FOIA
DHS Is Deploying a Powerful Surveillance Tool at College Football Games
Public records show DHS is deploying the "Homeland Security Information Network" at college protests and football games.
Behind The Blog
Behind the Blog: Not Safe for Whose Work?
This is Behind the Blog, where we share our behind-the-scenes thoughts about how a few of our top stories of the week came together. This week, we talk about looking at NSFW stuff in offices and Indonesian cafes and adding KYC to your KYC.
repair
Apple Is Lobbying Against Right to Repair Six Months After Supporting Right to Repair
"It is our belief that the bill’s current language around parts pairing will undermine the security, safety, and privacy of Oregonians by forcing device manufacturers to allow the use of parts of unknown origin in consumer devices."
Stract
This Guy Has Built an Open Source Search Engine as an Alternative to Google in His Spare Time
"I found it very weird that there essentially is no way to browse the web in an open manner. So that's what I am trying to build," the founder of Stract said.
Hacking
The Viral Smart Toothbrush Botnet Story Is Not Real
"FortiGuard Labs has not observed Mirai or other IoT botnets target toothbrushes or similar embedded devices."
payment processors
Stripe Cuts Off Platform Used by Dominatrixes
Stripe gets even more anti-sex by kicking off wishlist platform Wishtender, while AI porn sites, which are also against the payment processor's rules, are still using it.
Data Brokers
Woman Got Cremation Ads in the Mail After Getting Chemotherapy
"This matter has brought to light the close interplay between data brokers and data analytics firms in the digital marketing landscape.”
News
Security Researcher Allegedly Hacked Apple’s Backend, Scammed $2.5 Million
Staggeringly, Apple thanked the defendant, Noah Roskin-Frazee, in a security update less than two weeks after he was arrested.
Podcast
Podcast: Inside a Fraud Factory
This week we have fake IDs at the click of a mouse; AI audio porn; a low tech response to the wave of deepfake abuse; and the Instagram ad to investment scam pipeline. A packed episode!
Impact
‘Neural Network’ Fake ID Site Goes Dark After 404 Media Investigation
OnlyFake said it used “neural networks” as part of its automated fake ID generation service. The site has gone offline after 404 Media tested and exposed the service.
News
AI-Generated Grandma Porn Is Flooding the Internet
Hundreds of AI GILF erotica are flooding Xvideos and Manyvids.
News
Phone Spy Tool Pitched for ‘Riot Detection’ in NYC
404 Media recently exposed Patternz, a global phone spy tool that tracks movements and interests through advertising data. Other internal documents now show the technology was marketed as a way to detect riots.
AI
‘DignifAI:’ 4chan Is Editing Pictures to Clothe Women
The inverse of "nudifying" apps, people are putting clothing on women they deem "undignified."