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Pluralistic: The cost of doing business (25 Mar 2026)
Today's links The cost of doing business: "Market definition" is a denial-of-service attack on antitrust law. Hey look at this: Delights to delectate. Object permanence: Union Pacific v model railroads; Warners v Potter fans; NYT's trademark trolling; Why Rebecca Black mashups suck; Jabba the peep; Grenfell costs v tenants. Upcoming appearances: Berkeley, Montreal, London, Berlin, Hay-on-Wye. Recent appearances: Where I've been. Latest books: You keep readin' em, I'll keep writin' 'em. Upcoming books: Like I said, I'll keep writin' 'em. Colophon: All the rest. The cost of doing business (permalink) The most important part of any law, rule or policy isn't what it permits or prohibits – it's whether you can enforce the law at all. After all, as odious as a law that forbids people from thinking mean thoughts about Trump would be, it would also be completely unenforceable, and would ultimately just not be very important, except as a symbol of Trump's evil. This property is called "administrability," meaning, "the degree to which an authority can administer the policy." There are many dimensions to administrability, including "Is it even possible to detect whether this policy has been violated?" In that same vein, there're questions like, "If you discover someone has violated this policy, will you be able to stop them from continuing to do so?" For example, the US routinely indicts North Korean hackers, but unless those hackers visit a place that the US can inveigle into arresting and extraditing them, it's a mostly symbolic gesture: https://www.justice.gov/usao-cdca/pr/3-north-korean-military-hackers-indicted-wide-ranging-scheme-commit-cyber-attacks-and One undertheorized aspect of administrability is "fact-intensivity"; that is, are there difficult, fact-intensive questions that need to be answered in order to determine whether someone has violated this policy? Think of probate law: probate is often a lengthy and expensive process, especially if the deceased is "intestate" (has no will). To probate an estate, all the deceased's assets have to be cataloged and assessed, claims of heirs and inheritors have to be evaluated, etc, etc. People spend a lot of time and money creating wills and family trusts largely to answer these questions when they're easiest to resolve (when you're still alive and can clearly express your preferences), because it's even more expensive and time-consuming to answer these questions when you're not around anymore to weigh in on them. As complex and time-consuming as managing your estate can be, there's nothing wrong in theory with having a complicated, careful process in place for dealing with it. Taking care of your loved ones and disposing of your assets is something that's worth getting right, and people have all kinds of highly individual preferences for this that requires a lot of flexibility in the system. Making a system that's very customizable but also robust against fraud (or even honest mistakes) requires a lot of administrative superstructure to hold it all together. And besides, probate isn't something we have to do very often. After all, most of us will only die one or fewer times. It's not like we have to figure this stuff out every day. It's the kind of thing you can do every couple of decades, over several hours, spread out over weeks. Frequency, then, is the enemy of fact-intensivity. If you had to do probate-level form-filling to buy a cup of coffee or pay your electricity bill, that would be nuts. For one thing, it would be full employment for lawyers – and it would cost so much that by the time you got to the cafe or the gas-pump, you'd be too broke to actually complete the transaction. This comes up a lot in discussions of tech policy, because once you computerize something, you can start to do it very quickly, which means that policies that added, say, a 1% admin overhead to a task before it was digitized can add up to a 1,000% overhead once it's digitized. The best example of this is copyright: copyright is the most fact-intensive doctrine you deal with on a day to day basis. Technically, conclusively determining whether you have the right to forward an email could take a lawyer a whole day. Sure, most email forwarding is "fair use" (that is, it fits into one of copyright's "limitations and exceptions"), but any decent IP law prof could come up with ten email forwarding hypotheticals in ten minutes that could occupy a whole fourth-year IP law class for an entire semester. One of the reasons copyright is so fact-intensive is that it was designed to be invoked infrequently. We're talking about a legal regime that was designed to answer questions about book and music publishing (and then adapted for other kinds of media), and even the most prolific publisher or label is going to deal with double-digits' worth of new works per season. Meanwhile, the people working at that same publisher are likely forwarding hundreds, if not thousands of emails per day. If the publisher's copyright lawyers had to review every one of those forwards, they would never publish another book. They would go bankrupt. Obviously, that's not how things work. Why not, though? Well, mostly because we just pretend copyright law isn't there. To the extent that we do acknowledge the potential for copyright liability from everyday activities that no one ever asks a lawyer to sign off on, we manage that liability through shitty, one-sided contracts. You have undoubtably clicked on dozens of agreements this year wherein you warranted that nothing you were doing violated copyright law (a neat trick, given that you probably have no idea whether any of the activities you routinely engage in could violate copyright) and further, you indemnified someone else for "all costs arising from any claims" associated with your activity. That's an unbelievably shitty, one-sided clause for you to have "agreed" to, since "any claims" includes claims with no merit and "all costs" includes "money we paid someone who brought a bullshit claim to just go away." In other words, you routinely click through these nonsense "agreements" where you promise to give every cent you have to anyone who wants it, if the company that made you click through that bullshit decides to promise some deranged rando a million bucks to settle their wild accusation that you violated their copyrights. For complicated reasons, we're not all drowning in copyright lawsuits all the time, but if someone really wanted to fuck you up and they had deep enough pockets, they could use the fact that you're a giant, routine copyright infringer (just like everyone else) to wreck your life for years. So obviously, it would have been better if we'd done some major refactoring of copyright law once the internet came along. My preferred fix? Carve out activities unrelated to the media industry's supply chain from copyright altogether: https://pluralistic.net/2023/10/21/the-internets-original-sin/ Copyright isn't the only fact-intensive doctrine that's challenged by the cadence of digital life. The internet lets us do a lot of things, very quickly, meaning that even small factual questions pile up beyond any reasonable capacity to resolve them. Take the debate over content moderation and hate speech. Hate speech and harassment online are serious problems and they disproportionately affect people who are getting the shitty end of the stick in the offline world, too. The legacy platforms obviously don't give a damn about these people, either. So it's tempting to attempt to use policy to solve this real problem. Even if the US wasn't being run by a trollocracy, this would probably be a nonstarter in America, because hate speech is protected by the First Amendment, and purely speech-based harassment is hard to punish without falling afoul of 1A. But other countries – notably the EU – are having a go at it. I think this is a doomed effort – but not because hate speech isn't a serious problem! Rather, because hate speech regulations are very fact intensive, and hate speech is very common. Frequency is the enemy of fact-intensivity. Say the EU creates a rule requiring platforms to take reasonable measures to prevent hate speech. This requires arriving at a common definition of hate speech; adjudicating whether a given user's speech rises to that definition; and determining whether the platform's technical measures were "reasonable." This is the work of months, if not years. And hate speech happens hundreds of times per minute on the big platforms. It's just not an administrable policy. Now, just because policy isn't administrable, it doesn't follow that there's nothing to be done. There's other ways to give relief to the targets of harassment and hate speech. To get to those ways, we have to ask ourselves why people who are tormented by trolls stay on the platforms that expose them to abuse. There are plenty of extremely wrong explanations for this floating around. One is that Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk are Cyber-Rasputins who can hypnotize us into using their platforms even if we don't like them, by "hacking our dopamine loops." This is a very silly explanation: everyone who's ever claimed to have perfected mind-control was a liar and/or deluded: https://pluralistic.net/HowToDestroySurveillanceCapitalism Another is that people are lying (possibly to themselves) when they say they don't like being harassed on legacy social media platforms. This theory – from neoclassical econ – is called "revealed preferences," and it holds that people whose actions go against their stated preferences are "revealing a preference" for the thing they're doing. This is the sort of thing you end up believing in if you incur the kind of neurological injury that arises from pursuing an economics degree, which causes you to be incapable of reasoning about (or even perceiving) power. "Revealed preferences" tells you that if someone sells their kidney to pay the rent, they have a "revealed preference" for having one kidney. Thankfully, there's a much simpler explanation for people's continued use of platforms where they are subject to abuse and harassment. It's this: the only thing worse than being a member of a disfavored minority who is subject to abuse and harassment is being a member of a disfavored minority who is subject to abuse and harassment who is also isolated from your community. Leaving Facebook or Twitter means leaving behind the people who comfort and support you when you are subject to abuse. The more abuse and discrimination you face, the more that support matters, and the harder it is to leave that community behind. You love your community more than you hate Zuck or Musk, so you stay, because as much as you love them, it's transcendentally difficult to coordinate a mass departure for somewhere else. This is called the "collective action problem" and it's a regressive tax on the most abused platform users and communities. This is a problem we can solve with policy! We can mandate that platforms support interoperability, so that when you leave a legacy platform like Twitter or Facebook for a modern platform like Mastodon or Bluesky, the messages addressed to you on the legacy platform are forwarded to your new home. That way you can have the people you love without the platform you hate. This is a very administrable policy. The main lift is figuring out the nuts and bolts of interoperability, and while that's a big technical project, it's the kind of thing you only have to do once or twice. Then, if a platform fails in its duty to forward your messages after you leave, it's very easy for a regulator to determine whether it's violating the rules – they just have to send a message to your old account and see if it shows up for your new account: https://pluralistic.net/2022/12/19/better-failure/#let-my-tweeters-go A hate speech policy is hard to administer because it requires resolving a bunch of fact-intensive questions. A "right to exit" policy replaces all those fact-intensive questions with a bright line policy ("if you don't forward your former users' messages, you are guilty"), which can be administered at high speed. Whenever a fact-intensive policy that regulates an infrequent activity fails because the activity becomes more frequent, you have two choices: you can either slow down the activity, or you can replace the fact-intensive questions with bright-line tests that can be resolved much more quickly. But more often, we fail to do either, and everything goes very badly indeed. That's more or less what's happened with "merger scrutiny," the part of antitrust law that lets competition regulators (or competitors) block or put conditions on mergers that involve large firms. In these merger scrutiny cases, plaintiffs who challenge a merger are expected to resolve a bunch of extremely fact-intensive questions. Fail to resolve any of these questions and the merger goes ahead. The most pernicious fact-intensive question that arises in antitrust cases is "market definition." That's pretty much what it sounds like: "What market is this company doing business in?" If you can prove that the companies in a proposed merger are in the same market, then it's a lot easier to prove that allowing the merger would reduce competition. The problem is that "market" is a very slippery concept. As Tim Wu describes in his excellent book The Age of Extraction, "market definition" creates a near-infinite amount of wiggle-room: https://www.wired.com/story/tim-wu-age-of-extraction/ When Wu was serving in the Obama FTC, he had a front-row seat for Google's acquisition of Waze. Now, obviously these companies are direct competitors, but the Obama administration wanted the merger to go through (it was dominated by people who thought monopolies are efficient and didn't want to do their jobs). So these officials decided that Google Maps' market was "finding out where you are" and that Waze's market was "getting you somewhere." It was really that stupid. Writing for the Law and Political Economy project, Hal Singer explains how the fact-intensive nature of the "market definition" question makes it virtually impossible to prevent market concentration and abuse of dominance: https://lpeproject.org/blog/the-market-definition-trap/ From Livenation/Ticketmaster to Paramount/Warner Brothers, the "market definition trap" leaves the public virtually defenseless before efforts to reorganize the economy into extractive, rapacious cartels. In a recent interview with the Do Not Pass Go podcast, Paul Crampton (Canada's recently retired top competition judge) talks about the tsunami of mergers that Canada's Competition Bureau is expected to oversee: https://www.donotpassgo.ca/p/inside-canadas-competition-court Fact-intensive market definition questions can't possibly be resolved at the pace of mergers. That's because companies' preferred growth strategy is combining, rather than competing. There's plenty of political problems with merging Paramount and Warner, but there's also a huge economic problem, because these companies are direct competitors who will soon operate as a single firm. The M&A industry has staged a denial of service attack on its regulators, accelerating the pace of mergers involving large firms far beyond the ability of a regulator to resolve the fact-intensive questions these mergers raise. They've flooded the zone, and after the mergers go through and the companies start abusing their customers, workers and competitors, these same market definition questions bedevil any attempt to rein in this abuse of dominance. Singer makes some excellent suggestions for legal reforms to resolve this, moving some of the fact-intensive questions to bright-line ones, such as "whether the challenged conduct injured workers, consumers, or some other counterparty." This is the right approach. As we plan for a future in which legislatures recognize the enormous harms that monopolization inflicted on our societies, we need to come up with more bright-line rules for antimonopoly rules. These will lack some of the subtlety that fact-intensive treatment affords, but you can't do fact-intensive adjudication for high frequency activities. So maybe we say that no company can acquire or merge with another company more than once in 18 months, or that companies that share more than 10% of their customers can't merge. Some "good" mergers will fail these tests, but that's the price we pay. If you want to move mergers from a rare occurrence to an everyday, you're going to have to accept a loss of nuance in the rules for these mergers. The alternative is the ugly, self-destructive mess we have today. (Image: Harrison Keely, CC BY 4.0; DocteurCosmos, CC BY 3.0; modified) Hey look at this (permalink) "Gooning Towards the Führer" as policy coordination https://www.programmablemutter.com/p/gooning-towards-the-fuhrer-as-policy The one thing everyone gets wrong about feminism https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/mar/15/feminism-isnt-dead-rebecca-solnit Object permanence (permalink) #25yrsago Warner Bros v Potter fandom https://web.archive.org/web/20010331091849/http://www.potterwar.org.uk/home/index.html #20yrsago Rant transcript from Game Developers’ Conference https://web.archive.org/web/20060404230422/http://crystaltips.typepad.com/wonderland/2006/03/gdc_game_develo.html #20yrsago Union Pacific threatens to sue painters, model railroaders over trademark https://web.archive.org/web/20060413085045/https://www.trains.com/community/forum/topic.asp?page=-1&TOPIC_ID=60666&REPLY_ID=681783#681783 #20yrsago US frequent flier programs deliver less and less https://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/21/business/still-loyal-to-your-airline-you-must-be-looney-tunes.html #20yrsago Mother Jones on IP overkill https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2006/03/intellectual-property-run-amok/ #20yrsago Comic advises women to call anti-abortion Senator to make their choices https://web.archive.org/web/20060321230542/http://minimumsecurity.net/toons2006/6034.htm #20yrsago HOWTO become an early riser https://stevepavlina.com/blog/2005/05/how-to-become-an-early-riser/ #15yrsago Trademark thought experiment: when should intermediaries be cops? (Barista vs. Barbie) https://memex.craphound.com/2011/03/23/trademark-thought-experiment-when-should-intermediaries-be-cops-barista-vs-barbie/ #15yrsago New York Times advances weird, self-destructive trademark theory to prop up its paywall https://memex.craphound.com/2011/03/23/new-york-times-advances-weird-self-destructive-trademark-theory-to-prop-up-its-paywall/ #15yrsago LSE economists: file sharing isn’t killing music industry, but copyright enforcement will https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2011/03/is-file-sharing-the-global-future/ #15yrsago Anti-union group: send us secret, unlimited donations so we can bring transparency to politics! https://web.archive.org/web/20110325141411/https://www.wmc.org/MediaOutlet/display.cfm?ID=2485 #15yrsago Why Rebecca Black fascinates us, and why the mashups suck https://www.happyrobot.net/words/pony.asp?id=10233 #15yrsago Understanding the SSL security breach, preparing for the next one https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2011/03/iranian-hackers-obtain-fraudulent-https #10yrsago Airlines celebrate record profits, having killed bereavement fares https://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-lazarus-20160322-column.html #10yrsago Bake: homemade Jabba the Hutt peeps https://www.starwars.com/news/jabba-the-hutt-marshmallow-treats #5yrsago Tories pass Grenfell costs onto tenants https://pluralistic.net/2021/03/23/parliament-of-landlords/#slow-motion-arson Upcoming appearances (permalink) Berkeley: Bioneers keynote, Mar 27 https://conference.bioneers.org/ Montreal: Bronfman Lecture (McGill), Apr 10 https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/artificial-intelligence-the-ultimate-disrupter-tickets-1982706623885 Montreal: Drawn and Quarterly, Apr 10 https://mtl.drawnandquarterly.com/events/4863920260410 London: Resisting Big Tech Empires (LSBU), Apr 25 https://www.tickettailor.com/events/globaljusticenow/2042691 Berlin: Re:publica, May 18-20 https://re-publica.com/de/news/rp26-sprecher-cory-doctorow Berlin: Enshittification at Otherland Books, May 19 https://www.otherland-berlin.de/de/event-details/cory-doctorow.html Hay-on-Wye: HowTheLightGetsIn, May 22-25 https://howthelightgetsin.org/festivals/hay/big-ideas-2 Recent appearances (permalink) Do you feel screwed over by big tech? (Ontario Today) https://www.cbc.ca/listen/live-radio/1-45-ontario-today/clip/16203024-do-feel-screwed-big-tech Launch for Cindy's Cohn's "Privacy's Defender" (City Lights) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WuVCm2PUalU Chicken Mating Harnesses (This Week in Tech) https://twit.tv/shows/this-week-in-tech/episodes/1074 The Virtual Jewel Box (U Utah) https://tanner.utah.edu/podcast/enshittification-cory-doctorow-matthew-potolsky/ Tanner Humanities Lecture (U Utah) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i6Yf1nSyekI Latest books (permalink) "Canny Valley": A limited edition collection of the collages I create for Pluralistic, self-published, September 2025 https://pluralistic.net/2025/09/04/illustrious/#chairman-bruce "Enshittification: Why Everything Suddenly Got Worse and What to Do About It," Farrar, Straus, Giroux, October 7 2025 https://us.macmillan.com/books/9780374619329/enshittification/ "Picks and Shovels": a sequel to "Red Team Blues," about the heroic era of the PC, Tor Books (US), Head of Zeus (UK), February 2025 (https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250865908/picksandshovels). "The Bezzle": a sequel to "Red Team Blues," about prison-tech and other grifts, Tor Books (US), Head of Zeus (UK), February 2024 (thebezzle.org). "The Lost Cause:" a solarpunk novel of hope in the climate emergency, Tor Books (US), Head of Zeus (UK), November 2023 (http://lost-cause.org). "The Internet Con": A nonfiction book about interoperability and Big Tech (Verso) September 2023 (http://seizethemeansofcomputation.org). Signed copies at Book Soup (https://www.booksoup.com/book/9781804291245). "Red Team Blues": "A grabby, compulsive thriller that will leave you knowing more about how the world works than you did before." Tor Books http://redteamblues.com. "Chokepoint Capitalism: How to Beat Big Tech, Tame Big Content, and Get Artists Paid, with Rebecca Giblin", on how to unrig the markets for creative labor, Beacon Press/Scribe 2022 https://chokepointcapitalism.com Upcoming books (permalink) "The Reverse-Centaur's Guide to AI," a short book about being a better AI critic, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, June 2026 (https://us.macmillan.com/books/9780374621568/thereversecentaursguidetolifeafterai/) "Enshittification, Why Everything Suddenly Got Worse and What to Do About It" (the graphic novel), Firstsecond, 2026 "The Post-American Internet," a geopolitical sequel of sorts to Enshittification, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2027 "Unauthorized Bread": a middle-grades graphic novel adapted from my novella about refugees, toasters and DRM, FirstSecond, 2027 "The Memex Method," Farrar, Straus, Giroux, 2027 Colophon (permalink) Today's top sources: Currently writing: "The Post-American Internet," a sequel to "Enshittification," about the better world the rest of us get to have now that Trump has torched America. First draft complete. Second draft underway. "The Reverse Centaur's Guide to AI," a short book for Farrar, Straus and Giroux about being an effective AI critic. LEGAL REVIEW AND COPYEDIT COMPLETE. "The Post-American Internet," a short book about internet policy in the age of Trumpism. PLANNING. A Little Brother short story about DIY insulin PLANNING This work – excluding any serialized fiction – is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. That means you can use it any way you like, including commercially, provided that you attribute it to me, Cory Doctorow, and include a link to pluralistic.net. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Quotations and images are not included in this license; they are included either under a limitation or exception to copyright, or on the basis of a separate license. Please exercise caution. How to get Pluralistic: Blog (no ads, tracking, or data-collection): Pluralistic.net Newsletter (no ads, tracking, or data-collection): https://pluralistic.net/plura-list Mastodon (no ads, tracking, or data-collection): https://mamot.fr/@pluralistic Bluesky (no ads, possible tracking and data-collection): https://bsky.app/profile/doctorow.pluralistic.net Medium (no ads, paywalled): https://doctorow.medium.com/ https://twitter.com/doctorow Tumblr (mass-scale, unrestricted, third-party surveillance and advertising): https://mostlysignssomeportents.tumblr.com/tagged/pluralistic "When life gives you SARS, you make sarsaparilla" -Joey "Accordion Guy" DeVilla READ CAREFULLY: By reading this, you agree, on behalf of your employer, to release me from all obligations and waivers arising from any and all NON-NEGOTIATED agreements, licenses, terms-of-service, shrinkwrap, clickwrap, browsewrap, confidentiality, non-disclosure, non-compete and acceptable use policies ("BOGUS AGREEMENTS") that I have entered into with your employer, its partners, licensors, agents and assigns, in perpetuity, without prejudice to my ongoing rights and privileges. You further represent that you have the authority to release me from any BOGUS AGREEMENTS on behalf of your employer. ISSN: 3066-764X

Pluralistic: Goodhart's Law vs "prediction markets" (24 Mar 2026)
Today's links Goodhart's Law vs "prediction markets": Putting a gun to the metric's head. Hey look at this: Delights to delectate. Object permanence: Apple v interop; Yahoo v the world; Rasputin v the Haunted Mansion; Opening chord from A Hard Day's Night; Mondrian Pong; "IP": Patent trolls v Apple. Upcoming appearances: Berkeley, Montreal, London, Berlin, Hay-on-Wye. Recent appearances: Where I've been. Latest books: You keep readin' em, I'll keep writin' 'em. Upcoming books: Like I said, I'll keep writin' 'em. Colophon: All the rest. Goodhart's Law vs "prediction markets" (permalink) The most selectively believed-in verse in the conservative catechism is the idea that "incentives matter." Sure, "incentives matter" if you're seeking healthcare. That's why you're nibbled to death by co-pays and deductibles – if you could get healthcare whenever you felt like it, you might get too much healthcare. "Incentives matter," so we have to make sure that you only seek care when you really need it: https://pluralistic.net/2025/04/14/timmy-share/#a-superior-moral-justification-for-selfishness But rich people don't need to be disciplined by incentives. They can get no-bid contracts with Uncle Sucker without being tempted to rip off the USA. They can force their workers into nondisparagement clauses without being tempted to act like a colossal asshole, secure in the knowledge that they can sue workers who tattle on them. They can force their workers into noncompete clauses without being tempted to underpay and abuse their workers, secure in the knowledge that they can sue workers who take their labor elsewhere. They can force their workers into binding arbitration clauses without being tempted into maiming or killing them, secure in the knowledge that the workers can't sue them. So incentives matter…when you're fucking over working people. But incentives don't matter, when you're gilding the Epstein class's lilies. But incentives really do matter. That's the premise of Goodhart's law: "When a measure becomes a target, it ceases to be a good measure." This comes up all the time. Google got its start by observing that people who made websites linked to other websites that they found important or worthy or informative. With this insight, Google repurposed the academic practice of "citation analysis" to predict which pages on the internet were most authoritative, calling it Pagerank. Google Search, powered by Pagerank, was vastly superior to any search engine in history. But as soon as Google became the most popular search engine, people started making links to bad websites – sites filled with spam and malware and junk – in order to game the results. The metric – inbound links – became a target – get inbound links – and stopped being a useful metric. There is something quite wonderful and life affirming about the idea of Pagerank: the idea that people are, on average, pretty good at figuring out what's good. Rather than taking Yahoo's approach of having experts rank and categorize every website on earth, Google trusted "the wisdom of crowds" and it worked (until they created an incentive to subvert it). "The wisdom of crowds" was in the air in those days. James Surowiecki had a massive bestseller with that title in 2004, expounding on the idea that people were, in aggregate, good at figuring stuff out: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wisdom_of_Crowds Surowiecki's book revolved around a famous anecdote from 1906, when 800 people at the Plymouth county fair were invited to guess at the weight of a slaughtered and dressed ox. Statistician (and eugenicist creep) Francis Galton noted that the average guess of 1207 lbs was within 1% of the actual weight, 1198 lbs. This turns out to be a repeatable phenomenon: if you get a lot of people – non-experts, experts, people paying close attention, people who barely think about it – to guess about something, the average is surprisingly accurate. Importantly, it's often more accurate than the best guess of experts. This idea of the wisdom of crowds inspired a lot of 2000s-era internet projects. Some of them (Yahoo Answers) were pretty bad. Others (Wikipedia) were astounding. Of course, economists observed that "the wisdom of crowds" sounds a lot like the idea of "price discovery" – the idea that markets are a way of processing widely diffused information about desires and capacity in order to derive and emit signals about what should be produced. Economists have long spoken of future events being "priced in" to markets – for example, the price of oil today reflects more than the diminished supply resulting from Trump's military blunders, it also reflects "the market's" belief that oil production capacity will be disrupted for a long time to come. Add up all the different buyers' and sellers' guesses about the future of oil (incorporating diffuse knowledge about damage to infrastructure, capacity to rebuild, and intentions of the actors) and (we're told) we'll get a number that accurately reflects the real situation. And, unlike Pagerank, this number can't be manipulated by flooding the system with spurious, self-serving inputs. If you want to move this price, you have to buy or sell something, which costs money. And because the market is "deep" (with a lot of participants), the sums you'd have to inject into the system to alter its consensus is incredibly large – more than you could possibly stand to make by manipulating the price itself. Incentives matter. Put "markets," "the wisdom of crowds" and "incentives matter" together and you get "prediction markets." Just create a market where people can bet real money on the outcomes of events and you can recreate Galton's ox-guessing miracle, but for everything – how much new solar capacity will come online in Pakistan next year; the likelihood that the Toronto Transit Commission will finish the Ontario Line this year; whether a biotech firm will ship an AIDS vaccine before 2040. This is where Goodhart's law comes in. The idea that betting markets improve the wisdom of crowds because participants have "skin in the game" only works if the cheapest way to win a bet is to be right. If it's cheaper to win by cheating, well, "incentives matter," and you'll get cheating. Any prediction market needs an "oracle" – a decisive source of truth about how an event turned out. "How much new solar capacity came online in Pakistan" this year sounds like an empirical question, but unless every bettor agrees to travel to Pakistan together and walk the land, counting solar panels and checking proof of their installation dates, these bettors need to agree on some third party assessor as authoritative and trust whatever they say. Which means that the single most important factor in any prediction market is the quality of the oracle. If you let Trump be your oracle, he'll insist (on a daily basis) that his war in Iran is over, and that he had bigger crowds for his inauguration than anyone in history, and that every criminal is Somali, and on and on and on. So you need to get someone trustworthy and diligent to serve as your oracle. But that person also has to be incorruptible, because otherwise a bettor will offer them a bribe to lie about the outcome of a bet. And if the oracle can't be bribed, they can be coerced. That's just what's happened. Times of Israel war correspondent Emanuel Fabian didn't know that he was serving as an oracle for a bunch of degenerate gamblers on Polymarket – until he wrote a 150 word blog post that made a bunch of bettors in a $14m wager very, very angry: https://www.timesofisrael.com/gamblers-trying-to-win-a-bet-on-polymarket-are-vowing-to-kill-me-if-i-dont-rewrite-an-iran-missile-story/ The $14m was riding on a bet about when Iran would successfully strike Israel, with "success" defined as a missile getting through without being intercepted. Fabian filed a routine report that a missile had struck an open area in Jerusalem without hurting anyone. That's when the degenerate gamblers found him. At first, they sent thinly veiled threats, demanding that Fabian revise his reporting to say that the missile had been intercepted and that the impact was just wreckage from the interception. When Fabian did not revise his article, the gamblers tracked down his messaging IDs – Whatsapp, Discord, X – and bombarded him with escalating threats. A journalistic colleague contacted Fabian with the lie that his boss wanted Fabian to change the story, then admitted that he was actually invested in the wager, and offered to split the money with Fabian. Then, a gambler calling himself "Haim" sent Fabian a new series of blood-curdling threats, including a promise to spend at least $900,000 (the money Haim said he stood to lose) on a hit-man to kill Fabian. Haim threatened Fabian's "lovely parents" and "brothers and sisters" too. The threats continued until Fabian published his article about the threats, then Haim disappeared. Speaking to Charlie Warzel, Fabian said that he would never be able to report the same way again, because from now on, he'd be worried that some gambler would threaten to kill him if they didn't like what he wrote: https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/2026/03/emanuel-fabian-threats-polymarket/686454/?gift=nwn-guseqS6cY1kVeEKZAY9_c8Sv4UbJoz5hAUuU8YE&utm_source=copy-link&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=share It's sadly not unusual for journalists to receive death threats for reporting the truth, and Israel is the most dangerous country in the world to be a journalist. The IDF has murdered at least 274 journalists to date: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Killing_of_journalists_in_the_Gaza_war But those journalists are being murdered for political reasons, because someone has an ideological stake in suppressing the truth. Fabian's talking about an entirely novel – and far less predictable – threat; namely, that you will piss off someone who guessed wrong about the outcome of some arbitrary event and who thinks that they can salvage their bet by intimidating you. Writing for Techdirt, Mike Masnick talks about the sheer perversity of this: that prediction markets, far from being a means of surfacing hidden information, have become a system for distorting information: https://www.techdirt.com/2026/03/19/prediction-markets-promised-better-information-instead-theyre-creating-powerful-incentives-to-corrupt-information/ As Masnick says, this is no routine proof of Goodhart's law, where a metric becomes a target. In this case, participants can "put a gun to the metric's head." And of course, not every journalist is as incorruptible as Fabian – think about Fabian's colleague who offered to split the take if Fabian would lie about the missile strike. So there's plenty of incentive to publish lies – and incentives matter, right? Now, "prediction markets" are big business and they have plenty of apologists (incentives matter). These apologists will say that the corruption is a feature, not a bug, because prediction markets will attract insiders who cheat on the bets by using their insider knowledge, and that means that looking at the moving odds of an event can help everyone else figure out what's about to happen. If military insiders who know that Trump is about to kidnap the president of Venezuela and steal its oil start laying big bets that this is going to happen, the shifting odds are a signal about a true future event. But even if you buy this perverse argument, it doesn't offset the even more perverse effect – that prediction markets create an incentive to corrupt our best sources of information, the oracles that every prediction market absolutely requires if it is going to hope to function. Meanwhile, Polymarket and Kalshi suck at predicting things. As Molly White points out, the predictions in the recent Illinois 2nd District Congressional race weren't just incredibly wrong, they also precisely tracked the sums flooded into the election by cryptocurrency Super PACs, who tried (unsuccessfully) to buy the race. Polymarket and Kalshi are heavily crypto-coded (the only things you can do with crypto is buy other kinds of crypto, launder money, and make wagers) so these demonic freaks flush nearly as much money into the betting markets as they do into the elections they seek to corrupt: https://bsky.app/profile/molly.wiki/post/3mhch3ze5nc2z Prediction markets aren't good at producing information, but they're amazing at producing corruption. Polymarket and Kalshi have at last realized the unhinged fantasy of "assassination markets" – where you stochastically murder someone by putting up huge wagers at favorable odds that your target will be killed. Anyone can collect the wager by putting up a small counterwager and then bumping off the victim. But, as Protos's Cas Piancey and Mark Toon note, Polymarket and Kalshi know what side their bread is buttered on – they have banned bets on Trump's death (Trump's sons are heavily invested in both Polymarket and Kalshi): https://protos.com/assassination-markets-are-legal-now-but-trump-doesnt-have-to-worry/ Incentives do matter. These are the foreseeable and foreseen outcomes of prediction markets. Many science fiction writers (Charlie Stross, Ted Chiang, me, and others!) have noted that long before the current AI bubble, our society was dominated by artificial life forms: the limited liability corporation, a "slow AI" that is an immortal colony organism that uses human beings as a form of inconvenient gut flora: https://pluralistic.net/2023/03/09/autocomplete-worshippers/#the-real-ai-was-the-corporations-that-we-fought-along-the-way Anyone who's worked with machine learning systems knows that they're prone to "reward hacking," like the ML-guided Roomba that was programmed to avoid collisions with walls and furniture as it found the quickest path around the room. The Roomba's collision sensor was on its front face, so the Roomba started moving around the room in reverse, smashing the hell out of the furnishings and walls, but never registering a hit: https://web.archive.org/web/20190109142921/https://twitter.com/smingleigh/status/1060325665671692288 Markets are absolutely capable of inducing reward hacking in participants. The metric becomes a target. You think you're betting on the outcome of an event, but what you're really betting on is what an oracle will say the outcome was. No matter what the outcome is or how robust it is against outside influence, the oracle can be influenced with a gun to the temple. Sure, we all want "number go up," but why bother increasing the thing the number measures, when it's so much easier to threaten to dismember the person who publishes the number if they don't publish a higher number? Hey look at this (permalink) Tickets to HOPE 26 go on sale Tuesday, March 24 https://store.2600.com/products/tickets-to-hope-26?variant=42147982737463 Prediction Markets Promised Better Information. Instead They’re Creating Powerful Incentives to Corrupt Information. https://www.techdirt.com/2026/03/19/prediction-markets-promised-better-information-instead-theyre-creating-powerful-incentives-to-corrupt-information/ Suicidal Bootlicking as a Method of Governance https://www.hamiltonnolan.com/p/suicidal-bootlicking-as-a-method California bill aims to help vibe coders https://www.semafor.com/article/03/20/2026/california-bill-aims-to-help-vibe-coders Manipulating the Stock Market Is Trump's War Strategy https://www.thebignewsletter.com/p/monopoly-round-up-manipulating-the Object permanence (permalink) #20yrsago Airport screening doesn’t stop knives, bombs, or guns https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2006/03/airport_passeng.html #20yrsago Apple’s hypocritical slam against French DRM-interop law http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/4833010.stm #20yrsago Vinge’s scientific computing Nature article about MMORPGs https://web.archive.org/web/20060411235146/http://www.nature.com/news/2006/060320/full/440411a.html #20yrsago Yahoo: if you use our ads, you have to block non-US visitors https://memex.craphound.com/2006/03/22/yahoo-if-you-use-our-ads-you-have-to-block-non-us-visitors/ #20yrsago Stand-up comic gets his material from dumb patents https://web.archive.org/web/20060613212120/https://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,70368-0.html?tw=rss.index #15yrsago Chinese censorware nukes any voicecall that contains the word “protest” https://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/22/world/asia/22china.html?_r=2&ref=world #15yrsago Why Rasputin isn’t in the Haunted Mansion https://longforgottenhauntedmansion.blogspot.com/2011/03/famous-ghosts-and-ghosts-trying-to-make.html #15yrsago HOWTO play the opening chord from ‘A Hard Day’s Night’ https://www.beatlesbible.com/features/hard-days-night-chord/ #15yrsago Google Book Search rejected: why not try fair use instead? https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2011/03/judge-rejects-google-book-monopoly/ #10yrsago Harvard Blue Book: peace in our time? https://web.archive.org/web/20160322020137/https://hlrecord.org/2016/03/the-blue-wars-a-report-from-the-front/ #10yrsago Mondrian pong https://b3ta.com/board/11191694 #10yrsago Silverpush says it’s not in the ultrasonic audio-tracker ad-beacons business anymore https://web.archive.org/web/20160324110815/https://motherboard.vice.com/read/silverpush-ftc-stop-eavesdropping-with-audio-beacons #10yrsago Nixon started the War on Drugs because he couldn’t declare war on black people and hippies https://harpers.org/archive/2016/04/legalize-it-all/?single=1 #10yrsago Anti-DRM demonstrators picket W3C meeting https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2016/03/scenes-anti-drm-protest-outside-w3c #10yrsago Student loan garnisheeing topped $176M in three months https://web.archive.org/web/20160322023207/https://consumerist.com/2016/03/21/176m-in-wages-garnished-for-unpaid-federal-student-loans-in-just-three-months/ #10yrsago Dozens of car models can be unlocked and started with a cheap radio amp https://www.adac.de/rund-ums-fahrzeug/ausstattung-technik-zubehoer/assistenzsysteme/keyless/ #10yrsago US Embassy staffer ran a sextortion racket from work computer for 2 years https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2016/03/former-us-embassy-staffer-sentenced-to-nearly-five-years-for-sextortion/ #5yrsago Patent troll IP is more powerful than Apple's https://pluralistic.net/2021/03/22/gandersauce/#petard Upcoming appearances (permalink) Berkeley: Bioneers keynote, Mar 27 https://conference.bioneers.org/ Montreal: Bronfman Lecture (McGill), Apr 10 https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/artificial-intelligence-the-ultimate-disrupter-tickets-1982706623885 Montreal: Drawn and Quarterly, Apr 10 https://mtl.drawnandquarterly.com/events/4863920260410 London: Resisting Big Tech Empires (LSBU), Apr 25 https://www.tickettailor.com/events/globaljusticenow/2042691 Berlin: Re:publica, May 18-20 https://re-publica.com/de/news/rp26-sprecher-cory-doctorow Berlin: Enshittification at Otherland Books, May 19 https://www.otherland-berlin.de/de/event-details/cory-doctorow.html Hay-on-Wye: HowTheLightGetsIn, May 22-25 https://howthelightgetsin.org/festivals/hay/big-ideas-2 Recent appearances (permalink) Do you feel screwed over by big tech? (Ontario Today) https://www.cbc.ca/listen/live-radio/1-45-ontario-today/clip/16203024-do-feel-screwed-big-tech Launch for Cindy's Cohn's "Privacy's Defender" (City Lights) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WuVCm2PUalU Chicken Mating Harnesses (This Week in Tech) https://twit.tv/shows/this-week-in-tech/episodes/1074 The Virtual Jewel Box (U Utah) https://tanner.utah.edu/podcast/enshittification-cory-doctorow-matthew-potolsky/ Tanner Humanities Lecture (U Utah) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i6Yf1nSyekI Latest books (permalink) "Canny Valley": A limited edition collection of the collages I create for Pluralistic, self-published, September 2025 https://pluralistic.net/2025/09/04/illustrious/#chairman-bruce "Enshittification: Why Everything Suddenly Got Worse and What to Do About It," Farrar, Straus, Giroux, October 7 2025 https://us.macmillan.com/books/9780374619329/enshittification/ "Picks and Shovels": a sequel to "Red Team Blues," about the heroic era of the PC, Tor Books (US), Head of Zeus (UK), February 2025 (https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250865908/picksandshovels). "The Bezzle": a sequel to "Red Team Blues," about prison-tech and other grifts, Tor Books (US), Head of Zeus (UK), February 2024 (thebezzle.org). "The Lost Cause:" a solarpunk novel of hope in the climate emergency, Tor Books (US), Head of Zeus (UK), November 2023 (http://lost-cause.org). "The Internet Con": A nonfiction book about interoperability and Big Tech (Verso) September 2023 (http://seizethemeansofcomputation.org). Signed copies at Book Soup (https://www.booksoup.com/book/9781804291245). "Red Team Blues": "A grabby, compulsive thriller that will leave you knowing more about how the world works than you did before." Tor Books http://redteamblues.com. "Chokepoint Capitalism: How to Beat Big Tech, Tame Big Content, and Get Artists Paid, with Rebecca Giblin", on how to unrig the markets for creative labor, Beacon Press/Scribe 2022 https://chokepointcapitalism.com Upcoming books (permalink) "The Reverse-Centaur's Guide to AI," a short book about being a better AI critic, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, June 2026 (https://us.macmillan.com/books/9780374621568/thereversecentaursguidetolifeafterai/) "Enshittification, Why Everything Suddenly Got Worse and What to Do About It" (the graphic novel), Firstsecond, 2026 "The Post-American Internet," a geopolitical sequel of sorts to Enshittification, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2027 "Unauthorized Bread": a middle-grades graphic novel adapted from my novella about refugees, toasters and DRM, FirstSecond, 2027 "The Memex Method," Farrar, Straus, Giroux, 2027 Colophon (permalink) Today's top sources: Currently writing: "The Post-American Internet," a sequel to "Enshittification," about the better world the rest of us get to have now that Trump has torched America (646 words today, 55270 total) FIRST DRAFT COMPLETE "The Reverse Centaur's Guide to AI," a short book for Farrar, Straus and Giroux about being an effective AI critic. LEGAL REVIEW AND COPYEDIT COMPLETE. "The Post-American Internet," a short book about internet policy in the age of Trumpism. PLANNING. A Little Brother short story about DIY insulin PLANNING This work – excluding any serialized fiction – is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. That means you can use it any way you like, including commercially, provided that you attribute it to me, Cory Doctorow, and include a link to pluralistic.net. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Quotations and images are not included in this license; they are included either under a limitation or exception to copyright, or on the basis of a separate license. Please exercise caution. How to get Pluralistic: Blog (no ads, tracking, or data-collection): Pluralistic.net Newsletter (no ads, tracking, or data-collection): https://pluralistic.net/plura-list Mastodon (no ads, tracking, or data-collection): https://mamot.fr/@pluralistic Bluesky (no ads, possible tracking and data-collection): https://bsky.app/profile/doctorow.pluralistic.net Medium (no ads, paywalled): https://doctorow.medium.com/ https://twitter.com/doctorow Tumblr (mass-scale, unrestricted, third-party surveillance and advertising): https://mostlysignssomeportents.tumblr.com/tagged/pluralistic "When life gives you SARS, you make sarsaparilla" -Joey "Accordion Guy" DeVilla READ CAREFULLY: By reading this, you agree, on behalf of your employer, to release me from all obligations and waivers arising from any and all NON-NEGOTIATED agreements, licenses, terms-of-service, shrinkwrap, clickwrap, browsewrap, confidentiality, non-disclosure, non-compete and acceptable use policies ("BOGUS AGREEMENTS") that I have entered into with your employer, its partners, licensors, agents and assigns, in perpetuity, without prejudice to my ongoing rights and privileges. You further represent that you have the authority to release me from any BOGUS AGREEMENTS on behalf of your employer. ISSN: 3066-764X

