down your connection, and you're paying for
the privilege. My source at that cable company whose trucks
you see in every neighborhood tells me this isn't about
(02:54):
customer convenience. It's about surveillance. Every device that can to
these shared hotspots gets logged, tracked, and profiled. They know
where you go, when you leave, who visits your house,
and how long they stay. But let's talk about what's
(03:14):
really happening to those blinking lights, Because there's traffic on
your network that has nothing to do with hotspots sharing.
Traffic that's specifically designed to be invisible to you. Every
modern router has something called remote management enabled by default,
your ISP can access your router anytime they want change settings,
(03:38):
update firmware, monitor traffic patterns. They call it customer support.
I call it backdoor access to every device in your home.
And here's the kicker, they're not the only ones with access.
My contact at that telecommunications equipment manufacturer you've definitely heard
(03:59):
of tells me that every device shipped in the last
decade has multiple access points built into the firmware, not
just for your ISP, for law enforcement, for intelligence agencies,
for authorized third parties that are never specifically identified. Your
(04:20):
router is legally required to allow government access under the
Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act, but the access they've
built goes way beyond what's legally required. They can see
everything every website you visit, every file you download, every
device you connect, every conversation you have over Wi Fi calling,
(04:45):
and those firmware updates that happen automatically in the middle
of the night. You think they're just security patches and
bug fixes, But my source inside that government agency you
think a TV show made up tells me some of
those updates are installing new monitoring capabilities, new data collection algorithms,
(05:06):
new ways to analyze your digital behavior and predict your
future actions. But wait, there's more. Because it's not just
your ISP and the government accessing your router. There's something
called the Internet of Things botnet, and your router is
probably part of it, whether you know it or not.
(05:27):
Hackers figured out years ago that home routers are the
weakest link in Internet security. Most people never change the
default passwords, most people never update the firmware manually. Most
people don't even know what firmware is, so these devices
get compromised by the millions and turned into zombie networks.
(05:47):
Your router could be sending spam emails right now. It
could be participating in cryptocurrency mining operations. It could be
part of a distributed denial of service attack against infrastructure
you've never heard of, and you'd never know, because this
traffic is designed to use just a tiny fraction of
your bandwidth, not enough to slow down your Netflix, but
(06:12):
enough to generate massive collective computing power when multiplied across
millions of infected devices. My source at that cybersecurity company
that protects half the fortune five hundred tells me. They've
identified botnets with more computing power than most government supercomputers,
networks of compromised home routers that can crack encryption, mine cryptocurrency,
(06:37):
or launch coordinated attacks against any target on the Internet.
And the beautiful part from the attacker's perspective is that
homeowners are completely unaware their devices are being used. The
attacks happen during off peak hours, when you're asleep or
at work. They used protocol and ports you've never heard of,
(07:00):
and they're designed to look like normal background Internet traffic.
But here's where it gets really paranoid. What if some
of those botnets aren't run by criminals. What if they're
run by intelligence agencies that need massive distributed computing networks
for surveillance and code breaking operations. Think about it. Why
(07:22):
build expensive government data centers when you can hijack millions
of home ruters for free. Why develop your own supercomputers
when you can borrow processing power from every household in America.
We'll be right back now. Let's talk about what those
(07:53):
smart devices in your house are really doing. Because every
time you ask your smart speaker a question or tell
your voice assistant to turn on the lights, you're not
just talking to your device. You're talking to servers owned
by companies that have more data about you than your
spouse does. But it's not just the conversations they're recording.
(08:16):
It's everything, every click, every pause, every time you pick
up your phone. Smart TVs are watching what you watch,
when you watch it, how long you watch it, and
what you do during commercial breaks. Smart thermostats know when
you're home, when you're asleep, when you're on vacation. Smart
(08:39):
doorbells know who visits you, when they arrive, how long
they stay. All of this data flows through your router,
and all of it gets stored permanently on servers you'll
never see, owned by companies that have agreements with government agencies.
You'll never know about my contact at that search engine
(09:00):
company that knows everything about everyone tells me they've built
psychological profiles on every user that are more accurate than
clinical assessments. They know if you're depressed before you do.
They know if you're planning to leave your job, break
up with your partner, or buy a house before you've
consciously made those decisions. How Because your digital behavior patterns
(09:27):
are incredibly predictable. The websites you visit the time you
spend on each page, the searches you make, the videos
you watch. It all adds up to a complete picture
of your mental state, your intentions, your vulnerabilities. And it's
not just for advertising. That data is being used to
(09:48):
predict and influence your behavior, to nudge you towards certain decisions,
to suppress information that might change your mind about important issues,
to keep you consuming, clicking, and staying distracted. But here's
the most insidious part. They're using your own router to
spy on your offline behavior too. Modern routers can detect
(10:12):
how many devices are in your house, where they are,
how they move around. They can tell if you're alone
or with someone. They can detect unusual movement patterns that
might indicate illness, depression, or other changes in behavior. Wi
Fi signals bounce off your body differently than they bounce
(10:33):
off furniture. Advanced algorithms can analyze these signal variations to
determine how many people are in a room where they're sitting,
even their approximate size and movement patterns. Your router is
essentially a low resolution radar system that's constantly scanning your
living space, and all of this data your online activity,
(10:57):
your offline movement patterns, device usage, your sleep schedule, your
social interactions. It's all being correlated and analyzed to build
a real time model of your life that's more comprehensive
than anything that's ever existed in human history. They know
you better than you know yourself. They can predict your
(11:19):
behavior better than your family can, and they're using this
knowledge to manipulate your decisions in ways you're not even
aware of. The Next time you wonder why you suddenly
felt like ordering takeout, or why you decided to buy
something you didn't really need, or why you clicked on
a particular article or video, ask yourself, was that really
(11:43):
your decision or was it the result of algorithmic manipulation
based on comprehensive surveillance data collected through the blinking lights
on your router. Because those lights aren't just indicating network activity,
they're indicating the real time transfer of your private life
to corporate and government databases that will never delete what
(12:06):
they know about you. And the scariest part, this is
just the beginning. With five G networks and satellite internet
and the Internet of Things expanding into every aspect of
daily life, the amount of surveillance data flowing through your
router is going to increase exponentially. Soon, they won't just
(12:30):
know what you're doing online. They'll know everything you're doing,
everywhere you go, everyone you talk to, everything you think about,
and it'll all be flowing through that little box in
your living room with the blinking lights. So the next
time you look at your router, remember those lights aren't
(12:51):
just showing your Internet activity. They're showing your life being uploaded, analyzed,
and stored forever by people who know you better than
you know yourself. My lawyers, my safety and my NDA
compel me to tell you this is all parody. None
of this is real, right, stay paranoid,
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