Defending Democracy – 31 October 2024

Welcome to this week’s “Defending Democracy”.

It’s your source for curated news affecting democracy in the cyber arena with a focus on protecting democracy. That necessitates an opinionated Butlerian jihad against big tech as well as evangelizing for open-source and the Fediverse. Since big media’s journalism wing is flailing and failing in its core duty to democracy, this is also a collection of alternative reporting on the eternal battle between autocracy and democracy. We also cover the cybersecurity world. You can’t be free without safety and privacy.

DD comes out on Thursday and is updated through the end of day on Friday. Then we start over. So take your time in perusing it and check back in over the weekend.

FYI, my opinions will be in bold. And will often involve cursing. Because humans. Especially tech bros. And fascists.

Featured Item

Don’t make me have to bring the vengeance of Thor down on your head.

Ok you U.S. readers, once again its time to exercise your limited but strongest influence on the world’s premiere oligarchic republic.

Please do so by voting for candidates who support democracy and not for those on the side of autocracy. You know which fucking parties I am talking about.

It’s your chance to choose between not having the next four years be a disaster or being a complete clusterfuck of a shitshow. Again, you know the candidates I am talking about.

It may be your last chance to vote so do so and don’t waste your vote.

Thanks for being a good citizen in this flawed country! That’s what can improve it in the future.

The response to Russia’s War Crimes and other douchebaggery

Radio Free Europe reports:

Hundreds Targeted In New U.S. Sanctions For Supporting Russia’s War In Ukraine

Serbian, Montenegrin Firms Hit With U.S. Sanctions For Supporting Russia’s War In Ukraine

EuroNews reports:

EU Commission warns overlapping rules offer loopholes for Big Tech

Tech Policy has:

Reading the European Commission’s Proposed Implementation of DSA Article 40: Six Initial Observations on a New Framework for Research Data Access

From Safety to Innovation: How AI Safety Institutes Inform AI Governance

DarkReading reports:

Regulators Combat Deepfakes With Anti-Fraud Rules

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau announces:

CFPB Takes Action to Curb Unchecked Worker Surveillance

And Senator Mark Warner announces:

Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Presses Domain Registrars Providing Support to Russian Influence Efforts

Bleeping Computer reports:

Russian charged by U.S. for creating RedLine infostealer malware

The Register reports:

Five Eyes nations tell tech startups to take infosec seriously. Again

The Verge reports:

Philadelphia DA sues Elon Musk to stop $1 million election lottery

FCC and the broadband industry argue net neutrality’s future

The Mississippi Free Press reports:

As Fascism Looms, the Free Press Must Stand and Report in the Breach

Time reports:

Your Vote Is Safe

The Evil Empire Strikes Back

Joan Westenberg reports:

The New Party Bosses: How Data Scientists Became Power Brokers

Pariah States

USA Today reports:

Feds looking at Russian interference in key battleground of Bucks County, Pennsylvania

Ars Technica reports:

Kremlin-backed hackers have new Windows and Android malware to foist on Ukrainian foes

DarkReading reports:

Russia Kneecaps Ukraine Army Recruitment With Spoofed ‘Civil Defense’ App

PC Magazine reports:

Russian Hackers Pose as Microsoft Employees in Email Phishing Attacks

The Register reports:

Russian spies use remote desktop protocol files in unusual mass phishing drive

Feds investigate China’s Salt Typhoon amid campaign phone hacks

Chinese attackers accessed Canadian government networks – for five years

BleepingComputer reports:

US says Chinese hackers breached multiple telecom providers

North Korean govt hackers linked to Play ransomware attack

Sophos reveals 5-year battle with Chinese hackers attacking network devices

Big Media

The Bulwark writes:

Bezos, Trump, and the Failure of Democracy

The Washington Post has:

Why I’m not quitting the Post

If you want to punish Bozzos the Coward, cancel Amazon Prime and don’t use Amazon Web Services. That will hurt his pocket. Canceling the Post just hurts his ego.

TechDirt opines:

Dear Jeff Bezos: The ‘Hard Truth’ Is That Cowardice Like Yours Is Why People Don’t Trust The Media

404 Media says:

The Billionaire Is the Threat, Not the Solution