Pluralistic: Understaffing as a form of enshittification (23 Mar 2026)
Today's links Understaffing as a form of enshittification: A way to shift value from workers, patients and shoppers to investors. Hey look at this: Delights to delectate. Object permanence: Marvel v "superhero"; What's a photocopier?; "Up Against It"; "Medusa's Web"; AI can't do your job; Coping with plenty; "The Shakedown"; Chickenized reverse-centaurs; France v iTunes; Copyfight discipline; Mystery lobbyists; "Where the Axe is Buried"; Free/open microprocessor; Folk models of computer security; Bug-eyed steampunk mask; Academics embracing Wikipedia. Upcoming appearances: Berkeley, Montreal, London, Berlin, Hay-on-Wye. Recent appearances: Where I've been. Latest books: You keep readin' em, I'll keep writin' 'em. Upcoming books: Like I said, I'll keep writin' 'em. Colophon: All the rest. Understaffing as a form of enshittification (permalink) At root, enshittification can only take place when companies can move value around. Digital tools make it easier than ever to do this, for example, by changing prices on a per-user, per-session basis, using commercial surveillance data to predict the highest price or lowest wage a user will accept: https://pluralistic.net/2023/02/19/twiddler/ Digital "twiddling" represents a powerful system of pumps for moving value around, taking it away from users and giving it to business customers, then taking it from businesses and giving it to users, and then, ultimately, harvesting all the value for the company's shareholders and executives. Twiddling is powerful because it's fine-grained, allowing businesses to extract more from their most vulnerable customers and workers, while reserving more equitable treatment for more empowered stakeholders who might otherwise take their business elsewhere. But long before digitization made twiddling possible, businesses that found themselves in a position to make things worse for their customers and workers without facing consequences were accustomed to doing so. Think of the airport shop that sells water for $10/bottle: that's a ripoff whether you're in coach-minus or flying first class, and it's made possible by the TSA checkpoint that makes shopping elsewhere a time-consuming impossibility. The airport shop is the only game in town – a "monopolist" in economics jargon. When a business has something you really want (or even better, something you need) and it's hard (or impossible) for you to get it elsewhere, they can take value away from you and harvest it for themselves. The most obvious forms of monopoly extraction are high prices and low wages. Dollar stores are notorious for this, using their market power to procure extremely small packages of common goods in "cheater sizes" that have high per-unit costs (e.g. the cost per ounce for soap), while still having a low price tag (the cost per (small) bottle of soap). These stores are situated in food deserts, which they create by boxing in community grocers and heavily discounting their wares until the real grocers go out of business. They're also situated in work deserts, because driving regular grocers out of business destroys the competition for labor, too. That means they can pay low wages and charge high prices and make a hell of a lot of money, which is why there are so many fucking dollar stores: https://pluralistic.net/2023/03/27/walmarts-jackals/#cheater-sizes That's the most obvious form of value harvesting, but it's not the only one. There are other costs that businesses can impose on their customers and workers. Think of CVS, the pharmacy monopolist that uses its vertical integration with bizarre, poorly understood middlemen like "pharmacy benefit managers" to drive independent pharmacies out of business: https://pluralistic.net/2024/09/23/shield-of-boringness/#some-men-rob-you-with-a-fountain-pen If you've been to a CVS store recently, you have doubtless experienced a powerful form of value-shifting: understaffing. CVS (and the other massive chains in the cartel, like Walgreens) have giant stores with just one or two employees on the floor, often just a cashier and a pharmacist. This makes them easy pickings for shoplifters, so all their merchandise is locked up in cabinets and when you want to buy something, you have to find the lone employee and get them to unlock the case for you. This is CVS trading your time for their wage-bill. Then, you're expected to check out your own purchases – shifting labor from workers on CVS's payroll to you – with badly maintained machines that often misfire and require you to wait again for that lone employee to come and override them. Meanwhile, that employee is absorbing a gigantic amount of frustration and abuse from customers who are paying high prices and enduring long waits – another cost that CVS shifts from their shareholders to someone else (workers, in this case). Finally, CVS demands that publicly funded police respond to the inevitable shoplifting and other security problems created by running a big-box store with a skeleton crew, shifting costs from the business to everyone in the local tax-base. In "Not Enough Workers For the Job," The American Prospect's Robin Kaiser-Schatzlein looks at the systemic trend towards understaffing that has swept across every sector of the US economy over the past five years: https://prospect.org/2026/03/19/understaff-workplace-business-covid-cvs-pharmacies-hotels-grocery-stores/ Kaiser-Schatzlein lays the blame for many of life's frustrations at the feet of this business trend: "long lines, messy grocery aisles, organized theft, high hotel costs, frequent flight cancellations, deadly medication errors at pharmacies, increased use of medical restraints in nursing homes, and, more generally, a palpable and rising dissatisfaction with work." As you can see from that list, understaffing affects everyone, from people with the wherewithal to buy a plane ticket to vulnerable elderly people who are literally tied to their beds or drugged into stupors for the last years of their lives. There's academic work to support the idea that understaffing is on the rise, like a 2024 Kennedy School survey of 14,000 workers where a majority said that their workplaces are "always" or "often" understaffed. A 2023 study in the Journal of Public Health Management and Practice found that public health institutions need to hire 80% more workers to be adequately staffed. New York's Mt Sinai hospitals paid a $2m fine in 2024 for understaffing its ERs, as well as oncology and labor units. Another study blames understaffing for the rise of use of antipsychotic "chemical handcuffs" in nursing homes: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35926573/ The hits keep coming: the DoT Inspector General says that 77% of air traffic control is understaffed, with NYC ATC staffed at 54% of the correct level. In Texas, county jails have had to reduce their capacity due to understaffing (they have enough beds, but not enough turnkeys). Understaffing is behind much of the unprecedented union surge, with workers at Starbucks, railroads and elsewhere becoming labor militants due to understaffing. 83% of white-collar millennials say they're doing extra work to make up for vacant positions in their organizations. As Starbucks union organizers can attest, workers need unions if they want to have a hope of forcing their bosses to adequately staff their jobsites, so it's not surprising that understaffing has emerged at a time when union density is at rock bottom. Kaiser-Schatzlein quotes the Kennedy School's Daniel Schneider, who identifies understaffing as a deliberate business strategy. Businesses don't hire enough workers because that makes them more profitable. It's not because "no one wants to work anymore" (though doubtless repeating that fairy tale helps shift the blame for long lines and poor service from real, greedy bosses to imaginary, greedy workers). Private equity firms lead the charge here, "rolling up" multiple, competing businesses in a sector and then cutting staffing across all of them. Putting all the businesses in a given sector and region under common ownership means that when these businesses hack away at staffing levels, workers and customers have nowhere else to go. This is especially pernicious at nursing homes, where PE companies drastically reduce headcount, putting staff and patients alike at risk: https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2023/01/31/1139783599/new-york-nursing-home-owners-drained-cash?ft=nprml&f=853198417 Private equity has just about declared victory in its decades-long war on community pharmacies, consolidating pharmacy ownership nationwide into just a few chains that are the poster-children for understaffing. These ghost-ships aren't just frustrating places to shop – they're a danger to their communities. As Kaiser-Schatzlein reports, Ohio fined CVS in 2021 for boarding up the walk-up pharmacies in its stores and forcing customers to use the drive-through, because there was only a single pharmacist on duty. Without help, the lone pharmacist was unable to process deliveries, so CVS pharmacies' floors were littered with unopened parcels. Patients had to wait over a month to get their prescriptions filled. CVS refused to hire additional staff to process the backlog, and the on-duty staff worked under declining conditions, as the undermaintained air conditioning quit and indoor temperatures soared. Unsurprisingly, these stores had massive staff turnover, which also hampered their efficiency. Understaffing in pharmacies leads to serious medication errors, which are proliferating across the US, killing hundreds of thousands of Americans every year. The errors are incredible, like the woman who died after getting chemotherapy drugs instead of antidepressants: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/31/health/pharmacists-medication-errors.html Pharmacists at chain stores like CVS are at elevated risk for kidney stones because they don't have time for bathroom breaks, so they adopt a practice of not drinking water during their shifts. One CVS pharmacist told Texas regulators, "I am a danger to the public working for CVS." As ever, covid provides the ideal excuse for shifting value from customers and workers to shareholders. Today's high prices never came down after the "greedflation" that bosses boasted about to shareholders, even as they told customers that it was because of "supply chain shocks": https://pluralistic.net/2023/03/11/price-over-volume/#pepsi-pricing-power Likewise, staffing levels never came back from the covid skeleton crews that we all learned to deal with in the days of widespread acute illness and social distancing. Kaiser-Schatzlein spoke to hotel workers like Jianci Liang, a housekeeper at Boston's Hilton Park Plaza, who described a post-pandemic jobsite with 20 fewer housekeepers: "I sleep with pain, I wake up with pain, I go to work with pain." The Bureau of Labor says that hotel staffing levels are down 16% nationwide. Prices (and profits) are up, though. Hotels are posting record profits and paying record executive salaries, wrung from facilities where the pools are closed and room cleanings happen on alternate days. Workers absorb the cost of understaffing in their bodies and their psyches. It's not just physical exhaustion, it's also the abuse that is directly correlated with lower staffing levels. Frustrated customers vent their anger at grocery workers, flight attendants and other front-line workers. I can't help but see a connection here to the AI bubble, which is fueled by the fantasy of a world without people: https://pluralistic.net/2026/01/05/fisher-price-steering-wheel/#billionaire-solipsism The billionaire solipsists who have directed hundreds of billions of dollars in AI investment like to rhapsodize about a future where a boss's ideas are turned into products and services without having to be funneled through workers: https://pluralistic.net/2026/03/12/normal-technology/#bubble-exceptionalism That's why AI has taken over customer service – the multi-hour waits for a customer service rep were always a way of shifting value from customers and workers to shareholders. Businesses could increase staffing at their call centers. Businesses could offer better products and services and reduce the number of people who need customer service. By refusing to do either, they make you wait on the line until you are suffused with murderous rage, and then expect their workers to deal with your anger. Turning the whole thing over to AI makes perfect sense – your problems won't be solved, and they don't have to pay the chatbot at all when you get angry at it: https://pluralistic.net/2025/08/06/unmerchantable-substitute-goods/#customer-disservice "We did this with AI" has become a synonym for "We don't care if this is done well": https://pluralistic.net/2026/03/11/modal-dialog-a-palooza/#autoplay-videos "We don't care if this is done well" could well be the motto of the understaffing craze. The technical insights that sparked today's AI investment bubble could have happened at any time, but the ensuing investment tsunami is a product of a world dominated by large firms that are "too big to care" about the quality of their products – or their jobs. Hey look at this (permalink) Our algorithmic future – Utopia or Armageddon? https://b2fxxx.blogspot.com/2026/03/our-algorithmic-future-utopia-or.html The Market Definition Trap https://lpeproject.org/blog/the-market-definition-trap/ On Spec 2026: New Canadian Literature of the Fantastic https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/edwardwillett/on-spec-2026-new-canadian-literature-of-the-fantastic Day 7: Ticketmaster's "Velvet Hammer" https://www.bigtechontrial.com/p/day-7-ticketmasters-velvet-hammer From Race to the Bottom to Worker Power on the Road https://economicpopulist.substack.com/p/from-race-to-the-bottom-to-worker Object permanence (permalink) #20yrsago Marvel Comics: stealing our language https://memex.craphound.com/2006/03/18/marvel-comics-stealing-our-language/ #20yrsago MPAA/RIAA/BSA: No breaking DRM, even if it’s killing you (literally!) https://blog.citp.princeton.edu/2006/03/08/riaa-says-future-drm-might-threaten-critical-infrastructure-and-potentially-endanger-liv/ #20yrsago Coping with plenty – stuff gets cheaper, space gets pricier https://www.theguardian.com/business/2006/feb/28/retail.shopping #20yrsago France will let Microsoft play iTunes http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/4828296.stm #20yrsago A new discipline to describe the copyfight https://web.archive.org/web/20060422010702/https://www.nyu.edu/classes/siva/archives/002930.html #20yrsago Right-wing think-tank hates DRM https://www.cato.org/policy-analysis/circumventing-competition-perverse-consequences-digital-millennium-copyright-act# #20yrsago Reasons to take math in high school https://web.archive.org/web/20060610134055/http://www.acm.org/ubiquity/views/v7i11_math.html #20yrsago Sun ships free and open microprocessor https://web.archive.org/web/20060221112756/http://opensparc.sunsource.net/nonav/index.html #20yrsago Octavia Butler scholarship will send people of color to Clarion https://web.archive.org/web/20060406161412/https://carlbrandon.org/butlerscholarship/ #20yrsago Online sexual material is obscene if any community in US objects https://web.archive.org/web/20060505232346/http://www.justicemag.com/daily/item/2590.html #15yrsago Folk models of home computer security: what we think our PCs are doing https://rickwash.com/papers/rwash-homesec-soups10-final.pdf #15yrsago Fixers’ Collective: people learning to make broken stuff work again https://www.csmonitor.com/The-Culture/Arts/2011/0321/The-art-of-the-fix-it #15yrsago Bug-eyed monster steampunk mask https://bob-basset.livejournal.com/158400.html #15yrsago Scholars to stop pretending they don’t use Wikipedia; will work out best practices instead https://www.bbc.com/news/education-12809944 #15yrsago Electronic publishing Bingo card from John Scalzi https://whatever.scalzi.com/2011/03/20/the-electronic-publishing-bingo-card/ #15yrsago RIP, Mike Glicksohn, Hugo-winning science fiction fan https://file770.com/mike-glicksohn-1946-2011/ #15yrsago Anti-labor ads celebrate workers taking paycuts and CEOs getting millions https://www.cogdis.me/2011/03/is-this-what-they-really-want.html #15yrsago Reluctant witness refuses to admit he knows what a photocopier is https://www.cleveland.com/metro/2011/03/identifying_photocopy_machine.html #15yrsago Tim Wu in the Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2011/mar/17/the-master-switch-tim-wu-internet #15yrsago Up Against It: smart, whiz-bang space opera pits astro-bureaucrats against rogue AIs https://memex.craphound.com/2011/03/18/up-against-it-smart-whiz-bang-space-opera-pits-astro-bureaucrats-against-rogue-ais/ #10yrsago Howto: start a fire with a lemon https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bv2vT665bGI #10yrsago First order of business for hard-right government: canceling Croatia’s answer to The Daily Show https://balkaninsight.com/2016/03/17/satiric-show-pulled-from-croatian-tv-for-intolerance-03-17-2016/bi/all-balkan-countries/ #10yrsago FBI issues car-hacking warning, tells drivers to keep their cars’ patch-levels current https://www.wired.com/2016/03/fbi-warns-car-hacking-real-risk/ #10yrsago BART’s twitter manager drops truth-bombs, world cheers https://gizmodo.com/i-would-like-to-buy-a-drink-for-the-poor-soul-who-ran-t-1765477706 #10yrsago Chelsea Manning gets the US Army to cough up its “insider threat” training docs https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/mar/18/government-persecuting-whistleblowers-insider-threat-chelsea-manning #10yrsago Apple engineers quietly discuss refusing to create the FBI’s backdoor https://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/18/technology/apple-encryption-engineers-if-ordered-to-unlock-iphone-might-resist.html #10yrsago Russia moots ban on discussions about VPNs, reverse proxies, and other anti-censorship techniques https://torrentfreak.com/copyright-holders-want-site-block-circumvention-advice-banned-160319/ #10yrsago Medusa’s Web: Tim Powers is the Philip K Dick of our age https://memex.craphound.com/2016/03/18/medusas-web-tim-powers-is-the-philip-k-dick-of-our-age/ #10yrsago Meet the Commercial Energy Working Group, a lobby group that won’t say who it lobbies for https://web.archive.org/web/20160320150011/https://theintercept.com/2016/03/20/mysterious-powerful-lobbying-group-wont-even-say-who-its-lobbying-for/ #5yrsago Support Amazon workers today https://pluralistic.net/2021/03/20/against-amazon-union-busting/#what-rhymes-with-bezos #5yrsago Department of Truth https://pluralistic.net/2021/03/20/against-amazon-union-busting/#dot #5yrsago The political possibility of cities https://pluralistic.net/2021/03/21/ex-urbe/#arcology-politics #5yrsago Aviation bailout cost $666k/job https://pluralistic.net/2021/03/18/news-worthy/#aa #5yrsago Impunity for NYPD cops who brutalized BLM protesters https://pluralistic.net/2021/03/18/news-worthy/#nypd-black-and-blue #5yrsago Help news, not news-barons https://pluralistic.net/2021/03/18/news-worthy/#big-news #5yrsago Announcing "The Shakedown" https://pluralistic.net/2021/03/19/the-shakedown/#monopsony #5yrsago Chickenized reverse-centaurs https://pluralistic.net/2021/03/19/the-shakedown/#weird-flex #1yrago You can't save an institution by betraying its mission https://pluralistic.net/2025/03/19/selling-out/#destroy-the-village-to-save-it #1yrago AI can't do your job https://pluralistic.net/2025/03/18/asbestos-in-the-walls/#government-by-spicy-autocomplete #1yrago Ray Nayler's "Where the Axe Is Buried" https://pluralistic.net/2025/03/20/birchpunk/#cyberspace-is-everting Upcoming appearances (permalink) Berkeley: Bioneers keynote, Mar 27 https://conference.bioneers.org/ Montreal: Bronfman Lecture (McGill), Apr 10 https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/artificial-intelligence-the-ultimate-disrupter-tickets-1982706623885 Montreal: Drawn and Quarterly, Apr 10 https://mtl.drawnandquarterly.com/events/4863920260410 London: Resisting Big Tech Empires (LSBU), Apr 25 https://www.tickettailor.com/events/globaljusticenow/2042691 Berlin: Re:publica, May 18-20 https://re-publica.com/de/news/rp26-sprecher-cory-doctorow Berlin: Enshittification at Otherland Books, May 19 https://www.otherland-berlin.de/de/event-details/cory-doctorow.html Hay-on-Wye: HowTheLightGetsIn, May 22-25 https://howthelightgetsin.org/festivals/hay/big-ideas-2 Recent appearances (permalink) Do you feel screwed over by big tech? (Ontario Today) https://www.cbc.ca/listen/live-radio/1-45-ontario-today/clip/16203024-do-feel-screwed-big-tech Launch for Cindy's Cohn's "Privacy's Defender" (City Lights) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WuVCm2PUalU Chicken Mating Harnesses (This Week in Tech) https://twit.tv/shows/this-week-in-tech/episodes/1074 The Virtual Jewel Box (U Utah) https://tanner.utah.edu/podcast/enshittification-cory-doctorow-matthew-potolsky/ Tanner Humanities Lecture (U Utah) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i6Yf1nSyekI Latest books (permalink) "Canny Valley": A limited edition collection of the collages I create for Pluralistic, self-published, September 2025 https://pluralistic.net/2025/09/04/illustrious/#chairman-bruce "Enshittification: Why Everything Suddenly Got Worse and What to Do About It," Farrar, Straus, Giroux, October 7 2025 https://us.macmillan.com/books/9780374619329/enshittification/ "Picks and Shovels": a sequel to "Red Team Blues," about the heroic era of the PC, Tor Books (US), Head of Zeus (UK), February 2025 (https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250865908/picksandshovels). "The Bezzle": a sequel to "Red Team Blues," about prison-tech and other grifts, Tor Books (US), Head of Zeus (UK), February 2024 (thebezzle.org). "The Lost Cause:" a solarpunk novel of hope in the climate emergency, Tor Books (US), Head of Zeus (UK), November 2023 (http://lost-cause.org). "The Internet Con": A nonfiction book about interoperability and Big Tech (Verso) September 2023 (http://seizethemeansofcomputation.org). Signed copies at Book Soup (https://www.booksoup.com/book/9781804291245). "Red Team Blues": "A grabby, compulsive thriller that will leave you knowing more about how the world works than you did before." Tor Books http://redteamblues.com. "Chokepoint Capitalism: How to Beat Big Tech, Tame Big Content, and Get Artists Paid, with Rebecca Giblin", on how to unrig the markets for creative labor, Beacon Press/Scribe 2022 https://chokepointcapitalism.com Upcoming books (permalink) "The Reverse-Centaur's Guide to AI," a short book about being a better AI critic, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, June 2026 (https://us.macmillan.com/books/9780374621568/thereversecentaursguidetolifeafterai/) "Enshittification, Why Everything Suddenly Got Worse and What to Do About It" (the graphic novel), Firstsecond, 2026 "The Post-American Internet," a geopolitical sequel of sorts to Enshittification, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2027 "Unauthorized Bread": a middle-grades graphic novel adapted from my novella about refugees, toasters and DRM, FirstSecond, 2027 "The Memex Method," Farrar, Straus, Giroux, 2027 Colophon (permalink) Today's top sources: Currently writing: "The Post-American Internet," a sequel to "Enshittification," about the better world the rest of us get to have now that Trump has torched America (1034 words today, 54661 total) "The Reverse Centaur's Guide to AI," a short book for Farrar, Straus and Giroux about being an effective AI critic. LEGAL REVIEW AND COPYEDIT COMPLETE. "The Post-American Internet," a short book about internet policy in the age of Trumpism. PLANNING. A Little Brother short story about DIY insulin PLANNING This work – excluding any serialized fiction – is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. That means you can use it any way you like, including commercially, provided that you attribute it to me, Cory Doctorow, and include a link to pluralistic.net. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Quotations and images are not included in this license; they are included either under a limitation or exception to copyright, or on the basis of a separate license. Please exercise caution. How to get Pluralistic: Blog (no ads, tracking, or data-collection): Pluralistic.net Newsletter (no ads, tracking, or data-collection): https://pluralistic.net/plura-list Mastodon (no ads, tracking, or data-collection): https://mamot.fr/@pluralistic Bluesky (no ads, possible tracking and data-collection): https://bsky.app/profile/doctorow.pluralistic.net Medium (no ads, paywalled): https://doctorow.medium.com/ https://twitter.com/doctorow Tumblr (mass-scale, unrestricted, third-party surveillance and advertising): https://mostlysignssomeportents.tumblr.com/tagged/pluralistic "When life gives you SARS, you make sarsaparilla" -Joey "Accordion Guy" DeVilla READ CAREFULLY: By reading this, you agree, on behalf of your employer, to release me from all obligations and waivers arising from any and all NON-NEGOTIATED agreements, licenses, terms-of-service, shrinkwrap, clickwrap, browsewrap, confidentiality, non-disclosure, non-compete and acceptable use policies ("BOGUS AGREEMENTS") that I have entered into with your employer, its partners, licensors, agents and assigns, in perpetuity, without prejudice to my ongoing rights and privileges. You further represent that you have the authority to release me from any BOGUS AGREEMENTS on behalf of your employer. ISSN: 3066-764X

Pluralistic: Love of corporate bullshit is correlated with bad judgment (19 Mar 2026)
Today's links Love of corporate bullshit is correlated with bad judgment: Synergizing the strategic inflection points on the global data network. Hey look at this: Delights to delectate. Object permanence: Bluetooth headsets; Fruit sticker decoder; iPod batteries v DRM; Bruces's SXSW keynote; Piracy isn't funding terrorism; Hope v optimism; Identical twin time-travel prank; Prisoners draw corporate crooks; Spanish junkbots; Sheriff's rape-kit denial; Non-dorky magic; Poetic bureaucrat mourns wolf; SXSW v MPAA; "Burning Days"; NYT paywall; Police rap-battle warning; Unions de-risk labor; "Murder the Truth" Upcoming appearances: Where to find me. Recent appearances: Where I've been. Latest books: You keep readin' em, I'll keep writin' 'em. Upcoming books: Like I said, I'll keep writin' 'em. Colophon: All the rest. Love of corporate bullshit is correlated with bad judgment (permalink) I'm a writer, so of course I care about words! But I'm a writer, so I also think that words are improved by their malleability, duality and nuance. This is one of the things I love about being a native English speaker – this glorious mongrel language of ours is full of extremely weird words, like "cleave," which means its own opposite ("to join together" and "to cut apart"). English is full of these words that mean their own opposite, from "dust" to "oversight" to "weather": https://www.mentalfloss.com/language/words/25-words-are-their-own-opposites This is what you get when you let a language run wild, with meaning determined (and contested) by speakers. Not for nothing, my second language is Yiddish, another glorious higgeldy-piggeldy of a tongue with no authoritative oversight and innumerable dialects. Semantic drift is a feature, not a bug. It's how we get new words, and new meanings for old words. I love semantic drift! I mean, I'd better, since, having coined "enshittification," I'm now destined to have a poop emoji on my headstone. Having coined a word – and having proposed a precise technical meaning for it – I am baffled by people who make it their business to scold others for using enshittification "incorrectly." "Enshittification" is less than five years old, and we know when and how it was invented. If you like it when I make up a word, you can't categorically object to other people making up new meanings for this word. I didn't need a word-coining license to come up with enshittification, and you don't need a semantic drift license to use it to mean something else. I wrote a whole danged essay about this, but still, hardly a day goes by without someone trying to enlist me in their project to scold and shame strangers for using the word incorrectly: The fact that a neologism is sometimes decoupled from its theoretical underpinnings and is used colloquially is a feature, not a bug. Many people apply the term "enshittification" very loosely indeed, to mean "something that is bad," without bothering to learn – or apply – the theoretical framework. This is good. This is what it means for a term to enter the lexicon: it takes on a life of its own. If 10,000,000 people use "enshittification" loosely and inspire 10% of their number to look up the longer, more theoretical work I've done on it, that is one million normies who have been sucked into a discourse that used to live exclusively in the world of the most wonkish and obscure practitioners. The only way to maintain a precise, theoretically grounded use of a term is to confine its usage to a small group of largely irrelevant insiders. Policing the use of "enshittification" is worse than a self-limiting move – it would be a self-inflicted wound. https://pluralistic.net/2024/10/14/pearl-clutching/#this-toilet-has-no-central-nervous-system Colloquialization doesn't dilute language, it thickens it. Using a powerful word to describe something else can be glorious. It's allusion, metaphor, simile. It's poesie. It's fine. Bemoaning the "tsunami" of bad news doesn't cheapen the deaths of people who die in real tsunamis. Saying that the Trump administration "nuked" the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau doesn't desecrate the dead of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Calling creeping authoritarianism a "cancer" doesn't denigrate the suffering of people who have actual cancer. What's more, devoting your energies to "correcting" other people's allusive language makes you a boring, tedious person. Sure, you can have a conversation with a comrade about making inclusive word choices, but interrupting a substantive debate to have that discussion is unserious. The words people use matter (I care a lot about words!) but they matter less than the things people mean. Keep your eye on the prize (metaphorically) (for avoidance of doubt, there is no prize) (both the prize and the eye are metaphors). (By all means, get angry at people who intentionally use slurs. None of this is to say that you should tolerate – or be subjected to – language that is intended to dehumanize you.) It's time we admitted that it's no good replacing an offensive term with a phrase that no one understands. Calling it "child sexual abuse material" is a good idea, but no one actually calls it that. The customary phrase is actually "child sexual abuse material, which most people call 'child porn,' but which we should really call 'child sex abuse material.'" If your goal is to avoid saying "child porn" (a laudable goal!), this isn't achieving it. None of this means that I am immune to being rubbed up the wrong way by other people's language choices. Having been mentored by the science fiction great Damon Knight, I have been infected by many of his linguistic peccadillos, which means that if you say "out loud" in my earshot, I will (mentally) "correct" it to "aloud" (yes, "out loud" is fine, but Damon had a thing about it and it got stuck in my brain). I am especially perturbed by "business English," the language of the commercial class, their cheerleaders in the press, and (alas) many of their critics. Anytime someone refers to a sector as a "space" (as in "I'm really getting into the AI space") it's like they're making me chew tinfoil. Superlatives like "thought-leader" are so self-parodying I have to check every time someone utters one aloud (see?) to verify that they're not being sarcastic. Objects of derision should be referred to by their surnames, not their given names ("Musk" is vituperative, "Elon" is friendly – though, thanks to the glorious and thickening contradictions of language, calling someone by their surname can also be affectionate). I steer clear of jargon used by firms to lionize themselves, like "hyperscaler." I share the impulse to impose my linguistic preferences on the people around me. I just (mostly) suppress that impulse and try to focus on substance rather than style, at least when I'm trying to understand others and be understood by them. But yes, I do silently judge the people around me for their word choices – all the time. That's why I immediately pounced on "The Corporate Bullshit Receptivity Scale: Development, validation, and associations with workplace outcomes," an open access paper in the Feb 2026 edition of Personality and Individual Differences by Shane Littrell, a linguistics postdoc at Cornell: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/400597536_The_Corporate_Bullshit_Receptivity_Scale_Development_validation_and_associations_with_workplace_outcomes Littrell set out to evaluate "corporate bullshit," a linguistic category that is separate from mere "jargon." Jargon, Littrell writes, is a professional vocabulary that serves a useful purpose: "facilitat[ing] communication and social bonding, increas[ing] fluency, and help[ing] reinforce a shared identity among in-group members." Bullshit, meanwhile, is "semantically, logically, or epistemically dubious information that is misleadingly impressive, important, informative, or otherwise engaging." There's a whole field of bullshit studies, with investigations into such exciting topics as "pseudo-profound bullshit" (think: Deepak Chopra). Littrell borrows from that field and others to investigate corporate bullshit, formulating a measurement index he calls the "Corporate Bullshit Receptivity Scale." In a series of three experiments, Littrell sets out to determine who is the most susceptible to corporate bullshit, and what the correlates of that receptivity are. Littrell concludes that corporate bullshitters themselves are pretty good at identifying bullshit (they have a high "Organizational Bullshit Perception Score"). In other words, bullshitters know that they're bullshitting. When a corporate leader declares that: This synergistic look at our thought leadership will ensure that we are decontenting and avoiding reputational deficits with our key takeaways as effectively as we can in order to sunset our resonating focus. they know it's nonsense. This reminded me of the idea that cult leaders tell obvious lies to their followers as a way of forcing them to demonstrate their subservience. When Trump demands that his followers wear clown shoes: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/trump-is-obsessed-with-these-145-shoes-and-won-t-let-anyone-leave-without-a-pair/ar-AA1XOEBm Or that they pretend that "mutilization" is a word: https://www.wonkette.com/p/is-trumps-save-america-fck-america He's engaging in a dominance play that forces his feuding princelings and their lickspittles to humiliate themselves and reaffirm his supremacy. There are plenty of rank-and-file workers inside corporations who have high OBPSes and know when they're being bullshitted, but Littrell also identifies a large cohort of low-OBPS workers who are absolutely taken in by corporate bullshit. Here we get to a fascinating dichotomy. Both the low-OBPS and high-OBPS workers can be described as being "open minded," but "open" has a very different meaning for each group. Workers who are good at spotting bullshit score high on open-mindedness metrics like "willingness to engage" and "willingness to reflect," both characteristic of the "fluid intelligence" that makes workers good at solving problems and doing a good job. Meanwhile, workers who are taken in by bullshit are "open minded" in the sense that they are bad at analytical reasoning and thus easily convinced. These people test poorly on metrics like "logical reasoning" and "decision-making," and score high on "overconfidence in one's intellectual and analytic abilities." They are apt to make blunders that "expose organizations to financial, reputational, or legal risks." But they're also exactly the workers who score high on "job satisfaction," "trust in one's supervisor," and "degree to which they are inspired by corporate mission statements." These people are so open minded that their brains start to leak out of their ears. Or, as Carly Page put it in The Register: "jargon sticks around not just because executives enjoy using it, but because many people respond to it as if it were genuine insight": https://www.theregister.com/2026/03/15/corporate_jargon_research/ This creates a feedback loop where bosses get rewarded for using empty and maddening phrases, and their workforce gets progressively more skewed towards people who are bad at spotting bullshit and at exercising their judgment on the job. It's quite a neat – and ugly – explanation of why bullshit proliferates within organizations, and how organizations come to be completely overrun with bullshit. This is a fascinating research paper, and while I've focused on its conclusions, I really suggest going and reading about the methodology, especially the tables of "corporate bullshit" phrases they generated for their experiments (Tables 1, 2 and 3). This is some eldritch horror bullshit: By solving the pain point of customers with our conversations, we will ideate a renewed level of end-state vision and growth-mindset in the market between us and others who are architecting to download on a similar balanced scorecard. What's more, these are all based on real examples of corporate bullshit from leaders at large corporations, with a few words rotated to synonyms drawn from the business-press. I'm a writer. I really do care about language. Sure, I get frustrated with scolds who rail against semantic drift or engage in petty, pedantic corrections, but not because words don't matter. They matter, a lot. But language isn't math (which is why double negatives are intensifiers, not negators). It can obscure (as with bullshit) or it can enlighten (as with poesie) or it can enable precision (as with jargon). Arguments about language matter, but what matters about them isn't subjective aesthetics, nor is it a peevish obsession with "correctness." What matters is the way that language operates on the world (and vice versa). Hey look at this (permalink) The public will pay https://www.citationneeded.news/issue-102/ Enshittified UX https://www.awwwards.com/sites/enshittified-ux The Reverse Centaur's Guide to Life After AI https://us.macmillan.com/books/9780374621568/thereversecentaursguidetolifeafterai/ Immutable https://www.pbs.org/video/immutable-lw8ctv/ Why Are We Still Doing This? https://www.wheresyoured.at/why-are-we-still-doing-this/ Object permanence (permalink) #20yrsago Eighth graders build giant awesome gymnasium rollercoaster https://web.archive.org/web/20060329110502/https://www.sgvtribune.com/news/ci_3606933 #20yrsago Bluetooth headset combined with headphones https://www.techdigest.tv/2006/03/itech_clip_m_1.html #20yrsago HOWTO decode the sticker-numbers on fruit https://megnut.com/2006/03/14/read-the-numbers-on-your-fruit/ #20yrsago DRM shortens iPod battery life https://web.archive.org/web/20060319201837/http://www.mp3.com/features/stories/3646.html #20yrsago McD’s employees’ secret recipes for improvised meals https://mcdonalds-talk.livejournal.com/158400.html #20yrsago UK to US: we’ll only buy open-source fighter jets https://web.archive.org/web/20060420192203/https://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2152035/joint-strike-fighter #20yrsago Bruce Sterling’s SXSW keynote MP3 https://web.archive.org/web/20060330072143/https://server1.sxsw.com/2006/coverage/SXSW06.INT.20060314.BruceSterling.mp3 #20yrsago UK Open University opens its courseware https://web.archive.org/web/20060610125235/https://oci.open.ac.uk/ #20yrsago Europe seeking to make open mapping impossible – help! https://web.archive.org/web/20060503172457/https://publicgeodata.org/Open_Letter #20yrsago MPAA rep gets slammed at SXSW https://www.powazek.com/2006/03/000571.html #20yrsago Canadian recording industry: P2P isn’t bad for business https://web.archive.org/web/20060408232202/https://www.michaelgeist.ca/component/option,com_content/task,view/id,1168/Itemid,85/nsub,/ #15yrsago First-person account from surgeon who removed his own appendix https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2011/03/antarctica-1961-a-soviet-surgeon-has-to-remove-his-own-appendix/72445/ #15yrsago New York Times paywall: wishful thinking or just crazy? https://memex.craphound.com/2011/03/17/new-york-times-paywall-wishful-thinking-or-just-crazy/ #15rsago Android app pwns cardkey entry systems, opens all the locks https://web.archive.org/web/20110317132608/http://www.cybersecurityguy.com/caribou.html #15yrsago Glenn Grant’s Burning Days: old school cyberpunk stories from the nostalgic contrafuture https://memex.craphound.com/2011/03/17/glenn-grants-burning-days-old-school-cyberpunk-stories-from-the-nostalgic-contrafuture/ #15yrsago World’s largest spam botnet goes down (for now?) https://krebsonsecurity.com/2011/03/rustock-botnet-flatlined-spam-volumes-plummet/ #15yrsago Piracy doesn’t fund the mob or terrorists https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2011/03/even-commercial-pirates-now-have-to-compete-with-free/ #15yrsago Tennessee to outlaw collective bargaining for teachers https://web.archive.org/web/20110320023746/https://nashvillecitypaper.com/content/city-news/protesters-arrested-following-disruption-committee-hearing #15yrsago Four Color Fear: delightful horror comics from the pre-Code era https://memex.craphound.com/2011/03/16/four-color-fear-delightful-horror-comics-from-the-pre-code-era/ #10yrsago Screw optimism, we need hope instead https://web.archive.org/web/20160318215827/https://littleatoms.com/society/cory-doctorows-manifesto-hope #10yrsago Four sets of identical twins pull an epic NYC subway car time-machine prank https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z1Gq7Q3B9xU #10yrsago Hack-attacks with stolen certs tell you the future of FBI vs Apple https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2016/03/to-bypass-code-signing-checks-malware-gang-steals-lots-of-certificates/ #10yrsago Captured: a book of prison inmate drawings of CEOs and other too-big-to-jail criminals https://thecapturedproject.com/ #10yrsago From dingo babysitter to net neutrality hero: Tom Wheeler’s legacy https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2016/03/how-a-former-lobbyist-became-the-broadband-industrys-worst-nightmare/ #10yrsago Poet/bureaucrat’s moving report of the 1921 demise of America’s most notorious wolf https://web.archive.org/web/20160327105045/https://www.fws.gov/news/Historic/NewsReleases/1921/19210103.pdf #10yrsago Barnes & Noble wipes out Nook ebook, replaces it with off-brand “study guide” https://web.archive.org/web/20160316120232/https://www.teleread.com/barnes-noble-stole-first-e-book-ever-bought/ #10yrsago Scarfolk’s lost 1970s budget announcement lays bare the modern Tory strategy https://scarfolk.blogspot.com/2016/03/scarfolks-annual-budget-announcement.html #10yrsago Junkbots from Madrid, recycled from iconic Spanish packaging https://web.archive.org/web/20160321103729/http://www.pitarquerobots.es/ #10yrsago First-ever Tor node in a Canadian library https://web.archive.org/web/20160319035440/https://motherboard.vice.com/read/canadian-librarians-must-be-ready-to-fight-the-feds-on-running-a-tor-node-western-library-freedom-project #10yrsago How to do impromptu magic tricks without being a dork https://www.thejerx.com/blog/2016/3/14/project-slay-them #10yrsago Sheriff says rape kits are irrelevant because most rape accusations are false https://www.oregonlive.com/pacific-northwest-news/2016/03/rape_kit_system_unnecessary_si.html #10yrsago Redaction fail: U.S. government admits it went after Lavabit looking for Snowden https://www.wired.com/2016/03/government-error-just-revealed-snowden-target-lavabit-case/ #10yrsago McAfee shovelware emits tracking beacons https://web.archive.org/web/20160909030152/https://duo.com/blog/bring-your-own-dilemma-oem-laptops-and-windows-10-security #10yrsago Cops in small MA town warn about roving rap-battle challengers https://www.kron4.com/news/cops-warn-residents-of-men-challenging-others-to-rap-battles/ #10yrsago Rather than banning “lobbying” by academics, UK government should encourage it https://web.archive.org/web/20160310100844/https://www.timeshighereducation.com/comment/ban-academics-talking-to-ministers-we-should-train-them-to-do-it #10yrsago Russia’s military uses gigantic wooden comedy props for punishment https://semperannoying.tumblr.com/post/122390977886/semperannoying-russian-army-punishments-1 #10yrsago Study: people who believe in innate intelligence overestimate their own https://arstechnica.com/science/2016/03/think-intelligence-is-fixed-youre-more-likely-to-overestimate-your-own/ #5yrsago SNAPDRAGON https://pluralistic.net/2021/03/17/there-once-was-a-union-maid/#coming-out #5yrsago How unions de-risk work https://pluralistic.net/2021/03/17/there-once-was-a-union-maid/#solidarity-forever #5yrsago Meet the new music boss, same as the old music boss https://pluralistic.net/2021/03/16/wage-theft/#excessive-buyer-power #5yrsago The People's Parity Project https://pluralistic.net/2021/03/16/wage-theft/#ppp #5yrsago SMS security is flaming garbage https://pluralistic.net/2021/03/16/wage-theft/#override-service-registry #1yrago David Enrich's "Murder the Truth" https://pluralistic.net/2025/03/17/actual-malice/#happy-slapping Upcoming appearances (permalink) Barcelona: Enshittification with Simona Levi/Xnet (Llibreria Finestres), Mar 20 https://www.llibreriafinestres.com/evento/cory-doctorow/ Berkeley: Bioneers keynote, Mar 27 https://conference.bioneers.org/ Montreal: Bronfman Lecture (McGill), Apr 10 https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/artificial-intelligence-the-ultimate-disrupter-tickets-1982706623885 Montreal: Drawn and Quarterly, Apr 10 https://mtl.drawnandquarterly.com/events/4863920260410 London: Resisting Big Tech Empires (LSBU), Apr 25 https://www.tickettailor.com/events/globaljusticenow/2042691 Berlin: Re:publica, May 18-20 https://re-publica.com/de/news/rp26-sprecher-cory-doctorow Berlin: Enshittification at Otherland Books, May 19 https://www.otherland-berlin.de/de/event-details/cory-doctorow.html Hay-on-Wye: HowTheLightGetsIn, May 22-25 https://howthelightgetsin.org/festivals/hay/big-ideas-2 Recent appearances (permalink) Do you feel screwed over by big tech? (Ontario Today) https://www.cbc.ca/listen/live-radio/1-45-ontario-today/clip/16203024-do-feel-screwed-big-tech Launch for Cindy's Cohn's "Privacy's Defender" (City Lights) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WuVCm2PUalU Chicken Mating Harnesses (This Week in Tech) https://twit.tv/shows/this-week-in-tech/episodes/1074 The Virtual Jewel Box (U Utah) https://tanner.utah.edu/podcast/enshittification-cory-doctorow-matthew-potolsky/ Tanner Humanities Lecture (U Utah) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i6Yf1nSyekI Latest books (permalink) "Canny Valley": A limited edition collection of the collages I create for Pluralistic, self-published, September 2025 https://pluralistic.net/2025/09/04/illustrious/#chairman-bruce "Enshittification: Why Everything Suddenly Got Worse and What to Do About It," Farrar, Straus, Giroux, October 7 2025 https://us.macmillan.com/books/9780374619329/enshittification/ "Picks and Shovels": a sequel to "Red Team Blues," about the heroic era of the PC, Tor Books (US), Head of Zeus (UK), February 2025 (https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250865908/picksandshovels). "The Bezzle": a sequel to "Red Team Blues," about prison-tech and other grifts, Tor Books (US), Head of Zeus (UK), February 2024 (thebezzle.org). "The Lost Cause:" a solarpunk novel of hope in the climate emergency, Tor Books (US), Head of Zeus (UK), November 2023 (http://lost-cause.org). "The Internet Con": A nonfiction book about interoperability and Big Tech (Verso) September 2023 (http://seizethemeansofcomputation.org). Signed copies at Book Soup (https://www.booksoup.com/book/9781804291245). "Red Team Blues": "A grabby, compulsive thriller that will leave you knowing more about how the world works than you did before." Tor Books http://redteamblues.com. "Chokepoint Capitalism: How to Beat Big Tech, Tame Big Content, and Get Artists Paid, with Rebecca Giblin", on how to unrig the markets for creative labor, Beacon Press/Scribe 2022 https://chokepointcapitalism.com Upcoming books (permalink) "The Reverse-Centaur's Guide to AI," a short book about being a better AI critic, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, June 2026 (https://us.macmillan.com/books/9780374621568/thereversecentaursguidetolifeafterai/) "Enshittification, Why Everything Suddenly Got Worse and What to Do About It" (the graphic novel), Firstsecond, 2026 "The Post-American Internet," a geopolitical sequel of sorts to Enshittification, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2027 "Unauthorized Bread": a middle-grades graphic novel adapted from my novella about refugees, toasters and DRM, FirstSecond, 2027 "The Memex Method," Farrar, Straus, Giroux, 2027 Colophon (permalink) Today's top sources: Currently writing: "The Post-American Internet," a sequel to "Enshittification," about the better world the rest of us get to have now that Trump has torched America (1002 words today, 52553 total) "The Reverse Centaur's Guide to AI," a short book for Farrar, Straus and Giroux about being an effective AI critic. LEGAL REVIEW AND COPYEDIT COMPLETE. "The Post-American Internet," a short book about internet policy in the age of Trumpism. PLANNING. A Little Brother short story about DIY insulin PLANNING This work – excluding any serialized fiction – is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. That means you can use it any way you like, including commercially, provided that you attribute it to me, Cory Doctorow, and include a link to pluralistic.net. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Quotations and images are not included in this license; they are included either under a limitation or exception to copyright, or on the basis of a separate license. Please exercise caution. How to get Pluralistic: Blog (no ads, tracking, or data-collection): Pluralistic.net Newsletter (no ads, tracking, or data-collection): https://pluralistic.net/plura-list Mastodon (no ads, tracking, or data-collection): https://mamot.fr/@pluralistic Bluesky (no ads, possible tracking and data-collection): https://bsky.app/profile/doctorow.pluralistic.net Medium (no ads, paywalled): https://doctorow.medium.com/ https://twitter.com/doctorow Tumblr (mass-scale, unrestricted, third-party surveillance and advertising): https://mostlysignssomeportents.tumblr.com/tagged/pluralistic "When life gives you SARS, you make sarsaparilla" -Joey "Accordion Guy" DeVilla READ CAREFULLY: By reading this, you agree, on behalf of your employer, to release me from all obligations and waivers arising from any and all NON-NEGOTIATED agreements, licenses, terms-of-service, shrinkwrap, clickwrap, browsewrap, confidentiality, non-disclosure, non-compete and acceptable use policies ("BOGUS AGREEMENTS") that I have entered into with your employer, its partners, licensors, agents and assigns, in perpetuity, without prejudice to my ongoing rights and privileges. You further represent that you have the authority to release me from any BOGUS AGREEMENTS on behalf of your employer. ISSN: 3066-764X

