Welcome to the first weekly “Defending Democracy”.
I previously included this curation of the news affecting democracy within the cyber space in my Symfony Station communiqués. Now I am breaking it out here. Enjoy!
FYI, my opinions will be in bold. And will often involve cursing. Because humans. Especially tech bros. And fascists.
The cyber response to Russia’s War Crimes and other douchebaggery
The Kyiv Post reports:
Ukrainian Intelligence Hacks Russia’s Central Bank – Source Say
EU Rejects Hungary and Slovakia Complaints Regarding Ukraine‘s Sanctions Against Lukoil
The Next Web reports:
EU backs 15 startups to fight online misinformation with blockchain
Wow, the first legitimate use of Blockchain that I have seen.
The European Data Protection Supervisor rules that:
The Register reports:
FBI, CISA remind US voters that DDoS attacks can’t touch election systems
Sam Altman wants a US-led freedom coalition to fight authoritarian AI
Strangely, he would not apply the same logic to its domestic use.
Venture Beat has more:
Sam Altman: Next OpenAI model will first undergo safety checks by U.S. Government
TechCrunch reports:
New U.S. Commerce Department report endorses ‘open’ AI models
EU calls for help with shaping rules for general purpose AIs
Copyright Office tells Congress: ‘Urgent need’ to outlaw AI-powered impersonation
Ars Technica reports:
Meta to pay $1.4 billion settlement after Texas facial recognition complaint
NBC reports:
Google announces steps to combat nonconsensual sexually explicit deepfakes
In fascism friendly Florida news, Tech Dirt reports:
One Part Of Florida’s Asinine ‘Stop WOKE’ Act Has Been Permanently Killed By A Federal Court
A satisfying humiliation for Stuntcunt “Ron” DeCuntis.
The Evil Empire Strikes Back
The Register reports:
FOSS funding vanishes from EU’s 2025 Horizon program plans
US claims TikTok shipped personal data to China – very personal data
Germany names China as source of attack on government geospatial agency
The Kyiv Post reports:
Russia Infiltrates Ukrainian Military Communications
TechDirt reports:
Senate To Kids: We’ll Listen To You When You Agree With Us On KOSA
Thankfully it was killed in The House, which is crazy.
Jim Jordan Demands Advertisers Explain Why They Don’t Advertise On MAGA Media Site
Speaking of crazy, Jordon may be be dumbest c^nt in Congress.
404 Media reports:
Websites are Blocking the Wrong AI Scrapers (Because AI Companies Keep Making New Ones)
The (rapidly declining and criminally led) Washington Post reports:
Inside the powerful Peter Thiel network that anointed JD Vance
Bezos wasn’t one of them or we would have never seen this from the Post. It’s also funny how these billionaire-owned newspapers report on the couchfucker’s douchebaggery, but not the orange felon’s daily cuntitry.
On a similar note, NewsTRACS reports:
CNBC reports:
Elon Musk PAC data backs Trump over Harris in election
Ars Technica reports:
AI’s future in grave danger from Nvidia’s chokehold on chips, groups warn
The Guardian reports:
How TikTok bots and AI have powered a resurgence in UK far-right violence
For-profit colleges fund lawmakers who led attack on top universities over campus protests
Elon Musk accused of spreading lies over doctored Kamala Harris video
No, he spread them. Just look at the mofo’s tweet.
And The Wrap reports:
‘White Dudes for Harris’ X Account Suspended After Raising $4 Million for Kamala Harris
And Global Witness reports:
And The Next Web reports:
Grok chatbot trains on X user data in ‘very likely’ breach of EU law
Cuntductivity is off the charts in the Elon Reich this week.
How the Netherlands became a target for cyber espionage — and why Europe should be worried
Citation Needed reports:
When did cryptocurrency policy become a voter issue?
It didn’t. It’s just a way for Silicon Valley fascists to pretend they are one issue advocates. And the ads they create oppose pro-democracy candidates rather than promote crypto.
Speaking of, Cory Doctorow has:
The largest campaign finance violation in US history
Bleeping Computer reports:
Google ads push fake Google Authenticator site installing malware
TechCrunch reports:
AI Startups ramp up Federal Lobbying Efforts
The Bulwark reports:
They Begged Dems for Money—Then Spent Lavishly on Hotels and Entertainment
Don’t donate to these fucks.
Wired reports:
Speaking of fascists, BitDefender reports:
Israeli athletes doxed at Olympic Games by Zeus hacking group
The Register reports:
Israeli hacktivist group claims it took down Iran’s internet
Cybersecurity/Privacy
Bleeping Computer reports:
WhatsApp for Windows lets Python, PHP scripts execute with no warning
CISA warns of VMware ESXi bug exploited in ransomware attacks
Cryptonator seized for laundering ransom payments, stolen crypto
The Electronic Frontier Foundation reports:
EFF to FCC: SS7 is Vulnerable, and Telecoms Must Acknowledge That
Dark Reading reports:
The CrowdStrike Meltdown: A Wake-up Call for Cybersecurity
404 Media reports:
Microsoft and Reddit Are Fighting About Why Bing’s Crawler Is Blocked on Reddit
Hacker Breaches Pharma Giant Bausch Health, Wants to Extort DEA
How a Microsoft App is Powering Employee Surveillance
The Register reports:
Russia takes aim at Sitting Ducks domains, bags 30,000+
To destroy ransomware operators, break affiliate trust
‘Error’ in Microsoft’s DDoS defenses amplified 8-hour Azure outage
Why would you use Microsoft for any type of web or cloud service?
Speaking of being miserable at work, Cory Doctorow has:
The reverse-centaur apocalypse is upon us
Ars Technica reports:
Cloudflare once again comes under pressure for enabling abusive sites
Fediverse
The next FediForum is coming up:
Next FediForum: September 12-14, 2024
Kevin Bonham looks at:
Mastodon comments in Xranklin – how to do it
Infosec Exchange’s administrator looks at:
Renaud Chaput has:
Evolving Mastodon’s Trust & Safety Features
FYI, trust and safety are not priorities with Mastodon.
Elana Rossini explores:
The Future of Social is Here: a Show and Tell (part 2: WordPress ↔️ Fediverse
A good look at how sites like this one are federated.
Forgejo announces:
TechCrunch reports:
Threads now highlights relevant trending topics above post
Meta’s Threads crosses 200 million active users
At least they aren’t on Shitter.
CTAs (aka show us some free love)
- That’s it for this week. Please share this edition of Defending Democracy.
- Follow me on the Fediverse. Or this site at @battalion@battalion.mobileatom.net.
- Or follow Battalion on Bluesky
Ringleader, Battalion
Reuben Walker
Follow me on the Fediverse
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