Pluralistic: William Gibson vs Margaret Thatcher (17 Mar 2026)
Today's links William Gibson vs Margaret Thatcher: The Street Finds Its Own Alternatives For Things. Hey look at this: Delights to delectate. Object permanence: Prison for spamming; Dotcom layoffs; Ethernet action-figures; UK libel reform; "Poe's Detective"; God's customer service center; "Making Hay"; Alexa privacy Valdez. Upcoming appearances: Where to find me. Recent appearances: Where I've been. Latest books: You keep readin' em, I'll keep writin' 'em. Upcoming books: Like I said, I'll keep writin' 'em. Colophon: All the rest. William Gibson vs Margaret Thatcher (permalink) William Gibson is one of history's most quotable sf writers: "The future is here, it's not evenly distributed"; "Don't let the little fuckers generation-gap you"; "Cyberspace is everting"; and the immortal: "The street finds its own uses for things": https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/William_Gibson "The street finds its own uses" is a surprisingly subtle and liberatory battle-cry. It stakes a claim by technology's users that is separate from the claims asserted by corporations that make technology (often under grotesque and cruel conditions) and market it (often for grotesque and cruel purposes). "The street finds its own uses" is a statement about technopolitics. It acknowledges that yes, there are politics embedded in our technology, the blood in the machine, but these politics are neither simple, nor are they immutable. The fact that a technology was born in sin does not preclude it from being put to virtuous ends. A technology's politics are up for grabs. In other words, it's the opposite of Audre Lorde's "The master's tools will never dismantle the master's house." It's an assertion that, in fact, the master's tools have all the driver-bits, hex-keys, and socket sets needed to completely dismantle the master's house, and, moreover, to build something better with the resulting pile of materials. And of course the street finds its own uses for things. Things – technology – don't appear out of nowhere. Everything is in a lineage, made from the things that came before it, destined to be transformed by the things that come later. Things can't come into existence until other things already exist. Take the helicopter. Lots of people have observed the action of a screw and the twirling of a maple key as it falls from a tree and thought, perhaps that could be made to fly. Da Vinci was drawing helicopters in the 15th century: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo%27s_aerial_screw But Da Vinci couldn't build a helicopter. No one could, until they did. To make the first helicopter, you need to observe the action of the screw and the twirling of a maple key, and you need to have lightweight, strong alloys and powerful internal combustion engines. Those other things had to be invented by other people first. Once they were, the next person who thought hard about screws and maple keys was bound to get a helicopter off the ground. That's why things tend to be invented simultaneously, by unrelated parties. TV, radio and the telephone all have multiple inventors, because these people were the cohort that happened to alight upon the insights needed to build these technologies after the adjacent technologies had been made and disseminated. If technopolitics were immutable – if the original sin of a technology could never be washed away – then everything is beyond redemption. Somewhere in the history of the lever, the pulley and the wheel are some absolute monsters. Your bicycle's bloodline includes some truly horrible ancestors. The computer is practically a crime against humanity: https://pluralistic.net/2021/10/24/the-traitorous-eight-and-the-battle-of-germanium-valley/ A defining characteristic of purity culture is the belief that things are defined by their origins. An artist who was personally terrible must make terrible art – even if that art succeeds artistically, even if it moves, comforts and inspires you, it can't ever be separated from the politics of its maker. It is terrible because of its origins, not its merits. If you hate the sinner, you must also hate the sin. "The street finds its own uses" counsels us to hate the sinner and love the sin. The indisputable fact that HP Lovecraft was a racist creep is not a reason to write off Cthulhoid mythos – it's a reason to claim and refashion them: https://pluralistic.net/2021/01/09/the-old-crow-is-getting-slow/#i-love-ny The claim that sin is a kind of forever-chemical contaminant that can't ever be rinsed away is the ideology of Mr Gotcha: We should improve society somewhat. Yet you participate in society. Curious! https://thenib.com/mister-gotcha/ In its right-wing form, it is Margaret Thatcher's "There is no alternative": https://pluralistic.net/2024/10/15/piketty-pilled/#tax-justice Thatcher demanded that you accept all the injustices and oppressions of capitalism if you enjoyed its fruits. If capitalism put a roof over your head and groceries in your fridge, you can't complain about the people it hurts. There is no version of society that has the machines and practices that produced those things that does not also produce the injustice. The technological version of this is the one that tech bosses peddle: If you enjoy talking to your friends on Facebook, you can't complain about Mark Zuckerberg listening in on the conversation. There is no alternative. Wanting to talk to your friends out of Zuck's earshot is like wanting water that's not wet. It's unreasonable. But there's a left version of this, its doppelganger: the belief that a technology born in sin can never be redeemed. If you use an LLM running on your computer to find a typo, using an unmeasurably small amount of electricity in the process, you still sin – not because of anything that happens when you use that LLM, but because of LLMs' "structural properties," "the way they make it harder to learn and grow," "the way they make products worse," the "emissions, water use and e-waste": https://tante.cc/2026/02/20/acting-ethical-in-an-imperfect-world/ The facts that finding punctuation errors in your own work using your own computer doesn't make it "harder to learn and grow," doesn't "make products worse," and doesn't add to "emissions, water use and e-waste" are irrelevant. The part that matters isn't the use of a technology, it's the origin. The fact that this technology is steeped in indisputable sin means that every use of it is sinful. The street can find as many uses as it likes for things, but it won't matter, because there is no alternative. When radical technologists scheme to liberate technology, they're not hoping to redeem the gadget, they're trying to liberate people. Information doesn't want to be free, because information doesn't and can't want anything. But people want to be free, and liberated access to information technology is a precondition for human liberation itself. Promethean leftists don't reject the master's tools: we seize them. The fact that Unix was born of a convicted monopolist who turned the screws on users at every turn isn't a reason to abandon Unix – it demands that we reverse-engineer, open, and free Unix: https://pluralistic.net/2025/01/20/capitalist-unrealism/#praxis We don't do this out of moral consideration for Unix. Unix is inert, it warrants no moral consideration. But billions of users of free operating systems that are resistant to surveillance and control are worthy of moral consideration and we set them free by seizing the means of computation. If a technology can do something to further human thriving, then we can love the sin, even as we hate the sinners in its lineage. We seize the means of computation, not because we care about computers, but because we care about people. Artifacts do have politics, but those politics are not immutable. Those politics are ours to seize and refashion: https://faculty.cc.gatech.edu/~beki/cs4001/Winner.pdf "The purpose of a system is what it does" (S. Beer). The important fact about a technology is what it does, not how it came about. Does a use of a technology harm someone? Does a use of a technology harm the environment? Does a use of a technology help someone do something that improves their life? Studying the origins of technology is good because it helps us avoid the systems and practices that hurt people. Knowing about the monsters in our technology's lineage helps us avoid repeating their sins. But there will always be sin in our technology's past, because our technology's past is the entire past, because technology is a lineage, not a gadget. If you reject things because of their origins – and not because of the things they do – then you'll end up rejecting everything (if you're honest), or twisting yourself into a series of dead-ends as you rationalize reasons that the exceptions you make out of necessity aren't really exceptions. (Image: Dylan Parker, CC BY-SA 2.0, modified) Hey look at this (permalink) Gone (Almost) Phishin’ https://ma.tt/2026/03/gone-almost-phishin/ The Foilies 2026 https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2026/03/foilies-2026 Why Voters Should Support Senator Klobuchar’s ‘‘Antitrust Accountability and Transparency Act’’ https://www.thesling.org/why-voters-should-support-senator-klobuchars-antitrust-accountability-and-transparency-act/ Bombshell Document Details Watergate-Style Corruption at the Antitrust Division https://www.thebignewsletter.com/p/monopoly-round-up-bombshell-document Sodium-ion batteries hit the Midwestern grid in first-of-its-kind pilot https://electrek.co/2026/03/11/sodium-ion-batteries-hit-the-midwestern-grid-in-first-of-its-kind-pilot (h/t Slashdot) Object permanence (permalink) #25yrsago Prison for spamming https://it.slashdot.org/story/01/03/15/1325251/spammers-face-jail-time #25yrsago 1040 for laid-off dot com workers https://web.archive.org/web/20010603113932/http://www.girlchick.com/erin/Pics/DotCom1040.jpg #25yrsago Sony ships a PalmOS device https://web.archive.org/web/20010331181042/http://www.sony.co.jp/sd/CLIE/index_pc.html #25yrsago “You Own Your Own Metadata” https://www.feedmag.com/templates/default_a_id-1648 #20yrsago Action-figures made from Ethernet cable https://basik.ru/handmade/2066/ #15yrsago Poor countries have more piracy because media costs too much — report https://web.archive.org/web/20110310042425/http://piracy.ssrc.org/the-report/ #15yrsago Bahrain’s royals declare martial law https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/mar/15/bahrain-martial-law-protesters-troops #15yrsago Libel reform in the UK: telling the truth won’t be illegal any longer? https://www.theguardian.com/media/2011/mar/15/libel-law-reforms #15yrsago My weird femur printed in stainless steel https://www.flickr.com/photos/doctorow/tags/femur #15yrsago War on the PC and the network: copyright was just the start https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2011/mar/15/computers-incorporate-spyware-dangers #15yrsago Poe’s Detective: audio editions of Poe’s groundbreaking detective stories https://memex.craphound.com/2011/03/15/poes-detective-audio-editions-of-poes-groundbreaking-detective-stories/ #15yrsago New York slashes hospital spending, but can’t touch multimillion-dollar CEO paychecks https://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/16/nyregion/16about.html?_r=1&hp #10yrsago Leaked memo: Donald Trump volunteers banned from critizing him, for life https://web.archive.org/web/20160315161328/http://www.dailydot.com/politics/donald-trump-volunteer-contract-nda-non-disparagement-clause/ #10yrsago Open letter from virtually every leading UK law light: Snooper’s Charter not fit for purpose https://www.theguardian.com/law/2016/mar/14/investigatory-powers-bill-not-up-to-the-task #10yrsago Life inside God’s customer service prayer call-centre https://web.archive.org/web/20160317153851/http://www.tor.com/2016/03/15/your-orisons-may-be-recorded/ #10yrsago The post-Snowden digital divide: the ability to understand and use privacy tools https://journal.radicallibrarianship.org/index.php/journal/article/view/12/27 #10yrsago Some future for you: the radical rise of hope in the UK https://thebaffler.com/salvos/despair-fatigue-david-graeber #10yrsago America’s universities: Hedge funds saddled with inconvenient educational institutions https://web.archive.org/web/20160309093147/https://www.thenation.com/article/universities-are-becoming-billion-dollar-hedge-funds-with-schools-attached/ #10yrsago Office chairs made out of old Vespa scooters https://belybel.com/ #5yrsago STREAMLINER https://pluralistic.net/2021/03/15/free-markets/#streamliner #5yrsago Free markets https://pluralistic.net/2021/03/15/free-markets/#rent-seeking #5yrsago Making Hay https://pluralistic.net/2021/03/15/free-markets/#making-hay #1yrago Amazon annihilates Alexa privacy settings, turns on continuous, nonconsensual audio uploading https://pluralistic.net/2025/03/15/altering-the-deal/#telescreen Upcoming appearances (permalink) Barcelona: Enshittification with Simona Levi/Xnet (Llibreria Finestres), Mar 20 https://www.llibreriafinestres.com/evento/cory-doctorow/ Berkeley: Bioneers keynote, Mar 27 https://conference.bioneers.org/ Montreal: Bronfman Lecture (McGill), Apr 10 https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/artificial-intelligence-the-ultimate-disrupter-tickets-1982706623885 Montreal: Drawn and Quarterly, Apr 10 https://mtl.drawnandquarterly.com/events/4863920260410 London: Resisting Big Tech Empires (LSBU), Apr 25 https://www.tickettailor.com/events/globaljusticenow/2042691 Berlin: Re:publica, May 18-20 https://re-publica.com/de/news/rp26-sprecher-cory-doctorow Berlin: Enshittification at Otherland Books, May 19 https://www.otherland-berlin.de/de/event-details/cory-doctorow.html Hay-on-Wye: HowTheLightGetsIn, May 22-25 https://howthelightgetsin.org/festivals/hay/big-ideas-2 Recent appearances (permalink) Do you feel screwed over by big tech? (Ontario Today) https://www.cbc.ca/listen/live-radio/1-45-ontario-today/clip/16203024-do-feel-screwed-big-tech Launch for Cindy's Cohn's "Privacy's Defender" (City Lights) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WuVCm2PUalU Chicken Mating Harnesses (This Week in Tech) https://twit.tv/shows/this-week-in-tech/episodes/1074 The Virtual Jewel Box (U Utah) https://tanner.utah.edu/podcast/enshittification-cory-doctorow-matthew-potolsky/ Tanner Humanities Lecture (U Utah) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i6Yf1nSyekI Latest books (permalink) "Canny Valley": A limited edition collection of the collages I create for Pluralistic, self-published, September 2025 https://pluralistic.net/2025/09/04/illustrious/#chairman-bruce "Enshittification: Why Everything Suddenly Got Worse and What to Do About It," Farrar, Straus, Giroux, October 7 2025 https://us.macmillan.com/books/9780374619329/enshittification/ "Picks and Shovels": a sequel to "Red Team Blues," about the heroic era of the PC, Tor Books (US), Head of Zeus (UK), February 2025 (https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250865908/picksandshovels). "The Bezzle": a sequel to "Red Team Blues," about prison-tech and other grifts, Tor Books (US), Head of Zeus (UK), February 2024 (thebezzle.org). "The Lost Cause:" a solarpunk novel of hope in the climate emergency, Tor Books (US), Head of Zeus (UK), November 2023 (http://lost-cause.org). "The Internet Con": A nonfiction book about interoperability and Big Tech (Verso) September 2023 (http://seizethemeansofcomputation.org). Signed copies at Book Soup (https://www.booksoup.com/book/9781804291245). "Red Team Blues": "A grabby, compulsive thriller that will leave you knowing more about how the world works than you did before." Tor Books http://redteamblues.com. "Chokepoint Capitalism: How to Beat Big Tech, Tame Big Content, and Get Artists Paid, with Rebecca Giblin", on how to unrig the markets for creative labor, Beacon Press/Scribe 2022 https://chokepointcapitalism.com Upcoming books (permalink) "The Reverse-Centaur's Guide to AI," a short book about being a better AI critic, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, June 2026 (https://us.macmillan.com/books/9780374621568/thereversecentaursguidetolifeafterai/) "Enshittification, Why Everything Suddenly Got Worse and What to Do About It" (the graphic novel), Firstsecond, 2026 "The Post-American Internet," a geopolitical sequel of sorts to Enshittification, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2027 "Unauthorized Bread": a middle-grades graphic novel adapted from my novella about refugees, toasters and DRM, FirstSecond, 2027 "The Memex Method," Farrar, Straus, Giroux, 2027 Colophon (permalink) Today's top sources: Currently writing: "The Post-American Internet," a sequel to "Enshittification," about the better world the rest of us get to have now that Trump has torched America (1018 words today, 50532 total) "The Reverse Centaur's Guide to AI," a short book for Farrar, Straus and Giroux about being an effective AI critic. LEGAL REVIEW AND COPYEDIT COMPLETE. "The Post-American Internet," a short book about internet policy in the age of Trumpism. PLANNING. A Little Brother short story about DIY insulin PLANNING This work – excluding any serialized fiction – is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. That means you can use it any way you like, including commercially, provided that you attribute it to me, Cory Doctorow, and include a link to pluralistic.net. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Quotations and images are not included in this license; they are included either under a limitation or exception to copyright, or on the basis of a separate license. Please exercise caution. How to get Pluralistic: Blog (no ads, tracking, or data-collection): Pluralistic.net Newsletter (no ads, tracking, or data-collection): https://pluralistic.net/plura-list Mastodon (no ads, tracking, or data-collection): https://mamot.fr/@pluralistic Bluesky (no ads, possible tracking and data-collection): https://bsky.app/profile/doctorow.pluralistic.net Medium (no ads, paywalled): https://doctorow.medium.com/ https://twitter.com/doctorow Tumblr (mass-scale, unrestricted, third-party surveillance and advertising): https://mostlysignssomeportents.tumblr.com/tagged/pluralistic "When life gives you SARS, you make sarsaparilla" -Joey "Accordion Guy" DeVilla READ CAREFULLY: By reading this, you agree, on behalf of your employer, to release me from all obligations and waivers arising from any and all NON-NEGOTIATED agreements, licenses, terms-of-service, shrinkwrap, clickwrap, browsewrap, confidentiality, non-disclosure, non-compete and acceptable use policies ("BOGUS AGREEMENTS") that I have entered into with your employer, its partners, licensors, agents and assigns, in perpetuity, without prejudice to my ongoing rights and privileges. You further represent that you have the authority to release me from any BOGUS AGREEMENTS on behalf of your employer. ISSN: 3066-764X

Pluralistic: Tools vs uses (16 Mar 2026)
Today's links Tools vs uses: Don't fall for it. Hey look at this: Delights to delectate. Object permanence: Amazon coders x Amazon warehouse workers; Bruces's ETECH speech; Steven King x unions; Tax-free S&P 500 companies; Make Pop Rocks; "Ain't Misbehavin'"; "Car Hacker's Handbook"; Pirates in Iceland. Upcoming appearances: Where to find me. Recent appearances: Where I've been. Latest books: You keep readin' em, I'll keep writin' 'em. Upcoming books: Like I said, I'll keep writin' 'em. Colophon: All the rest. Tools vs uses (permalink) When you think of a legal loophole, you probably imagine a drafting error (or perhaps a sneaky insertion) that creates an advantage for a specific person or group of people. For example: Trump's 2017 "Big Beautiful Tax Cut" bill passed after its 479 pages were covered in hand-scrawled amendments and additions, which were not read or reviewed by lawmakers prior to voting: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2017/12/02/handwriting-wall-and-page-senate-passes-tax-bill/915957001/ But one change that was widely known was Senator Ron Johnson's last-minute amendment to create deductions for "pass through entities." Johnson announced that he would block the bill if his amendment didn't go through. That amendment made three of Johnson's constituents at least half a billion dollars: Uline owners Dick and Liz Uihlein and roofing tycoon Diane Hendricks (who collectively donated $20m to Johnson's campaign). All told, the Trump tax bill generated windfalls worth more than $1b for just 82 households, all of whom donated lavishly to the lawmakers who inserted incredibly specific amendments that benefited them, personally: https://pluralistic.net/2021/08/11/the-canada-variant/#shitty-man-of-history-theory Here's another example: in 1999, a Congressional staffer named Mitch Glazier secured a last-minute, one-line amendment to the Satellite Home Viewer Improvement Act that took away musicians' ability to claim back the rights to their sound recordings after 35 years through a process called "Termination of Transfer": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitch_Glazier#Work_for_hire This amendment whacked one group of musicians particularly hard: the Black "heritage acts" who had been coerced into signing unbelievably shitty contracts in the 1950s, 60s and 70s, who were increasingly using termination to get those rights back. For these beloved musicians, termination meant the difference between going hungry and buying a couple extra bags of groceries every month (if this sounds familiar, it might be because you read about it in my 2024 novel The Bezzle): https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250865892/thebezzle/ Glazier's treachery was so outrageous that Congress actually convened a special session to repeal his amendment, and Glazier slunk out of Congress forever…so that he could take a job at $1.3m/year as CEO of the Recording Industry Association of America, where he squats to this day, insisting that he is fighting for musicians' rights: https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/131669037 These are the traditional loopholes – obscure codicils in legislation that allow their beneficiaries to enrich themselves at others' expense. But there's another, equally pernicious kind of loophole that gets far less attention: a loophole that neutralizes a beneficial part of a law, taking away a right that the law seems to confer. I have spent most of my adult life fighting against one of these rights-confiscating reverse loopholes: the "exemptions" clause to Section 1201 of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA 1201), which might just be the most dangerous technology law on the books: https://pluralistic.net/2026/01/14/sole-and-despotic/#world-turned-upside-down Under DMCA 1201, it's a felony – punishable by a 5-year sentence and a $500k fine – to bypass an "access control" for a copyrighted work. This means that altering the software (that is, "a copyrighted work") in a device you own – a car, a tractor, a hearing aid, a smart speaker, a printer, a phone, a console, etc, etc – is a crime, even if your alteration does not break any other laws. For example: there is no law requiring you to buy your printer ink from the company that sold you your printer. However, the cartel of companies that control the inkjet market all use software that is designed to block generic ink. You could turn this code off, but that would be a felony under Section 1201 of the DMCA, which means that, in practice, it's a felony to put generic ink in your printer. Jay Freeman calls it "felony contempt of business model." When the DMCA was being debated, lawmakers faced fierce criticism over this clause, so they inserted a "safety valve" into the law that was supposed to prevent the kind of abuse that allows printer companies to force you to pay $10,000/gallon for ink. That escape valve is called the "triennial exemptions process." Every three years, the US Copyright Office invites submissions for "exemptions" to DMCA 1201. They've granted lots of these – the right to circumvent access controls on video games for preservation purposes, on DVDs for film criticism, and on various kinds of electronics for repair. This process may strike you as a little cumbersome – do you really have to wait up to three years to pay a lawyer to beg the government for the right to make a legal use of your own property? But this is a reverse loophole, and that means that this isn't merely cumbersome, it's farcical. You see, the exemptions that the Copyright Office grants through the triennial process aren't tools exemptions, they're use exemptions. That means that when the Copyright Office grants an exemption giving you the right to jailbreak your car so that you can make sense of the manufacturer's diagnostic codes and turn your "check engine" light into a specific, actionable diagnosis. You have that right. Your mechanic does not have that right. You have the right to jailbreak your car and fix it. But it's worse than that: your right to jailbreak your car does not mean that anyone else gets the right to make a tool that allows you to make that use. You have a use exemption, but there is no tool exemption. That means that you, personally, must reverse-engineer the firmware in your car, identify a fault in the code, and leverage that to personally write software to turn the diagnostic codes into diagnoses. You are not allowed to talk to anyone else about this. You're not allowed to publish your findings. You're certainly not allowed to share the tool you create with anyone else. This is true of all the exemptions the Copyright Office grants. If you're a film professor who's been given the right to jailbreak DVDs, you are expected to write your own DVD decrypting software, without help from anyone else, and if you manage it, you can't tell anyone else how you did it. If you're an iPhone owner who's been granted the right to jailbreak your phone and install a different app store, then you, personally, must identify a vulnerability in iOS and develop it into an exploit that you are only allowed to use on your own devices. Every other iPhone owner has to do the same thing. DMCA 1201 has been copy-pasted into law-books all over the world. In Europe, it came in through Article 6 of the 2001 EU Copyright Directive (EUCD6). When Norway implemented this law, lawmakers included a bunch of use exemptions in a bid to placate the fierce opposition they faced. One of these exemptions allowed blind people to jailbreak ebooks so they could be used with Braille printers, screen readers, and other assistive devices. In 2003, I traveled to Oslo to debate the minister responsible for the bill. He proudly trumpeted this exemption, so I started asking him questions about it: How do blind people get the software that jailbreaks their ebooks so they can make use of this exemption? Am I allowed to give them that tool? No, the minister said, you're not allowed to do that, that would be a crime. Is the Norwegian government allowed to give them that tool? No. How about a blind rights advocacy group? No, not them either. A university computer science department? Nope. A commercial vendor? Certainly not. No, the minister explained, under his law, a blind person would be expected to personally reverse-engineer a program like Adobe E-Reader, in hopes of discovering a defect that they could exploit by writing a program to extract the ebook text. Oh, I said. But if a blind person did manage to do this, could they supply that tool to other blind people? Well, no, the minister said. Each and every blind person must personally – without any help from anyone else – figure out how to reverse-engineer the ebook program, and then individually author their own alternative reader program that worked with the text of their ebooks. https://pluralistic.net/2024/10/28/mcbroken/#my-milkshake-brings-all-the-lawyers-to-the-yard I don't know for sure how many blind Norwegians have managed to take advantage of this use exemptions, but I'm pretty certain it's zero. Canada's anticircumvention law was passed in 2012 through Bill C-11, the Copyright Modernization Act. Like EUCD6, C-11 has all the defects of America's anticircumvention law. In 2024, Parliament passed a national Right to Repair law (Bill C-244) and a national Interoperability law (Bill C-294). Both of them grant use exemptions to Bill C-11 – they allow Canadians to jailbreak their devices to fix them or extend their functionality with interoperable code and hardware. But neither bill has a tools exemption, which means that they are useless, since they only grant Canadians the individual, personal right to jailbreak, but they don't allow Canadian businesses or tinkerers or user groups to make the tools that Canadians need to exercise the use rights that Parliament so generously granted: https://pluralistic.net/2024/11/15/radical-extremists/#sex-pest Reverse loopholes are incredibly wicked. They exist solely to muddy the waters, to trick people into thinking that problems have been solved while those problems continue to fester. Hardly a week goes without my hearing from someone who's happened upon the use exemptions built into anticircumvention laws around the world and have come to the reasonable conclusion that if a law gives you the right to do something, it must also give other people the right to help you do it. Lawmakers who pass these reverse loopholes know what they're doing. They're chaffing the policy airspace, ramming through unpopular legislation under cover of a blizzard of misleading legalese. Hey look at this (permalink) Being a Luddite Is Cool and All, but Have You Seen the Hilarious Tapestries These New Looms Are Making? https://www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/being-a-luddite-is-cool-and-all-but-have-you-seen-the-hilarious-tapestries-these-new-looms-are-making They Didn’t Want to Have C-Sections. A Judge Would Decide How They Gave Birth. https://www.propublica.org/article/florida-court-ordered-c-sections?utm_source=sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=weekly-newsletter F-Droid says Google’s Android developer verification plan is an ‘existential’ threat to alternative app stores https://thenewstack.io/f-droid-says-googles-android-developer-verification-plan-is-an-existential-threat-to-alternative-app-stores/ Meta to Shut Down Instagram End-to-End Encrypted Chat Support Starting May 2026 https://thehackernews.com/2026/03/meta-to-shut-down-instagram-end-to-end.html The Removed DOGE Deposition Videos Have Already Been Backed Up Across the Internet https://www.404media.co/the-removed-doge-deposition-videos-have-already-been-backed-up-across-the-internet/ Object permanence (permalink) #20yrsago Full text of Bruce Sterling’s ETECH speech from last week https://web.archive.org/web/20060406025248/http://www.viridiandesign.org/2006/03/viridian-note-00459-emerging.html #20yrsago HOWTO build a glowing throne out of 4k AOL CDs https://web.archive.org/web/20060408174929/https://stupidco.com/aol_throne_intro.html #20yrsago How Sweden’s “Pirate Bay” site resists the MPAA https://web.archive.org/web/20060423222220/https://www.wired.com/news/technology/1,70358-0.html #15yrsago Stephen King sticks up for unions https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x1vW1zPmnKQ #15yrsago Largest Wisconsin protests ever: 85,000+ people in Madison’s streets https://web.archive.org/web/20110319152841/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/03/12/wisconsin-protesters-refu_n_834927.html #15yrsago Why Borders failed https://www.quora.com/Borders-Books/Why-is-Barnes-Noble-performing-well-as-a-business-while-Borders-has-filed-for-bankruptcy/answer/Mark-Evans-9 #15yrsago HOWTO make Pop Rocks https://www.instructables.com/Pop-Rocks/ #15yrsago Ain’t Misbehavin’: subject index to democratic parenting https://memex.craphound.com/2011/03/14/aint-misbehavin-subject-index-to-democratic-parenting/ #10yrsago 50 reasons the TPP is terrible beyond belief https://www.michaelgeist.ca/2016/03/the-trouble-with-the-tpp-day-50-the-case-against-ratifying-the-trans-pacific-partnership/ #10yrsago More high-profile resignations at Breitbart, after abused reporter thrown under Trump’s bus https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/rosiegray/michelle-fields-ben-shapiro-resign-from-breitbart#.vlbZ4YxLe #10yrsago If Iceland held its elections today, the Pirate Party would win https://torrentfreak.com/pirate-party-to-dominate-icelan-parliament-survey-finds-160314/ #10yrsago The Car Hacker’s Handbook: a Guide for Penetration Testers https://memex.craphound.com/2016/03/14/the-car-hackers-handbook-a-guide-for-penetration-testers/ #10yrsago USA uses TPP-like trade-court to kill massive Indian solar project https://web.archive.org/web/20160314085012/http://theantimedia.org/preview-of-the-tpp-america-just-blocked-a-massive-solar-project-in-india/ #10yrsago These 27 profitable S&P 500 companies paid no tax last year https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/markets/2016/03/07/27-giant-profitable-companies-paid-no-taxes/81399094/ #10yrsago Family: police high-fived after tasering our handcuffed relative to death https://web.archive.org/web/20160312165903/https://www.ajc.com/news/news/crime-law/family-of-victim-in-coweta-county-taser-death-seek/nqhcm/ #1yrago The future of Amazon coders is the present of Amazon warehouse workers https://pluralistic.net/2025/03/13/electronic-whipping/#youre-next Upcoming appearances (permalink) Barcelona: Enshittification with Simona Levi/Xnet (Llibreria Finestres), Mar 20 https://www.llibreriafinestres.com/evento/cory-doctorow/ Berkeley: Bioneers keynote, Mar 27 https://conference.bioneers.org/ Montreal: Bronfman Lecture (McGill) Apr 10 https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/artificial-intelligence-the-ultimate-disrupter-tickets-1982706623885 London: Resisting Big Tech Empires (LSBU) https://www.tickettailor.com/events/globaljusticenow/2042691 Berlin: Re:publica, May 18-20 https://re-publica.com/de/news/rp26-sprecher-cory-doctorow Berlin: Enshittification at Otherland Books, May 19 https://www.otherland-berlin.de/de/event-details/cory-doctorow.html Hay-on-Wye: HowTheLightGetsIn, May 22-25 https://howthelightgetsin.org/festivals/hay/big-ideas-2 Recent appearances (permalink) Do you feel screwed over by big tech? (Ontario Today) https://www.cbc.ca/listen/live-radio/1-45-ontario-today/clip/16203024-do-feel-screwed-big-tech Launch for Cindy's Cohn's "Privacy's Defender" (City Lights) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WuVCm2PUalU Chicken Mating Harnesses (This Week in Tech) https://twit.tv/shows/this-week-in-tech/episodes/1074 The Virtual Jewel Box (U Utah) https://tanner.utah.edu/podcast/enshittification-cory-doctorow-matthew-potolsky/ Tanner Humanities Lecture (U Utah) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i6Yf1nSyekI Latest books (permalink) "Canny Valley": A limited edition collection of the collages I create for Pluralistic, self-published, September 2025 https://pluralistic.net/2025/09/04/illustrious/#chairman-bruce "Enshittification: Why Everything Suddenly Got Worse and What to Do About It," Farrar, Straus, Giroux, October 7 2025 https://us.macmillan.com/books/9780374619329/enshittification/ "Picks and Shovels": a sequel to "Red Team Blues," about the heroic era of the PC, Tor Books (US), Head of Zeus (UK), February 2025 (https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250865908/picksandshovels). "The Bezzle": a sequel to "Red Team Blues," about prison-tech and other grifts, Tor Books (US), Head of Zeus (UK), February 2024 (thebezzle.org). "The Lost Cause:" a solarpunk novel of hope in the climate emergency, Tor Books (US), Head of Zeus (UK), November 2023 (http://lost-cause.org). "The Internet Con": A nonfiction book about interoperability and Big Tech (Verso) September 2023 (http://seizethemeansofcomputation.org). Signed copies at Book Soup (https://www.booksoup.com/book/9781804291245). "Red Team Blues": "A grabby, compulsive thriller that will leave you knowing more about how the world works than you did before." Tor Books http://redteamblues.com. "Chokepoint Capitalism: How to Beat Big Tech, Tame Big Content, and Get Artists Paid, with Rebecca Giblin", on how to unrig the markets for creative labor, Beacon Press/Scribe 2022 https://chokepointcapitalism.com Upcoming books (permalink) "The Reverse-Centaur's Guide to AI," a short book about being a better AI critic, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, June 2026 "Enshittification, Why Everything Suddenly Got Worse and What to Do About It" (the graphic novel), Firstsecond, 2026 "The Post-American Internet," a geopolitical sequel of sorts to Enshittification, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2027 "Unauthorized Bread": a middle-grades graphic novel adapted from my novella about refugees, toasters and DRM, FirstSecond, 2027 "The Memex Method," Farrar, Straus, Giroux, 2027 Colophon (permalink) Today's top sources: Currently writing: "The Post-American Internet," a sequel to "Enshittification," about the better world the rest of us get to have now that Trump has torched America ( words today, total) "The Reverse Centaur's Guide to AI," a short book for Farrar, Straus and Giroux about being an effective AI critic. LEGAL REVIEW AND COPYEDIT COMPLETE. "The Post-American Internet," a short book about internet policy in the age of Trumpism. PLANNING. A Little Brother short story about DIY insulin PLANNING This work – excluding any serialized fiction – is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. That means you can use it any way you like, including commercially, provided that you attribute it to me, Cory Doctorow, and include a link to pluralistic.net. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Quotations and images are not included in this license; they are included either under a limitation or exception to copyright, or on the basis of a separate license. Please exercise caution. How to get Pluralistic: Blog (no ads, tracking, or data-collection): Pluralistic.net Newsletter (no ads, tracking, or data-collection): https://pluralistic.net/plura-list Mastodon (no ads, tracking, or data-collection): https://mamot.fr/@pluralistic Bluesky (no ads, possible tracking and data-collection): https://bsky.app/profile/doctorow.pluralistic.net Medium (no ads, paywalled): https://doctorow.medium.com/ https://twitter.com/doctorow Tumblr (mass-scale, unrestricted, third-party surveillance and advertising): https://mostlysignssomeportents.tumblr.com/tagged/pluralistic "When life gives you SARS, you make sarsaparilla" -Joey "Accordion Guy" DeVilla READ CAREFULLY: By reading this, you agree, on behalf of your employer, to release me from all obligations and waivers arising from any and all NON-NEGOTIATED agreements, licenses, terms-of-service, shrinkwrap, clickwrap, browsewrap, confidentiality, non-disclosure, non-compete and acceptable use policies ("BOGUS AGREEMENTS") that I have entered into with your employer, its partners, licensors, agents and assigns, in perpetuity, without prejudice to my ongoing rights and privileges. You further represent that you have the authority to release me from any BOGUS AGREEMENTS on behalf of your employer. ISSN: 3066-764X

Pluralistic: Corrupt anticorruption (14 Mar 2026)
Today's links Corrupt anticorruption: Notes from a target-rich environment. Hey look at this: Delights to delectate. Object permanence: Tentacle sphere; EU Venn; Obama v cryptography; Trump v protesters; Amazon coders x Amazon warehouse workers; Bruces's ETECH speech; Steven King x unions; Tax-free S&P 500 companies. Upcoming appearances: Where to find me. Recent appearances: Where I've been. Latest books: You keep readin' em, I'll keep writin' 'em. Upcoming books: Like I said, I'll keep writin' 'em. Colophon: All the rest. Corrupt anticorruption (permalink) An amazing thing happened this week: a whopping bipartisan Senate majority (89:10!) passed Elizabeth Warren's housing bill, which severely limits private equity companies' ability to buy single-family homes to turn into rental properties: https://prospect.org/2026/03/13/elizabeth-warrens-amazingly-progressive-housing-bill/ It's a big deal. Since the Great Financial Crisis, US home ownership has fallen sharply, while corporate landlordism has skyrocketed. Rents are through the roof, and private equity bosses boast about gouging their tenants, with the CEO of Blackstone's Invitation Homes ordering the lickspittles to "juice this hog" with endless junk fees and calculated negligence: https://www.aol.com/juice-hog-real-estate-companies-080301813.html The corporate takeover of the housing market didn't fall out of the sky. It was a policy of the Obama administration, which directed the mass selloff of homes (foreclosed on by bailed-out banks) to corporate buyers: https://www.thebignewsletter.com/p/boom-senate-votes-to-block-private Sunsetting the American dream of home-ownership is the final straw. After all, once America killed off labor rights, the only path to wealth accumulation left for working people was assuming crippling debt to buy a house in hopes that its value would go up forever: https://pluralistic.net/2021/06/06/the-rents-too-damned-high/ The affordability crisis isn't solely a matter of high shelter costs (we see you, grocery greedflation, health care and education!), but housing costs are totally out of control. Mamdani's earth-shaking mayoral campaign centered affordability, with housing taking center stage: https://gothamist.com/news/mamdani-wants-to-take-buildings-from-bad-nyc-landlords-this-bill-could-make-it-happen Trump – whose most important skill is his ability to sense vibe-shifts in his base – noticed, and started to make mouth sounds about tackling the affordability crisis, specifically blaming private equity landlords for high rents: https://www.whitehouse.gov/fact-sheets/2026/01/fact-sheet-president-donald-j-trump-stops-wall-street-from-competing-with-main-street-homebuyers/ But this isn't just a story about a stopped clock being right every now and again. It's a story about boss-politics anti-corruption, in which anti-corruption is pursued to corrupt ends. From 2012-2015, Xi Jinping celebrated his second term as the leader of China with a mass purge undertaken in the name of anti-corruption. Officials from every level of Chinese politics were fired, and many were imprisoned. This allowed Xi to consolidate his control over the CCP, which culminated in a rule-change that eliminated term-limits, paving the way for Xi to continue to rule China for so long as he breathes and wills to power. Xi's purge exclusively targeted officials in his rivals' power-base, kneecapping anyone who might have blocked his power-grab. But just because Xi targeted his rivals' princelings and foot-soldiers, it doesn't mean that Xi was targeting the innocent. A 2018 paper by an economist (Peter Lorentzen, USF) and a political scientist (Xi Lu, NUS) concluded that Xi's purge really did target corrupt officials: https://web.archive.org/web/20181222163946/https://peterlorentzen.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Lorentzen-Lu-Crackdown-Nov-2018-Posted-Version.pdf The authors reached this conclusion by referencing the data published in the resulting corruption trials, which showed that these officials accepted and offered bribes and feathered their allies' nests at public expense. In other words, Xi didn't cheat by framing innocent officials for crimes they didn't commit. The way Xi cheated was by exclusively targeting his rivals' allies. Lorentzen and Lu's paper make it clear that Xi could easily have prosecuted many corrupt officials in his own power base, but he left them unmolested. This is corrupt anti-corruption. In an environment in which everyone in power is crooked, you can exclusively bring legitimate prosecutions, and still be doing corruption. You just need to confine your prosecutions to your political enemies, whether or not they are more guilty than your allies (think here of the GOP dragging the Clintons into Epstein depositions). 14 years later, Xi's anti-corruption purges continue apace, with 100 empty seats at this year's National People's Congress, whose former occupants are freshly imprisoned or awaiting trial: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c78xxyyqwe7o I don't know the details of all 100 prosecutions, but China absolutely has a corruption problem that goes all the way to the upper echelon of the state. I find it easy to believe that the officials Xi has targeted are guilty – and I also wouldn't be surprised to hear that they are all supporters of Xi's internal rivals for control of the CCP. As the Epstein files demonstrate, anyone hoping to conduct a purge of America's elites could easily do so without having to frame anyone for crimes they didn't commit (remember, Epstein didn't just commit sex crimes – he was also a flagrant financial criminal and he implicated his network in those crimes). It's not just Epstein. As America's capital classes indulge their incestuous longings with an endless orgy of mergers, it's corporate Habsburg jaws as far as the eye can see. These mergers are all as illegal as hell, but if you fire a mouthy comedian, you can make serious bank: https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2025/7/18/cbs-cancels-colberts-late-show-amid-pending-paramount-skydance-merger And if you pay the right MAGA chud podcaster a million bucks, he'll grease your $14b merger through the DoJ: https://pluralistic.net/2026/02/13/khanservatives/#kid-rock-eats-shit And once these crooks merge to monopoly, they embark on programs of lawlessness that would shame Al Capone, but again, with the right podcaster on your side, you can keep on "robbing them blind, baby!" https://www.thebignewsletter.com/p/a-wild-day-as-trump-doj-settles-with The fact that these companies are all guilty is a foundational aspect of Trumpism. Boss-politics antitrust – and anti-corruption – doesn't need to manufacture evidence or pretexts to attack Trump's political rivals: https://pluralistic.net/2026/02/13/khanservatives/#kid-rock-eats-shit When everyone is guilty, you have a target-rich environment for extorting bribes: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/13/business/tiktok-investors-set-to-pay-10-billion-fee-to-trump-administration.html Just because the anti-corruption has legit targets, it doesn't follow that the whole thing isn't corrupt. Hey look at this (permalink) The 49MB Web Page https://thatshubham.com/blog/news-audit The Big Idea: Cindy Cohn https://whatever.scalzi.com/2026/03/12/the-big-idea-cindy-cohn/ Good Time Fun Wheel https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iSkeBUcKP4A The Washington Post Is Using Reader Data to Set Subscription Prices. How Does That Work? https://washingtonian.com/2026/03/12/the-washington-post-is-using-reader-data-to-set-subscription-prices-how-does-that-work/ EFF Launches New Fight to Free the Law https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2026/03/eff-launches-new-fight-free-law Object permanence (permalink) #20yrsago Full text of Bruce Sterling’s ETECH speech from last week https://web.archive.org/web/20060406025248/http://www.viridiandesign.org/2006/03/viridian-note-00459-emerging.html #20yrsago HOWTO build a glowing throne out of 4k AOL CDs https://web.archive.org/web/20060408174929/https://stupidco.com/aol_throne_intro.html #20yrsago How Sweden’s “Pirate Bay” site resists the MPAA https://web.archive.org/web/20060423222220/https://www.wired.com/news/technology/1,70358-0.html #15yrsago Stephen King sticks up for unions https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x1vW1zPmnKQ #15yrsago Largest Wisconsin protests ever: 85,000+ people in Madison’s streets https://web.archive.org/web/20110319152841/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/03/12/wisconsin-protesters-refu_n_834927.html #15yrsago Sphere of tentacles https://web.archive.org/web/20110315170007/http://www.niradar.com/portfolio.asp?portfolio_id=325&off_set=8&selected_id=58734&pointer=16 #15yrsago Venn diagram illustrates all the different European unions, councils, zones and suchlike https://web.archive.org/web/20110313034335/http://bigthink.com/ideas/31556 #10yrsago Obama: cryptographers who don’t believe in magic ponies are “fetishists,” “absolutists” https://web.archive.org/web/20160312000011/https://theintercept.com/2016/03/11/obama-wants-nonexistent-middle-ground-on-encryption-warns-against-fetishizing-our-phones/ #10yrsago Donald Trump hires plainclothes security to investigate and interdict protesters https://www.politico.com/story/2016/03/donald-trump-rally-protester-crack-down-220407?lo=ap_b1 #1yrago Firing the refs doesn't end the game https://pluralistic.net/2025/03/12/epistemological-void/#do-your-own-research #1yrago The future of Amazon coders is the present of Amazon warehouse workers https://pluralistic.net/2025/03/13/electronic-whipping/#youre-next Upcoming appearances (permalink) Barcelona: Enshittification with Simona Levi/Xnet (Llibreria Finestres), Mar 20 https://www.llibreriafinestres.com/evento/cory-doctorow/ Berkeley: Bioneers keynote, Mar 27 https://conference.bioneers.org/ Montreal: Bronfman Lecture (McGill) Apr 10 https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/artificial-intelligence-the-ultimate-disrupter-tickets-1982706623885 London: Resisting Big Tech Empires (LSBU) https://www.tickettailor.com/events/globaljusticenow/2042691 Berlin: Re:publica, May 18-20 https://re-publica.com/de/news/rp26-sprecher-cory-doctorow Berlin: Enshittification at Otherland Books, May 19 https://www.otherland-berlin.de/de/event-details/cory-doctorow.html Hay-on-Wye: HowTheLightGetsIn, May 22-25 https://howthelightgetsin.org/festivals/hay/big-ideas-2 Recent appearances (permalink) Do you feel screwed over by big tech? (Ontario Today) https://www.cbc.ca/listen/live-radio/1-45-ontario-today/clip/16203024-do-feel-screwed-big-tech Launch for Cindy's Cohn's "Privacy's Defender" (City Lights) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WuVCm2PUalU Chicken Mating Harnesses (This Week in Tech) https://twit.tv/shows/this-week-in-tech/episodes/1074 The Virtual Jewel Box (U Utah) https://tanner.utah.edu/podcast/enshittification-cory-doctorow-matthew-potolsky/ Tanner Humanities Lecture (U Utah) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i6Yf1nSyekI Latest books (permalink) "Canny Valley": A limited edition collection of the collages I create for Pluralistic, self-published, September 2025 https://pluralistic.net/2025/09/04/illustrious/#chairman-bruce "Enshittification: Why Everything Suddenly Got Worse and What to Do About It," Farrar, Straus, Giroux, October 7 2025 https://us.macmillan.com/books/9780374619329/enshittification/ "Picks and Shovels": a sequel to "Red Team Blues," about the heroic era of the PC, Tor Books (US), Head of Zeus (UK), February 2025 (https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250865908/picksandshovels). "The Bezzle": a sequel to "Red Team Blues," about prison-tech and other grifts, Tor Books (US), Head of Zeus (UK), February 2024 (thebezzle.org). "The Lost Cause:" a solarpunk novel of hope in the climate emergency, Tor Books (US), Head of Zeus (UK), November 2023 (http://lost-cause.org). "The Internet Con": A nonfiction book about interoperability and Big Tech (Verso) September 2023 (http://seizethemeansofcomputation.org). Signed copies at Book Soup (https://www.booksoup.com/book/9781804291245). "Red Team Blues": "A grabby, compulsive thriller that will leave you knowing more about how the world works than you did before." Tor Books http://redteamblues.com. "Chokepoint Capitalism: How to Beat Big Tech, Tame Big Content, and Get Artists Paid, with Rebecca Giblin", on how to unrig the markets for creative labor, Beacon Press/Scribe 2022 https://chokepointcapitalism.com Upcoming books (permalink) "The Reverse-Centaur's Guide to AI," a short book about being a better AI critic, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, June 2026 "Enshittification, Why Everything Suddenly Got Worse and What to Do About It" (the graphic novel), Firstsecond, 2026 "The Post-American Internet," a geopolitical sequel of sorts to Enshittification, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2027 "Unauthorized Bread": a middle-grades graphic novel adapted from my novella about refugees, toasters and DRM, FirstSecond, 2027 "The Memex Method," Farrar, Straus, Giroux, 2027 Colophon (permalink) Today's top sources: Currently writing: "The Post-American Internet," a sequel to "Enshittification," about the better world the rest of us get to have now that Trump has torched America (1035 words today, 49526 total) "The Reverse Centaur's Guide to AI," a short book for Farrar, Straus and Giroux about being an effective AI critic. LEGAL REVIEW AND COPYEDIT COMPLETE. "The Post-American Internet," a short book about internet policy in the age of Trumpism. PLANNING. A Little Brother short story about DIY insulin PLANNING This work – excluding any serialized fiction – is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. That means you can use it any way you like, including commercially, provided that you attribute it to me, Cory Doctorow, and include a link to pluralistic.net. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Quotations and images are not included in this license; they are included either under a limitation or exception to copyright, or on the basis of a separate license. Please exercise caution. How to get Pluralistic: Blog (no ads, tracking, or data-collection): Pluralistic.net Newsletter (no ads, tracking, or data-collection): https://pluralistic.net/plura-list Mastodon (no ads, tracking, or data-collection): https://mamot.fr/@pluralistic Bluesky (no ads, possible tracking and data-collection): https://bsky.app/profile/doctorow.pluralistic.net Medium (no ads, paywalled): https://doctorow.medium.com/ https://twitter.com/doctorow Tumblr (mass-scale, unrestricted, third-party surveillance and advertising): https://mostlysignssomeportents.tumblr.com/tagged/pluralistic "When life gives you SARS, you make sarsaparilla" -Joey "Accordion Guy" DeVilla READ CAREFULLY: By reading this, you agree, on behalf of your employer, to release me from all obligations and waivers arising from any and all NON-NEGOTIATED agreements, licenses, terms-of-service, shrinkwrap, clickwrap, browsewrap, confidentiality, non-disclosure, non-compete and acceptable use policies ("BOGUS AGREEMENTS") that I have entered into with your employer, its partners, licensors, agents and assigns, in perpetuity, without prejudice to my ongoing rights and privileges. You further represent that you have the authority to release me from any BOGUS AGREEMENTS on behalf of your employer. ISSN: 3066-764X

Pluralistic: Three more AI psychoses (12 Mar 2026)
Today's links Three more AI psychoses: Everybody calm down. Hey look at this: Delights to delectate. Object permanence: "Jules, Penny and the Rooster"; Superinjunction; Harper Lee's kids v cheap paperbacks; 3D printed cat battle-armor; Black sf. Upcoming appearances: Where to find me. Recent appearances: Where I've been. Latest books: You keep readin' em, I'll keep writin' 'em. Upcoming books: Like I said, I'll keep writin' 'em. Colophon: All the rest. Three more AI psychoses (permalink) "AI psychosis" is one of those terms that is incredibly useful and also almost certainly going to be deprecated in smart circles in short order because it is: a) useful; b) easily colloquialized to describe related phenomena; and c) adjacent to medical issues, and there's a group of people who feel very strongly any metaphor that implicates human health is intrinsically stigmatizing and must be replaced with an awkward, lengthy phrase that no one can remember and only insiders understand. So while we still can, let us revel in this useful term to talk about some very real pathologies in our world. Formally, "AI psychosis" describes people who have delusions that are possibly induced, and definitely reinforced and magnified, by a chatbot. AI psychosis is clearly alarming for people whose loved ones fall prey to it, and it has been the subject of much press and popular attention, especially in the extreme cases where it has resulted in injury or death. It's possible for AI psychosis to be both a new and alarming phenomenon and also to be on a continuum with existing phenomena. Paranoid delusions aren't new, of course. Take "Morgellons Disease," a psychosomatic belief that you have wires growing in your body, which causes sufferers to pick at their skin to the point of creating suppurating wounds. Morgellons emerged in the 2000s, but the name refers to a 17th-century case-report of a patient who suffered from a similar delusion: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Letter_to_a_Friend Morgellons is both a 400 year old phenomenon and an internet pathology. How can that be? Because the internet makes it easier for people with sparsely distributed traits to locate one another, which is why the internet era is characterized by the coherence of people with formerly fringe characteristics into organized blocs, for better (gender minorities, #MeToo) and worse (Nazis). Morgellons is rare, but if you suffer from it, it's easy for you to locate virtually every other person in the world with the same delusion and for all of you to reinforce and egg on your delusional beliefs. Morgellons isn't the only delusion that the internet reinforces, of course. "Gang stalking delusion" is a belief in a shadowy gang of sadistic tormentors who sneak hidden messages into song lyrics and public signage and innuendo in overheard snatches of other people's conversations. It is an incredibly damaging delusion that ruins people's lives. Gang stalking delusion isn't new, either – as with Morgellons, there are historical accounts of it going back centuries. But the internet supercharged gang stalking delusion by making it easy for GSD sufferers to find one another and reinforce one another's beliefs, helping each other spin elaborate explanations for why the relatives, therapists, and friends who try to help them are actually in on the conspiracy. The result is that GSD sufferers end up ever more isolated from people who are trying mightily to save them, and more connected to people who drive them to self-harm. Enter chatbots. Ready access to eager-to-please LLMs at every hour of the day or night means that you don't even have to find a forum full of people with the same delusion as you, nor do you have to wait for a reply to your anguished message. The LLM is always there, ready to fire back a "yes-and" improv-style response that drives you deeper and deeper into delusion: https://pluralistic.net/2025/09/17/automating-gang-stalking-delusion/ It's possible that there are delusions that are even more rare than GSD or Morgellons that AI is surfacing. Imagine if you were prone to fleeting delusional beliefs (and whomst amongst us hasn't experienced the bedrock certainty that we put something down right here, only to find it somewhere else and not have any idea how that happened?). Under normal circumstances, these cognitive misfires might be fleeting moments of discomfort, quickly forgotten. But if you are already habituated to asking a chatbot to explain things you don't understand, it might well yes-and you into an internally consistent, entirely wrong belief – that is, a delusion. Think of how often you noticed "42" after reading Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, or how many times "6-7" crops up once you've experienced a baseline of exposure to adolescents. Now imagine that an obsequious tale-spinner was sitting at your elbow, helpfully noting these coincidences and fitting them into a folie-a-deux mystery play that projected a grand, paranoid narrative onto the world. Every bit of confirming evidence is lovingly cataloged, all disconfirming evidence is discounted or ignored. It's fully automated luxury QAnon – a self-baking conspiracy that harnesses an AI in service to driving you deeper and deeper into madness: That's the original "AI psychosis" that the term was coined to describe. As Sam Cole notes in her excellent "How to Talk to Someone Experiencing 'AI Psychosis,'" mental health practitioners are not entirely comfortable with the "psychosis" label: https://www.404media.co/ai-psychosis-help-gemini-chatgpt-claude-chatbot-delusions/ "Psychosis" here is best understood as an analogy, not a diagnosis, and, as already noted, there is a large cohort of very persistent people who make it their business to eradicate analogies that make reference to medical or health-related phenomena. But these analogies are very hard to kill, because they do useful work in connecting unfamiliar, novel phenomena with things we already understand. It's true that these analogies can be stigmatizing, but they needn't be. As someone with an autoimmune disorder, I am not bothered by people who would also describe ICE as an autoimmune disorder in which antibodies attack the host, threatening its very life. I am capable of understanding "autoimmune disorder" as referring to both a literal, medical phenomenon; and a figurative, political one. I have never found myself confusing one for the other. "AI psychosis" is one of those very useful analogies, and you can tell, because "AI psychosis" has found even more metaphorical uses, describing other bad beliefs about AI. Today, I want to talk about three of these AI psychoses, and how they relate to one another: the investor AI delusion, the boss AI delusion, and the critic AI delusion. Let's start with the investors' delusion. AI started as an investment project from the usual suspects: venture capitalists, private wealth funds, and tech monopolists with large cash reserves and ready access to loans during the cheap credit bubble. These entities are accustomed to making large, long-shot bets, and they were extremely motivated to find new markets to grow into and take over. Growing companies need to keep growing, but not because they have "the ideology of a tumor." Growing companies' imperative to keep growing isn't ideological at all – it's material. Growth companies' stock trade at a high multiple of their "price to earnings ratio" (PE ratio), which means that they can use their stock like money when buying other companies and hiring key employees. But once those companies' growth slows down, investors revalue those shares at a much lower PE multiplier, which makes individual executives at the company (who are primarily paid in stock) personally much poorer, prompting their departure, while simultaneously kneecapping the company's ability to grow through acquisition and hiring, because a company with a falling share price has to buy things with cash, not stock. Companies can make more of their own stock on demand, simply by typing zeroes into a spreadsheet – but they can only get cash by convincing a customer, creditor or investor to part with some of their own: https://pluralistic.net/2025/03/06/privacy-last/#exceptionally-american Tech companies have absurdly large market shares – think of Google's 90% search dominance – and so they've spent 15+ years coming up with increasingly absurd gambits to convince investors that they will continue to grow by capturing other markets. At first, these companies claimed that they were on the verge of eating one another's lunches (Google would destroy Facebook with G+; Facebook would do the same to Youtube with the "pivot to video"). This has a real advantage in that one need not speculate about the potential value of Facebook's market – you only have to look at Facebook's quarterly reports. But the downside is that Facebook has its own ideas about whether Google is going to absorb its market, and they are prone to forcefully make the case that this won't happen. After a few tumultuous years, tech giants switched to promoting growth via speculative new markets – metaverse, web3, crypto, blockchain, etc. Speculative new markets are speculative, and the weakness of that is that no one can say how big those markets might be. But that's also the strength of those markets, because if no one can say how big those markets might be, then who's to say that they won't be very big indeed? There's a different advantage to confining your concerns to imaginary things: imaginary things don't exist, so they don't contest your public statements about them, nor do they make demands on you. Think of how the right concerns itself with imaginary children (unborn babies, children in Wayfair furniture; children in nonexistent pizza parlor basements, children undergoing gender confirmation surgery). These are very convenient children to advocate for, since, unlike real children (hungry children, children killed in the Gaza genocide, children whose parents have been kidnapped by ICE, children whom Matt Goetz and Donald Trump trafficked for sex, children in cages at the US border, trans kids driven to self-harm and suicide after being denied care), nonexistent children don't want anything from you and they never make public pronouncements about whether you have their best interests at heart. But as the AI project has required larger and larger sums to keep the wheels spinning, the usual suspects have started to run out of money, and now AI hustlers are increasingly looking to tap public markets for capital. They want you to invest your pension savings in their growth narrative machine, and they're relying on the fact that you don't understand the technology to trick you into handing over your money. There's a name for this: it's called the "Byzantine premium" – that's the premium that an investment opportunity attracts by being so complicated and weird that investors don't understand it, making them easy to trick: https://pluralistic.net/2022/03/13/the-byzantine-premium/ AI is a terrible economic phenomenon. It has lost more money than any other project in human history – $600-700b and counting, with trillions more demanded by the likes of OpenAI's Sam Altman. AI's core assets – data centers and GPUs – last 2-3 years, though AI bosses insist on depreciating them over five years, which is unequivocal accounting fraud, a way to obscure the losses the companies are incurring. But it doesn't actually matter whether the assets need to be replaced every two years, every three years, or every five years, because all the AI companies combined are claiming no more than $60b/year in revenue (that number is grossly inflated). You can't reach the $700b break-even point at $60b/year in two years, three years, or five years. Now, some exceptionally valuable technologies have attained profitability after an extraordinarily long period in which they lost money, like the web itself. But these turnaround stories all share a common trait: they had good "unit economics." Every new web user reduced the amount of money the web industry was losing. Every time a user logged onto the web, they made the industry more profitable. Every generation of web technology was more profitable than the last. Contrast this with AI: every user – paid or unpaid – that an AI company signs up costs them money. Every time that user logs into a chatbot or enters a prompt, the company loses more money. The more a user uses an AI product, the more money that product loses. And each generation of AI tech loses more money than the generation that preceded it. To make AI look like a good investment, AI bosses and their pitchmen have to come up with a story that somehow addresses this phenomenon. Part of that story relies on the Byzantine premium: "Sure, you don't understand AI, but why would all these smart people commit hundreds of billions of dollars to AI if they weren't confident that they would make a lot of money from it?" In other words, "A pile of shit this big must have a pony underneath it somewhere!" This is a great narrative trick, because it turns losing money into a virtue. If you've convinced a mark that the upside of the project is a multiple of the capital committed to it, then the more money you're losing, the better the investment seems. So this is the first AI psychosis: the idea that we should bet the world's economy on these highly combustible GPUs and data centers with terrible unit economics and no path to break-even, much less profitability. Investors' AI psychosis is cross-fertilized by our second form of AI psychosis, which is the bosses' AI psychosis: bosses' bottomless passion for firing workers and replacing them with automation. Bosses are easy marks for anything that lets them fire workers. After all, the ideal firm is one that charges infinity for its outputs (hence the market's passion for monopolies) and pays nothing for its inputs (e.g. "academic publishing"). This means that the fact that a chatbot can't do your job isn't nearly as important as the fact that an AI salesman can convince your boss to fire you and replace you with a chatbot that can't do your job. Bosses keep replacing humans with defective chatbots, with catastrophic consequences, like Amazon's cloud service crashing: https://www.techradar.com/pro/recent-aws-outages-blamed-on-ai-tools-at-least-two-incidents-took-down-amazon-services Bosses are haunted by the ego-shattering knowledge that they aren't in the driver's seat: if the boss doesn't show up for work, everything continues to operate just fine. If the workers all stay home, the business grinds to a halt. In their secret hearts, bosses know that they're not in the driver's seat – they're in the back seat, playing with a Fisher Price steering wheel. AI dangles the possibility of wiring that toy steering wheel directly into the drive-train, so that the company's products go directly from the boss's imagination to the public without the boss having to ask people who know how to do things to execute their cockamamie schemes: https://pluralistic.net/2026/01/05/fisher-price-steering-wheel/#billionaire-solipsism This is a powerfully erotic proposition for bosses, the realization of the libidinal fantasy in which sky-high CEO salaries can be justified by the fact that everything that happens in the company is truly, directly attributable to the boss. Like the delusional person who can be led deeper and deeper into a fantasy world by a chatbot, a boss's delusion that they are worth thousands of times more than their workers makes them easy prey for a chatbot salesman that pushes them deeper and deeper into that delusion, until they bet the whole company on it. Now we come to the third and final novel AI psychosis, the critics' psychosis, that AI is an abnormally terrible technology. This is a species of "criti-hype," which is when critics repeat the hyped-up claims of the companies they're targeting, but as criticism (think of all the people who believed and uncritically amplified the ad-tech industry's self-serving claims of being able to control our minds by "hacking our dopamine loops"): https://peoples-things.ghost.io/youre-doing-it-wrong-notes-on-criticism-and-technology-hype/ AI is a normal technology. The people who made it, and the circumstances under which it was made, are normal. Its uses and abuses are normal. That doesn't make it good, but it does make it unexceptional: https://www.normaltech.ai/p/a-guide-to-understanding-ai-as-normal The exceptional part of AI isn't the technology, it's the bubble. There's nothing about AI per se that makes it exceptionally prone to devouring our natural resources, or endangering our jobs, or abetting war crimes. That's all because of the bubble, and the bubble relies on the idea that AI is exceptional, not normal. Repeating and amplifying claims about AI's exceptionalism helps the AI companies, because they rely on exceptionalism to keep the capital flowing and the bubble inflating. AI is a normal technology. It's normal for a technology to be invented by unlikable and immoral people and institutions. Not every technology is invented by a shitty person, but shitty people and institutions are well represented (and possibly disproportionately represented) in the history of technology. Charles Babbage invented the idea of general purpose computers as a way of improving labor control on slave plantations: https://logicmag.io/supa-dupa-skies/origin-stories-plantations-computers-and-industrial-control/ Ada Lovelace wasn't interested in making slavery more efficient, but neither was she driven by pure scientific inquiry. She invented programming to help her bet on the horses (it didn't work): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ada_Lovelace The silicon transistor was co-invented by William Shockley, one of history's great pieces of shit, a eugenicist who was so committed to exterminating all non-white people that he never managed to ship a commercial product: https://pluralistic.net/2021/10/24/the-traitorous-eight-and-the-battle-of-germanium-valley/ IBM built the tabulators for Auschwitz. HP were the Pentagon's go-to contractors for any tech project that was so dirty no one else would touch it. We only got Unix because Bell Labs committed so many antitrust violations that they weren't allowed to productize it themselves. It's not exceptional for AI companies to have terrible, piece-of-shit founders. It's not exceptional for these companies to participate in war crimes. It's not exceptional for these founders to want to pauperize workers. It's not exceptional for these companies to lie about their products, bankrupt naive investors through stock swindles, and pitch themselves to investors as a way for capital to win the class war. None of this means that AI companies are good, it just means that they are not exceptional. And because they aren't exceptional, the same dynamics that govern other technologies apply to AI companies' products. Their utility is a function of what they do, not who made them or how they were sold. The utility of AI products is based on whether people find ways to use them that make them happy – not whether the people who made those technologies are good people, or whether the funding for the technology was fraudulent, or whether other people use the technology to harm others. Automation comes in two flavors: there's automation that produces things more quickly (and hence more cheaply), and there's automation that makes better things. Generally, capital prefers to use automation to increase the pace at which things are made, while workers prefer to use automation to improve the quality of the things they make. Think of a hobbyist who pines for an automated soldering machine. That hobbyist longs to make board-level repairs and modifications that require precision that humans struggle to match. The hobbyist is a centaur, using a machine to help achieve human goals. Now think of a factory owner who invests in an assembly line of the same machines: that boss wants to fire a bunch of workers and make the survivors of the purge take up the slack. The boss want to achieve corporate goals, to "sweat the assets," making maximum use of the soldering machines. The pace at which the line runs is set to be the maximum that the workers can match. The workers on the line are "reverse centaurs" – humans who are pressed into service as peripherals for machines, at a pace that is constantly at the very limit of their endurance. Reverse centaurs are trapped in capital's automation plan – to make everything faster and cheaper. But that's the result of bosses. It's not the result of technology. This is not to say that technology is apolitical. Only a fool would imagine that there are no politics embedded in technology. But you'd be a far greater fool if you asserted that the politics of a technology were simple, clear, and immutable. Nor is this to say that when workers get to decide when and how to use technology, we will always make wise decisions. Perhaps the hobbyist who opts for an automated soldering machine will lose out on the opportunity to refine their hand-eye coordination in ways that will have many other benefits to their practice. Or perhaps attempting to improve their hand-eye coordination to that point will wreck so many projects that they grow discouraged and give up altogether. Others' choices that seem unwise to you might have perfectly good explanations that aren't visible from your perspective. Ultimately, the world is a better place when workers get to decide which parts of their jobs they want to automate and which parts they want to lean into. This is an extremely normal technological situation: for a new technology to be promoted and productized by shitty people who have grandiose goals that would be apocalyptic should they ever come to pass – and for some people to find uses of that technology that are nevertheless beneficial to them and their communities. The belief that AI is an exceptionally bad technology (as opposed to an exceptionally bad economic bubble) drives AI critics into their own absurd culs-de-sac. There are many, many skilled and reliable practitioners of technical and creative trades who've found extremely reasonable, normal ways in which AI has automated some part of their job. They aren't hyperventilating about how AI has changed everything forever and the world is about to end. They're not mistaking AI for god, or a therapist. They're just treating AI like a normal technology, like a plugin. Programmers' tools have acquired useful automation plugins at regular intervals for decades – syntax checkers, advanced debuggers, automated wireframe utilities. For many programmers – including several of my acquaintance, whom I know to be both thoughtful and skilled – AI is another plugin, one they find useful enough to be modestly enthusiastic about. It is nuts to deny the experiences these people are having. They're not vibe-coding mission-critical AWS modules. They're not generating tech debt at scale: https://pluralistic.net/2026/01/06/1000x-liability/#graceful-failure-modes They're just adding another automation tool to a highly automated practice, and using it when it makes sense. Perhaps they won't always choose wisely, but that's normal too. There's plenty of ways that pre-AI automation tools for software development led programmers astray. A skilled, centaur-configured programmer learns from experience which automation tools they should trust, and under which circumstances, and guides themselves accordingly. It's only the belief that AI is exceptional – exceptionally wicked, but exceptional nevertheless – that leads critics to decide that they are a better judge of whether a skilled worker should or should not use certain automation tools, and to make that judgment not based on the quality of the work in question, but on the moral character of the tool itself. AI is just normal. The bubble is what drives the environmental costs. If the only LLMs were a couple big data-centers at Sandia National Labs, no one would be particularly exercised about the water and energy demands they represented. Big scientific endeavors – from NASA launches to the large Hadron Collider – often come with immense material and energy needs. The bubble causes massive, wasteful, duplicative efforts that chase diminishing returns through farcical scale. Nor are AI bros exceptional. The stock swindlers who've blown $700b (and counting) on AI aren't cyber-Svengalis with the power to cloud investors' minds. They're just running the same con that tech has been running ever since its returns started to taper off and survival became a matter of ginning up enthusiasm for speculative new ventures. That doesn't mean those people aren't awful shits. Fuck those people. It just means that they're normal awful shits. We don't have to burnish their reputations by elevating them to the status of archdemons who taint everything they touch with unwashable sin. Sam Altman isn't Lex Luthor. He's just a conman: https://open.substack.com/pub/garymarcus/p/breaking-sam-altmans-greed-and-dishonesty?r=8tdk6&utm_medium=ios The fact that these bros are just normal assholes means that we don't have to treat everything they do as a sin. Scraping the entirety of human knowledge to make something new out of it isn't "stealing." Depending on why you're doing it, it can be archiving, or making a search engine: https://pluralistic.net/2023/09/17/how-to-think-about-scraping/ Too many AI critics have started from the undeniable fact that these guys are odious creeps who boast about wanting to ruin the lives of workers and then worked backwards to find the sin. The sin isn't performing mathematical analysis on all the books ever written. That's actually kind of awesome. It's the kind of thing Aaron Swartz used to do – like when he ingested every law review article ever published and used it to trace the way that oil companies' donations to law schools resulted in profs writing articles about why Big Oil can't be held liable for trashing the planet: https://web.archive.org/web/20111129181943/https://www.stanfordlawreview.org/print/article/punitive-damages-remunerated-research-and-legal-profession AI bros' sin isn't making copies of published works. Hammering servers with badly behaved crawlers is a dick move and fuck them for doing it. But if these jerks made well-behaved scrapers that placed no abnormal demand on servers, it's not like their critics would say, "Oh, I guess it's fine, then." AI bros' sin is running an economy-destroying, planet-wrecking stock swindle whose raison d'etre is pauperizing every worker and transferring 100% of the dying world's wealth to a small cadre of morbidly wealthy, eminently guillotineable plutes. Making plugins? That's not exceptional. It's just normal. The fact that something is normal doesn't make it good. There's a lot of normal things that I'd like to throw into the Sun. But we don't do ourselves any favors when we amplify our enemies' self-aggrandizing narratives by accusing them of being exceptional, even when we mean "exceptionally evil." They're normal assholes. Fuck 'em. (Image: ZeptoBars, CC BY 3.0, modified) Hey look at this (permalink) E is for…. Enshittification https://www.evanshunt.com/enshittification/ Calicornication: Postcards of Giant Produce (1909) https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/giant-produce-postcards/ Organized Money: Why Your Lamp Sucks https://prospect.org/2026/03/11/organized-money-lamps-lighting-mid-century-modeline-history/ The Live Nation settlement has industry insiders baffled https://www.theverge.com/policy/893272/live-nation-ticketmaster-doj-settlement-states Public speakerphone use is officially out of control https://arstechnica.com/culture/2026/03/explain-it-like-im-5-why-is-everyone-on-speakerphone-in-public/ Object permanence (permalink) #15yrsago Notorious financier gets a “super-injunction” prohibiting the press from revealing that he is a banker https://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/banksandfinance/8373535/Sir-Fred-Goodwin-former-RBS-chief-obtains-super-injunction.html #10yrsago Shortly after her death, Harper Lee’s heirs kill cheap paperback edition of To Kill a Mockingbird https://newrepublic.com/article/131400/mass-market-edition-kill-mockingbird-dead #10yrsago Web security company breached, client list (including KKK) dumped, hackers mock inept security https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2016/03/after-an-easy-breach-hackers-leave-tips-when-running-a-security-company/ #10yrsago Microsoft spams corporate users with messages denigrating their IT departments https://web.archive.org/web/20160309195537/https://www.infoworld.com/article/3042397/microsoft-windows/admins-beware-domain-attached-pcs-are-sprouting-get-windows-10-ads.html #10yrsago Cycle and Recycle: gorgeous photos of the European recycling process https://www.wired.com/2016/03/paul-bulteel-cycle-recyle-europe-recycles-tons-of-waste-and-its-pretty-gorgeous/ #10yrsago Fellowships for “Robin Hood” hackers to help poor people get access to the law https://web.archive.org/web/20160304221459/https://labs.robinhood.org/fellowship/ #10yrsago 3D printed battle-armor for cats https://web.archive.org/web/20160311224139/http://sinkhacks.com/making-3d-printed-cat-armor/ #10yrsago Great moments in the history of black science fiction https://web.archive.org/web/20160308034421/http://www.fantasticstoriesoftheimagination.com/a-crash-course-in-the-history-of-black-science-fiction/ #1yrago Daniel Pinkwater's "Jules, Penny and the Rooster" https://pluralistic.net/2025/03/11/klong-you-are-a-pickle-2/#martian-space-potato Upcoming appearances (permalink) Barcelona: Enshittification with Simona Levi/Xnet (Llibreria Finestres), Mar 20 https://www.llibreriafinestres.com/evento/cory-doctorow/ Berkeley: Bioneers keynote, Mar 27 https://conference.bioneers.org/ Montreal: Bronfman Lecture (McGill) Apr 10 https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/artificial-intelligence-the-ultimate-disrupter-tickets-1982706623885 London: Resisting Big Tech Empires (LSBU) https://www.tickettailor.com/events/globaljusticenow/2042691 Berlin: Re:publica, May 18-20 https://re-publica.com/de/news/rp26-sprecher-cory-doctorow Berlin: Enshittification at Otherland Books, May 19 https://www.otherland-berlin.de/de/event-details/cory-doctorow.html Hay-on-Wye: HowTheLightGetsIn, May 22-25 https://howthelightgetsin.org/festivals/hay/big-ideas-2 Recent appearances (permalink) Launch for Cindy's Cohn's "Privacy's Defender" (City Lights) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WuVCm2PUalU Chicken Mating Harnesses (This Week in Tech) https://twit.tv/shows/this-week-in-tech/episodes/1074 The Virtual Jewel Box (U Utah) https://tanner.utah.edu/podcast/enshittification-cory-doctorow-matthew-potolsky/ Tanner Humanities Lecture (U Utah) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i6Yf1nSyekI The Lost Cause https://streets.mn/2026/03/02/book-club-the-lost-cause/ Latest books (permalink) "Canny Valley": A limited edition collection of the collages I create for Pluralistic, self-published, September 2025 https://pluralistic.net/2025/09/04/illustrious/#chairman-bruce "Enshittification: Why Everything Suddenly Got Worse and What to Do About It," Farrar, Straus, Giroux, October 7 2025 https://us.macmillan.com/books/9780374619329/enshittification/ "Picks and Shovels": a sequel to "Red Team Blues," about the heroic era of the PC, Tor Books (US), Head of Zeus (UK), February 2025 (https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250865908/picksandshovels). "The Bezzle": a sequel to "Red Team Blues," about prison-tech and other grifts, Tor Books (US), Head of Zeus (UK), February 2024 (thebezzle.org). "The Lost Cause:" a solarpunk novel of hope in the climate emergency, Tor Books (US), Head of Zeus (UK), November 2023 (http://lost-cause.org). "The Internet Con": A nonfiction book about interoperability and Big Tech (Verso) September 2023 (http://seizethemeansofcomputation.org). Signed copies at Book Soup (https://www.booksoup.com/book/9781804291245). "Red Team Blues": "A grabby, compulsive thriller that will leave you knowing more about how the world works than you did before." Tor Books http://redteamblues.com. "Chokepoint Capitalism: How to Beat Big Tech, Tame Big Content, and Get Artists Paid, with Rebecca Giblin", on how to unrig the markets for creative labor, Beacon Press/Scribe 2022 https://chokepointcapitalism.com Upcoming books (permalink) "The Reverse-Centaur's Guide to AI," a short book about being a better AI critic, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, June 2026 "Enshittification, Why Everything Suddenly Got Worse and What to Do About It" (the graphic novel), Firstsecond, 2026 "The Post-American Internet," a geopolitical sequel of sorts to Enshittification, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2027 "Unauthorized Bread": a middle-grades graphic novel adapted from my novella about refugees, toasters and DRM, FirstSecond, 2027 "The Memex Method," Farrar, Straus, Giroux, 2027 Colophon (permalink) Today's top sources: Currently writing: "The Post-American Internet," a sequel to "Enshittification," about the better world the rest of us get to have now that Trump has torched America (1081 words today, 48461 total) "The Reverse Centaur's Guide to AI," a short book for Farrar, Straus and Giroux about being an effective AI critic. LEGAL REVIEW AND COPYEDIT COMPLETE. "The Post-American Internet," a short book about internet policy in the age of Trumpism. PLANNING. A Little Brother short story about DIY insulin PLANNING This work – excluding any serialized fiction – is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. That means you can use it any way you like, including commercially, provided that you attribute it to me, Cory Doctorow, and include a link to pluralistic.net. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Quotations and images are not included in this license; they are included either under a limitation or exception to copyright, or on the basis of a separate license. Please exercise caution. How to get Pluralistic: Blog (no ads, tracking, or data-collection): Pluralistic.net Newsletter (no ads, tracking, or data-collection): https://pluralistic.net/plura-list Mastodon (no ads, tracking, or data-collection): https://mamot.fr/@pluralistic Bluesky (no ads, possible tracking and data-collection): https://bsky.app/profile/doctorow.pluralistic.net Medium (no ads, paywalled): https://doctorow.medium.com/ https://twitter.com/doctorow Tumblr (mass-scale, unrestricted, third-party surveillance and advertising): https://mostlysignssomeportents.tumblr.com/tagged/pluralistic "When life gives you SARS, you make sarsaparilla" -Joey "Accordion Guy" DeVilla READ CAREFULLY: By reading this, you agree, on behalf of your employer, to release me from all obligations and waivers arising from any and all NON-NEGOTIATED agreements, licenses, terms-of-service, shrinkwrap, clickwrap, browsewrap, confidentiality, non-disclosure, non-compete and acceptable use policies ("BOGUS AGREEMENTS") that I have entered into with your employer, its partners, licensors, agents and assigns, in perpetuity, without prejudice to my ongoing rights and privileges. You further represent that you have the authority to release me from any BOGUS AGREEMENTS on behalf of your employer. ISSN: 3066-764X

Pluralistic: AI "journalists" prove that media bosses don't give a shit (11 Mar 2026)
Today's links AI "journalists" prove that media bosses don't give a shit: In case there was ever any doubt. Hey look at this: Delights to delectate. Object permanence: Eggflation x excuseflation; Haunted Mansion stretch portraits; "Lost Souls"; Time Magazine x the first Worldcon; Obama v Freedom of Information Act; Ragequitting jihadi doxxes ISIS; OSI v DRM in standards. Upcoming appearances: Where to find me. Recent appearances: Where I've been. Latest books: You keep readin' em, I'll keep writin' 'em. Upcoming books: Like I said, I'll keep writin' 'em. Colophon: All the rest. AI "journalists" prove that media bosses don't give a shit (permalink) Ed Zitron's a fantastic journalist, capable of turning a close read of AI companies' balance-sheets into an incandescent, exquisitely informed, eye-wateringly profane rant: https://www.wheresyoured.at/the-ai-bubble-is-an-information-war/ That's "Ed, the financial sleuth." But Ed has another persona, one we don't get nearly enough of, which I delight in: "Ed the stunt journalist." For example, in 2024, Ed bought Amazon's bestselling laptop, "a $238 Acer Aspire 1 with a four-year-old Celeron N4500 Processor, 4GB of DDR4 RAM, and 128GB of slow eMMC storage" and wrote about the experience of using the internet with this popular, terrible machine: https://www.wheresyoured.at/never-forgive-them/ It sucked, of course, but it sucked in a way that the median tech-informed web user has never experienced. Not only was this machine dramatically underpowered, but its defaults were set to accept all manner of CPU-consuming, screen-filling ad garbage and bloatware. If you or I had this machine, we would immediately hunt down all those settings and nuke them from orbit, but the kind of person who buys a $238 Acer Aspire from Amazon is unlikely to know how to do any of that and will suffer through it every day, forever. Normally the "digital divide" refers to access to technology, but as access becomes less and less of an issue, the real divide is between people who know how to defend themselves from the cruel indifference of technology designers and people who are helpless before their enshittificatory gambits. Zitron's stunt stuck with me because it's so simple and so apt. Every tech designer should be forced to use a stock configuration Acer Aspire 1 for a minimum of three hours/day, just as every aviation CEO should be required to fly basic coach at least one out of three flights (and one of two long-haul flights). To that, I will add: every news executive should be forced to consume the news in a stock browser with no adblock, no accessibility plugins, no Reader View, none of the add-ons that make reading the web bearable: https://pluralistic.net/2026/03/07/reader-mode/#personal-disenshittification But in all honesty, I fear this would not make much of a difference, because I suspect that the people who oversee the design of modern news sites don't care about the news at all. They don't read the news, they don't consume the news. They hate the news. They view the news as a necessary evil within a wider gambit to deploy adware, malware, pop-ups, and auto-play video. Rawdogging a Yahoo News article means fighting through a forest of pop-ups, pop-unders, autoplay video, interrupters, consent screens, modal dialogs, modeless dialogs – a blizzard of news-obscuring crapware that oozes contempt for the material it befogs. Irrespective of the words and icons displayed in these DOM objects, they all carry the same message: "The news on this page does not matter." The owners of news services view the news as a necessary evil. They aren't a news organization: they are an annoying pop-up and cookie-setting factory with an inconvenient, vestigial news entity attached to it. News exists on sufferance, and if it was possible to do away with it altogether, the owners would. That turns out to be the defining characteristic of work that is turned over to AI. Think of the rapid replacement of customer service call centers with AI. Long before companies shifted their customer service to AI chatbots, they shifted the work to overseas call centers where workers were prohibited from diverging from a script that made it all but impossible to resolve your problems: https://pluralistic.net/2025/08/06/unmerchantable-substitute-goods/#customer-disservice These companies didn't want to do customer service in the first place, so they sent the work to India. Then, once it became possible to replace Indian call center workers who weren't allowed to solve your problems with chatbots that couldn't resolve your problems, they fired the Indian call center workers and replaced them with chatbots. Ironically, many of these chatbots turn out to be call center workers pretending to be chatbots (as the Indian tech joke goes, "AI stands for 'Absent Indians'"): https://pluralistic.net/2024/01/29/pay-no-attention/#to-the-little-man-behind-the-curtain "We used an AI to do this" is increasingly a way of saying, "We didn't want to do this in the first place and we don't care if it's done well." That's why DOGE replaced the call center reps at US Customs and Immigration with a chatbot that tells you to read a PDF and then disconnects the call: https://pluralistic.net/2026/02/06/doge-ball/#n-600 The Trump administration doesn't want to hear from immigrants who are trying to file their bewildering paperwork correctly. Incorrect immigration paperwork is a feature, not a bug, since it can be refined into a pretext to kidnap someone, imprison them in a gulag long enough to line the pockets of a Beltway Bandit with a no-bid contract to operate an onshore black site, and then deport them to a country they have no connection with, generating a fat payout for another Beltway Bandit with the no-bid contract to fly kidnapped migrants to distant hellholes. If the purpose of a customer service department is to tell people to go fuck themselves, then a chatbot is obviously the most efficient way of delivering the service. It's not just that a chatbot charges less to tell people to go fuck themselves than a human being – the chatbot itself means "go fuck yourself." A chatbot is basically a "go fuck yourself" emoji. Perhaps this is why every AI icon looks like a butthole: https://velvetshark.com/ai-company-logos-that-look-like-buttholes So it's no surprise that media bosses are so enthusiastic about replacing writers with chatbots. They hate the news and want it to go away. Outsourcing the writing to AI is just another way of devaluing it, adjacent to the existing enshittification that sees the news buried in popups, autoplays, consent dialogs, interrupters and the eleventy-million horrors that a stock browser with default settings will shove into your eyeballs on behalf of any webpage that demands them: https://pluralistic.net/2024/05/07/treacherous-computing/#rewilding-the-internet Remember that summer reading list that Hearst distributed to newspapers around the country, which turned out to be stuffed with "hallucinated" titles? At first, the internet delighted in dunking on Marco Buscaglia, the writer whose byline the list ran under. But as 404 Media's Jason Koebler unearthed, Buscaglia had been set up to fail, tasked with writing most of a 64-page insert that would have normally been the work of dozens of writers, editors and fact checkers, all on his own: https://www.404media.co/chicago-sun-times-prints-ai-generated-summer-reading-list-with-books-that-dont-exist/ When Hearst hires one freelancer to do the work of dozens, they are saying, "We do not give a shit about the quality of this work." It is literally impossible for any writer to produce something good under those conditions. The purpose of Hearst's syndicated summer guide was to bulk out the newspapers that had been stripmined by their corporate owners, slimmed down to a handful of pages that are mostly ads and wire-service copy. The mere fact that this supplement was handed to a single freelancer blares "Go fuck yourself" long before you clap eyes on the actual words printed on the pages. The capital class is in the grips of a bizarre form of AI psychosis: the fantasy of a world without people, where any fool idea that pops into a boss's head can be turned into a product without having to negotiate its creation with skilled workers who might point out that your idea is pretty fucking stupid: https://pluralistic.net/2026/01/05/fisher-price-steering-wheel/#billionaire-solipsism For these AI boosters, the point isn't to create an AI that can do the work as well as a person – it's to condition the world to accept the lower-quality work that will come from a chatbot. Rather than reading a summer reading list of actual books, perhaps you could be satisfied with a summer reading list of hallucinated books that are at least statistically probable book-shaped imaginaries? The bosses dreaming up use-cases for AI start from a posture of profound and proud ignorance of how workers who do useful things operate. They ask themselves, "If I was a ______, how would I do the job?" and then they ask an AI to do that, and declare the job done. They produce utility-shaped statistical artifacts, not utilities. Take Grammarly, a company that offers statistical inferences about likely errors in your text. Grammar checkers aren't a terrible idea on their face, and I've heard from many people who struggle to express themselves in writing (either because of their communications style, or because they don't speak English as a first language) for whom apps like Grammarly are useful. But Grammarly has just rolled out an AI tool that is so obviously contemptuous of writing that they might as well have called it "Go fuck yourself, by Grammarly." The new product is called "Expert Review," and it promises to give you writing advice "inspired" by writers whose writing they have ingested. I am one of these virtual "writing teachers" you can pay Grammarly for: https://www.theverge.com/ai-artificial-intelligence/890921/grammarly-ai-expert-reviews This is not how writing advice works. When I teach the Clarion Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers' workshop, my job isn't to train the students to produce work that is strongly statistically correlated with the sentence structure and word choices in my own writing. My job – the job of any writing teacher – is to try and understand the student's writing style and artistic intent, and to provide advice for developing that style to express that intent. What Grammarly is offering isn't writing advice, it's stylometry, a computational linguistics technique for evaluating the likelihood that two candidate texts were written by the same person. Stylometry is a very cool discipline (as is adversarial stylometry, a set of techniques to obscure the authorship of a text): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stylometry But stylometry has nothing to do with teaching someone how to write. Even if you want to write a pastiche in the style of some writer you admire (or want to send up), word choices and sentence structure are only incidental to capturing that writer's style. To reduce "style" to "stylometry" is to commit the cardinal sin of technical analysis: namely, incinerating all the squishy qualitative aspects that can't be readily fed into a model and doing math on the resulting dubious quantitative residue: https://locusmag.com/feature/cory-doctorow-qualia/ If you wanted to teach a chatbot to teach writing like a writer, you would – at a minimum – have to train that chatbot on the instruction that writer gives, not the material that writer has published. Nor can you infer how a writer would speak to a student by producing a statistical model of the finished work that writer has published. "Published work" has only an incidental relationship to "pedagogical communication." Critics of Grammarly are mostly focused on the effrontery of using writers' names without their permission. But I'm not bothered by that, honestly. So long as no one is being tricked into thinking that I endorsed a product or service, you don't need my permission to say that I inspired it (even if I think it's shit). What I find absolutely offensive about Grammarly is not that they took my name in vain, but rather, that they reduced the complex, important business of teaching writing to a statistical exercise in nudging your work into a word frequency distribution that hews closely to the average of some writer's published corpus. This is Grammarly's fraud: not telling people that they're being "taught by Cory Doctorow," but rather, telling people that they are being "taught" anything. Reducing "teaching writing" to "statistical comparisons with another writer's published work" is another way of saying "go fuck yourself" – not to the writers whose identities that Grammarly has hijacked, but to the customers they are tricking into using this terrible, substandard, damaging product. Preying on aspiring writers is a grift as old as the publishing industry. The world is full of dirtbag "story doctors," vanity presses, fake literary agents and other flimflam artists who exploit people's natural desire to be understood to steal from them: https://writerbeware.blog/ Grammarly is yet another company for whom "AI" is just a way to lower quality in the hopes of lowering expectations. For Grammarly, helping writers with their prose is an irritating adjunct to the company's main business of separating marks from their money. In business theory, the perfect firm is one that charges infinity for its products and pays zero for its inputs (you know, "scholarly publishing"). For bosses, AI is a way to shift their firm towards this ideal. In this regard, AI is connected to the long tradition of capitalist innovation, in which new production efficiencies are used to increase quantity at the expense of quality. This has been true since the Luddite uprising, in which skilled technical workers who cared deeply about the textiles they produced using complex machines railed against a new kind of machine that produced manifestly lower quality fabric in much higher volumes: https://pluralistic.net/2023/09/26/enochs-hammer/#thats-fronkonsteen It's not hard to find credible, skilled people who have stories about using AI to make their work better. Elsewhere, I've called these people "centaurs" – human beings who are assisted by machines. These people are embracing the socialist mode of automation: they are using automation to improve quality, not quantity. Whenever you hear a skilled practitioner talk about how they are able to hand off a time-consuming, low-value, low-judgment task to a model so they can focus on the part that means the most to them, you are talking to a centaur. Of course, it's possible for skilled practitioners to produce bad work – some of my favorite writers have published some very bad books indeed – but that isn't a function of automation, that's just human fallibility. A reverse centaur (a person conscripted to act as a peripheral to a machine) is trapped by the capitalist mode of automation: quantity over quality. Machines work faster and longer than humans, and the faster and harder a human can be made to work, the closer the firm can come to the ideal of paying zero for its inputs. A reverse centaur works for a machine that is set to run at the absolute limit of its human peripheral's capability and endurance. A reverse centaur is expected to produce with the mechanical regularity of a machine, catching every mistake the machine makes. A reverse centaur is the machine's accountability sink and moral crumple-zone: https://estsjournal.org/index.php/ests/article/view/260 AI is a normal technology, just another set of automation tools that have some uses for some users. The thing that makes AI signify "go fuck yourself" isn't some intrinsic factor of large language models or transformers. It's the capitalist mode of automation, increasing quantity at the expense of quality. Automation doesn't have to be a way to reduce expectations in the hopes of selling worse things for more money – but without some form of external constraint (unions, regulation, competition), that is inevitably how companies will wield any automation, including and especially AI. Hey look at this (permalink) Assassination markets are legal now but Trump doesn’t have to worry https://protos.com/assassination-markets-are-legal-now-but-trump-doesnt-have-to-worry/ You Are Being Lied to About Algorithms https://www.usermag.co/p/you-are-being-lied-to-about-algorithms States’ trial against Live Nation could move forward as soon as next week https://www.theverge.com/policy/892353/live-nation-ticketmaster-doj-states-settlement Neuromancer / Count Zero / Mona Lisa Overdrive https://macintoshgarden.org/apps/neuromancer-count-zero-mona-lisa-overdrive Judge Slams Secret DOJ-Live Nation Settlement Process as "Mind-boggling" https://www.bigtechontrial.com/p/judge-slams-secret-doj-live-nation Object permanence (permalink) #15yrsago History of the Disney Haunted Mansion’s stretching portraits https://longforgottenhauntedmansion.blogspot.com/2011/03/many-faces-ofthe-other-stretching.html #15yrsago Readers Against DRM (logo) https://web.archive.org/web/20110311213843/https://readersbillofrights.info/RAD #15yrsago Lost Souls: Audio adaptation of a classic vampire novel https://memex.craphound.com/2011/03/10/lost-souls-audio-adaptation-of-a-classic-vampire-novel/ #15yrsago Time‘s appraisal of the first WorldCon https://web.archive.org/web/20080906184034/https://time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,761661-1,00.html #15yrsago Insipid thrift-store landscapes improved with monsters https://imgur.com/involuntary-collaborations-i-buy-other-peoples-landscape-paintings-yard-sales-goodwill-put-monsters-them-r-pics-2780-march-11-2011-Oujbl #15yrsago Fight 8-track piracy with this 1976 record sleeve https://www.flickr.com/photos/supraterra/5516574440/in/pool-41894168726@N01 #15yrsago Michigan Republicans create “financial martial law”; appointees to replace elected local officials https://web.archive.org/web/20120409124750/http://www.dailytribune.com/articles/2011/03/10/news/doc4d78d0d4d764d009636769.txt #10yrsago Lawsuit reveals Obama’s DoJ sabotaged Freedom of Information Act transparency https://web.archive.org/web/20160309183758/https://news.vice.com/article/it-took-a-foia-lawsuit-to-uncover-how-the-obama-administration-killed-foia-reform #10yrsago If the FBI can force decryption backdoors, why not backdoors to turn on your phone’s camera? https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/mar/10/apple-fbi-could-force-us-to-turn-on-iphone-cameras-microphones #10yrsago Disgruntled IS defector dumps full details of tens of thousands of jihadis https://web.archive.org/web/20160330061315/https://news.sky.com/story/1656777/is-documents-identify-thousands-of-jihadis #10yrsago Using distributed code-signatures to make it much harder to order secret backdoors https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2016/03/cothority-to-apple-lets-make-secret-backdoors-impossible/ #10yrsago Open Source Initiative says standards aren’t open unless they protect security researchers and interoperability https://web.archive.org/web/20190822053758/https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2016/03/-are-only-open-if-they-protect-security-and-interoperability #1yrago Eggflation is excuseflation https://pluralistic.net/2025/03/10/demand-and-supply/#keep-cal-maine-and-carry-on Upcoming appearances (permalink) Barcelona: Enshittification with Simona Levi/Xnet (Llibreria Finestres), Mar 20 https://www.llibreriafinestres.com/evento/cory-doctorow/ Berkeley: Bioneers keynote, Mar 27 https://conference.bioneers.org/ Montreal: Bronfman Lecture (McGill) Apr 10 https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/artificial-intelligence-the-ultimate-disrupter-tickets-1982706623885 London: Resisting Big Tech Empires (LSBU) https://www.tickettailor.com/events/globaljusticenow/2042691 Berlin: Re:publica, May 18-20 https://re-publica.com/de/news/rp26-sprecher-cory-doctorow Berlin: Enshittification at Otherland Books, May 19 https://www.otherland-berlin.de/de/event-details/cory-doctorow.html Hay-on-Wye: HowTheLightGetsIn, May 22-25 https://howthelightgetsin.org/festivals/hay/big-ideas-2 Recent appearances (permalink) Launch for Cindy's Cohn's "Privacy's Defender" (City Lights) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WuVCm2PUalU Chicken Mating Harnesses (This Week in Tech) https://twit.tv/shows/this-week-in-tech/episodes/1074 The Virtual Jewel Box (U Utah) https://tanner.utah.edu/podcast/enshittification-cory-doctorow-matthew-potolsky/ Tanner Humanities Lecture (U Utah) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i6Yf1nSyekI The Lost Cause https://streets.mn/2026/03/02/book-club-the-lost-cause/ Latest books (permalink) "Canny Valley": A limited edition collection of the collages I create for Pluralistic, self-published, September 2025 https://pluralistic.net/2025/09/04/illustrious/#chairman-bruce "Enshittification: Why Everything Suddenly Got Worse and What to Do About It," Farrar, Straus, Giroux, October 7 2025 https://us.macmillan.com/books/9780374619329/enshittification/ "Picks and Shovels": a sequel to "Red Team Blues," about the heroic era of the PC, Tor Books (US), Head of Zeus (UK), February 2025 (https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250865908/picksandshovels). "The Bezzle": a sequel to "Red Team Blues," about prison-tech and other grifts, Tor Books (US), Head of Zeus (UK), February 2024 (thebezzle.org). "The Lost Cause:" a solarpunk novel of hope in the climate emergency, Tor Books (US), Head of Zeus (UK), November 2023 (http://lost-cause.org). "The Internet Con": A nonfiction book about interoperability and Big Tech (Verso) September 2023 (http://seizethemeansofcomputation.org). Signed copies at Book Soup (https://www.booksoup.com/book/9781804291245). "Red Team Blues": "A grabby, compulsive thriller that will leave you knowing more about how the world works than you did before." Tor Books http://redteamblues.com. "Chokepoint Capitalism: How to Beat Big Tech, Tame Big Content, and Get Artists Paid, with Rebecca Giblin", on how to unrig the markets for creative labor, Beacon Press/Scribe 2022 https://chokepointcapitalism.com Upcoming books (permalink) "The Reverse-Centaur's Guide to AI," a short book about being a better AI critic, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, June 2026 "Enshittification, Why Everything Suddenly Got Worse and What to Do About It" (the graphic novel), Firstsecond, 2026 "The Post-American Internet," a geopolitical sequel of sorts to Enshittification, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2027 "Unauthorized Bread": a middle-grades graphic novel adapted from my novella about refugees, toasters and DRM, FirstSecond, 2027 "The Memex Method," Farrar, Straus, Giroux, 2027 Colophon (permalink) Today's top sources: Currently writing: "The Post-American Internet," a sequel to "Enshittification," about the better world the rest of us get to have now that Trump has torched America (1031 words today, 47410 total) "The Reverse Centaur's Guide to AI," a short book for Farrar, Straus and Giroux about being an effective AI critic. LEGAL REVIEW AND COPYEDIT COMPLETE. "The Post-American Internet," a short book about internet policy in the age of Trumpism. PLANNING. A Little Brother short story about DIY insulin PLANNING This work – excluding any serialized fiction – is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. That means you can use it any way you like, including commercially, provided that you attribute it to me, Cory Doctorow, and include a link to pluralistic.net. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Quotations and images are not included in this license; they are included either under a limitation or exception to copyright, or on the basis of a separate license. Please exercise caution. How to get Pluralistic: Blog (no ads, tracking, or data-collection): Pluralistic.net Newsletter (no ads, tracking, or data-collection): https://pluralistic.net/plura-list Mastodon (no ads, tracking, or data-collection): https://mamot.fr/@pluralistic Bluesky (no ads, possible tracking and data-collection): https://bsky.app/profile/doctorow.pluralistic.net Medium (no ads, paywalled): https://doctorow.medium.com/ https://twitter.com/doctorow Tumblr (mass-scale, unrestricted, third-party surveillance and advertising): https://mostlysignssomeportents.tumblr.com/tagged/pluralistic "When life gives you SARS, you make sarsaparilla" -Joey "Accordion Guy" DeVilla READ CAREFULLY: By reading this, you agree, on behalf of your employer, to release me from all obligations and waivers arising from any and all NON-NEGOTIATED agreements, licenses, terms-of-service, shrinkwrap, clickwrap, browsewrap, confidentiality, non-disclosure, non-compete and acceptable use policies ("BOGUS AGREEMENTS") that I have entered into with your employer, its partners, licensors, agents and assigns, in perpetuity, without prejudice to my ongoing rights and privileges. You further represent that you have the authority to release me from any BOGUS AGREEMENTS on behalf of your employer. ISSN: 3066-764X

Pluralistic: Ad-tech is fascist tech (10 Mar 2026)
Today's links Ad-tech is fascist tech: Surveillance advertising is just surveillance. Hey look at this: Delights to delectate. Object permanence: Washpo v Bernie; Activists v Saif Gadaffi's London mansion; Spacefaring v contract language; Tuna-can tiffin pail; France v encryption. Upcoming appearances: Where to find me. Recent appearances: Where I've been. Latest books: You keep readin' em, I'll keep writin' 'em. Upcoming books: Like I said, I'll keep writin' 'em. Colophon: All the rest. Ad-tech is fascist tech (permalink) A core tenet of the enshittification hypothesis is that all the terrible stuff we're subjected to in our digital lives today is the result of foreseeable (and foreseen) policy choices, which created the enshittogenic policy environment in which the worst people's worst ideas make the most money: https://pluralistic.net/2025/09/10/say-their-names/#object-permanence Take commercial surveillance. Google didn't have to switch from content-based ads (which chose ads based on your search terms and the contents of webpages) to surveillance-based ads (which used dossiers on your searches, emails, purchases and physical movements to target ads to you, personally). The content-based ads made Google billions, but the company made a gamble that surveillance-based ads would make them more money. That gamble had two parts: the first was that advertisers would pay more for surveillance ads. This is the part we all focus on – the collusion between people who want to sell us stuff and companies willing to spy on us to help them do it. But the other half of the bet is far more important: namely, whether spying on us would cost Google anything. Would they face fines? Would users collect massive civil judgments over these privacy violations? Would Google face criminal charges? These are the critical questions, because even if advertisers are willing to pay a premium for surveillance ads, it only makes sense to collect that premium if the excess profit it represents is larger than the anticipated penalties for committing surveillance crimes. What's more, advertisers and Google execs all work for their shareholders, in a psychotic "market system" in which the myth of "fiduciary duty" is said to require companies to hurt us right up to the point where the harms they inflict on the world cost them more than the additional profits those harms deliver: https://pluralistic.net/2024/09/18/falsifiability/#figleaves-not-rubrics But the policymakers who ultimately determine whether the fines, judgments and criminal penalties outstrip the profits from spying – they work for us. They draw their paychecks from the public purse in exchange for safeguarding our interests, and they have manifestly failed at this. Why did Google decide to start spying on us? For the same reason your dog licks its balls: because they could. The last consumer privacy law to make it out of the US Congress was a 1988 bill that banned video-store clerks from disclosing your VHS rentals: https://pluralistic.net/2025/10/31/losing-the-crypto-wars/#surveillance-monopolism And yes, the EU did pass a comprehensive consumer privacy law, but then abdicated any duty to enforce the GDPR, because US Big Tech companies pretend to be Irish, and Ireland is a crime-haven that lets the tax-evaders who maintain the fiction of a Dublin HQ break any EU law they find inconvenient: https://pluralistic.net/2025/12/01/erin-go-blagged/#big-tech-omerta The most important question for Google wasn't "Will advertisers pay more for surveillance targeting?" It was "Will lawmakers clobber us for spying on the whole internet?" And the answer to that second question was a resounding no. Why did policymakers fail us? It's not much of a mystery, I'm afraid. Policymakers failed us because cops and spies hate privacy laws and lobby like hell against them. Cops and spies love commercial surveillance, because the private sector's massive surveillance dossiers are an off-the-books trove of warrantless surveillance data that the government can't legally collect. What's more, even if the spying was legal, buying private sector surveillance data is much cheaper than creating a public sector surveillance apparatus to collect the same info: https://pluralistic.net/2023/08/16/the-second-best-time-is-now/#the-point-of-a-system-is-what-it-does The harms of mass commercial surveillance were never hard to foresee. 20 years ago, Radar magazine commissioned a story from me about "the day Google turned evil," and I turned in "Scroogled," which was widely shared and reprinted: https://web.archive.org/web/20070920193501/https://radaronline.com/from-the-magazine/2007/09/google_fiction_evil_dangerous_surveillance_control_1.php/ Radar is long gone, though it's back in the news now, thanks to the revelation that it was financed via Jeffrey Epstein as part of his plan to both control and loot magazines and newspapers: https://www.reddit.com/r/Epstein/comments/142bufo/radar_magazine_lines_up_financing_published_2004/ But the premise of "Scroogled" lives on. 20 years ago, I wrote a story in which the bloated, paranoid, lawless DHS raided ad-tech databases of behavioral data in order to target people for secret arrests, extraordinary rendition, and torture. It took a minute, but today, the DHS is paying data-brokers and ad-tech giants like Google for commercial surveillance data that it is using to feed the systems that automatically decide who will be kidnapped, rendered and tortured by ICE: https://www.theregister.com/2026/01/27/ice_data_advertising_tech_firms/ I want to be clear here: I'm not claiming any prescience – quite the reverse in fact. My point is that it just wasn't very hard to see what would happen if we let the surveillance advertising industry run wild. Our lawmakers were warned. They did nothing. They exposed us to this risk, which was both foreseeable and foreseen. Nor did the ICE/ad-tech alliance drop out of the sky. The fascist mobilization of ad-tech data for a racist pogrom is the latest installment in a series of extremely visible, worsening weaponizations of commercial surveillance. Just last year, I testified before Biden's CFPB at hearings on a rule to kill the data-broker industry, where we heard from the Pentagon about ad-tech targeting of American military personnel with gambling problems for location-based ads that reached them in their barracks: https://pluralistic.net/2025/02/20/privacy-first-second-third/#malvertising Biden's CFPB passed the data broker-killing rule, but Trump and DOGE nuked it before it went into effect. Trump officials didn't offer any rationale for this, despite the fact that the testimony in that hearing included a rep from the AARP who described how data brokers let advertisers target seniors with signs of dementia (a core Trump voter bloc). I don't know for sure, but I have a sneaking suspicion that the Stephen Miller wing of the Trump coalition wanted data brokers intact so that they could use them to round up and imprison/torture/murder/enslave non-white people and Trump's political enemies. Despite this eminently foreseeable outcome of the ad-tech industry, many perfectly nice people who made extremely nice salaries working in ad-tech are rather alarmed by this turn of events: https://quoteinvestigator.com/2017/11/30/salary/ On Adxchanger.com, ad-tech exec David Nyurenberg writes, "The Privacy ‘Zealots’ Were Right: Ad Tech’s Infrastructure Was Always A Risk": https://www.adexchanger.com/data-driven-thinking/the-privacy-zealots-were-right-ad-techs-infrastructure-was-always-a-risk/ Nyurenberg opens with a very important point – not only is ad-tech dangerous, it's also just not very good at selling stuff. The claims for the efficacy of surveillance advertising are grossly overblown, and used to bilk advertisers out of high premiums for a defective product: https://truthset.com/the-state-of-data-accuracy-form/ There's another point that Nyurenberg doesn't make, but which is every bit as important: many of ad-tech's fiercest critics have abetted ad-tech's rise by engaging in "criti-hype" (repeating hype claims as criticism): https://peoples-things.ghost.io/youre-doing-it-wrong-notes-on-criticism-and-technology-hype/ The "surveillance capitalism" critics who repeated tech's self-serving mumbo-jumbo about "hacking our dopamine loops" helped ad-tech cast itself in the role of mind-controlling evil sorcerers, which greatly benefited these self-styled Cyber-Rasputins when they pitched their ads to credulous advertisers: https://pluralistic.net/HowToDestroySurveillanceCapitalism Nyurenberg points to European privacy activists like Johnny Ryan and Max Schrems, who have chased American surveillance advertising companies out of the Irish courts and into other EU territories and even Europe's federal court, pointing out that these two (and many others!) have long warned the world about the way that this data would be weaponized. Johnny Ryan famously called ad-tech's "realtime bidding" system, "the largest data breach ever recorded": https://committees.parliament.uk/writtenevidence/453/html/ Ryan is referring to the fact that you don't even have to buy an ad to amass vast databases of surveillance data about internet users. When you land on a webpage, every one of the little boxes where an ad will eventually show up gets its own high-speed auction in which your private data is dangled before anyone with an ad-tech account, who gets to bid on the right to shove an ad into your eyeballs. The losers of that auction are supposed to delete all your private data that they get to see through this process, but obviously they do not. And Max Schrems has hollered from the mountaintops for years about the inevitability of authoritarian governments helping themselves to ad-tech data in order to suppress dissent and terrorize their political opposition: https://www.bipc.com/european-high-court-finds-eu-us-privacy-shield-invalid Nyurenberg says his friends in ad-tech are really upset that these (eminently foreseeable) outcomes have come to pass, but (he says), ad-tech bosses claim they have no choice but to collaborate with the Trump regime. After all, we've seen what Trump does to companies that don't agree to help him commit crimes: https://apnews.com/article/anthropic-trump-pentagon-hegseth-ai-104c6c39306f1adeea3b637d2c1c601b Nyurenberg closes by upbraiding his ad-tech peers for refusing to engage with their critics during the decades in which it would have been possible to do something to prevent this outcome. Ad-tech insiders dismissed privacy activists as unrealistic extremists who wanted to end advertising itself and accused ad-tech execs of wanting to create a repressive state system of surveillance. In reality, critics were just pointing out the entirely foreseeable repressive state surveillance that ad-tech would end up enabling. I'm quite pleased to see Nyurenberg calling for a reckoning among his colleagues, but I think there's plenty of blame to spread around. Sure, the ad-tech industry built this fascist dragnet – but a series of governments around the world let them do it. There was nothing inevitable about mass commercial surveillance. It doesn't even work very well! Mass commercial surveillance is the public-private partnership from hell, where cops and spies shielded ad-tech companies from regulation in exchange for those ad-tech companies selling cops and spies unlimited access to their databases. Our policymakers are supposed to work for us. They failed us. Don't let anyone tell you that the greed and depravity of ad-tech are the sole causes of Trump's use of ad-tech to decide who to kidnap and send to a Salvadoran slave-labor camp. Policymakers should have known. They did know. They had every chance to stop this. They did not. (Image: Jakub Hałun, CC BY 4.0; Myotus, CC BY-SA 4.0; Lewis Clarke, CC BY-SA 2.0; modified) Hey look at this (permalink) A Wild Day as Trump DOJ Settles with Live Nation/Ticketmaster, State Enforcers Balk https://www.bigtechontrial.com/p/a-wild-day-as-trump-doj-settles-with Waging war for the lulz https://www.garbageday.email/p/waging-war-for-the-lulz Live Nation Settlement Spurs Chaos in Court https://prospect.org/2026/03/09/live-nation-settlement-spurs-chaos-in-court/ Wikilinker https://whitelabel.org/2026/03/09/wikilinker/ Centrists: Better Things Aren’t Possible https://prospect.org/2026/03/10/centrists-better-things-arent-possible-democrats-south-carolina-third-way/ Object permanence (permalink) #20yrsago Toronto transit fans to Commission: withdraw anagram map lawsuit threat https://web.archive.org/web/20060407230329/http://www.ttcrider.ca/anagram.php #15yrsago BBC newsteam kidnapped, hooded and beaten by Gadaffi’s forces https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-12695077 #15yrsago Activists seize Saif Gadaffi’s London mansion https://web.archive.org/web/20110310091023/https://london.indymedia.org/articles/7766 #10yrsago Spacefaring and contractual obligations: who’s with me? https://memex.craphound.com/2016/03/09/spacefaring-and-contractual-obligations-whos-with-me/ #10yrsago Home Depot might pay up to $0.34 in compensation for each of the 53 million credit cards it leaked https://web.archive.org/web/20160310041148/https://www.csoonline.com/article/3041994/security/home-depot-will-pay-up-to-195-million-for-massive-2014-data-breach.html #10yrsago How to make a tiffin lunch pail from used tuna fish cans https://www.instructables.com/Tiffin-Box-from-Tuna-Cans/ #10yrsago “Water Bar” celebrates the wonder and fragility of tap water https://www.minnpost.com/cityscape/2016/03/world-s-first-full-fledged-water-bar-about-open-minneapolis/ #10yrsago French Parliament votes to imprison tech execs for refusal to decrypt https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2016/03/france-votes-to-penalise-companies-for-refusing-to-decrypt-devices-messages/ #10yrsago Anti-censorship coalition urges Virginia governor to veto “Beloved” bill https://ncac.org/incident/coalition-to-virginia-governor-veto-the-beloved-bill #10yrsago Washington Post: 16 negative stories about Bernie Sanders in 16 hours https://www.commondreams.org/views/2016/03/08/washington-post-ran-16-negative-stories-bernie-sanders-16-hours Upcoming appearances (permalink) San Francisco: Launch for Cindy Cohn's "Privacy's Defender" (City Lights), Mar 10 https://citylights.com/events/cindy-cohn-launch-party-for-privacys-defender/ Barcelona: Enshittification with Simona Levi/Xnet (Llibreria Finestres), Mar 20 https://www.llibreriafinestres.com/evento/cory-doctorow/ Berkeley: Bioneers keynote, Mar 27 https://conference.bioneers.org/ Montreal: Bronfman Lecture (McGill) Apr 10 https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/artificial-intelligence-the-ultimate-disrupter-tickets-1982706623885 London: Resisting Big Tech Empires (LSBU) https://www.tickettailor.com/events/globaljusticenow/2042691 Berlin: Re:publica, May 18-20 https://re-publica.com/de/news/rp26-sprecher-cory-doctorow Berlin: Enshittification at Otherland Books, May 19 https://www.otherland-berlin.de/de/event-details/cory-doctorow.html Hay-on-Wye: HowTheLightGetsIn, May 22-25 https://howthelightgetsin.org/festivals/hay/big-ideas-2 Recent appearances (permalink) Chicken Mating Harnesses (This Week in Tech) https://twit.tv/shows/this-week-in-tech/episodes/1074 The Virtual Jewel Box (U Utah) https://tanner.utah.edu/podcast/enshittification-cory-doctorow-matthew-potolsky/ Tanner Humanities Lecture (U Utah) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i6Yf1nSyekI The Lost Cause https://streets.mn/2026/03/02/book-club-the-lost-cause/ Should Democrats Make A Nuremberg Caucus? (Make It Make Sense) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MWxKrnNfrlo Latest books (permalink) "Canny Valley": A limited edition collection of the collages I create for Pluralistic, self-published, September 2025 https://pluralistic.net/2025/09/04/illustrious/#chairman-bruce "Enshittification: Why Everything Suddenly Got Worse and What to Do About It," Farrar, Straus, Giroux, October 7 2025 https://us.macmillan.com/books/9780374619329/enshittification/ "Picks and Shovels": a sequel to "Red Team Blues," about the heroic era of the PC, Tor Books (US), Head of Zeus (UK), February 2025 (https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250865908/picksandshovels). "The Bezzle": a sequel to "Red Team Blues," about prison-tech and other grifts, Tor Books (US), Head of Zeus (UK), February 2024 (thebezzle.org). "The Lost Cause:" a solarpunk novel of hope in the climate emergency, Tor Books (US), Head of Zeus (UK), November 2023 (http://lost-cause.org). "The Internet Con": A nonfiction book about interoperability and Big Tech (Verso) September 2023 (http://seizethemeansofcomputation.org). Signed copies at Book Soup (https://www.booksoup.com/book/9781804291245). "Red Team Blues": "A grabby, compulsive thriller that will leave you knowing more about how the world works than you did before." Tor Books http://redteamblues.com. "Chokepoint Capitalism: How to Beat Big Tech, Tame Big Content, and Get Artists Paid, with Rebecca Giblin", on how to unrig the markets for creative labor, Beacon Press/Scribe 2022 https://chokepointcapitalism.com Upcoming books (permalink) "The Reverse-Centaur's Guide to AI," a short book about being a better AI critic, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, June 2026 "Enshittification, Why Everything Suddenly Got Worse and What to Do About It" (the graphic novel), Firstsecond, 2026 "The Post-American Internet," a geopolitical sequel of sorts to Enshittification, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2027 "Unauthorized Bread": a middle-grades graphic novel adapted from my novella about refugees, toasters and DRM, FirstSecond, 2027 "The Memex Method," Farrar, Straus, Giroux, 2027 Colophon (permalink) Today's top sources: Currently writing: "The Post-American Internet," a sequel to "Enshittification," about the better world the rest of us get to have now that Trump has torched America (1038 words today, 46380 total) "The Reverse Centaur's Guide to AI," a short book for Farrar, Straus and Giroux about being an effective AI critic. LEGAL REVIEW AND COPYEDIT COMPLETE. "The Post-American Internet," a short book about internet policy in the age of Trumpism. PLANNING. A Little Brother short story about DIY insulin PLANNING This work – excluding any serialized fiction – is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. That means you can use it any way you like, including commercially, provided that you attribute it to me, Cory Doctorow, and include a link to pluralistic.net. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Quotations and images are not included in this license; they are included either under a limitation or exception to copyright, or on the basis of a separate license. Please exercise caution. How to get Pluralistic: Blog (no ads, tracking, or data-collection): Pluralistic.net Newsletter (no ads, tracking, or data-collection): https://pluralistic.net/plura-list Mastodon (no ads, tracking, or data-collection): https://mamot.fr/@pluralistic Bluesky (no ads, possible tracking and data-collection): https://bsky.app/profile/doctorow.pluralistic.net Medium (no ads, paywalled): https://doctorow.medium.com/ https://twitter.com/doctorow Tumblr (mass-scale, unrestricted, third-party surveillance and advertising): https://mostlysignssomeportents.tumblr.com/tagged/pluralistic "When life gives you SARS, you make sarsaparilla" -Joey "Accordion Guy" DeVilla READ CAREFULLY: By reading this, you agree, on behalf of your employer, to release me from all obligations and waivers arising from any and all NON-NEGOTIATED agreements, licenses, terms-of-service, shrinkwrap, clickwrap, browsewrap, confidentiality, non-disclosure, non-compete and acceptable use policies ("BOGUS AGREEMENTS") that I have entered into with your employer, its partners, licensors, agents and assigns, in perpetuity, without prejudice to my ongoing rights and privileges. You further represent that you have the authority to release me from any BOGUS AGREEMENTS on behalf of your employer. ISSN: 3066-764X

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100r

Hey everyone!

This is the list of all the changes we've done to our projects during the month of February.

Wiki, updated knots with a figure-eight follow-through knot, also, Pino has a new headsail!
Pavol, created a volume control tool.
Adelie, made it so images are drawn faster.
Turye, added support for 24x24 pixels uf3 fonts.
Uxntal, collected generic routines and commonly used objects into example libraries.

At the start of the month, we spent a delightful couple of days deep in the wintry and rainy Spanish countryside, gathered in a medieval monastery with the Ink & Switch team for the 10 years anniversary of the studio. We also met up with Javier and Marcelino who gave us coffee and a book on celestial navigation, we will savor a cup while studying the sky.

We asked folks on the fediverse for their favourite rabbits from Rek's recent series, and picked out the four most popular and made stickers. We received them just yesterday and they look amazing! Thanks to everyone who already asked for a sheet! We pack the letters by hand, and Dev makes a spirograph on the back of each one encoding the date in gear radius and ratio.

We've hit some annoying issues with Arch, where mainstay programs sudden change their behavior or gets abandoned like volumeicon. Being unable to control the master volume without opening a full GUI application is a pain. Devine to the rescue! An hour's work and Pavol was born! In that same vein, while working on the new version of Donsol, we realized we'd need to design fonts larger than 16 px high, something that Turye was incapable of doing, until now.

On March 6th, we'll be giving a talk at the University Of Victoria, to talk about how our 10 years of living on the water has influenced our design and development work. The event is sold out at this point, but if you signed up see you there! Oquonie for Playdate will be on Playdate's upcoming Catalog Anniversary Sale running from March 5th to March 19th.

Devine has been puzzling over an extremely odd programming language idea and is looking for some pointers, prior art, ideas, so if ferns, rewriting, confluence, linear logic, tensor and multisets mean anything to you and interests you, get in touch. Lastly, we'll leave you with this image of Polycat working on a 2009 EeePC under HaikuOS, courtesy of Tbsp!

Book Club: We finally finished reading Middlemarch by George Eliot, a very good read, we will miss it. We are also reading Red Plenty by Francis Spufford and This Is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone. We also watched great movies like The Battle of Algiers(1966) and Z(1969).

Summary of changes for January 2026

Hey everyone!

This is the list of all the changes we've done to our projects during the month of January.

Uxn, we released a new SDL2 emulator called uxn2 to replace the ol' uxnemu!
Wiki, updated moisture prevention underliner, chainplates(with new photos and measurements), and sewing.
Punk Rabbits, Completed the series(103 rabbits)!
Hakum, released a new comic page for Sabotage Study.

This is likely very obvious to most people, but recently it dawned on us that clothes are, in a certain way, open-source. We can go to a thrift store, buy a shirt, rip out the seams, study it, lay all of the pieces down over new fabric, trace the patterns, cut them out, and sew it all back together to produce a copy of that same shirt. We've been wanting to learn how to make our own clothes but didn't know where to begin, until this month. Our first project was to reproduce our hats, after the store we bought them at stopped stocking them. We bought black cotton canvas at a local fabric store, took our old hats apart and re-built them(See Rek's hat, and Dev's hat). Later, Devine did the same for our old messenger backpack.

Goblin Week, an event in which people draw goblins for 7 days, occurs on the last full week of January. Devine's entries were inspired by a passage in Samuel Butler's Erewhon, and Rek drew some spunky cartoony goblins.

Inspired by Prahou's Subversive.pics, we put together image feeds for our personal websites.

Devine's feed (RSS)
Rek's feed (RSS)

Note that we are still uploading photos to Days, our studio's image feed.

We are making progress on the Playdate version of Donsol, and the polished manuscript for the Victoria to Sitka Logbook. We do not yet know when either will be finished so let us end this updated with one last small thing: a video by VacuumBeef of Snake Game in Orca.

Book Club: This month we have reached book 8 of Middlemarch by George Eliot, the very last one. We are also reading Mémoires d'Hadrien by Marguerite Yourcenar, and Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business by Neil Postman.

Summary of changes for December 2025

Hey everyone!

This is the list of all the changes we've done to our projects during the month of December.

Wiki, added alternator to engine care.
Thousand Rooms, added a Danish version of the book, thank you Fyr for the translation!
Punk Rabbits, completed 33 new rabbits(#64-97).
December Adventure, a month of daily devlogs.
Uxn2, wrote a brand new SDL2 emulator.
Heol, implemented a LISP in Uxntal.

It's that time of the year when we look back to our many bird encounters, account for what was damaged and mended, reminisce about moments immortalized in our paper calendars, and think of the many projects that have yet to leave the pages of our notebooks. We'd like to thank everyone who wrote to us, especially those who have tirelessly corrected errors in our writing and code, and we want to do a shoutout to the members of Merveilles, as well as artists, thinkers and tinkerers everywhere for inspiring us.

We kicked off January with the release of the 1-bit version of Oquonie for Playdate. It would be the first time, since the iOS version, that the game has a soundtrack. Devine also improved the html5 Uxn emulator to make all of our games and tools playable in the browser. Uxn's list of utilities has grown, with additions like a spreadsheet editor, a font editor, a theme editor and a desktop calendar.

rabbit Waves has grown by five new topics this year, and we have since assimilated this knowledge into daily life. On many summer evenings, we were out on deck scanning the skies for the Big Dipper, the Little Dipper, and Cassiopeia. Polaris sits 1 degree away from the celestial north pole, neither of us had ever truly appreciated this incredible fact until now and we can't think of any piece of knowledge that has so deeply touched us. Learning about field care also had a lasting effect on us, since then we carry a First-Aid kit whenever we go out on a long hike.

In early May, we set sail for Texada Island for a haul-out. This will be as far north as we would go this year, because we had to sail right back down again to meet up with friends on Blakely Island. After the event, we had yet another place to be, we pointed our bow west and sailed out of the Juan de Fuca Strait. Pino arrived in Ucluelet just in time to attend a friend's presentation to the city council about building a new boatyard. The rest of our summer schedule was not as rigid, we spent time amongst hummingbirds, met beautiful cetaceans, solar-cooked breads and played dominos aboard wooden boats.

In December, our usual afternoon walks were often spoiled by heavy rainfall. The prolonged absence of sunlight, the constant downpours, turned Pino's topsides green. Like in Ray Bradbury's short story All Summer in a Day, our world was all rainstorms. We were too glad when the clouds parted on the winter solstice. Every year, December ends with us folding big prisms out of modular orgami techniques, especially sonobes. This year's masterpiece was a stunning triakis icosahedron made of colorful construction paper. We also played through The Neverhood drinking hot spiced apple juice. We've since been exploring other Scummvm games.

In the recent onslaught of slop, we are continually impressed and inspired by artists and developers who fight back against the machine learning spear that is pointed toward them. Choose human agency, sabotage agents! See you in 2026!

Our favorite series this year was Scavengers Reign and Common Side Effects, and ours favorite films were Sinners and Nosferatu.

Book Club: This month we are still reading Middlemarch by George Eliot, but Devine also finished Blindness by José Saramago and Rek started paging through Make, Sew and Mend by Bernadette Banner.

Devine's favorite read of the year was Donna Tartt's The Secret History, and Rek enjoyed and cried over Girl's Last Tour by Tsukumizu.

Summary of changes for November 2025

Hey everyone!

This is the list of all the changes we've done to our projects during the month of November.

Thousand Rooms, added an English version with one type of dyslexia-friendly typeface. A Danish version is also on the way.
Orca, improved the interface, released an Orca Cheatsheet for an upcoming workshop, and increased the parity between Orca versions with new tests.
Drifblim, implemented a tug-o-war(Mastodon) memory model.
Punk Rabbits, completed 8 new rabbits(#57-64).
Uxn, wrote a standalone Uxn REPL, and improved Uxn5.
M291, fixed an annoying crashing bug.

This month, we celebrate Hundred Rabbit's 10 year anniversary and remember with great fondness how, in November 2015, we sat together at a coffee shop in Montreal, puzzling over how we would start a new life on the water. Here's hoping for 10 more years of learning and documenting experiments around low-tech and resilience!

We finally stashed our summer sailing gear, we compressed everything into vacuum bags drawing out as much air as we could to discourage mold. We're entering the month of December in Victoria, and we are beginning to feel the increasing dampness of winter in our clothes, we also see it as the condensation gathers on Pino's windows.

Devine spent the last few days in Austria for the Ultramateria Festival talking with local artists and activists about the design philosophy of Hundred Rabbits. Devine also gave an Orca workshop, played some techno in a gorgeous venue, made a brief appearance on Austrian television and Fireside Fedi.

Rek spent time troubleshooting a raw water leak in Calcifer II, gaining in-depth knowledge of yet another part of the engine. What was learned was documented in the ever-growing engine care portal under raw water pump. Rek has also been working on the upcoming Playdate version of Donsol!

Book Club: This month we are still reading Madame Bovary: Provincial Manners by Gustave Flaubert.

Summary of changes for October 2025

Hey everyone!

This is the list of all the changes we've done to our projects during the month of October.

CCCC, added a factorization mode.
Bagel, wrote about a cursed programming language idea where instead of cons cells, s-exp represent unordered lists.
Rabbit Waves, released a new page called Celestial Compass, and added a button for those who wish to link to the website from theirs.
Punk Rabbits, completed 2 new rabbits(#55 and 56).

We sailed Pino back to Victoria before heading east for AMP Festival 2025. The venue was packed! The Aliceffekt show(YouTube) started with a bit of radio taiso, to make sure everyone had a chance to limber up, it was pretty funny.

As the trees were shedding the last of their leaves, members of the Merveilles community composed a spooky mixtape(download), and we folded paper to craft ourselves some homemade Halloween masks. Like every year, we carved a pumpkin. This year's design was inspired by the Hollow creature from the amazing animated sci-fi series Scavengers Reign.

We spent the rest of the month with family, seeing friends and reviewing microgrant applications for Rhizome.

We have re-opened the store for sticker sales, but at the moment we cannot ship them to the US due to the suspension of the de minimis exemption. We hope to resume shipments as soon as we can figure out how to comply with the new shipping rules. The sale of our physical books to the US is unaffected. We'll end this update with the mention that Oquonie is part of the Playdate Catalogue fall sale lasting until Nov 13, 2025. Thank you to everyone who continue to explore our strange little world.

Book Club: This month we are reading The Outsiders by Susan E. Hinton, and Madame Bovary: Provincial Manners by Gustave Flaubert.

Summary of changes for September 2025

Hey everyone!

This is the list of all the changes we've done to our projects during the month of September.

Noodle, redesigned the interface.
Wiki, updated with a new photo.
Punk Rabbits, completed 19 new rabbits(#35-53).
NanoTalk, released a Nanochat client, written in Tal.

As promised, we released a revised transcription of Devine's talk Permacomputing 101 for Critical Signals 2025! We have moved our website to a Canadian TDL(100r.ca), so be sure to update your bookmarks! We will keep the .co version of our website online for redundancy.

Rek finished revising the upcoming version of the Victoria to Sitka logbook and passed the text over to Devine for proof-reading. The finished publication will feature 104 drawings, 19 recipes, and 18 new sections on a variety of topics. We hope to release the digital version early next year, and the printed version a bit later.

Our friend Erik(d6) designed a bespoke chat server so that the Uxn community could meet up through an interface designed specifically to interface nicely with tiny clients so we hacked together a little rom for it. Get in touch if you'd like to hang out on there!

Devine is performing in Montreal on October 11th, as Aliceffekt, at the AMP Festival 2025. They've also released a new album this month, called Ver'Iystl(Bandcamp), adding further dimension to the many places populating the Neauismetica. Let us know if you're planning to come!

Book Club: This month we are reading The Glass Bead Game by Hermann Hesse, and we are continuing to read Middlemarch by George Eliot.

Summary of changes for August 2025

Hey everyone!

This is the list of all the changes we've done to our projects during the month of August.

Wiktopher, updated songs.
100r.ca, updated cast iron cookware(seasoning oil suggestions).
Punk Rabbits, completed 15 new rabbits(#19-34).
Orca, pushed a little update that includes the string operator.
Solresol, illustrated some curwen signs.

In preparation for a programming class that's coming up, we've implemented a graphical tiny-BASIC runtime called Sunflower BASIC. It contains the essential blocks of a BASIC language interpreter with enough features to communicate elementary programming concepts and how each one is implemented. We've also released the Permacomputing 101 talk given at Critical Signals 2025 which covered a few interesting aspect of digital preservation and some tactics to craft software in a way that may last.

Choosing to remain in the Southern Gulf islands in August this year has permitted us to pick blackberries, plums and apples. We have incorporated the fruit into cakes, or just squished whole berries over morning toast. We processed some of the apples into jam, and are currently delighting in eating through the rest. We've also been experimenting with the solar cooker, preparing some cinnamon buns in it for the first time! See our cameo in our friend Peter's latest video.

Summary of changes for July 2025

Hey everyone!

This is the list of all the changes we've done to our projects during the month of July.

Catjam 2025, finished a small game called Polycat!
100r.ca, added Vancouver Island West Coast, Ucluelet, Port San Juan, Juan de Fuca Strait and Cadboro Bay.
Theme Editor, made a nicer theme editor for our tools ecosystem.
Punk Rabbits, started a drawing series of rabbit characters with the goal of making one hundred.

This month we sailed into the Juan de Fuca Strait, escorted by pods of orcas and a lone young humpback whale. The last time we had been here was in July 2020, on our way back from Japan. After weathering gale force winds at anchor in Becher Bay, we stopped in Port San Juan. The beaches there are covered in old growth driftwood, carried there by winter storms. Some trees are so large and have been there so long that people have installed swings on them. The way to Barkley Sound was bleak, we spent 10 hours of it in a fog bank, only to emerge near Cape Beale to a bright sun over jade-colored waters. We pulled into Ucluelet the next day, just in time to meet up with our friend Avi to view the building site for their upcoming boatyard project.

We spent a few days anchored in Barkley Sound, in an anchorage with the biggest population of hummingbirds we'd ever seen. The hummingbird visits were constant, with 3-4 buzzing around us at all times. During our stay there we completed our game entry for Catjam named Polycat. The game is very hard, but also very short. Watch a video of Devine playing the game.

In the second half of July, Pino sailed back to the Southern Gulf islands and stayed anchored alongside a friend, messing with their laser engraver, hiking, picking blackberries, and working on projects. Instead of hummingbirds, in Fulford, we had kingfishers, they really liked sitting on the wind vane's arrow on top of the mast. See this amazing drone footage shot by our friends aboard MV Poem.

Devine has been invited to talk about permacomputing at Critical Signals on August 12th. They will try to introduce some of the ideas that they find most interesting via practical examples. Save the date!

Book Club: This month we are reading Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie.

Summary of changes for June 2025

Hey everyone!

This is the list of all the changes we've done to our projects during the month of June.

100r.ca, updated costs, hauling out, united states and teapot gelcoat. Added san juan islands.
Rabbit Waves, added all content links to the main page, released a new page called Boatswain's Call.
Orca, embedded runtime in the reference guide.
Left, made lots of little improvements and optimizations!
Solresol, learnt some profanities in a musical conlang?

For a few days, Pino became a land creature, living on stilts, while we scrubbed and re-painted the lower part of the hull. Our propeller had a bit of a wobble, which we hope is now corrected. We also battled with the old wheel quadrant and were finally able to remove it, at least a part of it. Boaters have frequently helped us while we were in boatyards, and we are finally able to pay it forward. We offered both advice to those who asked and lent tools to folks that needed them. It felt nice. Teapot's new bottom has seen water for the first time, the new gelcoat will allow us to take it around into bays for many more years to come.

We spent many June days working on both Turnip Complete(Uxn book) and the enhanced version of the Victoria to Sitka Logbook, with frequent breaks to enjoy the beautiful places we found ourselves in.

The beginning of our sailing season has been very blustery, allowing for some good sailing, but also often forcing us to wait at anchor for clement weather. Later, we sailed through the San Juan Islands to meet up with some Merveillans on Blakely Island. We are very grateful to be part of a community of such kind, curious, and generous people. The image that was drawn for this month's update represents cooperation between members of Merveilles.

Book Club: This month we are reading Ill Met By Moonlight by Sarah A. Hoyt, Silmarillion by J.R.R Tolkien and Girl's Last Tour by Tsukumizu.

Summary of changes for May 2025

Hey everyone!

This is the list of all the changes we've done to our projects during the month of May.

100r.ca, updated Oquonie and water.
Modal, the interpreter was ported to Uxn!
Uxntal, the documentation has been completely redone!
Hakum, added page 7 and page 8 of Sabotage Study.

Oquonie was released on the Playdate Catalog this month! We'd like to thank everyone who sent us photos of their progress in the game, it has been nice to follow along. The game is kind of our first official release on a modern handheld platform, and we're happy to see that Uxn roms run well on it! It might be one of the first original Playdate games implemented that way?

In other news, Devine started working on a book, the working title is "Turnip Complete". The goal is to write a complete and stand-alone implementation guide for the Uxn virtual machine and devices, along with some example programs and thoughts about playful computery things. We might have something to show for it come autumn, maybe.

We've left Victoria for the summer, and are falling back into the groove of waking up at dusk to catch the tide. We have a quick haul out lined up, and afterward we'll be sailing around the Gulf Islands until the fall. We have lots of projects to finish up these next couple of months and can't wait to share them with you.

We share photos of life aboard throughout the month on our little photo site, if you're curious to see what the daily life aboard Pino is like.

Book Club: This month we are reading Artemis by Andy Weir, Gardening Without Work: For the Aging, the Busy and the Indolent by Ruth Stout and A History of Thinking on Paper by Roland Allen.

Summary of changes for April 2025

Hey everyone!

This is the list of all the changes we've done to our projects during the month of April.

100r.ca, updated water, ditch bag, woodstove installation, and added new photos and information on first-aid kit.
Rabbit Waves, updated Triangular Bandages with animated gifs, and First-Aid kit with new med suggestions (also appended a .txt list of meds and their intended use).
Hakum, began a new comic sequence named Sabotage Study(not yet completed).
Orca, modified the behavior of the lowercase-j operator to allow for jumpers to grow.
Solresol, improved the documentation.
Uxntal, improved the documentation.

The weather is getting warmer, which is perfect for airing out Pino's lockers, and drying off moldy clothes and tools. Anything stored in the v-berth lockers, below the waterline, suffer from extreme wetness. It is a very, very annoying fact of boat life, but there is really no way to bring good air flow in those spaces. We scrubbed the lockers clean, parted with items we no longer needed, and sent two laptops to the recycler.

In last month's update, we mentioned Flickjam, a game jam based on Increpare's Flickgame. We received a total of 27 entries! They're really fun, and all playable in the browser. Devine's jam entry is about a very adorable rabbit learning to play the word "rabbit" on a xylophone in Solresol.

Devine spent some time off the computer, skating and folding paper. The paper computer pages have been updated to cover some new ways in which computer emulators can be operated on paper. While on that subject, we highly recommend Tadashi Tokieda's excellent talk named A world from a sheet of paper.

Another item on Devine's list was to gradually phase out Uxnasm.c in favor of the self-hosted assembler. We're not 100% pleased yet, but it is getting closer to retirement.

Starting on May 20th 2025(1000 PST/PDT) the Playdate Catalogue will include Oquonie. The game is also available on our itch.io store.

The video for Devine's November 2024 talk A Shining Place Built Upon The Sand is now on YouTube.

Book Club: This month we are reading Banvard's Folly by Paul Collins, Einstein's Dreams by Alan Lightman, and we are still making progress on the The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt.

Summary of changes for March 2025

Hey everyone!

This is the list of all the changes we've done to our projects during the month of March.

Summary Of Changes

In the above illustration, little Ninj is going through a first-aid kit, looking through our supplies to see what needs to be topped off and what is out-of-date. Rek drew a list of suggestions on what to include in both a first-aid and a medical kit for the Rabbit Waves project, we plan to add more items soon(thanks to everyone on Mastodon who suggested additions! It'll be in the April update).

We will spend the first few days of April participating in Flickjam, making small games in the style of Flickgame, a tool originally made by Increpare, in which the world is navigated by clicking on pixels of different colors to head in different directions. Devine ported Flickgame to Varvara, and wrote a compiler for flick games to uxn roms.

This past month, Rek finished transcribing the entire 15 weeks of the Victoria to Sitka logbook! We have plans to turn it into a book, in the style of Busy Doing Nothing, with tons of extra content and illustrations.

March was a very good month for silly calendar doodles. Our paper calendar is always in view, it documents important events like releases, appointments, as well as food, memes, and other noteworthy things that happened on each day.

Book Club: This month we are still reading The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt(it's a long book).

Summary of changes for February 2025

Hey everyone!

This is the list of all the changes we've done to our projects during the month of February.

Summary Of Changes

100r.ca, added Dinghy gelcoat, Week 10, Week 11, and Week 12 of the Victoria to Sitka logbook. Updated solar with new pictures and corrected information (this page used to be called solar tips).
Nebu, released a spreadsheet editor.
Grimgrains, added a new recipe: Stovetop zaatar pizza.
Store, added maritime flag stickers for sale.
Rabbit Waves, added a new page: Emergency Bag. Updated Morse Code with Flags page with animations, released a printable zine(see how to fold a zine).

On February 14th, we celebrated our 9th year living aboard our beloved Pino. Read a short text by Devine, which expands on what it means to truly be a generalist.

Despite the weather being less-than-ideal, we were able to install our replacement solar panels, and revisit our notes on solar installations.

Devine completed Nebu, a spritesheet editor as well as a desktop calendar, alongside many other little desktop utilities. Nebu is just over 8.3 kB, a bit less than a blank excel file.

In times of increasing climate and political instability, it is a good time to get together with your community and make plans for emergencies. Consider reading Tokyo Bosai about disaster preparedness, this elaborate document deals with disasters that occur specifically in Japan, but many of the recommendations are useful regardless. We released a new page on rabbit waves with suggestions on what to pack in an Emergency Bag. Remember, every emergency bag is different, and what is essential varies per person.

We also put together a print-it-yourself zine, which combines useful information about Morse Code and Signal Flags. If you have printed the zine and don't know how to fold it, see Rek's illustrated instructions. Speaking of signal flags, we printed stickers of Rek's ICS flag drawings.

The nice weather finally arrived this week and we were able to redo Teapot's gelcoat. This was our first time working with gelcoat, our friends Rik & Kay, who lent us their workspace, were very patient and generous teachers. We will continue the project later when the gelcoat has cured.

Book Club: This month we are reading The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt.

Summary of changes for January 2025

Hey everyone!

This is the list of all the changes we've done to our projects during the month of January.

Summary Of Changes

100r.ca, added a new page: tote. Added Week 8 and Week 9 of the Victoria to Sitka logbook.
Tote, released the project on itch.io.
Grimgrains, added a new recipe: chocolate turtles.
Left, added an option to collapse the nav bar on the left.
Orca, added community links.

Devine spent time improving the html5 Uxn emulator, and thanks to their hard work it is now possible to play Niju, Donsol, and Oquonie directly in the browser on itch.io, the same goes for projects like Noodle and Tote.

It's been a long time coming, but Oquonie is now playable on Playdate. Rek spent the last week converting the 2-bit assets for Oquonie to 1-bit, because some of the characters and tiles were too difficult to read, now all of the assets work perfectly on monochromatic screens. As an amazing plus, Devine got the music and sounds working perfectly, just like in the original iOS version.

From January 19-25th, we both participated in Goblin Week, an event in which you make goblins every day for a week(whatever that means to you). See the goblin series made by Rek(viewable here in higher rez also) and the one made by Devine(Mastodon).

Pino has earned two new replacement solar panels this month! We have not installed them yet, it is still too cold outside in Victoria (we are expecting snow this week).

We share photos often in our monthly updates, and so Devine spent time building our very own custom photo feed named Days. It is possible to follow the feed with RSS.

Book Club: This month we are reading How do You Live? by Genzaburo Yoshino and Middlemarch by George Eliot.

Summary of changes for December 2024

Hey everyone!

This is the list of all the changes we've done to our projects during the month of December.

Summary Of Changes

100r.ca, updated the documentation for our various projects.
Left, added support for unicode input(Mastodon).
Rabbit Waves, added a page on Air to Ground Signals.
December Adventure, collected Devine's code experiments.

Before diving into the ins and outs of the past year, we'd like to begin by sending our very warmest thanks to everyone who generously hosted us, drove us to the hardware store, invited us out for fries to cheer us up, fixed typos in the books, improved the documentation, lent us power-tools, donated to the studio, spent hours to show us how to fix broken things and corrected us when we were wrong.

During the first few weeks of the year, we were busy with planning our upcoming sail north to Alaska, during which a DDoS attack took down many of our repositories and precipitated our decentralizing of the project source files. Mirroring our projects across multiple forges and diversifying the means in which they were available became necessary.

In preparation for the heavy weather up north, we strengthened the chainplates and replaced a few experienced halyards. In fact, our most vivid memories of the early spring was of the blisters we made splicing dyneema. We've also built ourselves a gimballed stove with space for an open pantry allowing us to store more fresh vegetables by doing away with the oven.

Our summer was spent exploring the Northern Canada and Alaskan coastline to test the recent boat projects, a sort of shakedown if you will, in preparation for plans we may divulge in a future update. During our transit, we began writing down notes on various forms of analog communication which have now mostly fallen into obscurity. These notes later became an integral part of the Rabbit Waves project, created with the hope of sparking an interest in these valuable but vanishing skillsets.

Through it all, we continued improving the Uxn ecosystem documentation and toolchain, which has played a central role in our work now for four years! We've also explored other enticing avenues where small robust virtual machines could be used for knowledge preservation, namely Conway's Fractran, which all came together into the Shining Sand talk given at the the year's end.

We're looking cautiously forward to the challenges that awaits us all in 2025. Approaching these adversarial forces with collective tactical preparedness and clarity is more important than ever, and we shall all rise to the occasion!

We had a lot of really good wildlife moments this year, and so the last drawing of 2024 is of a half-mooning seal.

Book Club: This month we are reading The Secret History by Donna Tartt. Our favorite book this year was West with the Night by Beryl Markham, see all of the other books we read in 2024.

Summary of changes for November 2024

Hey everyone!

This is the list of all the changes we've done to our projects during the month of November.

Summary Of Changes

100r.ca, added an article named A Shining Place Built Upon The Sand, and Week 6 to the Victoria to Sitka Logbook.
Rabbit Waves, added a page on Morse Code and on Morse Code with flags.
Left, redesigned with a bigger font, for aging eyes.

Our website has a new look! The illustrated algae-eared rabbit nav helped solve the problem of navigating on mobile. We added a lot of information to this wiki over the years, creating separate portals for its evergrowing content was inevitable, we hope you like the re-design. Some of the content has shifted, and we've simplified many of the pages.

A couple of folks on Merveilles got together recently and made a Diablo Tribute tape. A limited run of physical cassettes are currently in production, but in the meantime the tribute album is available to download on Bandcamp.

Next month on December 6th, Devine will share the stage with Iszoloscope, Oddie(Orphx) & Creature at Foufounes Electriques in Montréal as part of AMP Industrial Events. Then on the 7th, we will both(remotely) present a summary of all the interesting analog communication schemes that inspired and found their way into Rabbit Waves and Wiktopher for Iterations 2024 organized by Creative Coding Utrecht.

Devine's talk for Handmade Seattle 2024 entitled A Shining Palace Built Upon the Sand was released online(YouTube), we also released the written transcript.

Due to the ongoing Canada Post strike we had to close the sale of stickers in our store, we'll let you know once we resume operations (this also applies to Patreon supporters, we'll ship perks your way as soon as we can).

Book Club: This month we are still reading The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle.

Summary of changes for October 2024

Hey everyone!

This is the list of all the changes we've done to our projects during the month of October.

Summary Of Changes

100r.ca, added Rabbit Waves and Logbooks. Updated woodstove installation, no windlass with 1 photo, mini dodger and Victoria to Sitka logbook with Week 3 and 4.

Pino is back in Victoria. Being back in a city also means that we are shipping sticker sheets again! Devine found a spirograph set at a thrift store for 5$, we now make patterns on every letter we ship.

We are happy to announce the official release of Rabbit Waves! The idea for the project came after discussing the disappearance of certain traditional seasteading skills and maritime communication knowledge that we believe are valuable when electronics misbehave, but that are also just generally fun to learn and use. The world of the micro-site will grow as we think of new ideas to expand it.

Devine participated in Drawtober again this year and completed a zine that teaches the basics of multiset rewriting with examples, it also includes the source for a tiny Fractran interpreter. Since its release, many people have printed their own. Avanier went a step further and re-drew the zine on black paper! Devine also released an interactive version, and CapitalEx created with it a beautiful little world to explore! Handmade Seattle 2024 is coming up, Devine will be there to talk about weird computer stuff, and will hand out copies of the zine too.

This year, we carved a Calcifer pumpkin (see our other Halloween pumpkins).

Book Club: This month we read The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle.

Summary of changes for September 2024

Hey everyone!

This is the list of all the changes we've done to our projects during the month of September.

Summary Of Changes

100r.ca, added a new page: Victoria to Sitka logbook.
M291, added support for Cyrillic glyphs.
Fractran, released what might be the most in-depth documentation of Conway's programming language out there.
Now Lie In It, a look back at what has happened with Uxn since its creation 4 years ago.

September started off warm, but got cold and windy fast, we spent lots of time sitting by the woodstove drinking tea. As promised, we have begun transcribing the Victoria to Sitka logbook digitally, we release one week's worth of logs at a time. We populated the logs with photos and Rek's sketches(also sourced from the handwritten logbook). End of the month, we closed our summer 2024 sailing route, Pino has traveled very far this year! We made 76(!!!) stops over a period of 5 months, sailing 1900 NM.

We announced a new project this month named Rabbit Waves. It will serve as a vessel to expand, in a playful way, on some of our favourite things. Expect lots of art featuring root vegetable root-shaped sailboats, rabbits, and seabirds! The website will host more content next month.

For 3 years now, we've had a monthly hand-drawn calendar in the galley that we cover with doodles, at the end of the year, Rek binds the 12 pages together, and it makes it easy to look back at where we were, what we were doing at a previous time. Everyday has some kind of highlight or other. It's one of our favourite habits.

Listen to Devine's remix of SOPHIE's One More Time feat. Popstar.

Book Club: This month we read Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir. We are forever in love with Rocky.

Summary of changes for August 2024

Hey everyone!

This is the list of all the changes we've done to our projects during the month of August.

Summary Of Changes

100r.ca, added new pages: Sointula, Johnstone Strait anchorages, and Central coast anchorages. Updated existing pages: added Yuculta and Dent rapids with southbound tactics, no windlass with 3 new photos, lpg with troubleshooting, and gimballed stove with performance tests.
Left, added support for macros.
Uxnfor, added support for macros.
Uxn, found a tiny optimization that makes things a bit faster.
M291, started a little music player for Uxn11.
Wiktopher, updated some Solresol words in the Ilken songs featured in the book.
Hakum, added a new comic named Smile.
Wunderland Rabbits, added a new rabbit pic.

This month, Pino reached the northern tip of Vancouver Island, sailed south through Johnstone Strait, and into calmer, familiar waters on the 11th of August. Both of us were eager for a taste of summer weather, we hoped to catch what was left of it. Our legs demanded an anchorage with options for walking, so we chose to anchor in Hathayim Marine Park. The lovely people on the sailboat Nanamuk were anchored here too, they mapped many of the trails in the area, even the overgrown, less-traveled routes. We updated our summer route map through northern B.C.

From May 1st to August 11th, like with our book Busy Doing Nothing, Rek kept a detailed logbook of daily happenings onboard. We hope to publish these notes to this wiki soon.

Book Club: This month we are reading The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle, The Design of Everyday Things by Don Norman, and Everyday Utopia: What 2000 years of Wild Experiments Can Teach Us About the Good Life by Kristen R. Ghodsee.

Summary of changes for July 2024

Hey everyone!

This is the list of all the changes we've done to our projects during the month of July.

Summary Of Changes

100r.ca, added Sitka, and completed route in us se alaska.
Left, can now paste binary directly from programs like Nasu.
Hakum, added two drawings to the Characters section, and a new very short comic called Shoes.
Wiktopher, fixed some typos.
Markl, we don't have much of anything to show for it yet, but who knows, maybe this time it will work out!
Solrela, expanded Solresol dictionary.
Malleable Systems, wrote a little thing about extending compiled software with devtools.

Pino and crew have moved a lot in the past month. On the first of July, we were in Sitka, Southeast Alaska, and then on the last day of the month we were back in Millbrook Cove, very near to the top of Vancouver Island. We sailed 590 NM and stopped in 15 different anchorages.

Leaving Sitka, we sailed along the west coast of Southeast Alaska for a few days to try and take advantage of a good weather window, we had some engine issues which too motivated the need for such a long passage(see our track)—we spent two days troubleshooting the issue while anchored in Port Bazan, a bay far from everything, with no internet connection or way to talk to anybody, we were glad to have the physical engine manual on board. Sailing on open waters is always nice, we saw black-footed albatrosses, horned puffins, a whale per hour, and many more sea otters(Port Bazan was full of them).

After checking back into Prince Rupert, the way back south through Northern Canada was plagued with unfavorable winds, we had to beat into it, or travel on quiet waters to make progress. We resorted to doing short hops between anchorages, conditions did not permit for long distances. Doing short hops though did allow us to discover beautiful places we might have otherwise missed. We spent many grey days waiting for weather, reading, drawing, and beginning work on markl, we're giving it another go).

Book Club: This month we read Erewhon by Samuel Butler, Technophilia and Its Discontents by Ellen Ullman, The Democracy Of Species by Robin Wall Kimmerer, I Will Fight No More Forever by Merrill D. Beal, In Cold Blood by Truman Capote, and Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Woolf.

Summary of changes for June 2024

Hey everyone!

This is the list of all the changes we've done to our projects during the month of June.

Summary Of Changes

100r.ca, added Ketchikan, Snug Cove, Ratz Harbor, Frosty Bay, Berg Bay, Wrangell, Petersburg and Ruth Island Cove. Updated library.
Oekaki, optimized and added a selection tool.
Nasu, fixed selection issue.
Uxn5, redesigned and made responsive for mobile.
Uxndis, wrote a disassembler.
Uxnrepl, added step-by-step evaluation.

We spent all of June cruising through Southeast Alaska, we visited 4 cities and stopped by 14 different anchorages. On June 27th, 420 nautical miles later, we arrived in the beautiful town of Sitka — our favorite city so far.

We have sailed as far north as we are willing to go this year, at 57°N — the same latitude as Kodiak. Sailing in these waters has been challenging, there is a lot of current, and the wind is often light, or absent. Because of these frequent calms, Calcifer II has seen a lot of use this year. We will now slowly make our way back south, exploring new anchorages along the west coast of Southeast Alaska all the while. We continue to update our path in Alaska here, when we cross back into Canada we'll resume updates here.

Book Club: This month we are reading West With the Night by Beryl Markham.

Summary of changes for May 2024

Hey everyone!

This is the list of all the changes we've done to our projects during the month of May.

Summary Of Changes

100r.ca, added Frances Bay, Yuculta and Dent Rapids, Shoal Bay, Port Neville, Telegraph Cove, Port McNeill, Fury Cove, Prince Rupert, B.C. north coast anchorages, US Southeast Alaska and United States.
Paradise, implemented paradise in Modal.
Note Pad, added pen tool and line styles.
Oekaki, rect tool uses brush settings.
Adelie, tga images are now dithered.
Left, fixed issue for non-qwerty keyboards.

We spent this month moving northward through both southern and northern British Columbia. We've been moving almost every day, stopping every night to anchor, sleep and recuperate. Sailing near land is not as relaxing as sailing offshore, this reef-strewn coast requires careful navigation. We've had many long days of endless tacking from one side of the channel to the other, almost all the way to Port McNeill, then after that we started to get more weather from the south for some mostly pleasant, but cold and rainy, downwind sailing. We've been using our woodstove a lot, in evenings it helps warm the boat after a long sail.

On May 29th, 623 nautical miles miles after leaving Victoria, we arrived in Prince Rupert, our last major port in British Columbia before we head north to Southeast Alaska. Then, on June 2nd, we arrived in Ketchikan, Southeast Alaska. Most of our updates this month detail some of the places we've been(see the above list). To see our path, look at Western Canada and us se alaska. We update the map as we find internet.

We've seen sea otters, lots of humpback whales, two pods of orcas(one pod had a baby tagging along), eagles, and lots of mountains. In other non-travel related news, Devine is going to speak again at Handmade Seattle this upcoming November!

Pino book & movie club

Book Club: This month we are reading The Martian by Andy Weir.

Summary of changes for April 2024

Hey everyone!

This is the list of all the changes we've done to our projects during the month of April.

Summary Of Changes

100r.ca, added Twilight, updated our notes on chainplates, wheel to tiller conversion, cabin lights standing rigging replacement, Princess Louisa Inlet(added maps), Goji no Chaimu(added maps), and Sailing to Japan(fixed some dead links).
Hakum, released a new comic sequence called Kaizah.
Wunderland Rabbits, released a new Rabbit travel photo
Orca, added a note on the repository for the Javascript version titled Is Orca dead?

Devine has been busy working on the implementation and documentation of wryl's fantastic programming language Modal. Rewriting systems are a computation paradigm that is generally unknown and under-explored that might have some fascinating features that might be able help us to tackle some of our future projects.

In other news, Pino is ready to head northward! We finished all of our boats projects and left the dock on May 1st. See a photo of our first day of the year on the water, taken as we exited Enterprise Channel, just north of Trial Island south of Victoria. On our travels we will continue to push updates every month like usual, but the updates will only go live when we find internet, and this may or may not coincide with the start of every month. We will keep a log of our travels, populated with plenty of drawings!

Pino book & movie club

Book Club: This month we are reading The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand.

Summary of changes for March 2024

Hey everyone!

This is the list of all the changes we've done to our projects during the month of March.

Summary Of Changes

100r.ca, added chainplates, knots, washing dishes, receiving mail, updated our notes on diy carbonation system, and refrigeration.
Uxn, added 2 new commands to Varvara's System/expansion port and rewrote uxnasm.
Some toys, made a two-player implementation of Pong, and an orca that follows the cursor like that old classic flash web toy.
Left, improved the object inspector, it's much prettier now!
Kokorobot has a new splash page.

News

Pino now has all-new chainplates! We removed the original ones earlier this month to inspect them and found some pit corrosion(as well as a small crack), replacing them was necessary. With the chainplates gone, we removed the entire starboard side cabinet to see what was behind it—it's always nice to see parts of our boat we've never seen. We also replaced 3 old halyards on Pino. Devine earned themself a couple of blisters splicing dyneema onto some of our existing halyards.

Sejo revisited the Uxn tutorial, and appended corrections. The most important change is that the tutorial is now targeting the learn-uxn platform(online) maintained by metasyn. Now, people can jump right in and experiment without having to set up a dev environment. Tsoding, someone who can code in front of the camera in a language they've never used or read the docs for, did a pretty funny session in Uxntal, you can watch it here.

There has been too many exciting Uxn projects coming out these past few days, so we'll just put a link to the hashtag. Someone also created a Discord channel, it's a good place to learn about other concatenative languages and an alternative for people who have trouble with #uxn, in irc.libera.chat.

Pino book & movie club

This month we are reading The Last Great Sea by Terry Glavin, and we watched the movie Tenet.

Summary of changes for February 2024

Hey everyone!

This is the list of all the changes we've done to our projects during the month of February.

Summary Of Changes

100r.ca, added gimballed stove, open pantry, Little Ninj and LPG fume detection system. Updated galley refit and Western Canada(includes tidal/current resources).
Uxn, with the help of the community, we defined a specification on how labels and sublabels should be nested into each other. Assemblers were updated to reflect that change, including the Uxn REPL.
Left, added accented latin characters support, so you can read and write French and Spanish text files.
Potato, released a final version, added a screensaver(Mastodon).
Hakum, finished Ruler of the Taiga.

News

Late last month we started re-modeling part of our galley, the work is now complete! It's subtle, but the splash image for the log now includes the re-design. We will test our new galley when we go out cruising.

Pino will be adventuring a bit more north this summer, we're planning to explore the north coast of British Columbia, all the way to Prince Rupert, or possibly Ketchikan(AK), areas with little to no cell coverage. How far we go depends on what we find on the way. If the seas and winds are kind, and if we have time, we might go farther. We spend our days studying charts, gathering supplies, and fixing up the boat to make sure the passage is safe and pleasant. More updates on our plans soon!

Want to see something cool? Xsodect made Tetris(Mastodon) in Orca.

Pino book & movie club

This month we watched The Race to Alaska Movie.

Summary of changes for January 2024

Hey everyone!

This is the list of all the changes we've done to our projects during the month of January.

Summary Of Changes

100r.ca, added galley refit, updated lifelines, seamed box cushions, and moisture prevention underliner.
Permacomputing, revamped the page.
Flappy Bird, released an Uxn version of the Flappy Bird game.
Grimgrains, released a new basic recipe: Whole Wheat Pancakes.
Aliceffekt, Devine wrote some new music.

On January 10th the forge that we use to host our projects was taken down by DDoS attacks and was struggling to come back online(it's back now, read the post-mortem), the event reminded us that we ought to host mirrors and release versions of these source files ourselves. We have begun to host copies across our various websites. The builds are still accessible through itch.io. These will be automatically updated as we work on them in their individual repositories, but mirrored there for reliability. We are thankful for Sourcehut's tireless work on resolving the issue and for taking the time to communicate important changes.

In keeping with the spirit of improving the resilience of the tools we use we've taken a moment to write a kind of pocket version of the console emulator and self-hosted assembler as to see how many lines are needed to start from the seed assembler and replicate it. A copy of the pocket emulator, the source for the assembler and its hexadecimal representation have been documented.

On January 17th Victoria got its first snowfall, with it came temperatures below freezing. We got to test our recent improvements, like a new louvered closet vent to help ventilate the space(there are also two existing vents at the top, one on each side). The closet has been dry for the first time in 3 years. We've made an effort not to keep too many items on the floor so the area can breathe. We got ice inside of the windows for the first time ever though... not ideal.

See Uxn running on a Zaurus Husky(Mastodon).

Pino book club

This month we are reading The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson.

Summary of changes for December 2023

Hey everyone!

This is the list of all the changes we've done to our projects during the month of December.

Summary Of Changes

100r.ca, added solar cooking experiment, making seamed box cushions, making saloon cushions, moisture prevention underliner, and board games. Updated charging electronics, and upholstery.
Wiktopher, released the book on paperback.
Wunderland Rabbits, added a new photo.
GrimGrains, added millet dumplings, and vegetable curry.
December Adventure, Devine wrote a daily devlog for the month, documenting various projects like Porporo(an OS).
Lispkit, wrote a PureLisp compiler and emulator for the SECD stack-machine.
Grail, made a little shorthand calligraphy and interpreter.

News

Wiktopher was released on paperback! Our small collection of self-published books is growing.

We finished the upholstery in the saloon, Pino feels like a new boat. We also published an article on this past summer's Solar Cooking Experiment.

Last September Devine and a group of people went on a 3-day train ride from Seattle to St Louis for the last edition of Strange Loop 2023. This video documents that journey.

As mentionned in November's update, Tinyletter, the service we use to send out our monthly newsletter, is shutting down in February 2024. We will now be using Sourcehut to send our monthly updates. With this new system our emails will be leaner than ever, using plain text(no html). We cannot transfer accounts to this new list ourselves, so if you want to keep receiving updates by email please sign up again here. Clicking on the subscribe button will open your email client, you can leave the body and subject of the email blank. We will keep sending newsletters with TinyLetter until the end of January 2024, so as to give people time to make the switch. If you sign up to this new list, unsuscribe from the old newsletter to avoid getting two emails with the same content for December and January. We hope you continue to follow our updates.

Note that since it's our first time sending updates with the new newsletter format, it may look a little wonky. We'll improve on it next month.

2023 was kind to us, we look forward to seeing what 2024 brings! We hope the coming year treats you all well.

Pino book & movie club

This month we are reading The Tartar Steppe by Dino Buzzati, and we went to see 君たちはどう生きるか(The Boy and the Heron).

Summary of changes for November 2023

Hey everyone!

This is the list of all the changes we've done to our projects during the month of November.

Summary Of Changes

Wiktopher, drew some new art(Mastodon), finalized a few translations(Mastodon), and released it the project on Itchio!
Thousand Rooms, translated the book(Mastodon) into Solresol.
100r.ca, added a still map of our Pacific circumnavigation in where, added repair, effect of combining dissimilar metals, bikes on a boat, upholstery and updated lifelines.
Busy Doing Nothing, added GPS coordinates(Mastodon) for every listed day of travel.
Hakum, designed handwritten font for the comic and wrote a post about the process.
Elmet Brae, released a collaborative album with members of the Merveilles community and friends. Made the album cover in collaboration with Rostiger, who also made the Varvara Zine.
Solrela, released a Solresol translator website to replace the now defunct Sidosi translator.

News

Wiktopher is finally finished. We started this book in 2017 while in French Polynesia, constrained by power limitations and hardware failures. Writing demanded less energy than drawing digitally, Rek could use the Chromebook to work (see tools ecosystem). You can read the first two chapters of the finished story here[4.1 MiB] as a PDF. If you liked what you've read, we hope you'll consider reading the rest!

We treated ourselves this month to new saloon cushions(see upholstery). We sleep and live on these, it's so nice to have plump cushions again!

IMPORTANT. You may have heard but the service we use to send our newsletter(TinyLetter) is shutting down early next year (Feb 2024). We are in the process of setting up an alternative, we'll provide details on that in December's newsletter and on this website.

Pino book & movie club

We are reading Thomas Pynchon's The Crying of Lot 49, and enjoyed watching Close Encounters of the Third Kind.

Summary of changes for October 2023

Hey everyone! This is the list of all the changes we've done to our projects and apps during the month of October. We'll also be reporting in our on position in the world, and on our future plans.

Summary Of Changes

Thousand Rooms, added a Brazilian Portuguese version.
Wunderland Rabbits, traveled to a botanical garden, and went to pick apples.
Uxn5, Alex W. is writing a Vanilla JS implementation, in which you can drag roms into the window(Mastodon) to play them. Eiríkr wrote an guide on how to use signed numbers.
Hakum, added 3 pages.
100r.ca, added 3 travel maps in Western Canada.

News

This month we got tattooed(Mastodon) by the very talented Lizbeth. Check out her tattoo art.

Devine's Strange Loop 2023 talk was released online, watch it here(YouTube). We also released the talk as a text version, Computing and sustainability, for those who prefer to read. We talked with the members of Frugarilla on their latest podcast(French), in which we finally admit that our whole thing is a sneaky way of getting programmers interested in food preservation.

Every year we carve halloween pumpkins, this year we made a Uxn pumpkin!

See Oquonie running on a linux handheld(Mastodon).

Pino book club

We are reading Selma Lagerlöf's The Wonderful Adventures of Nils.

Summary of changes for September 2023

Hey everyone! This is the list of all the changes we've done to our projects and apps during the month of September. We'll also be reporting in our on position in the world, and on our future plans.

Summary Of Changes

Wiktopher, adapted Solresol, edited other conlangs.
Niju, fixed a drawing bug.
Oquonie, working on the Playdate version.

News

Pino returned to the Victoria docks a little early this year so Devine could go to Strange Loop 2023. We had a lovely sail that day, with clear skies, and 10 kts on the beam. Despite being a little food and sleep deprived, Devine's presentation went well, we will share the recording here once it is released.

Rek has been busy editing Wiktopher, finessing the conlangs featured in the story. One of the featured languages is Ilken, a whistled language, designed for long-distance communication, and playable with instruments. A few years ago Devine designed a language for it, but we decided to instead use a modern variation of Solresol, a musical language by Jean-François Sudre. Rek drew a fanart of the mascot of Solresol, and Devine a communication lantern.

Currently, Devine is working at translating Thousand Rooms(Famimi Remisolla) in Solresol as practice. We're also editing a Brazilian Portuguese version, to be released next month.

We've been toying with the idea of making an audiobook for the story, and asked Paul B. to use their voice synthesis tool Gesture to try and hear what a poem in Ilken(Solresol) sounds like. The result was so lovely that it made Rek cry of joy.

Rek's sketch thread(Mastodon) is still going. Devine will be producing a lot more art next month for Drawtober!

Pino book club

We are reading J.D. Salinger's Catcher in the Rye, and B. F. Skinner's Walden Two.

Summary of changes for August 2023

Hey everyone! This is the list of all the changes we've done to our projects and apps during the month of August. We'll also be reporting in our on position in the world, and on our future plans.

Summary Of Changes

100r.ca, added Heriot Bay, Ballet Bay Octopus Islands, and updated Hathayim Marine Park, rain, and boom tent.
Oekaki, released a new drawing program.
Varvara, began versioning.

News

Pino sailed a bit more northward this month and went all the way to the Octopus Islands. We visited this place during a very windy week, with winds blowing 30-35 kts the entire time. We got acquainted with a few northern rapids, like Hole in the Wall and Surge Narrows. It is a bit of a mindfuck to think that in these waters the tide ebbs north and floods south.

This summer has been especially arid, and because of it the province has seen a lot forest fires (see pictures of our smokey transit). Trails that we know and love on Cortes Island, that are usually wet and muddy, were bone dry this year. We had a few days of hard rain, during that time we collect rain water and go for walks to look for slugs and snails.

Both of us have been drawing a lot this month, see this Neoneve portrait(Mastodon) by Devine (drawn with Oekaki), and this sketch thread(Mastodon) by Rek..

Pino book club

We have read Adam Wisniewski-Snerg's Robot, George Orwell's Homage to Catalonia, and Michael A. Hiltzik's Dealers of Ligthning.

Summary of changes for July 2023

Hey everyone! This is the list of all the changes we've done to our projects and apps during the month of July. We'll also be reporting in our on position in the world, and on our future plans.

Summary Of Changes

Slide Rule, released a little slide rule toy(Mastodon).
100r.ca, added roscoe bay, updated LPG refit.
wiktopher, we finished doing the entire first pass of corrections.
Left, made a couple of interface improvements, it's not only prettier now, but faster.
Drifblim, added support for lambdas in Uxntal, now also supported in uxnasm.

News

We spent many quiet days in Roscoe Bay, and then wandered over to melanie cove for a few days before moving to our favorite anchorage in Desolation Sound, Hathayim Marine Park. This inlet is quiet, and not overly busy, it is ideal for focusing on projects. We walk the 3 km trail to Squirrel Cove everyday.

We have been hard at work reviewing Wiktopher, and we're happy to announce that we've finished the first pass of corrections! We'll be doing many more passes, but this was a very big step. Rek has been drawing(Mastodon) a lot, and Devine has been working on their presentation for Strange Loop 2023.

Check out this amazing Uxn cheat sheet by Nettie!

Pino book & movie club

We are reading Lewis Carrol's Bruno and Sylvie. We re-watched Vampire Hunter D for the hundredth time.

Summary of changes for June 2023

Hey everyone! This is the list of all the changes we've done to our projects and apps during the month of June. We'll also be reporting in our on position in the world, and on our future plans.

Summary Of Changes

100r.ca, added propeller maintenance, Maple Bay, Telegraph Cove, Smuggler Cove and Princess Louisa Inlet.
Wiktopher, added back the revised/corrected version of Chapter 10, back online, and Chapter 11 has been corrected but is not yet live.
UxnFor, created an uxntal code formatter.
Bicycle, added lots of little improvements.
Adelie, added speaker's notes and a pen mode.

News

Pino spent the first few days of the month on land, having its bottom re-painted, and its various bits serviced and checked. We took our propeller apart for the first time.

We've added a few write-ups of our travels so far (see above entry with links under 100r.ca), but the most significant one is our 46nmi sail up to Princess Louisa Inlet, a long fjord on British Columbia's Sunshine Coast, with an incredible gem at the end. It is an amazing, and unique place. We're glad we finally got to go. As we write this, we are in Roscoe Bay on West Redonda Island, tethering off a phone hoisted up the mast (it works quite well).

This summer we are power stable. We had issues last year because of parisitic draws due to old wiring (see DC electrical refit), but now everything is working as it should. We're charging our computers without an inverter, and that too is working out quite well so far (see charging electronics).

Together, Hikari and Lynn made chibicc-uxn, a c compiler for Uxn, and with it also released a port of the classic software Neko(xneko, oneko sakura).

Pino book & movie club

We are reading Arkady and Boris Strugatsky's Roadside Picnic. We've been re-watching Kaamelott(the series, book 1 though 6) for the hundredth time.

Summary of changes for May 2023

Hey everyone! This is the list of all the changes we've done to our projects and apps during the month of May. We'll also be reporting in our on position in the world, and on our future plans.

Summary Of Changes

100r.ca, updated jib cars, and added new recommendations on the offshore checklist(new entries labelled with dates).
Donsol, Asie made some 3DS and NDS roms(Mastodon).
Wiktopher, added the revised and corrected version of Chapter 8, and Chapter 9, back online.
Uxnbal, wrote a type-checker, it's still very experimental, but it can infer most imbalancing stack-effects.
Bicycle, created a little interactive evaluator designed to be a teaching aid.

News

Pino is off the dock, and spending time at anchor. The weather has been excellent, and with days of full comes sun solar cooking! We baked some bread, and roasted some green coffee beans in the sun. We are enjoying some quiet days before we haul the boat out of the water at the start of June.

Devine's talk proposal to Strange Loop 2023 has been accepted, so parts of the summer will be collecting our notes and writing slides for the presentation in September.

The recording for the show Devine(Alicef) did with Anju Singh and Reylinn(visuals) last march for Biosonic on Galiano Island is online, watch it here.

We had a small impromptu logo jam event on Merveilles this month. Members of the community re-interpreted the logo, with illustrations, photo collages, and even food. See all of the entries so far. Nf just completed Fourtette, a block game. Devine provided guidance, Rek made the title screen art, and d6 provided music.

Pino book & movie club

We went to the theater for the first time in a long time, to see Suzume(2023). We have also finished reading Saint-Exupery's Courrier Sud.

Summary of changes for April 2023

Hey everyone! This is the list of all the changes we've done to our projects and apps during the month of April. We'll also be reporting in our on position in the world, and on our future plans.

Summary Of Changes

100r.ca, added charging electronics, solar cooking and solar evacuated tube cooking, and updated insulation, thruhulls.
Oquonie, released the game for Uxn. We have a Windows95+ compatible version[Mastodon video].
Left, various UX improvements, including negative length selection.
Note Pad, ported the classic macintosh Note Pad application to Varvara, download it here.
Turye, total redesign.
Beetbug, added support for comments in symbol files.

Oquonie is out and it is playable! A big thank you to those who helped us test the game on a variety of devices and systems all the way to Windows95. This version of Oquonie differs a little from the original, in that some of the puzzles and secrets have changed. We hope that those who played the original will too enjoy this one. We have a special build of the game on itchio with the emulator and rom combined, if you have a false-negative virus warning on Windows 10, you will need to use the standard uxn32 emulator and rom.

We have watched as people implemented their own emulators and were able to play Oquonie on a Varvara of their own making. The current implementation documentation might need to be improved, if you have feedback for things that could be clearer, please let us know!

We published our experiments with solar cooking this month, and wrote a more detailed post on solar evacuated tube cooking. The real test will happen this summer. We plan to keep a log of everything we cook, how long it takes, and the conditions(sun, overcast, temp etc).

We're still closing a few projects aboard Pino, to get it ready for some summer sailing. Our plans for now are loose, we're hauling the boat out of the water in early June, with plans to sail back towards Desolation Sound afterward, with a possible stop by Jervis Inlet.

Pino book & movie club

We're watching La Belle Verte by Coline Serreau.

Summary of changes for March 2023

Hey everyone! This is the list of all the changes we've done to our projects during the month of March.

Summary Of Changes

Donsol, added 100r logo to splash screen on the rom.
100r.ca, added a new page: diy carbonation system. Updated Saving fuel, Engine rebuild and sprouting.
Grimgrains, added two new recipes: Beet Sauce Pasta, and Mac and Faux Cheese.
Left, added all sorts of fun new things like routine definition highlight and graphics support.
Hakum, new comics named Who Did What and Disengaging.
Orca, added $bpm command to the uxn version.
Uxn, revamped Uxntal documentation based on the feedback from the community (thanks everyone).
Interaction Nets, spent time in the deep-end of the pool.

News

We spent the first half of March on Galiano Island in the Salish Sea for BioSonic(by ActivePassive), an event series exploring the intersections of music, art and biodiversity. On March 10th we gave a talk titled What Are Computers For?, see the art from the talk. The next day, Devine and Anju Singh performed together using Orca, with Reylinn on visuals. A video of the perfomance and of the talk will be released soon, in the meantime, see photos of the talk and of the show, taken by photographer Dayna Szyndrowski.

We are still working on re-releasing Oquonie. We spent the month of March playing the game, finding bugs, and fixing them. Oquonie will be playable next month.

This month we've been experimenting with solar cooking, to try to save on cooking fuel this summer. We are currently making tests, gathering data, and hope to share this with you all end of April. In the meantime, enjoy this amazing music by Xsodect, made using Orca.

Pino book club

We're reading Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs (SICP) by Harold Abelson, Gerald Jay and Julie Sussman.

Summary of changes for February 2023

Hey everyone! This is the list of all the changes we've done to our projects and apps during the month of February. We'll also be reporting in our on position in the world, and on our future plans.

Summary Of Changes

Wiktopher, added back corrected chapters 1-7 to online.
Left, made a ton of improvements including a new directory navigation, better navbar labels and performance.
Orca, fixed an issue where copy/paste/drag would move characters off-screen.
Catclock, ported to new opcodes and improved monochromatic mode.
Beetbug, added an interactive mode that interprets uxntal on the fly.
Hakum, added a comic sequence named Tracking.
100r.ca, added updates to battery connections.
Grimgrains, added some notes on Temperature for lacto-fermentation.

News

On February 14th, we celebrated our 7th year living aboard our beloved Pino. It's also around this time 10 years ago that we were still living in Odaiba(Japan), and beginning our work on what would be our first game collaboration: oquonie.

The uxn port of Oquonie has advanced in incredible leaps this month. Rek has finished re-doing all of the assets. Devine is now working on the music, and finalizing some of the levels. We are testing the game as we go, and hope to release it sometime next month. Oquonie will be playable on a number of platforms, including the Nintendo DS(Mastodon), as well as the Playdate. See a small preview(Mastodon).

Early next month we are traveling to Galiano Island in the Salish Sea for BioSonic(by ActivePassive). We'll be part of an event series exploring the intersections of music, art and biodiversity. We'll give a talk on March 10th, and Devine will perform with Orca on the 11th at the Galiano South Hall.

Watch Devine's set for Lovebyte 2023.

Pino book club

We're reading Courrier Sud by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry.

Summary of changes for January 2023

Hey everyone! This is the list of all the changes we've done to our projects and apps during the month of January. We'll also be reporting in our on position in the world, and on our future plans.

Summary Of Changes

100r.ca, added electrical refit(portal for AC & DC electrical refit), and updated LPG refit.
Wiktopher, corrected chapter 8, and nearly done with lexicon.
Weathering software winter, video(Vimeo) now has closed-captionning (same goes for YouTube version). Rek spent time cleaning up the auto-generated transcript.
Uxn, Andrew released Uxn32 2.0.
Potato, added updates, potato can now assemble roms from tal files.

News

This month, we started porting Oquonie to Uxn. This is a long time coming, but we weren't sure if it was possible to do, and we still had a lot to learn before even thinking of taking it on. Now, we think we are ready. We are re-drawing the sprites(Mastodon), and they look amazing. This is an important test for us, and for Uxn.

Here is a very adorable little Uxn sprite for Potato that comes up when a rom path was mistyped, see it also on the Uxn page.

Pino book club

We're reading The Journey Home: Some Words in Defense of the American West by Edward Abbey.

Summary of changes for December

Hey everyone! This is the list of all the changes we've done to our projects and apps during the month of December. We'll also be reporting in our on position in the world, and on our future plans.

Summary Of Changes

100r.ca, added a new page: electrical refit, fuel sensor, marine wire termination, also added updates to XPS and EPS in winter insulation.
Orca, released a new build that improves the look and feel, added app icon(Mastodon) to the about modal.
Busy Doing Nothing, released a new version, in which we fixed extra typing errors (thanks Igor), and added explanations for certain sailing terms like reefing, etc.
Wiktopher, corrected chapter 6 and 7.
Beetbug, added break-point and symbols supports.
Took a detour into computer science to learn about arity testing and stack effect checking, learn more about it here.
TinyCode2022, spent some time doing demoscene experiments.

News

The rabbits are re-wiring Pino. So far this month, we spent entire afternoons removing, and passing new wires into the boat's walls and ceiling. This project has taken up most of our time this month. For updates on the project, see electrical refit. We also released an edited transcript of Devine's talk weathering software winter, for those who prefer to read.

We forgot to mention it in the last update, but Compudanzas just released a new version of their introduction to uxn programming book! The online tutorial also had some updates.

Happy new year everyone! See more photos of Pino(on the far left) and friends decorated for the occasion.

Pino book club

We're reading Le Péril Bleu by Maurice Renard.

Summary of changes for November

Hey everyone! This is the list of all the changes we've done to our projects and apps during the month of November. We'll also be reporting in our on position in the world, and on our future plans.

Summary Of Changes

GrimGrains, added a quick grilled cheese recipe.
Noodle, updated the guide, and added app icon(Mastodon) to the about modal.
Nasu, added app icon(Mastodon) to the about modal.
Store, added sheets of Ecosystem Rabbit Stickers(gen2) to the store.
Uxntal, created a list of Uxntal examples with equivalent C sources, you can find them here.
Wiktopher, made a progress bar (50% in the correction process) on the project page. We have finished processing chapter 5, and are currently applying corrections to chapter 6 & 7.
Donsol, updated GBA rom with a few fixes.
Soroban, made a little desktop graphical abacus(Mastodon).
Uxn, ported to DuskOS(SourceHut).
Dexe, redesigned and much faster(SourceHut).

We put some red lights on Pino, to help combat winter gloom. We also started growing another lion's mane mushroom on board(we grew the same variety last fall), it already has a little tuft!

Devine's talk Weathering Software Winter for Handmade Seattle was recorded, watch it here(Vimeo). The video is for the entire first day of the conference, so for your convenience Devine's talk starts at 1h25min.

A little while ago Rostiger drew an amazing series of illustrations explaining Uxn, and how it works. Ben made a zine out of it and gave us a copy. Make your own Uxn zine using this PDF[1.38 MB].

Pino book club

We're reading Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift, and How to Blow Up a Pipeline by Andreas Malm.

Summary of changes for October

Hey everyone! This is the list of all the changes we've done to our projects and apps during the month of October. We'll also be reporting in our on position in the world, and on our future plans.

Summary Of Changes

TinyBASIC, implemented TinyBASIC in Uxntal.
Left, added a variant of the Smalltalk-76 font.
Hakum, released a short comic sequence called Chase.
Wunderland Rabbits, added a new rabbit pic.
100r.ca, updated galley plumbing(serviced our water pump) and curtains(modified the design). Added lazy lazy jacks.

News

Pino is in Victoria again, and we're diving back into our favorite fall activities like pumpkin carving (see halloween pumpkins), and fruit picking. The boat is now filled with apple jam. October was a drawing month for the both of us. Devine participated in drawtober and completed 28 drawings using Noodle. Rek finished a sequence for the ongoing comic project Hakum.

For those in the Pacific Northwest, Devine will be giving a talk called Weathering Software Winter at Handmade Seattle on November 17th.

As you know, we share a community online with a fantastic group of people. Some months ago Lizbeth designed a burgee for Merveilles and this month we decided to make one for Pino. See the Merveilles burgee.

Pino book club

We're reading Life, the Universe and Everything by Douglas Adams, and What The Doormouse Said by John Markoff.

Summary of changes for September

Hey everyone! This is the list of all the changes we've done to our projects and apps during the month of September. We'll also be reporting in our on position in the world, and on our future plans.

Summary Of Changes

Uxn, updated Playdate implementation to the latest core, started emulator for Arduino.
Left, added lots of little improvements for various reported drawing bugs.
Bouc, wrote a document reader.
Orca, added monochromatic mode.
CCCC, added monochromatic mode.
Catclock, added monochromatic mode(Reddit).
100r.ca, added lifelines in boat projects.

News

The days are getting shorter, and so is the time that we can spend on the computer, due to our batteries depleting earlier a bit each day. So, Devine spends evenings proof-reading the wiktopher manuscript, reading and messing around with the Playdate, and Rek continues ink work on an upcoming project(Mastodon, no project page yet).

While cleaning up the boat, Devine found two small black notebooks. We started paging through them, to see if we should keep them. The notebooks were full of sketches, interspersed with shopping lists, and incomplete logs from earlier sailing trips we'd done. We found logs detailing our very first attempt at sailing offshore, our sail down the US West Coast and Mexico, and our passage from Tonga to New Zealand. We read the logs, and decided to transcribe and publish them online. Read the lost logbook.

Devine wrote a little timer program for the Adafruit Playground.

Pino book club

We're reading Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams.

Summary of changes for August

Hey everyone! This is the list of all the changes we've done to our projects and apps during the month of August. We'll also be reporting in our on position in the world, and on our future plans.

Summary Of Changes

Left, added a navigation bar to navigate larger codebases.
potato, implemented file system APIs so new files can be renamed, copied and deleted.
Noodle, added various optimizations, improved TGA support.
Drifblim, completed rewrite. The assembler is now used to build all of our projects, with no more dependence on the C toolchain to make roms.
Uxnlin, added a lot of recipes, making it better at finding possible code optimizations.

News

Pino is back in the land of faster internet, and our boat's belly has been re-filled with food. We returned to the Gulf Islands, and are busy eating as many wild blackberries as we can stomach ('tis the season).

Our last anchorage in Desolation Sound was Tenedos Bay, a really lovely place with an amazing (vertical) hike, and clear, clear waters. We also wrote a post on Sturt Bay on Texada Island, a place we stopped on the way up earlier this year, and again when we traveled back south.

As mentioned brieftly in our last post, Devine has been working on an OS called Potato. Rek drew a mascot, and another illustration featuring Varvara and Potato together. Potato is for the Varvara computer, designed to fill the gaps where a host device might not have an underlying file system, like handheld consoles (many people use Uxn on Nintendo DS).

Rek has been drawing a lot, their winter will consist of scanning and processing a sketchbook-full of art. We are still proofreading Wiktopher. A recent stop in Sidney permitted us to print the entire book on paper to make it easier (and more pleasant) to make corrections. The result is 70 (double-sided) pages of text. As of today, we have gone over and marked in red the first chapter (out of 12). Editing books is never easy or fast, but we'll get there.

We know a couple of people have made hako dice sets, so we feel bad for "patching" a physical game, but the face organization of the die has changed somewhat, now, the opposing sides are always of equal value. If any of you are looking for a simple 2-player boardgame to play, try Conway's Phutball. Devine transcribed the rules on their wiki.

Pino book club

We're reading Mathematical Puzzles & Diversions by Martin Gardner.

Summary of changes for July

Hey everyone! This is the list of all the changes we've done to our projects and apps during the month of July. We'll also be reporting in our on position in the world, and on our future plans.

Summary Of Changes

Adelie, added image maps, animation controls, and wrote a guide. Rek also drew an Adelie penguin mascot.
Cccc, created a graphical calculator.
Orca, added new font to make it easier to discern letters and numbers from afar (if projected onto a screen).
Noodle, re-designed noodle.
Minesweeper, completed the game.

News

Sometimes we find an anchorage that is so nice, so ideal, that we end up staying for weeks. We stayed in Von Donop Bay (hathayim marine park) for well over a month. The southernmost anchorage is near many trails that snake and branch out deep into the woods, and the bay is so large that we kept finding new corners to explore by dinghy. The water in the area is warmer than in Victoria, we can dive, and check Pino's bottom without freezing. This is our first real summer on the boat, when we have no big boat projects to do, nor big transits to plan, and it feels amazing.

We have stretched our food stores to the limit (it has been 2 months since we last stocked up in full). A 5 km trek through the woods takes us to a little General Store, they never have fresh produce (or it gets bought out before we get there) but we go once in a while to replenish our stock of potatoes and onions. We are relying on sprouts a lot (see growing food).

This month, we made a Keynote talk for Nime 2022, and Devine started work on a little OS project called Potato, see some footage(Mastodon). There is no documentation yet, but soon.

Pino book club

We're reading The Stories of Ray Bradbury by Ray Bradbury.

Summary of changes for June

Hey everyone! This is the list of all the changes we've done to our projects and apps during the month of June. We'll also be reporting in our on position in the world, and on our future plans.

Summary Of Changes

Uxn, improved the Uxntal reference sheet and improved the Uxntal cheatsheet.
Dexe, added menu bar.
Nasu, added menu bar.
Noodle, added menu bar.
100r.ca, updated boom tent, and added lpg refit (backdated update).

News

Pino is currently in Desolation Sound, enjoying the quiet. We've written a few posts about some of the anchorages we've visited, like melanie cove, grace harbour and hathayim marine park. We're updating our track as we go.

Devine has been adding a lot of notes to the permacomputing wiki this month. We also started a little arcade game named Inle, something that we could play together on the boat in the style of Gunbound/Tank Wars... but with rabbits (we finished reading Watership Down last month, so we blame that, haha). We don't have a project page yet for it, but we shared some images on the post for grace harbour, where we started working on the game.

Rek produced a video about image optimization for the Photographer's Gallery (as part of their Green Hacks video series) last month.

Pino book club

We're reading The Man who Mistook his Wife for a Hat by Oliver Sacks.

Summary of changes for May

Hey everyone! This is the list of all the changes we've done to our projects and apps during the month of May. We'll also be reporting in our on position in the world, and on our future plans.

Summary Of Changes

Combinatory Logic, wrote a guide to combinatory logic, using talking birds.
, released a linter, and optimized uxnasm.
Dexe, released an updated version.
100r.ca, added batteries, and regulator.

News

From this month until next October, our updates may be delayed. We are sailing northward, towards Desolation Sound and the Broughtons, where cell towers are few. We will wander in and out of such regions all summer. So far, we sailed up to the Gulf Islands, and over to Nanaimo from Victoria, and then crossed the Strait of Georgia over to the Sunshine Coast(close-reaching in 20-knot winds). This was a good shakedown for Pino, a good way to re-awaken our little vessel. All went well, but we ought to have secured our produce better... some of our potatoes escaped their nest and went out for an afternoon roll around the cabin floor.

Start of May, we had some issues with our batteries. They've been acting out for some time, we think because of a dead cell. We have been operating at half battery capacity for a month, and realized that yet again we don't need that much power, especially in the summer when the days are long.

The combinatory logic guide is the first of many projects we plan to release this summer. We also released an sign language version of Uxntal.

In other news, a version of Collapse OS was ported to Uxn.

Pino book club

We're reading Watership Down by Richard Adams.

Summary of changes for April

Hey everyone! This is the list of all the changes we've done to our projects and apps during the month of April. We'll also be reporting in our on position in the world, and on our future plans.

Summary Of Changes

Bicycle, released an Uxntal playground. See Varvara riding a Sinclair bike.
Uxn, wrote a linux native implementation of Varvara, as well as an HTML5 implementation of the virtual machine.
Turquoise, released a little line plotting system.
100r.ca, added sewing, Shimoda, Cathedral Grove, and mini dodger.
Nebu, working on a spreadsheet editor in Uxn.

News

The month of April was a time of boat projects. We built a mini dodger to cover the companionway, and installed a large spindle for floating rope on Pino's stern (marine stores give those spindles away for free, usually). In these waters, it is often necessary to stern tie to shore when anchoring and the spindle will make it easier to uncoil the line.

We also took some time off to visit some ancient trees in Cathedral Grove on Vancouver Island.

Devine found some slide rules and wrote a guide on how to use them.

If you want to play Catpot, the little Hypercard game we made for Merveilles Hyperjam 2020, you can play it with this Hypercard Simulator (thank you Dan).

Pino book club

We're reading The Stranger by Albert Camus.

Summary of changes for March

Hey everyone! This is the list of all the changes we've done to our projects and apps during the month of March. We'll also be reporting in our on position in the world, and on our future plans.

Summary Of Changes

100r, released a guide to diesel Engine Care.
Wunderland Rabbits, released a new rabbit image.
Toys, finished re-creating the classic bouncing ball for the Amiga for Uxn.
Uxn, released a 23kb implementation of the Varvara emulator in plain X11(without SDL2), started a mailing list & newsletter to document changes, events and exciting projects, released a second devlog, and wrote a little single-file uxntal assembler called Drifblim.
Noodle, re-worked entire tool, added native TGA import(Mastodon), implemented file size loading specified in the pathname(Mastodon), added the possiblity to drag the canvas to resize it(Mastodon), and implemented a floating tool pane(Mastodon) etc.

News

A major update to our wiki is that we've put together a text with our stance on various political aspects. Because of the decentralized nature of some of our work, and because of the overlap of libertarians and right-wing doomsday preppers and our documenting survivalism at sea, there were things that just had to be spelled out quite clearly. See philosophy. We've appended a notice to our off the grid page too, since it gets shared the most.

A lot of our time this month was dedicated to preparing for our keynote talk for LibrePlanet 2022 called Software Doldrums. If you missed it the talk was recorded, watch it here. Rek illustrated all of the slides for the presentation, gathered here. These images are now scattered on our wiki. Devine built the Uxn slideshow program Adelie for that presentation, we plan to use it again for all future talks.

The day prior, Devine gave a short performance(YouTube) for Algorave's 10-year anniversary, alongside over 140+ artists. The event was 24 hours, with everyone playing a 10-minute set.

Uxn was featured on The Verge, in an article entitled These artists are making tiny ROMs that will probably outlive us all. And Devine was interviewed(Medium) for Behind the Screens.

In other news, we finally made some Uxn sticker sheets!

Pino book club

We're reading We Have Always Lives in the Castle by Shirley Jackson.

Summary of changes for February

Hey everyone! This is the list of all the changes we've done to our projects and apps during the month of February. We'll also be reporting in our on position in the world, and on our future plans.

Summary Of Changes

Adelie, released a program to create slideshows.
GrimGrains, added a new recipe: Bean chili.
Thousand Rooms, released Catalan version, a translation by Dani Sevilla.
100r.ca, added a new project: Gravity water filter.
Uxn, Cancel(Andrew R.) released a new version of uxn32 with complete step debugging tools. Added new art for the Varvara docs..
Orca, implemented injections(YouTube), and J and Y wiring(YouTube).
Toys, released Uxn versions of Minesweeper(Mastodon), and Wireworld.

News

This month it was announced that we joined LibrePlanet 2022 as keynote speakers. The annual technology and social justice conference will be held virtually on March 19 and 20, 2022, with the theme Living Liberation. Our talk is named Software Doldrums.

Rek is putting the finishing touches to Wiktopher, and Devine designed a game that the people of Irideri could be playing. The result was a dice game combining the capture mechanism of Go and the randomness of the Domino. Learn to play Hako. Each player has a Sonozai, a set of 4 dice on a rope. Merveillans have been making their own sets:

Rostiger has been making illustrated notes for Uxn, and they are fabulous.

Pino book club

We're reading Underland by Robert Macfarlane.

Summary of changes for January

Hey everyone! This is the list of all the changes we've done to our projects and apps during the month of January. We'll also be reporting in our on position in the world, and on our future plans.

Summary Of Changes

Left, re-wrote documentation, redesigned the UX for save-as/open-as.
Orca, re-wrote documentation, and added the operators manual on launch.
Thousand Rooms, released 3 new languages: Polish, Hungarian and Serbian. Now offering book as an ePUB.
Uxn, re-wrote entire documentation, and started a project devlog.
Nasu, improved zoom tool, it is now possible to move between tiles(Masto) while zoomed.
Yufo, released a small game for the Virtual Pet Jam.
100r, added new page: cast-iron cookware, and updated medical.

News

On January 28th Uxn turned 1 year old! We'd like to thank everyone who has contributed code, ideas, time and laughs to help this project grow into what it is now. It was a wonderful year for smol ordinators. See an image that Rek made for uxn's birthday.

We finally released versions of the Uxn emulator for all major systems(Linux, OS X and Windows), with the option of a version bundled with a few starter roms. We simplified the guide too, to make it easier to install and use.

Our lion's mane mushroom grew another full head, we harvested it and made some mushroom pakoras.

In other news, Devine was interviewed on Anonradio, listen to it here. Also, Compudanzas released an Introduction to Uxn Programming book, with a foreword by Devine.

Pino book club

We're reading The Complete Cosmicomics by Italo Calvino, and The Dawn of Everything: A New History of Humanity by David Graeber.

Summary of changes for December

Hey everyone! This is the list of all the changes we've done to our projects and apps during the month of December. We'll also be reporting in our on position in the world, and on our future plans.

Summary Of Changes

Grimgrains, published a tofu from soy flour recipe, and reduced the amount of ingredients appearing on the main page so it loads faster.
Left, created inline image support, and implemented a search feature(Birdsite) inspired by the Canon Cat(1987)'s LEAP™ key.
Cat Clock, released our very own cat clock.
Turye, released a font editor.
TGA parser, released a tool to make it easier to bring images into the Uxn ecosystem.
Wunderland Rabbits, released a new image.

News

It is snowing, and we are cocooning. Our little woodstove is working hard. This month, we finally decided to release a paperback version of Busy Doing Nothing.

In our last update log, we mentioned that we were trying to grow Lion's Mane mushroom, and we are happy to report that it was a success! It grew beautifully. Rek was so excited about the mushroom that they decided to draw some this month, this series focuses on varieties that grow on Vancouver Island.

In other news, we had an interview with the founder of Sourcehut, read it here. Also, our good friend Alderwick make us a very cool gift(YouTube).

Pino book club

We're reading Fantômes: Issue 1, with work by 18 talented artists, put together by Lizbeth. It is a eerie, and gorgeous zine, we strongly recommend the Mike Wolf version.

Pino's location: 48° 42.230'N, 123° 36.900'W

Summary of changes for November

Hey everyone! This is the list of all the changes we've done to our projects and apps during the month of November. We'll also be reporting in our on position in the world, and on our future plans.

Summary Of Changes

Donsol, designed a donsol turnip.
Uxn, wrote a file browser rom(Mastodon), improved on uxn utilities (clock, calculator.
Nasu, added nametable to preview items on the spritesheet, and added option to flip a sprite horizontally or vertically in the blend view.
100r, added an information section on Drownspire, the studio we had prior to hundredrabbits.
Oquonie, started tests to port the game to Uxntal(Birdsite).
Left, fixed bugs and improved speed.

News

This month, there was an intro to Uxn Programming(YouTube) workshop by Compudanzas, an event by Babycastles Academy. Give it a watch!

November was a very rainy month in Victoria, a perfect time for experiments in the galley. We are growing Lion's Mane mushrooms currently (a first for us), and we are continuing to lacto-ferment vegetables like kohlrabi, turnips, daikon, cauliflower and red onion. To learn how to do it, see our guide to lactofermentation.

Pino book club

We're reading The Summer Book by Tove Jansson (it's such a lovely book).

Pino's location: 48° 42.230'N, 123° 36.900'W

Summary of changes for October

Hey everyone! This is the list of all the changes we've done to our projects and apps during the month of October. We'll also be reporting in our on position in the world, and on our future plans.

Summary Of Changes

donsol, ported our Famicom(6502) code to Varvara(uxn).
uxn, wrote a reference guide and created a list of community projects.
noodle, added guides for the line and rectangle tool and updated shortcuts in the documentation.
grimgrains, optimized images and published a Chunky Apple Jam recipe.

100r, optimized images (see Rek's notes). Added new pages: boom tent, grinder and small space.
left, optimized code.
nasu, fixed crashing bug with large selections.

News

This month, we found a used grain mill for Pino! Flour doesn't keep as well as whole grains, so we decided to start milling flour (wheat berries, soy beans or chickpeas) only as we need it. We only released a Guide to Lacto-fermenting vegetables on grimgrains.

Donsol is now available as an uxn rom on itchio.

See Devine's daily drawings series for October.

Pino book club

We're continuing our readings of The Stories of Ray Bradbury by Ray Bradbury. Favorite shorts this month include The Long Rain, The City and Kaleidoscope.

Pino's location: 48° 42.230'N, 123° 36.900'W

Summary of changes for September

Hey everyone! This is the list of all the changes we've done to our projects and apps during the month of September. We'll also be reporting in our on position in the world, and on our future plans.

Summary Of Changes

Orca, added way for instances of Orca to talk to each other.
Calc, wrote a little graphical calculator to help with learning binary and hexadecimal.
Dexe, added option to copy the textual value of a selection.
Uxn, updated UxnDS emulator.
Wiktopher, added Chapter 16: The Big Dark.
100R, added new pages: Western Canada, alcohol stove, decorations and shore power cord repair. The site also has a new splash.

News

It is an early announcement, but end of June 2022 we will be giving a keynote presentation, alongside Khyam Allami, at NIME(New Interfaces for Musical Expression).

Rek wrote an article on Saving Energy When Cooking Aboard for Noonsite.

Check out Eli's guide on installing Uxn on OS X, and Keijiro's version of Flappy Bird in UxnTal.

Our friends at Compudanzas have released part 6 of their Introduction to Uxn Programming tutorial. This new chapter basically shows you how to build Pong!

Pino book club

We started reading The Stories of Ray Bradbury by Ray Bradbury. Favorite shorts so far include There Will Come Soft Rains, The Coffin and There Was an Old Woman.

Pino's location: 48° 42.230'N, 123° 36.900'W

Summary of changes for August

Hey everyone! This is the list of all the changes we've done to our projects and apps during the month of August. We'll also be reporting in our on position in the world, and on our future plans.

Summary Of Changes

Nasu, implemented a way to shift multiple tiles at once, and added a snarf buffer to copy/paste data between instances of Nasu.
Niju, completed, and released the project on itch.io.
Orca, implemented snarf buffer to easily bring patches in and out of it (uxn version).
Uxn, massive re-write of the Uxn VM, and CollapseOS now runs on Uxn.
Paradise, started on a Uxn-native version.
noodle, created a mascot, and added a tiny animation toolkit.
100r.ca, added various hand drawn images to the knowledge base.

News

This month, our little engine was fixed (read about it here) we've been sailing around the Gulf Islands, working from anchor. We also found Iggy's successor, a used fiberglass dinghy that we've named Teapot. We've been rowing it from ship to shore, and it's so, so nice. We stopped by Saltspring Island and got to meet the sailors on BosunBird, a couple who have traveled around the world on a Vancouver27. Their blog was an invaluable resource for us on our travels through Japan.

We've released a solid version of noodle, our drawing tool. Follow the tutorial on our website, or check out this amazing quick start guide by Polyducks. We also released niju, our little kana-learning game. Niju was a trial to see if we could design, write and assemble a project entirely within the Uxn computer.

Our friends at Compudanzas have released part 3, 4 and 5 of their Introduction to Uxn Programming tutorial.

Pino book club

Help. We still haven't finished The Swarm by Frank Schatzing. It is terrible, but we can't stop.

Pino's location: 48° 53.370'N, 123° 23.734'W

Summary of changes for July

Hey everyone! This is the list of all the changes we've done to our projects and apps during the month of July. We'll also be reporting in our on position in the world, and on our future plans.

Summary Of Changes

Nasu, implemented the export of .theme files, and theme support.
Left, worked on Uxn-native version, and implemented theme support.
Niju, progressed on animations and started implementing controls.
Grimgrains, added a new recipe: Stovetop Blackberry Cake.
Wiktopher, added a new chapter: Lupin's Logbook.
Uxn, created a proportional font format for Uxn, and improved documention for Varvara.
Orca, implemented theme support
Noodle, published tutorial, and implemented theme support

News

This month, Calcifer is being re-built. While we wait for that, we're working on more projects aboard. We added insulation to the v-berth, an attempt to keep Pino warm this winter. We created a new portal called boat projects on our wiki that covers most of the major construction projects we've done to the boat.

Our friends at Compudanzas have started writing an Introduction to Uxn Programming tutorial. We recommend it to anyone interested in programming for the Uxn Computer. No prior understanding of stack-machines, or Assembly, required! The first covers basics, and the latest chapter focuses on learning to draw pixels on the screen.

If you missed Devine's performance at Flash Crash, you can watch it here.

Pino book club

We're reading Mingming & the Art of Minimal Ocean Sailing by Roger Taylor and The Swarm by Frank Schatzing.

Pino's location: 48° 40.768'N, 123° 24.802'W

Dry Toilet Installation

The work is done. Building a dry toilet was more work than we had anticipated, but we still prefer it over the ready-made models. We learned tons doing it, and now our toilet is perfectly suited to our space. The pandemic has pushed more people into boat and van living (to travel within their own countries) and towards simple systems. Looking at the Nature's Head website, they've had a 8-week waiting list for ages. It's either you wait for the thing, or you build the thing.

Dry toilets are simple to use and have few parts, but it doesn't mean that they are simple to build. Simple is hard, it costs time, and requires a ton of creativity.

Summary of changes for June

Hey everyone! This is the list of all the changes we've done to our projects and apps during the month of June. We'll also be reporting in our on position in the world, and on our future plans.

Summary Of Changes

Nasu, released a nasu guide, and updated the look of the icon. We have also discontinued the old javascript version.
Uxn, released an uxn guide.
Orca, working on the Uxn port.
Niju, started work on sprites. Implemented hover states.
Noodle, made Noodle responsive for small screens and added highlight to save state

News

Pino and crew spent the first half of the month in the boatyard. We splashed back into the water on the 14th and moved to North Saanich to have access to a workshop with the goal of completing our dry toilet. We are documenting the entire installation, with plans to update the page when we begin to use it. We are ALMOST done with this project.

We started working on Niju, a hiragana/katakana review application. We used this project to test our the latest iteration of Nasu so we could finalize the documentation.

On June 26 2021, Devine met up with the London SF reading group to talk about solarpunk, see their notes. On July 10th UTC 20:00, Devine will also perform with Orca for flash crash.

See Uxn running on the ESP32. It is TOO adorable!

Pino book club

We're reading Nature as Measure by Wes Jackson, The Strange Last Voyage of Donald Crowhurst by Nicholas Tomalin and Ron Hall and Labyrinths by Jorge Luis Borges.

Pino's location: 48° 40.768'N, 123° 24.802'W

Summary of changes for May

Hey everyone! This is the list of all the changes we've done to our projects and apps during the month of May. We'll also be reporting in our on position in the world, and on our future plans.

Summary Of Changes

Noodle, released Uxn version. Improved UX to resize the canvas and fixed stylus picking for Nintendo DS version.
Nasu, completed port to Uxn.
Uxn, runs on 9front and Raspberry pi.
GrimGrains, added Buckwheat Dumpling recipe.
Wunderland Rabbits, added two new travel pics: Rhodo Ravine and Patricia Bay.

News

There has been a lot of activity on Uxn this month! It's exciting to see it work on a variety of devices, like the PS vita, Gameboy Advance and the Nintendo DS. We love the idea that most people already have the all hardware necessary to run our software.

We hosted a small cooking jam on Merveilles, feel free to peruse The Galley tag to see the recipes.

In Pino related news, we are moving north. First stop, the boatyard. We'll be doing a bunch of changes to the studio this week, like removing and replacing old thru-hulls and installing a dry toilet.

Pino book club

We're reading Farenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury.

Pino's location: 48° 40.768'N, 123° 24.802'W

Summary of changes for April

Hey everyone! This is the list of all the changes we've done to our projects and apps during the month of April. We'll also be reporting in our on position in the world, and on our future plans.

Summary Of Changes

Uxn, improved documentation, implemented MIDI and sound chip, and drew some new art for the documentation.
Birfucan, ported to Uxn.
Nasu, general improvements.
Wiktopher, released Chapter 14: Tarka.

News

This month, we converted the old static version of our website into a wiki, with pages for each of the various projects we've been working on aboard Pino. We hope you like it!

We also finished installing our wood stove. Our timing could have been better (it's summer now), but we'll be able to keep warm while at anchor next winter. We have many projects to do, including the removal and replacement of many thru-hulls and plumbing, as well as the installation of a dry toilet. Looks like Pino will have to come out of the water again this year!

Pino book club

We're reading Terre des Hommes by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry and Sylvie and Bruno by Lewis Carroll.

Pino's location: 48° 42.230'N, 123° 36.900'W

Wood stove installation

It was our dream to have a little wood stove aboard Pino. After researching stoves, we decided that the best model was the cast iron Sardine from Navigator Stoveworks.

Our Espar forced air diesel heater broke on our last passage, and we decided not to replace it. There are few low-power alternatives to a gas/diesel heater for heating a boat when off the grid. A wood stove was our best low-tech option. We also like that it doubles as a cook top...

Summary of changes for March

Hey everyone! This is the list of all the changes we've done to our projects and apps during the month of March. We'll also be reporting in our on position in the world, and on our future plans.

Summary Of Changes

Uxn, lots of progress on Uxn, started documenting the assembly syntax, built a Uxn emulator with a handful of devices, from date/time support, to graphics, mouse, and soon audio and midi support. Rek designed some additional mascots for the project.
Noodle, implemented Noodle into Uxn, with presentation modes, save/load and various patterns to create 1-bit graphics.
Busy Doing Nothing, fixed type and formatting errors, and removed the fixed font. It is now easier to read on phones.
Grimgrains, added a Sourdough spelt flatbread recipe.
Wunderland rabbits, released a small photo project involving traveling, and rabbits.

News

This month, the rabbits have been busy making new holes in Pino, cutting metal, and building a support platform for their new tiny woodstove. When the installation is complete, we have plans to write a blog post about the process.

If you're seeing this update on the 100r.ca website, you'll notice that all logs are now in the same file. It is easier for us to manage, and we think, more pleasant for you to read.

We have received a lot of really good feedback and corrections for our book Busy Doing Nothing, thank you for reading it. Rek has updated their notes on creating e-books with Pandoc to include exports to epub and mobi (for those interested).

Pino book club

We're reading The Complete Rigger’s Apprentice by Brion Toss and Thinking Forth by Leo Brody.

Pino's location: 48° 42.230'N, 123° 36.900'W

Summary of changes for February

Hey everyone! This is the list of all the changes we've done to our projects and apps during the month of February. We'll also be reporting in our on position in the world, and on our future plans.

Summary Of Changes

Uxn, started working on a fantasy console called Uxn, and designed a mascot.
100r.ca, added a dark mode as an accessibility feature, and added new drawings to cooking and sailing.
Grimgrains, also added a dark mode.
Wiktopher, what is this? Another dark mode. Now our eyes are happy.

News

This month, we released the e-book version of the North Pacific Logbook titled Busy Doing Nothing. The book is 217 pages long, and is available as a PDF, mobi or EPUB. We're happy it's out, and hope that you like it!

In other news, Esoteric.Codes interviewed our studio, and we heard that the Toronto Public Library was hosting an online Orca workshop on March 1st—how cool is that?

Pino book club

We're reading A Sand County Almanac by Aldo Leopold.

Summary of changes for January

Hey everyone! This is the list of all the changes we've done to our projects and apps during the month of January. We'll also be reporting in our on position in the world, and on our future plans.

Summary of changes for December

Hey everyone! This is the list of all the changes we've done to our projects and apps during the month of December. We'll also be reporting in our on position in the world, and on our future plans.

Summary of changes for November

Hey everyone! This is the list of all the changes we've done to our projects and apps during the month of November. We'll also be reporting in our on position in the world, and on our future plans.

Summary of changes for October

Hey everyone! This is the list of all the changes we've done to our projects and apps during the month of October. We'll also be reporting in our on position in the world, and on our future plans.

Working offgrid efficiently

Our traveling studio has operated off-the-grid for 4 1/2 years.

For the first 3 years we tested the limits of our space, and at first, it was difficult to create new things, as we had to make time to learn how to solve underlying problems. Our boat was not just an office, it was also our house and transport. As for us, we were artists, but also plumbers, deckhands, electricians, captains, janitors and accountants.

Our main problems as a studio were internet scarcity, power management, data storage as well as hardware and software failures. Overtime we found ways to balance work, pleasure and maintenance. Here are some of the lessons we learnt.

North Pacific Logbook

The passage from Japan (Shimoda) to Canada (Victoria) took 51 days, and it was the hardest thing we've ever done. We decided to keep a logbook, to better remember it and so it can help others who wish to make this trip.

Typhoons and mold

For every traveling sailor, comes a time when the boat has to stay alone in a foreign country. For us, this happened this year in Japan. We'd never left Pino alone before, never for more than a week. We were apprehensive at first, but decided it would be a good learning experience, for us and our beloved.

Whenever we mentioned leaving our boat in Japan, people would say, 'Aren't you afraid of typhoons?' Our 6 month leave coincided with the time of year when typhoons affect Japan, with August to October being the worse months. We were worried, but knew that if we prepared well, Pino would be fine. We spent weeks planning our departure, doing research on how to keep a boat safe in a storm, but also, how to keep mold and insects at bay in our absence.

While in Canada, I had anxiety at night, vivid dreams about what was happening to Pino. These dreams involved us returning to the boat, only to find it turned into a moldy, water-logged cockroach motel. Having no experience leaving our home behind, I had no guarantee that we had done enough.

When we returned 6 months later, we found no mold, no bugs and little to no damage, in fact, we slept in that same night. Pino endured weeks of hot Japanese summers, tropical rain and typhoon-strength winds. We're happy to say that overall, our preparations were indeed enough.

Below is a short list of things to remember, things we learned, when came time to prepare our boat for long-term storage:

Ventilation is key.
Clear the decks.
Don't keep food.
Clean everything.
Store away everything.
Don't leave openings.
Tie everything down.

a home for pino

We left Shimizu on a sunny morning, pushing off the dock at 6am. Early. We wanted to make sure we'd arrive at our destination on time. There was 126nm between us and Shima Yacht harbor, a distance we needed to do in part at night. This wasn't ideal. We knew that. Many people warned us about sailing at night in these waters, but as the Japanese say: 'Shoganai' (it is what it is!). We needed to cross a big stretch of water called Enshu Nada, an area with a lot of traffic. In truth, the entire coastline is full of ships, but it gets very busy north of the Kii Peninsula.

We left Shimizu on a sunny morning, pushing off the dock at 6am. We discussed our plans with our friends Masa and Shu from Dawntreader, they too recommended a non-stop trip because the ports between Omaezaki and Mie are few. There is the port of Fukuda 福田, located at the mouth of Ota Kawa, but the depth of the water is inconsistent and prone to silting. Locals also warned us it wasn't very yacht-friendly, and so we put an X on Fukuda.

Shu instructed us to stay 10nm from shore, to avoid the many nets lining the coast, and to avoid small fishing vessels idling there at night. We did as told.

Coming out of Shimizu port, we came face to face with a large container ship named 'One'. A beautiful ship. Red, with a peculiar shape. The marina had warned us about its coming, that its entrance into Shimizu port was scheduled at 6am during our exit. Avoiding it was not a problem.

We powered out of the harbor and into Suruga Bay. There was no wind, but we raised the mainsail anyway. We wanted to test our new slugs (what keeps the mainsail attached to the mast). It was the first time since Fiji that we'd raised a full main. The black moon shook off its wrinkles, presenting its belly to the sun.

tools ecosystem

How did the Hundredrabbits ecosystem come into being? It's a long story, but here's a summary.

In 2016, we left Canada, armed with our two iPhones and 2 MacBooks Pros. We didn't know the wattage of any of the devices we owned, and even less about the amount of solar needed to power them. When living on land we didn't pay attention to how many amps our devices required daily. Electricity felt limitless.

When we started sailing in BC, we had no dinghy and so we'd go from dock to dock. When we purchased Iggy in Nanaimo, we spent more days on the hook. The first anchorage we went to was a small bight east of Eagle Point, it offered a great view of metro Vancouver. From that point on we spent more and more time at anchor, moving every 5 days or so. We had no power concerns because our route always included marinas, or guest slips at yacht clubs. Our batteries were always topped up.

Life off-grid was new to us then, as was spending lots of time outdoors. We liked it, a lot. When at anchor we'd go explore, spend a few hours working, cooking, then we'd read or play card games in evenings. When living on land, we'd work from 8h-19h, sitting in front of our respective screens, but now things were different. We wanted to do less of that, to take long bike ride around islands or to sit on the deck in evenings to watch the sun set. Then, at marinas where we had both power and internet, we'd go back to working longer hours to get things done. This was a fine setup, we thought, but, there was problem: what happens when we start living AND working at anchor full time? We liked being outdoors, but that's not all we wanted to do. We're creatives, and we need to make things. We were relying on powered docks to work, and so we never got to test our current power setup off-grid. If we had spent a month or so away from civilization, we would have learnt that we had to change something.

And so, to continue with the story, we left Canada and cruised down the coast of the US. True to our old habits, we continued to alternate between staying in a marina and at anchor. The longest we spent off-grid during that time was 3 weeks in San Francisco, anchored off Treasure Island. During that time we discovered that working aboard, running two Macbook Pros, a refrigerator and our phones was not possible. To save on power, we started turning the fridge off at night, and taking trips into town during the day to work from cafes. SF was grey on most days, our solar couldn't keep up with our demanding work schedules. Going to work from cafes in town worked well for us, most had outlets we could use. Our routine started with working from cafes until lunch, then wandering around in the afternoons. We would return home before dark to turn the fridge off, but doing it didn't make sense because the constant shifts in temperatures produced too much moisture. Moisture meant rot and mold. We decided that keeping it off was a better idea for both our batteries and our produce. With the fridge out of the equation, we figured that we'd have more power left-over for our laptops.

hello fujisan

It's 8h00 pm on a cold dark winter night, we are outside of Shimizu harbor motoring in circles and waiting for a response from Shimizu Port Control. The temperature is 4 °C, the wind is blowing hard and our clothes are wet and caked with salt. We’re tired and hungry, waiting for permission to enter the Port. Prior to this, we had a rough 4-day passage, riding under 30-40 knot winds on the nose. This passage was a true test of strength, for us and for Pino... but first, let’s go back and see exactly what happened…

We'd planned to go to Wakayama, riding on the back of a passing low with winds from the NE, shifting to the S and then to the SW, but the wind decided to turn earlier making it impossible for us to go east. We found ourselves close-reaching in 40 knot winds, heading straight north. Looking at the weather we could see that it would blow from the W for 3-4 days, so we made a new plan to head to Omaezaki. We'd read of other sailors taking refuge there in big weather and thought it would be possible to go, but again, the wind kept pushing us further and further east. The next port on our list was Shimizu, tucked in deep into the bay. We were able to point Pino to the cape just past Shimizu, but we weren't sure if again the wind and current would allow us to make some easting.

At that point both of us were frozen solid. Wave after wave splashed over the boat and into the cockpit. The starboard rail was constantly submerged, our starboard side lee cloth was gone and the diesel bins were threatening to fall overboard. We had 3 reefs in our main, but 5 slides had snapped off (yet again), I wondered when the rest would break.

goji no chaimu

After a long 21-day passage, seeing the shape of the island of Chichijima in the distance was unreal; this was our prize, our first step onto Japanese soil. We used to make many trips to Japan by plane, but getting there by our own efforts — by sailboat — is a lot slower and harder. If we had stuck to our plan of sailing there via Hawaii, we would have been there sooner, but I’m glad we took the long route. We passed through 9 countries, learned a lot about the world and, through it all, we've surpassed ourselves.

During that time, we often talked about what it would be like to arrive in Japan, about what would happen when we did. You have to remember that this was a big deal for us, a milestone in our lives and the culmination of 3 years of hard work. A fantasy made real is a hell of an achievement. A part of me couldn’t believe we’d made it — anytime now I’d wake up mid-ocean in transit in the South Pacific. Even when I’d have my feet planted on the ground, with a Japanese flag flying above my head, I knew I’d be anxious, waiting for something horrible to happen that would rob us of our victory.

'They’ll turn us away.', 'We’ve landed on the wrong island.' or 'We died in the pacific some months ago, and this is limbo.'

My eyes were set on the phantasmic island ahead. The sun fell out of the sky then, drawing down a star-studded curtain; the wind blew itself out, leaving the sea to settle into an unmoving and creepy oil slick. Limbo.

A bright circle appeared on the horizon then. It isn’t the first or the last time that I mistake the moonrise for a ship, or the bright eye of some mythological beast.

At this point, it looked like we’d be entering Futami port at night, but at least we had the eye of Sauron to light the way. The island in the distance stopped being a vague black patch, and we began to see details in it.

the promise of pancakes

As soon as we'd tied to our mooring ball in Majuro's lagoon, the worries of the previous 24 days had vanished only to replaced by the crushing weight of responsibility. Devine, being worry-free, wanted to have pancakes, sleep and check-in tomorrow, but Devine knows how uptight I am, and that this was not what we'd be doing first (even if it is what I wanted too *sigh*). My thinking was that I'd rather get the paperwork out of the way first, to get all of that worrying out of me so I can then eat pancakes in peace.

'Shut up and get dressed.'

We needed to be presentable for the officials, we had to wear clean clothes with pants that reach over your knees. A lot of countries in the pacific don't want to see your knees — I get it, knees are weird. We dug out some clothes from our bins, and then went back on deck to give Iggy the dinghy the kiss of life.

doldrumming

Here we go again, time for another passage. We left Fiji on October 23rd 2018, eager to spend some time on the water again. Our plan, was to stop by Tuvalu, maybe Kiribati, before arriving in Majuro in the Marshall islands where we'd be spending two months before moving off west to Micronesia. We left, knowing that this was wasn't going to be an easy ride...

Two areas of calms lie north of Fiji: the SPCZ (south pacific convergence zone) and the ITCZ (intertropical convergence zone). If you look at windy, hovering around the countries of Tuvalu and Kiribati are two bands of blue - blue means there is no wind. The size and location of these bands varies from day to day, week to week.. they phase in and out of existence with the weather and influence of the trade winds.

Sailors fear these blue bands because the weather there is difficult, not only do you suffer calms, but also a continuous ballet of squalls and thunderstorms. We've been through the doldrums (the ITCZ) once already when we crossed from Mexico to the Marquesas.

leleuvia

We've never been on a tiny island, a place you can run the width of under just a few minutes. We found a place like this, Leleuvia, an island in the Lomaitivi archipelago in Fiji.

This island went through many hands over the years, it now belongs to a resort that too bears the name of the island. We decided to make a stop there on our way to Suva, to wait for favorable winds to go south.

Also, we wanted a taste of tiny-island living.

We arrived at Moturiki pass around 1pm. SY Scoots gave us a number to phone the resort on arrival, so they could send a boat to guide us through the reef. We realized then, that our phone plan didn't include calls within Fiji, all we had was data — woops! That's ok! We still had the option of calling them on VHF. I hailed them repeatedly on CH10 — no luck.

I had waypoints for the entrance, but not all the way to the anchorage. Many areas in Fiji aren't charted well, you can find yourself navigating over an area with the depth sounder reading '10m' but the chart will display a patch of green, an area too shallow to pass. It's always disconcerting, to find yourself anchored in a patch of green, like sitting in a negative space, a secret place that you didn't think existed.

We got closer and closer to the green area, growing ever-so nervous, and continuing to try and hail the resort. Eventually, they picked up my call.

'Vessel calling, this is Leleuvia resort.'
'This is sailing vessel Pino, d'you have any moorings available?'
'Yes. When you come near the pier we'll send a boat to escort you to it.'
'Great, thanks!'

We wouldn't be entering the anchorage in the blind after all. We would have eyes to guide us to a safe spot.

We motored on, nearing the pier, and spotted the escort boat. The driver came within shouting range, instructing us to follow, which we promptly did. They led us to a mooring, and assured us it was strong and that it could take our weight — not that Pino is heavy. We grabbed the line from the water, with a bit of difficulty, sometimes the mooring 'eye' for the buoys are submerged, and you need to figure out which bit to grab to get to it. We missed the mooring ball the first time, the whole endeavour was made worse by the up and down motion of the bow — there was a bit of swell coming into the anchorage from the north at the time. We rounded again to grab the mooring ball, i spied a thin loop at the top of the ball, and thrusted the boat hook in it. I hurriedly pulled the float out of the water, and my hands and the line found the mooring loop. This is not my favorite type of mooring ball, where you need to pull the ball up itself to find the rope hanging far underneath it, usually they'll put a separate float on the line to keep it buoyant. All moorings are different.

The northerly swell would stop soon, the forecast called for 20-25kts out of the SE tomorrow. On the chart, the area looked protected from swell, with a reef belt around it, but looking around now, aside from the tiny spit of land that is Leleuvia, there was only water. At low tide the reef became evident, as the water receded sand banks came into view, fencing us in from all directions but from the North. Phew. The reef would break most of the waves, but at high tide some swell would make it past it for sure — not ideal, but we would have some protection.

The next day the wind did freshen, and as expected, at high tide the waves spilled into the anchorage. It was bumpy, but not overly so.

where is the turtle farm

Pino spent a long time in Savusavu, but by then, we were growing tired of this scenery, not of the market, or of the company to be found here, but just of having that same view every morning. We love this city, but when it's time to go, it's time to go!

We left our mooring at 9am, and moved along over to Cousteau's resort to anchor (16 48.623S, 179 17.331E). The water was unclear, and the clouded sky made it difficult to see bommies beneath us. Devine dove in and checked out our anchor, which was set in sand, and we weren't near any huge coral that we could see, that is, unless the wind shifted - it was hard to see that far in cloudy water to be honest.

SV Privateer arrived shortly after us, having made the short passage by sail, we saw them manoeuver around, looking for a place to drop the hook.

'What's the bottom like?' Lila shouted, baby Chance strapped to her back.
'Sand. A few bommies!' I shouted back.

They hovered around some more, opening the headsail, furling it, in and out again, and moving the main in and out to make their way around the anchorage. It's always impressive to watch, not many will rely on wings alone to do this. They'll do as many tacks as necessary to get where they need to go - engines be damned!

We tried swimming at the beach that afternoon, but it was full of seaweed and unclear, we much preferred staying on the tiny slab of beach lining the shore to watch the hundreds of tiny hermit crabs moving about. They were different sizes, wearing a grand variety of shells - some spirally, others conical, stained with purples and whites, oranges and cream. We sat there in silence, listening to the sound of their shells rubbing against bits of broken coral. Such a pleasant sound, small scratching noises. Crkk, crkk... crkk.

'Move along little ones - move along now! Tide's rising!'

We left our hermit crab friends behind, and went back aboard Pino. Tomorrow morning we had to get up at 4am to sail to Makogai (pronounced ma-kon-guy), 49NM away.

The wind changed in the night, we could hear the chain rubbing against bit of coral, catching, before coming off again with a jerk, the sound traveling to us by the chain through the hull. We should have probably buoyed the chain, we thought then, but it was dark, and too late to think of doing this now. Hopefully, the chain wouldn't have this macramé thing going on with the bits of coral down there.

projects and pain

We arrived in New Zealand with a long scary list of things to fix or replace on Pino. We needed new batteries, a new mainsail, a fresh coat of bottom-paint, galley plumbing, new intermediates shrouds, new backstay, new top hatch, new windows, new control cables etc.

'If we can't finish all of these projects, then we can't leave.'

That was the deal. There was too much ocean between us and Japan. Our vessel needed to be made safe to endure it, and to ensure our safe passage.

When we landed in the country, we had grand ideas, 'grand illusions' I should say, about what we thought we could get done by ourselves. We wanted to learn, but we also wanted to save money. By now, we knew how much it cost to offload the work to others, and it's not something we knew we could do.

Below, is a detailed account of all the repairs we did on Pino during the 9 months we spent in New Zealand. This is a technical post, interspersed with bits of story, present and past. For those who don't know the terms, but that are interested, I'll do my best to explain them all throughout the text.

Here I go!

an island to oneself

Traveling to New Zealand, after a year of unknown, was a great comfort to us. There are a few things Devine and I were really looking forward to, like a good latte, craft beer, a fresh food market and a bulk food store. I found a city that checked all of the boxes.

Many of the cruisers we know want to arrive in Opua – with reason. It's warm, damn gorgeous, and you know you'll find friends there, because that's where everyone goes during the cyclone season. Arriving in a strange place, with familiar faces, always makes the experience better, but knowing this, we still chose Whangarei.

I first pronounced Whangarei as 'one-gah-rey', but the proper way to say it is: 'fah-ngah-rey'. A friend corrected me early on, sparing me the embarrassment of mispronouncing it aloud in public. I know that no one would think me a fool for making a mistake like this, but I do like learning the correct way to say things.

Why did we choose to go there? Because staying in the Whangarei Town Basin is inexpensive, convenient, with everything just a short walk away. We'd also read that it was a good place for boat projects, and since Pino needed a lot of attention, this too, we thought, tipped the scale in its favor. We also noted that it was close to Auckland — well, it looked closer on a map. We became very familiar with that stretch of land, and of the actual distance between the two places during the 8 months we spent there.

The first thing we did when we arrived, was to replenish our store of dried goods at Bin Inn, a really great bulk food store. The second thing, was purchasing a home brew kit - priorities amirite? The third thing, was to get a latte.

I'll never forget the look on Devine's face after taking a sip of a cup of freshly brewed beans, a delicious pool of dark liquid topped with a pillowy cloud of plant milk.

Joy incarnate.

captain what is this

After 15 days on the water, we were to get into port. It was the 27th of June, and we'd left Opua on the 12th. We hove-to for the night, waiting for sunrise before entering Savusavu bay. 'Entering a strange harbor at night is for morons and fools,' people told us. We didn't listen right away, but they were right. In this particular case, there was no point in arriving early, considering yachts cannot anchor in Fiji waters before checking in, and that check-in is only possible after 8am.

At dawn, we pointed towards the island of Vanua Levu and sailed on, with the wind at our backs. I went below to make some coffee, as both of us needed a boost. Devine was in the cockpit, keeping an eye on a large storm cloud ahead. The wind increased as we neared it, but it did not trouble us long. We made our way inside the reef, which offered some protection from the building swells, and moved closer to land. We could see rows of hills ahead, and caught the perfume of greenery. After that, came a sure sign of civilization: buildings, low, with green and red roofs. As we got nearer, came an even more obvious sign of civilization: cars, and small power boats. We'd arrived.

We neared the entrance to Nakama creek around 9am, and radio'ed the authorities on channel 16.

I hailed them 3 times, no answer. We slowed down, awaiting a reply. The commercial wharf lay ahead, we could see boats on moorings, some abandoned, others belonging to people we'd seen or met accross the Pacific. Eventually, they replied and asked us about the details of our trip, and if we had sent a pre-arrival notice. Sending it ahead of time was mandatory, and was about 10 pages too long. I'd sent it to the proper people by email, although half of the messages bounced back, and other cruisers reported the same thing happening. With the document being so large, it's no wonder their inboxes are always full. I even tried sending it again while underway, no luck. No matter. I'd received a reply from the custom office, at least one of the messages made it. They told us to look for a white building on our starboard side.

the rock of polynesia

Niue, pronounced 'New-ay', a rock in the Pacific, one of the largest coral islands on earth. It's the first country to offer free, state-funded, wireless internet to all its residents and has a goal of being completely solar powered— uuuh... wow?

We'd also heard that the school gave all of the kids laptops, this, with free internet, makes it a paradise for people like us. Already then, we made plans to move there — like all places in the tropics with a good connection and supply of coconuts and beer. I remember when we were speaking of staying in Nuku Hiva too, and in La Paz. We make a home everywhere we go. This, makes it hard to leave, but this ease of adaptation also makes us eager to go forward, to see where else we could live. This is what we do, we set up house in different places, sometimes for 8 months at a time.

We weren't going to be staying long in Niue though, but not by choice.

Alofi Bay, the only anchorage on the island, is not protected in any wind other than east. If the wind turns in an unfavorable direction, staying could be dangerous and we'd be forced to leave.

One other troublesome thing about the 'rock of Polynesia', is that they hiked the departure fees from 35$ to 80$ per person. Anyone who enters Niue, when leaving, need pay this fee. That's a lot of money, we thought, to visit a place so small.

In the end I'm glad we went, because of all the places we'd been, Niue was our favorite.

We arrived at 6am in the morning, rounding the island to Alofi bay that lay on the west side. A squall lay between me and the anchorage, a puffy cloud with a thick wet skirt. I pulled my hood on, grabbed the helm firmly and quickly skipped through songs on my phone till I landed on anything by Purity ring. Ah! Sea castles. Yes, perfect.

WOOSH! A gust of wind comes, but I'm ready. The song begins then too... 'I could build a machine—' The boat heels, '—draw pictures for the walls.' Then comes the rain, heavy droplets, washing the salt crystals away. It left as quickly as it came, giving way to the sun, its face reflected in a thousand wet pools on the deck. 'Hang up all my fragile frights—' I point Pino towards the anchorage. Tall masts ahead, signs of life. The water, a deep blue, spotted with brightly-colored floaters. '—Display that you may see.' I sing aloud, turning the music off. 'We're here!' I shout to Devine.

internet in paradise

Huahine, one of the many grouped islands in French Polynesia. Our plans for future ocean voyaging could have ended here, because we almost crashed onto a reef.

Because we always time our arrival with the morning sun, I always get the first look of every island. Huahine stood in front of us, a series of volcanic peaks marked by deep valleys and blanketed in green, an island that came into being million of years ago.

We were heading for Baie d'Avea, to the south of the island.

rainy with a chance of mosquitoes

Nuku Hiva, a green mountainous island in the Pacific, straight out of Jurassic Park. Just as foreign and just as wild, except instead of hungry lizards there are mosquitoes, also known as the vampires of the Marquesas.

Before arriving, we didn't know what it was going to be like there, we'd barely read anything about it. We knew where we'd anchor, that people there spoke french and that there would be tropical fruit, but beyond that it was a blur, a black spot in our minds. We read the book Fourteen during our 28-day transit from La Paz. In this book, the family sailed to Nuku Hiva, but their experience there was not so good. It wasn't bad because of the Marquesans, or the island itself, but because of no-no's, little biting bugs that hide in sand. We took a mental note of this: "Avoid sand beaches, and you will have a great time!"

On day 27 of our voyage, I could see the outline of the island in the distance. I stood at the bow, trying to take footage of the event, but was disappointed with the shot. Far-away wonders have a way of looking unimpressive on camera. I was about to put the camera away, when I heard a 'wooshing' sound. I looked over the side, and saw an orca whale swimming next to Pino, its length matching our own. It stayed with us for a long while, it's white belly making it easy to spot it in the water. This unusual encounter was a great start to our Marquesian adventure.

Pino arrived at the entrance to Taiohae bay. I sat on the bow with Iggy's deflated corpse. I pumped life back into it, while it, sucked mine out. I was sweaty, a constant stream of body water oozing down my back. We had no dinghy pump, having broken it ages ago. All we had was a jury-rigged contraption using a bike pump, a bike tube and the hose from the old pump. It worked, but it took twice as long to put air into anything.

A super yacht was anchored in the mouth of the bay, called 'Ethereal'. "How fitting", I thought.

It's as if the yacht was a sign, a warning of the view to come — one, that was definitely ethereal.

A chain of mountains, green and fuzzy, and ahead a bay filled with boats flying flags from all over the world. We found a spot in 12 m of water, mud bottom, and dropped anchor. The sky was clear, but clouds clung to the peaks of every mountain. It was a rare thing, we realized afterwards, for the skies to be clear. Most days were grey. While grey often means rain, it also means less sun. It was over 30 degrees every day, so hot that at times we couldn't work, our bodies shiny with sweat, driving us mad. Mad to the point that we seriously considered flooding the cockpit with water to turn it into a pool.

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Darknet Diaries

171: Melody Fraud

What if the music charts you see aren’t real? What if the numbers that define success can be manufactured? We talked to Andrew, a man who has spent his career on both sides of this battle. He once profited from the loopholes in streaming platforms, but now, his job is to close them. This episode will change the way you understand music streaming platforms from now on.

Sponsors

Support for this show comes from ThreatLocker®. ThreatLocker® is a Zero Trust Endpoint Protection Platform that strengthens your infrastructure from the ground up. With ThreatLocker® Allowlisting and Ringfencing™, you gain a more secure approach to blocking exploits of known and unknown vulnerabilities. ThreatLocker® provides Zero Trust control at the kernel level that enables you to allow everything you need and block everything else, including ransomware! Learn more at www.threatlocker.com.

Support for this show comes from Adaptive Security. Deepfake voices on a Zoom call. AI-written phishing emails that sound exactly like your CFO. Synthetic job applicants walking through the front door. Adaptive is built to stop these attacks. They run real-time simulations, exposing your teams to what these attacks look like to test and improve your defences. Learn more at adaptivesecurity.com.

This episode is sponsored by Meter, the company building networks from the ground up. Meter delivers a complete networking stack - wired, wireless, and cellular - in one solution that’s built for performance and scale. Alongside their partners, Meter designs the hardware, writes the firmware, builds the software, manages deployments, and runs support. Learn more at meter.com.

170: Phrack

Phrack is legendary. It is the oldest, and arguably the most prestigious, underground hacking magazine in the world.

It started in 1985 and is still running today. In this episode we interview the Phrack staff to hear some stories about what it’s like running a hacker magazine for 40 years.

phrack.org

Sponsors

Support for this show comes from Drata. Drata is the trust management platform that uses AI-driven automation to modernize governance, risk, and compliance, helping thousands of businesses stay audit-ready and scale securely. Learn more at drata.com/darknetdiaries.

169: MoD

Legion of Doom, step aside. There’s a new elite hacker group in town, and they’re calling themselves Masters of Deception (MoD). With tactics that are grittier and more sophisticated than those of the LoD, MoD has targeted high-profile entities and left an indelible mark on the internet.

This is part 2 of the LoD/MoD series. Part 1 is episode 168: “LoD”.

Sponsors

This show is sponsored by Red Canary. Red Canary is a leading provider of Managed Detection and Response (MDR), helping nearly 1,000 organizations detect and stop threats before they cause harm. With a focus on accuracy across identities, endpoints, and cloud, we deliver trusted security operations and a world-class customer experience. Learn more at redcanary.com.

This show is sponsored by Maze. Maze uses AI agents to triage and remediate cloud vulnerabilities by figuring out what’s actually exploitable, not just what’s theoretically risky. They remove the noise, prioritize vulns that matter, and manage remediation, so your team stops wasting time on meaningless vulns. Visit MazeHQ.com/darknet for more information.

Sources

168: LoD

The Legion of Doom (LoD) wasn’t just a “hacker group”, it captured the essence of underground hacking in the 80s/90s. BBSes, phreaking, rival crews, and the crackdowns that changed everything. From those humble beginnings came a legacy that still echoes through modern security culture today.

This is part 1 of the LoD/MoD saga. Part 2 is episode 169: “MoD”.

Sponsors

This show is sponsored by Rippling. Rippling is the unified platform for Global HR, Payroll, IT, and Finance. They’ve helped millions replace their mess of cobbled-together tools with one system designed to give leaders clarity, speed, and control. With Rippling, you can run your entire HR, IT, and Finance operations as one, or pick and choose the products that best fill the gaps in your software stack. Learn more rippling.com/darknet.

This show is sponsored by Meter, the company building networks from the ground up. Meter delivers a complete networking stack - wired, wireless, and cellular - in one solution that’s built for performance and scale. Meter’s full-stack solution covers everything from first site survey to ongoing support, giving you a single partner for all your connectivity needs. Go to meter.com/darknet to book a demo now!

Sources

Book: Masters of Deception (https://amzn.to/4q3O0gJ)
Book: The Hacker Crackdown (https://amzn.to/3N4bovY)

167: Threatlocker

A manufacturer gets hit with ransomware. A hospital too. Learn how Threatlocker stops these types of attacks. This episode is brought to you by Threatlocker.

Sponsors

This episode is sponsored by ThreatLocker®. ThreatLocker® is a Zero Trust Endpoint Protection Platform that strengthens your infrastructure from the ground up. With ThreatLocker® Allowlisting and Ringfencing™, you gain a more secure approach to blocking exploits of known and unknown vulnerabilities. ThreatLocker® provides Zero Trust control at the kernel level that enables you to allow everything you need and block everything else, including ransomware! Learn more at www.threatlocker.com.

166: Maxie

Maxie Reynolds loves an adventure, especially the kind where she’s breaking into buildings (legally). In this episode, she shares stories from her time as a professional penetration tester, including high-stakes physical intrusions, red team chaos, and the unique adrenaline of hacking the real world.

Her book: The Art of Attack: Attacker Mindset for Security Professionals (https://amzn.to/4ojYSVZ)

Her data center: www.subseacloud.com/

165: Tanya

Tanya Janca is a globally recognized AppSec (application security) expert and founder of We Hack Purple. In this episode, she shares wild stories from the front lines of cybersecurity. She shares stories of when she was a penetration tester to an incident responder.

You can sign up for her newsletter at https://newsletter.shehackspurple.ca/

Sponsors

This episode is sponsored by Hims. Hims offers access to ED treatment options ranging from trusted generics that cost up to 95% less than brand names to Hard Mints, if prescribed. To get simple, online access to personalized, affordable care for ED, Hair Loss, Weight Loss, and more, visit https://hims.com/darknet.

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Books

164: Oak Cliff Swipers

He started small, swiping cards, buying gift cards, and cashing out. It spiraled into a full‑blown criminal enterprise. Dozens of co‑conspirators, stacks of stolen plastic, and a lifestyle built on chaos.

Meet Nathan Michael, leader of Oak Cliff Swipers.

Sponsors

Support for this show comes from Pantheon. Pantheon keeps your site fast, secure, and always on. That means better SEO, more conversions, and no lost sales from downtime. But this isn’t just a business win; it’s a developer win too. Your team gets automated workflows, isolated test environments, and zero-downtime deployments. Visit Pantheon.io, and make your website your unfair advantage.

163: Ola

In 2019, Ola Bini, a Swedish programmer and privacy advocate, was arrested in Ecuador for being a Russian hacker.

Find Ola on X: https://x.com/olabini. Or visit his website https://olabini.se/blog/. Or check out his non-profit https://autonomia.digital/.

Sponsors

This show is sponsored by Miro. AI doesn’t have to be intimidating—in fact, it can help your team thrive. Miro’s Innovation Workspace changes that by bringing people and AI together to turn ideas into impact, fast. Whether you’re launching a new podcast, streamlining a process, or building the next big thing, Miro helps your team move quicker, collaborate better, and actually enjoy the work. Learn more at https://miro.com/.

This show is sponsored by Thales. With their industry-leading platforms, you can protect critical applications, data and identities – anywhere and at scale with the highest ROI. That’s why the most trusted brands and largest banks, retailers and healthcare companies in the world rely on Thales to protect what matters most – applications, data and identities. Learn more at http://thalesgroup.com/cyber.

View all active sponsors.

Sources

162: Hieu

All Hieu Minh Ngo wanted was to make money online. But when he stumbled into the dark web, he found more than just opportunity, he found a global dark market. What started as a side hustle turned into an international crime spree.

Find Hieu on X: https://x.com/HHieupc.

Sponsors

161: mg

In this episode we talk with mg (https://x.com/MG), the brilliant (and notorious) hacker and hardware engineer behind the OMG Cable. A seemingly ordinary USB cable with extraordinary offensive capabilities.

Learn more about mg at: o.mg.lol

Sponsors

Support for this show comes from Axonius. Axonius transforms asset intelligence into intelligent action. With the Axonius Asset Cloud, customers preemptively tackle high-risk and hard-to-spot threat exposures, misconfigurations, and overspending. The integrated platform brings together data from every system in an organization’s IT infrastructure to optimize mission-critical risk, performance, and cost measures via actionable intelligence. Covering cyber assets, software, SaaS applications, identities, vulnerabilities, infrastructure, and more, Axonius is the one place to go for Security, IT, and GRC teams to continuously drive actionability across the organization. Bring truth to action with Axonius. Learn more at axonius.com.

160: Greg

Greg Linares (AKA Laughing Mantis) joins us to tell us about how he became the youngest hacker to be arrested in Arizona.

Follow Greg on Twitter: https://x.com/Laughing_Mantis.

Sponsors

159: Vastaamo

Joe Tidy investigates what may be the cruelest and most disturbing cyber attack in history. A breach so invasive it blurred the line between digital crime and psychological torture. This story might make your skin crawl.

Get more from Joe linktr.ee/joetidy.

Get the book Ctrl + Alt + Chaos: How Teenage Hackers Hijack the Internet (https://amzn.to/3He7GNs).

Sponsors

158: MalwareTech

MalwareTech was an anonymous security researcher, until he accidentally stopped WannaCry, one of the largest ransomware attacks in history. That single act of heroism shattered his anonymity and pulled him into a world he never expected.

https://malwaretech.com

Sponsors

Support for the show comes from Black Hills Information Security. Black Hills has a variety of penetration assessment and security auditing services they provide customers to help keep improve the security of a company. If you need a penetration test check out www.blackhillsinfosec.com/darknet.

Support for this show comes from Arctic Wolf. Arctic Wolf is the industry leader in security operations solutions, delivering 24x7 monitoring, assessment, and response through our patented Concierge Security model. They work with your existing tools and become an extension of your existing IT team. Visit arcticwolf.com/darknet to learn more.

Support for this show comes from Cloaked, a digital privacy tool. Cloaked offers private email, phone numbers, and virtual credit card numbers. So you can be anonymous online. They also will remove your personal information from the internet. Like home address, SSN, and phone numbers. Listeners get 20% off a Cloaked subscription when they visit https://cloaked.com/darknet. Calling 1-855-752-5625 for a free scan to check if your personal information is exposed!

157: Grifter

Grifter is a longtime hacker, DEF CON organizer, and respected voice in the infosec community. From his early days exploring networks to helping shape one of the largest hacker conferences in the world, Grifter has built a reputation for blending deep technical insight with a sharp sense of humor.

Learn more about Grifter by visiting grifter.org.

Sponsors

Support for this show comes from ZipRecruiter. ZipRecruiter has solved the hiring problem. Employers prefer it the most for so many reasons. Let’s start by telling you about their matching technology. They work hard to find the best candidates for your needs, and will instantly show you results once you post a job listing. ZipRecruiter will speed up your hiring process. See it for yourself at www.ziprecruiter.com/DARKNET.

This show is sponsored by Material Security. Your cloud office (think Google Workspace or Microsoft 365) is the core of your business, but it’s often protected by scattered tools and manual fixes. Material is a purpose-built detection and response platform that closes the gaps those point solutions leave behind. From email threats to misconfigurations and account takeovers, Material monitors everything and steps in with real-time fixes to keep your data flowing where it should. Learn more at https://material.security.

156: Kill List

The dark web is full of mystery. Some of it’s just made up though. Chris Monteiro wanted to see what was real and fake and discovered a hitman for hire site which took him on an unbelievable journey.

Chris Monteiro Twitter: x.com/Deku_shrub, Website: https://pirate.london/

Carl Miller Twitter: https://x.com/carljackmiller.

Kill List podcast: https://wondery.com/shows/kill-list/

Sponsors

This episode is sponsored by ProjectDiscovery. Tired of false positives and falling behind on new CVEs? Upgrade to Nuclei and ProjectDiscovery, the go-to tools for hackers and pentesters. With 10,000 detection templates, Nuclei helps you scan for exploitable vulnerabilities fast, while ProjectDiscovery lets you map your company’s perimeter, detect trending exploits, and triage results in seconds. Get automation, accuracy, and peace of mind. First-time users get one month FREE of ProjectDiscovery Pro with code DARKNET at projectdiscovery.io/darknet.

This episode is sponsored by Kinsta. Running an online business comes with enough headaches—your WordPress hosting shouldn’t be one of them. Kinsta’s managed hosting takes care of speed, security, and reliability so you can focus on what matters. With enterprise-level security, a modern dashboard that’s actually intuitive, and 24/7 support from real WordPress experts (not chatbots), Kinsta makes hosting stress-free. Need to move your site? They’ll migrate it for free. Plus, get your first month free when you sign up at kinsta.com/DARKNET.

155: Kingpin

In this episode, we delve into the multifaceted career of Joe Grand, also known as “Kingpin.” A renowned hardware hacker and computer engineer, Joe has been exploring and manipulating electronic systems since the 1980s. As a former member of the legendary hacker collective L0pht Heavy Industries, he has significantly contributed to the cybersecurity landscape. Joe is also the proprietor of Grand Idea Studio, a research and development firm, and has shared his expertise through various media, including his YouTube channel. Join us as we explore Joe’s unique perspective on hacking, engineering, and his extraordinary journey in the world of technology.

https://joegrand.com/

Sponsors

Support for this show comes from Lumen. It used to be hard to track your metabolism, but Lumen is a little device that you breath into which tells you if your burning fat or carbs, fast and easy and have your results in seconds. And knowing that will help you know what kind of food your body needs. And knowing that will help you with your health goals like losing weight or gaining muscle. Take the next step to improving your health go to lumen.me/darknet.

154: Hijacked Line

Conor Freeman (x.com/conorfrmn) stole money online. Lot’s of it. In this episode we talk with him, and hear how he did it, why he did, and what he spent it on.

Conor’s website: https://conorfreeman.ie

Conor’s X: https://x.com/conorfrmn

Sponsors

Sources

153: Bike Index

Have you ever got your bike stolen? In this episode we dive into the world of stolen bikes. Who does it and where do the bikes go? We talk with Bryan from Bike Index who investigates this.

https://bikeindex.org

Sponsors

This show is sponsored by Flashpoint. As one of the largest private providers of threat intelligence, Flashpoint delivers what security teams need most: clarity. By combining cutting-edge technology with the expertise of world-class analyst teams, their Ignite platform gives organizations instant access to critical data, expertly analyzed insights, and real-time alerts —all in one seamless platform. To access one of the industry’s best threat data and threat intelligence, visit flashpoint.io today.

152: Stacc Attack

Jarett Dunn, AKA StaccOverflow, stole millions of dollars from a website called Pump Fun, and he wanted to do it in the most dramatic and theatrical way he could. His big heist is known as the “Stacc Attack”.

https://x.com/STACCoverflow

He has a merch store now freestacc.io.

Sponsors

Support for this show comes from Cobalt Strike. Cobalt Strike simulates real-world, advanced cyber attacks to enable red teams to proactively evaluate an organisation’s security readiness and defence response. Their Command and Control framework gives red teamers the ability to customise their engagements and incorporate their own tools and techniques, allowing you to stress-test specific parts of your incident response capabilities. Learn more about Cobalt Strike and get a custom demo at https://cobaltstrike.com/darknet.

Support for this show comes from Axonius. The Axonius solution correlates asset data from your existing IT and security solutions to provide an always up-to-date inventory of all devices, users, cloud instances, and SaaS apps, so you can easily identify coverage gaps and automate response actions. Axonius gives IT and security teams the confidence to control complexity by mitigating threats, navigating risk, decreasing incidents, and informing business-level strategy — all while eliminating manual, repetitive tasks. Visit axonius.com/darknet to learn more and try it free.

151: Chris Rock

Chris Rock is known for being a security researcher. But he’s also a black hat incident responder. He tells us about a job he did in the middle east.

https://x.com/chrisrockhacker

Sponsors
Support for this show comes from Varonis. Do you wonder what your company’s ransomware blast radius is? Varonis does a free cyber resilience assessment that tells you how many important files a compromised user could steal, whether anything would beep if they did, and a whole lot more. They actually do all the work – show you where your data is too open, if anyone is using it, and what you can lock down before attackers get inside. They also can detect behavior that looks like ransomware and stop it automatically. To learn more visit www.varonis.com/darknet.

Support for this show comes from Axonius. The Axonius solution correlates asset data from your existing IT and security solutions to provide an always up-to-date inventory of all devices, users, cloud instances, and SaaS apps, so you can easily identify coverage gaps and automate response actions. Axonius gives IT and security teams the confidence to control complexity by mitigating threats, navigating risk, decreasing incidents, and informing business-level strategy — all while eliminating manual, repetitive tasks. Visit axonius.com/darknet to learn more and try it free.

Support for this show comes from Flare. Flare automates monitoring across the dark & clear web to detect high-risk exposure, before threat actors have a chance to leverage it. Their unified solution makes it easy to rapidly identify risks across thousands of sources, including developers leaking secrets on public GitHub Repositories, threat actors selling infected devices on dark web markets, and targeted attacks being planned on illicit Telegram Channels. Visit http://try.flare.io/darknet-diaries to learn more.

150: mobman 2

In Episode 20 of Darknet Diaries, we heard from Greg aka “mobman” who said he created the sub7 malware. Something didn’t sit right with a lot of people about that episode. It’s time to revisit that episode and get to the bottom of things.

Sponsors
This show is sponsored by Shopify. Shopify is the best place to go to start or grow your online retail business. And running a growing business means getting the insights you need wherever you are. With Shopify’s single dashboard, you can manage orders, shipping, and payments from anywhere. Sign up for a one-dollar-per-month trial period at https://shopify.com/darknet.

Support for this show comes from Axonius. The Axonius solution correlates asset data from your existing IT and security solutions to provide an always up-to-date inventory of all devices, users, cloud instances, and SaaS apps, so you can easily identify coverage gaps and automate response actions. Axonius gives IT and security teams the confidence to control complexity by mitigating threats, navigating risk, decreasing incidents, and informing business-level strategy — all while eliminating manual, repetitive tasks. Visit axonius.com/darknet to learn more and try it free.

Support for this show comes from ThreatLocker®. ThreatLocker® is a Zero Trust Endpoint Protection Platform that strengthens your infrastructure from the ground up. With ThreatLocker® Allowlisting and Ringfencing™, you gain a more secure approach to blocking exploits of known and unknown vulnerabilities. ThreatLocker® provides Zero Trust control at the kernel level that enables you to allow everything you need and block everything else, including ransomware! Learn more at www.threatlocker.com.

Sources
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GDMc2PZM4V4
https://www.illmob.org/notmymobman/
https://darknetdiaries.com/episode/20

149: Mini-Stories: Vol 3

In this episode we hear EvilMog (https://x.com/Evil_Mog) tell us a story about when he had to troubleshoot networks in Afghanistan. We also get Joe (http://x.com/gonzosec) to tell us a penetration test story.

Sponsors
Support for this show comes from Varonis. Do you wonder what your company’s ransomware blast radius is? Varonis does a free cyber resilience assessment that tells you how many important files a compromised user could steal, whether anything would beep if they did, and a whole lot more. They actually do all the work – show you where your data is too open, if anyone is using it, and what you can lock down before attackers get inside. They also can detect behavior that looks like ransomware and stop it automatically. To learn more visit www.varonis.com/darknet.

Support for this show comes from Axonius. The Axonius solution correlates asset data from your existing IT and security solutions to provide an always up-to-date inventory of all devices, users, cloud instances, and SaaS apps, so you can easily identify coverage gaps and automate response actions. Axonius gives IT and security teams the confidence to control complexity by mitigating threats, navigating risk, decreasing incidents, and informing business-level strategy — all while eliminating manual, repetitive tasks. Visit axonius.com/darknet to learn more and try it free.

Support for this show comes from ThreatLocker®. ThreatLocker® is a Zero Trust Endpoint Protection Platform that strengthens your infrastructure from the ground up. With ThreatLocker® Allowlisting and Ringfencing™, you gain a more secure approach to blocking exploits of known and unknown vulnerabilities. ThreatLocker® provides Zero Trust control at the kernel level that enables you to allow everything you need and block everything else, including ransomware! Learn more at www.threatlocker.com.

148: Dubsnatch

Ever wondered how far a fan would go to get a sneak peek of their favorite artist’s unreleased tracks? In this episode, we uncover the audacious story of some teens bent on getting their hands on the newest dubstep music before anyone else.

Sponsors
Support for this show comes from Varonis. Do you wonder what your company’s ransomware blast radius is? Varonis does a free cyber resilience assessment that tells you how many important files a compromised user could steal, whether anything would beep if they did, and a whole lot more. They actually do all the work – show you where your data is too open, if anyone is using it, and what you can lock down before attackers get inside. They also can detect behavior that looks like ransomware and stop it automatically. To learn more visit www.varonis.com/darknet.

Support for this show comes from Axonius. The Axonius solution correlates asset data from your existing IT and security solutions to provide an always up-to-date inventory of all devices, users, cloud instances, and SaaS apps, so you can easily identify coverage gaps and automate response actions. Axonius gives IT and security teams the confidence to control complexity by mitigating threats, navigating risk, decreasing incidents, and informing business-level strategy — all while eliminating manual, repetitive tasks. Visit axonius.com/darknet to learn more and try it free.

Support for this show comes from ThreatLocker®. ThreatLocker® is a Zero Trust Endpoint Protection Platform that strengthens your infrastructure from the ground up. With ThreatLocker® Allowlisting and Ringfencing™, you gain a more secure approach to blocking exploits of known and unknown vulnerabilities. ThreatLocker® provides Zero Trust control at the kernel level that enables you to allow everything you need and block everything else, including ransomware! Learn more at www.threatlocker.com.

147: Tornado

In this episode, Geoff White (https://x.com/geoffwhite247) tells us what happened to Axie Infinity and Tornado cash. It’s a digital heist of epic proportions that changes everything.

This story comes from part of Geoff’s book “Rinsed” which goes into the world of money laundering. Get yours here https://amzn.to/3VJs7pb.

146: ANOM

In this episode, Joseph Cox (https://x.com/josephfcox) tells us the story of anom. A secure phone made by criminals, for criminals.

This story comes from part of Joseph’s book “Dark Wire” which you should definitely read. Get yours here https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/joseph-cox/dark-wire/9781541702691.

145: Shannen

Shannen Rossmiller wanted to fight terrorism. So she went online and did.

Read more about her from her book “The Unexpected Patriot: How an Ordinary American Mother Is Bringing Terrorists to Justice”. An affiliate link to the book on Amazon is here: https://amzn.to/3yaf5sI.

Thanks to Spycast for allowing usage of the audio interview with Shannen.

Sponsors

Support for this show comes from Varonis. Do you wonder what your company’s ransomware blast radius is? Varonis does a free cyber resilience assessment that tells you how many important files a compromised user could steal, whether anything would beep if they did, and a whole lot more. They actually do all the work – show you where your data is too open, if anyone is using it, and what you can lock down before attackers get inside. They also can detect behavior that looks like ransomware and stop it automatically. To learn more visit www.varonis.com/darknet.

Support for this show comes from Axonius. The Axonius solution correlates asset data from your existing IT and security solutions to provide an always up-to-date inventory of all devices, users, cloud instances, and SaaS apps, so you can easily identify coverage gaps and automate response actions. Axonius gives IT and security teams the confidence to control complexity by mitigating threats, navigating risk, decreasing incidents, and informing business-level strategy — all while eliminating manual, repetitive tasks. Visit axonius.com/darknet to learn more and try it free.

Support for this show comes from ThreatLocker®. ThreatLocker® is a Zero Trust Endpoint Protection Platform that strengthens your infrastructure from the ground up. With ThreatLocker® Allowlisting and Ringfencing™, you gain a more secure approach to blocking exploits of known and unknown vulnerabilities. ThreatLocker® provides Zero Trust control at the kernel level that enables you to allow everything you need and block everything else, including ransomware! Learn more at www.threatlocker.com.

144: Rachel

Rachel Tobac is a social engineer. In this episode we hear how she got started doing this and a few stories of how she hacked people and places using her voice and charm.

Learn more about Rachel by following her on Twitter https://twitter.com/RachelTobac or by visiting https://www.socialproofsecurity.com/

Daniel Miessler also chimes in to talk about AI. Find out more about him at https://danielmiessler.com/.

Sponsors

Support for this show comes from Varonis. Do you wonder what your company’s ransomware blast radius is? Varonis does a free cyber resilience assessment that tells you how many important files a compromised user could steal, whether anything would beep if they did, and a whole lot more. They actually do all the work – show you where your data is too open, if anyone is using it, and what you can lock down before attackers get inside. They also can detect behavior that looks like ransomware and stop it automatically. To learn more visit www.varonis.com/darknet.

Support for this show comes from Axonius. The Axonius solution correlates asset data from your existing IT and security solutions to provide an always up-to-date inventory of all devices, users, cloud instances, and SaaS apps, so you can easily identify coverage gaps and automate response actions. Axonius gives IT and security teams the confidence to control complexity by mitigating threats, navigating risk, decreasing incidents, and informing business-level strategy — all while eliminating manual, repetitive tasks. Visit axonius.com/darknet to learn more and try it free.

Support for this show comes from ThreatLocker®. ThreatLocker® is a Zero Trust Endpoint Protection Platform that strengthens your infrastructure from the ground up. With ThreatLocker® Allowlisting and Ringfencing™, you gain a more secure approach to blocking exploits of known and unknown vulnerabilities. ThreatLocker® provides Zero Trust control at the kernel level that enables you to allow everything you need and block everything else, including ransomware! Learn more at www.threatlocker.com.

143: Jim Hates Scams

Jim Browning has dedicated himself to combatting scammers, taking a proactive stance by infiltrating their computer systems. Through his efforts, he not only disrupts these fraudulent operations but also shares his findings publicly on YouTube, shedding light on the intricacies of scam networks. His work uncovers a myriad of intriguing insights into the digital underworld, which he articulately discusses, offering viewers a behind-the-scenes look at his methods for fighting back against scammers.

Jim’s YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/JimBrowning

Sponsors

Support for this episode comes from NetSuite. NetSuite gives you visibility and control of your financials, planning, budgeting, and of course - inventory - so you can manage risk, get reliable forecasts, and improve margins. NetSuite helps you identify rising costs, automate your manual business processes, and see where to save money. KNOW your numbers. KNOW your business. And get to KNOW how NetSuite can be the source of truth for your entire company. Visit www.netsuite.com/darknet to learn more.

This episode is sponsored by Intruder. Growing attack surfaces, dynamic cloud environments, and the constant stream of new vulnerabilities stressing you out? Intruder is here to help you cut through the chaos of vulnerability management with ease. Join the thousands of companies who are using Intruder to find and fix what matters most. Sign up to Intruder today and get 20% off your first 3 months. Visit intruder.io/darknet.

This show is sponsored by Shopify. Shopify is the best place to go to start or grow your online retail business. And running a growing business means getting the insights you need wherever you are. With Shopify’s single dashboard, you can manage orders, shipping, and payments from anywhere. Sign up for a one-dollar-per-month trial period at https://shopify.com/darknet.

CLAIM=a6e199f5f9fd5954e532117c829c8f0a8f0f1282=CLAIM

142: Axact

Axact sells fake diplomas and degrees. What could go wrong with this business plan?

Sponsors

141: The Pig Butcher

The #1 crime which results in the biggest financial loss is BEC fraud. The #2 crime is pig butchering. Ronnie Tokazowski https://twitter.com/iHeartMalware walks us through this wild world.

Sponsors

Support for this show comes from Drata. Drata streamlines your SOC 2, ISO 27001, PCI DSS, HIPAA, GDPR & many other compliance frameworks, and provides 24-hour continuous control monitoring so you focus on scaling securely. Listeners of Darknet Diaries can get 10% off Drata and waived implementation fees at drata.com/darknetdiaries.

140: Revenge Bytes

Madison's nude photos were posted online. Her twin sister Christine came to help. This begins a bizarre and uneasy story.

139: D3f4ult

This is the story of D3f4ult (twitter.com/_d3f4ult) from CWA. He was a hacktivist, upset with the state of the way things were, and wanted to make some changes. Changes were made.

Sponsors

Support for this show comes from Thinkst Canary. Their canaries attract malicious actors in your network and then send you an alert if someone tries to access them. Great early warning system for knowing when someone is snooping around where they shouldn’t be. Check them out at https://canary.tools.

Support for this show comes from Quorum Cyber. Their mantra is: “We help good people win.” If you’re looking for a partner to help you reduce risk and defend against the threats that are targeting your business — and especially if you are interested in Microsoft Security — reach out to Quorum Cyber at www.quorumcyber.com/darknet-diaries.

Sources

https://www.vice.com/en/article/z3ekk5/kane-gamble-cracka-back-online-after-a-two-year-internet-ban

https://www.wired.com/2015/10/hacker-who-broke-into-cia-director-john-brennan-email-tells-how-he-did-it/

https://www.hackread.com/fbi-server-hacked-miami-police-data-leaked/

https://archive.ph/Si79V#selection-66795.5-66795.6

https://wikileaks.org/cia-emails/John-Brennan-Draft-SF86/page-7.html

138: The Mimics of Punjab

This episode is about scammers in the Punjab region. Tarun (twitter.com/taruns21) comes on the show to tell us a story of what happened to him. Naomi Brockwell (twitter.com/naomibrockwell) makes an appearance to speak about digital privacy.

To learn more about protecting your digital privacy, watch Naomi’s YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/@NaomiBrockwellTV. And check out the books Extreme Privacy (https://amzn.to/3L3ffp9) and Beginner’s Introduction to Privacy (https://amzn.to/3EjuSoY).

Sponsors

Support for this show comes from SpyCloud. It’s good practice to see what data is getting passed around out there regarding you, your employees, your customers, and your business. The dark web is a place where this data is traded and shared. SpyCloud will help you find what out there about you and give you a report so you can be aware. Then they’ll continuously monitor the dark web for any new exposures you should be aware of. To learn more visit spycloud.com/darknetdiaries.

Support for this show comes from ThreatLocker. ThreatLocker has built-in endpoint security solutions that strengthen your infrastructure from the ground up with a zero trust posture. ThreatLocker’s Allowlisting gives you a more secure approach to blocking exploits of known and unknown vulnerabilities. ThreatLocker provides zero trust control at the kernel level. Learn more at www.threatlocker.com.

137: Predator

A new type of mercenary spyware came on the radar called Predator. It’ll infect a mobile phone, and then suck up all the data from it. Contacts, text messages, location, and more. This malware is being sold to intelligence agencies around the world.

In this episode we hear from Crofton Black at Lighthouse Reports who spent 6 months with a team of journalists researching this story which was published here: https://www.lighthousereports.com/investigation/flight-of-the-predator/.

We also hear from Bill Marczak and John Scott-Railton from Citizen Lab.

If you want to hear about other mercenary spyware, check out episodes 99 and 100, about NSO group and Pegasus. To hear another episode about Greece check out episode 64 called Athens Shadow Games.

Sponsors

Support for this show comes from Akamai Connected Cloud (formerly Linode). Akamai Connected Cloud supplies you with virtual servers. Visit linode.com/darknet and get a special offer.

136: Team Xecuter

Team Xecuter was a group involved with making and selling modchips for video game systems. They often made mods that allowed the video game system to rip games or play pirated games. It was a crowd favorite in the modding scene. Until it all fell apart. The story of what happened to Team Xecuter must be heard to believe.

This episode features Gary Bowser. You can find more about Gary here:

https://twitter.com/Bowser_GaryOPA

https://garyopa.com/

https://www.gofundme.com/f/garyopa-restarting-his-life?utm_location=darknetdiaries

Sponsors

Sources

https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1994/10/27/ringleader-pleads-guilty-in-phone-fraud/56e551bb-a727-43e8-a3ca-1c1f4cf6ef82/

https://www.justice.gov/sites/default/files/usao/legacy/2010/10/12/usab4304.pdf

https://www.eurogamer.net/nintendo-to-appeal-not-guilty-judgement-of-flash-cart-sellers-7

https://www.gamesindustry.biz/nintendo-pounces-on-global-piracy-outfit

https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/two-members-notorious-videogame-piracy-group-team-xecuter-custody

https://medium.com/swlh/watch-paint-dry-how-i-got-a-game-on-the-steam-store-without-anyone-from-valve-ever-looking-at-it-2e476858c753#.z05q2nykc

https://www.lemonde.fr/police-justice/article/2022/05/27/voler-des-societes-qui-font-des-milliards-qu-est-ce-que-j-en-ai-a-faire-max-louarn-c-ur-de-hackeur_6127821_1653578.html

https://www.theverge.com/2020/11/20/21579392/nintendo-big-house-super-smash-bros-melee-tournament-slippi-cease-desist

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U7VwtOrwceo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5sNIE5anpik

135: The D.R. Incident

Omar Avilez worked in the CSIRT of the Dominican Republic when a major cyber security incident erupted. Omar walks us through what happened and the incident response procedures that he went through.

Breakmaster Cylinder’s new album: https://breakmastercylinder.bandcamp.com/album/the-moon-all-that.

Sponsors

Support for this show comes from Flare. Flare automates monitoring across the dark & clear web to detect high-risk exposure, before threat actors have a chance to leverage it. Their unified solution makes it easy to rapidly identify risks across thousands of sources, including developers leaking secrets on public GitHub Repositories, threat actors selling infected devices on dark web markets, and targeted attacks being planned on illicit Telegram Channels. Visit https://flare.io to learn more.

Sources

https://www.wired.com/story/costa-rica-ransomware-conti/

https://malpedia.caad.fkie.fraunhofer.de/details/win.bandook

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QHYH0U66K5Q

https://www.youtube.com/live/prCr7Z94078

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2023/02/uncle-sow-dark-caracal-latin-america

https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/quantum-ransomware-attack-disrupts-govt-agency-in-dominican-republic/

https://www.welivesecurity.com/2021/07/07/bandidos-at-large-spying-campaign-latin-america/

Attribution

Darknet Diaries is created by Jack Rhysider.

Assembled by Tristan Ledger.

Episode artwork by odibagas.

Mixing by Proximity Sound.

Theme music created by Breakmaster Cylinder. Theme song available for listen and download at bandcamp. Or listen to it on Spotify.

134: Deviant

Deviant Ollam is a physical penetration specialist. That means he’s paid to break into buildings to see if the building is secure or not. He has done this for a long time and has a lot of tricks up his sleeve to get into buildings. In this episode we hear 3 stories of him breaking into buildings for a living.

You can find more about Deviant on the following sites:

https://twitter.com/deviantollam

https://www.instagram.com/deviantollam

https://youtube.com/deviantollam

https://defcon.social/@deviantollam

https://deviating.net/

Sponsors

This show is sponsored by Packetlabs. They’ve created the Penetration Testing Buyer’s guide - a comprehensive resource that will help you plan, scope, and execute your Penetration Testing projects. Inside, you’ll find valuable information on frameworks, standards, methodologies, cost factors, reporting options, and what to look for in a provider. https://guide.packetlabs.net/.

133: I'm the Real Connor

One day Connor Tumbleson got an email saying his identity has been stolen. And this was one of the strangest days he’s ever had.

Sponsors

Skiff is a collaboration platform built for privacy from the ground up. Every document, note, and idea you write is end-to-end encrypted and completely private. Only you and your trusted collaborators can see what you’ve created. Try it out at https://skiff.com.

Support for this show comes from AttackIQ. AttackIQ’s security optimization platform emulates the adversary with realism to test your security program, generating real-time performance data to improve your security posture. They also offer free training. Head to attackiq.com to get a closer look at how AttackIQ can help you today.

Sources

https://connortumbleson.com/

https://krebsonsecurity.com/2022/10/glut-of-fake-linkedin-profiles-pits-hr-against-the-bots/

Snippet from Darknet Diaries ep 119 about North Korean’s getting tech jobs to steal bitcoin https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v1ik6bAwELA

Attribution

Assembled by Tristan Ledger.

Sound design by Garrett Tiedemann.

Episode artwork by odibagas.

Mixing by Proximity Sound.

Theme music created by Breakmaster Cylinder.

132: Sam the Vendor

Sam Bent, a.k.a. DoingFedTime, brings us a story of what it was like being a darknet market vendor.

Learn more about Sam at https://www.doingfedtime.com/.

Sponsors

Support for this show comes from Akamai Connected Cloud (formerly Linode). Akamai Connected Cloud supplies you with virtual servers. Visit linode.com/darknet and get a special offer.

131: Welcome to Video

Andy Greenberg (https://twitter.com/a_greenberg) brings us a gut wrenching story of how criminal investigators used bitcoin tracing techniques to try to find out who was at the center of a child sexual abuse darkweb website.

This story is part of Andy’s new book “Tracers in the Dark: The Global Hunt for the Crime Lords of Cryptocurrency”. An affiliate link to the book on Amazon is here: https://amzn.to/3VkjSh7.

Sponsors

130: Jason's Pen Test

Join us as we sit down with Jason Haddix (https://twitter.com/Jhaddix), a renowned penetration tester who has made a name for himself by uncovering vulnerabilities in some of the world’s biggest companies. In this episode, Jason shares his funny and enlightening stories about breaking into buildings and computers, and talks about the time he discovered a major security flaw in a popular mobile banking app.

Sponsors

Support for this show comes from Linode. Linode supplies you with virtual servers. Visit linode.com/darknet and get a special offer.

Support for this show comes from Arctic Wolf. Arctic Wolf is the industry leader in security operations solutions, delivering 24x7 monitoring, assessment, and response through our patented Concierge Security model. They work with your existing tools and become an extension of your existing IT team. Visit arcticwolf.com/darknet to learn more.

129: Gollumfun (Part 2)

Brett Johnson, AKA Gollumfun (twitter.com/GOllumfun) was involved with the websites Counterfeit Library and Shadow Crew. He tells his story of what happened there and some of the crimes he committed.

In part 2, his past catches up to him.

Listen to more of Brett on his own show. https://www.thebrettjohnsonshow.com/.

128: Gollumfun (Part 1)

Brett Johnson, AKA Gollumfun (twitter.com/GOllumfun) was involved with the websites Counterfeit Library and Shadow Crew. He tells his story of what happened there and some of the crimes he committed.

Sponsors

Support for this show comes from Linode. Linode supplies you with virtual servers. Visit linode.com/darknet and get a special offer.

127: Maddie

Maddie Stone is a security researcher for Google’s Project Zero. In this episode we hear what it’s like battling zero day vulnerabilities.

Sponsors

Support for this show comes from Zscalar. Zscalar zero trust exchange will scrutinize the traffic and permit or deny traffic based on a set of rules. This is so much more secure than letting data flow freely internally. And it really does mitigate ransomware outbreaks. The Zscaler Zero Trust Exchange gives YOU confidence in your security to feel empowered to focus on other parts of your business, like digital transformation, growth, and innovation. Check out the product at zscaler.com.

Sources

https://www.sophos.com/en-us/medialibrary/pdfs/technical%20papers/yu-vb2013.pdf

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s0Tqi7fuOSU

https://www.vice.com/en/article/4x3n9b/sometimes-a-typo-means-you-need-to-blow-up-your-spacecraft

126: REvil

REvil is the name of a ransomware service as well as a group of criminals inflicting ransomware onto the world. Hear how this ransomware shook the world.

A special thanks to our guest Will, a CTI researcher with Equinix.

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125: Jeremiah

Jeremiah Roe is a seasoned penetration tester. In this episode he tells us about a time when he had to break into a building to prove it wasn’t as secure as the company thought.

You can catch more of Jeremiah on the We’re In podcast.

Sponsors

124: Synthetic Remittance

What do you get when you combine social engineering, email, crime, finance, and the money stream flowing through big tech? Evaldas Rimašauskas comes to mind. He combined all these to make his big move. A whale of a move.

Sponsors

Support for this show comes from Linode. Linode supplies you with virtual servers. Visit linode.com/darknet and get a special offer.

123: Newswires

Investing in the stock market can be very profitable. Especially if you can see into the future. This is a story of how a group of traders and hackers got together to figure out a way to see into the future and make a lot of money from that.

Sponsors

Support for this show comes from Juniper Networks. Juniper Networks is dedicated to simplifying network operations and driving superior experiences for end users. Visit juniper.net/darknet to learn more about how Juniper’s Zero Trust Data Center provides uncompromising visibility across all your data center environments. Visit juniper.net/darknet to learn more.

122: Lisa

In this episode we hear some insider threat stories from Lisa Forte.

Sponsors

Support for this show comes from Axonius. Securing assets — whether managed, unmanaged, ephemeral, or in the cloud — is a tricky task. The Axonius Cybersecurity Asset Management Platform correlates asset data from existing solutions to provide an always up-to-date inventory, uncover gaps, and automate action. Axonius gives IT and security teams the confidence to control complexity by mitigating threats, navigating risk, decreasing incidents, and informing business-level strategy — all while eliminating manual, repetitive tasks. Visit axonius.com/darknet to learn more and try it free.

Attribution

Darknet Diaries is created by Jack Rhysider.

Editing by Damienne. Assembled by Tristan Ledger. Sound designed by Andrew Meriwether.

Episode artwork by odibagas.

Mixing by Proximity Sound.

Theme music created by Breakmaster Cylinder. Theme song available for listen and download at bandcamp. Or listen to it on Spotify.

121: Ed

In this episode we hear some penetration test stories from Ed Skoudis (twitter.com/edskoudis). We also catch up with Beau Woods (twitter.com/beauwoods) from I am The Cavalry (iamthecavalry.org).

Sponsors

Support for this podcast comes from Cybereason. Cybereason reverses the attacker’s advantage and puts the power back in the defender’s hands. End cyber attacks. From endpoints to everywhere. Learn more at Cybereason.com/darknet.

View all active sponsors.

Attribution

Darknet Diaries is created by Jack Rhysider.

Editing by Damienne. Assembled by Tristan Ledger. Sound designed by Andrew Meriwether.

Episode artwork by odibagas.

Audio cleanup by Proximity Sound.

Theme music created by Breakmaster Cylinder.

120: Voulnet

This is the story about when Mohammed Aldoub, AKA Voulnet, (twitter.com/Voulnet) found a vulnerability on Virus Total and Tweeted about it.

Sponsors

Sources

https://www.cyberscoop.com/story/trial-error-kuwait-mohammed-aldoub-case/

119: Hot Wallets

In this episode we interview journalist Geoff White to discuss some of the recent crypto currency heists that have been happening. Geoff has been tracking a certain group of thieves for some time and shares his knowledge of what he’s found.

Much of what we talk about in this episode has been published in Geoff’s new book The Lazarus Heist: From Hollywood to High Finance: Inside North Korea’s Global Cyber War (https://amzn.to/3mKf1qB).

Sponsors

118: Hot Swaps

This is the story of Joseph Harris (https://twitter.com/akad0c). When he was a young teen he got involved with stealing video game accounts and selling them for money. This set him on a course where he flew higher and higher until he got burned.

Joseph sometimes demonstrates vulnerabilities he finds on his YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdcuF5Zx6BiYmwnS-CiRAng.

Listen to episode 112 “Dirty Coms” to hear more about what goes on in the communities Joseph was involed with.

Sponsors

Support for this show comes from Synack. Synack is a penetration testing firm. But they also have a community of, people like you, who earn regular money by legally hacking. If you’re interested in getting paid to hack, visit them now at synack.com/red-team, and click ‘apply now.’

117: Daniel the Paladin

Daniel Kelley (https://twitter.com/danielmakelley) was equal parts mischievousness and clever when it came to computers. Until the day his mischief overtook his cleverness.

Sponsors

Support for this show comes from Keeper Security. Keeper Security’s is an enterprise password management system. Keeper locks down logins, payment cards, confidential documents, API keys, and database passwords in a patented Zero-Knowledge encrypted vault. And, it takes less than an hour to deploy across your organization. Get started by visiting keepersecurity.com/darknet.

116: Mad Dog

Jim Lawler, aka “Mad Dog”, was a CIA case officer for 25 years. In this episode we hear some of the stories he has and things he did while working in the CIA.

Jim has two books out. Affiliate links below.

Living Lies: A Novel of the Iranian Nuclear Weapons Program https://amzn.to/3s0Ppca

In the Twinkling of an Eye: A Novel of Biological Terror and Espionage https://amzn.to/3y7B4OL

Sponsors

Support for this show comes from Linode. Linode supplies you with virtual servers. Visit linode.com/darknet and get a special offer.

115: Player Cheater Developer Spy

Some video game players buy cheats to win. Let’s take a look at this game cheating industry to see who the players are.

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114: HD

HD Moore (https://twitter.com/hdmoore) invented a hacking tool called Metasploit. He crammed it with tons of exploits and payloads that can be used to hack into computers. What could possibly go wrong? Learn more about what HD does today by visiting rumble.run/.

Sponsors

Support for this show comes from Quorum Cyber. They exist to defend organisations against cyber security breaches and attacks. That’s it. No noise. No hard sell. If you’re looking for a partner to help you reduce risk and defend against the threats that are targeting your business — and specially if you are interested in Microsoft Security - reach out to www.quorumcyber.com.

Support for this show comes from Snyk. Snyk is a developer security platform that helps you secure your applications from the start. It automatically scans your code, dependencies, containers, and cloud infrastructure configs — finding and fixing vulnerabilities in real time. And Snyk does it all right from the existing tools and workflows you already use. IDEs, CLI, repos, pipelines, Docker Hub, and more — so your work isn’t interrupted. Create your free account at snyk.co/darknet.

113: Adam

Adam got a job doing IT work at a learning academy. He liked it and was happy there and feeling part of the team. But a strange series of events took him in another direction, that definitely didn’t make him happy.

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112: Dirty Coms

This episode we talk with a guy named “Drew” who gives us a rare peek into what some of the young hackers are up to today. From listening to Drew, we can see that times are changing for the motive behind hacking. In the ’90s and ’00s it was done for fun and curiosity. In the ’10s Anonymous showed us what Hacktivism is. And now, in the ’20s, the young hackers seem to be profit driven.

Sponsors

Support for this show comes from Linode. Linode supplies you with virtual servers. Visit linode.com/darknet and get a special offer.

Support for this show comes from Juniper Networks. Juniper Networks is dedicated to simplifying network operations and driving superior experiences for end users. Visit juniper.net/darknet to learn more about how Juniper Secure Edge can help you keep your remote workforce seamlessly secure wherever they are.

111: ZeuS

ZeuS is a banking trojan. Designed to steal money from online bank user’s accounts. This trojan became so big, that it resulted in one of the biggest FBI operations ever.

Sponsors

110: Spam Botnets

This episode tells the stories of some of the worlds biggest spamming botnets. We’ll talk about the botnets Rustock, Waledac, and Cutwail. We’ll discover who was behind them, what their objectives were, and what their fate was.

Sponsors

Support for this show comes from Juniper Networks (hyperlink: juniper.net/darknet). Juniper Networks is dedicated to simplifying network operations and driving superior experiences for end users. Visit juniper.net/darknet to learn more about how Juniper Secure Edge can help you keep your remote workforce seamlessly secure wherever they are.

109: TeaMp0isoN

TeaMp0isoN was a hacking group that was founded by TriCk and MLT (twitter.com/0dayWizard). They were responsible for some high profile hacks. But in this story it’s not the rise that’s most interesting. It’s the fall.

Sponsors

108: Marq

This is the story of Marq (twitter.com/dev_null321). Which involves passwords, the dark web, and police.

Sponsors

Support for this show comes from Linode. Linode supplies you with virtual servers. Visit linode.com/darknet and get a special offer.

View all active sponsors.

Sources

Court records and news articles were used to fact check this episode. However Marq requested that links to his full name not be made available.

https://techcrunch.com/2019/12/19/ring-doorbell-passwords-exposed/

https://www.wired.com/2010/03/hacker-bricks-cars/

107: Alethe

Alethe is a social engineer. Professionally she tries to trick people to give her passwords and access that she shouldn’t have. But her journey to this point is interesting and in this episode she tells us how she became a social engineer.

Follow Alethe on Twitter: https://twitter.com/AletheDenis

Sponsors

Support for this show comes from Skiff. Skiff is a collaboration platform built for privacy from the ground up. Every document, note, and idea you write is end-to-end encrypted and completely private. Only you and your trusted collaborators can see what you’ve created. Try it out at https://www.skiff.org/darknet.

Support for this show comes from Blinkist. They offer thousands of condensed non-fiction books, so you can get through books in about 15 minutes. Check out Blinkist.com/DARKNET to start your 7 day free trial and get 25% off when you sign up.

106: @Tennessee

How much online abuse are you willing to take before you decide to let your abuser have what they want? Unfortunately, this is a decision that many people have to ask themselves. If someone can threaten you physically, it bypasses whatever digital security you have in place.

Thanks to https://twitter.com/jw for sharing this harrowing story with us.

Affiliate links to books:

The Smart Girl’s Guide to Privacy: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1593276486/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1593276486&linkCode=as2&tag=tunn01-20&linkId=0a8ee2ca846534f77626757288d77e00

Extreme Privacy:https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0898YGR58/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B0898YGR58&linkCode=as2&tag=tunn01-20&linkId=575c5ed0326484f0b612f000621b407f

Sponsors

Support for this show comes from IT Pro TV. Get 65 hours of free training by visiting ITPro.tv/darknet. And use promo code DARKNET.

Support for this show comes from Ping Identity, champions of identity for the global enterprise. Give your users a loveable login solution. Visit www.pingidentity.com/.

View all active sponsors.

105: Secret Cells

Joseph Cox (https://twitter.com/josephfcox), Senior Staff Writer at Motherboard (https://www.vice.com/en/topic/motherboard), joins us to talk about the world of encrypted phones.

Books

Affiliate links to books:

Extreme Privacy:https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0898YGR58/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B0898YGR58&linkCode=as2&tag=tunn01-20&linkId=575c5ed0326484f0b612f000621b407f

Sponsors

Support for this show comes from IT Pro TV. Get 65 hours of free training by visiting ITPro.tv/darknet. And use promo code DARKNET.

Support for this show comes from Ping Identity, champions of identity for the global enterprise. Give your users a loveable login solution. Visit www.pingidentity.com/.

View all active sponsors.

104: Arya

Arya Ebrahami has had quite a personal relationship with darknet marketplaces. In this episode you’ll hear about his adventures on tor. Arya’s current project is https://lofi-defi.com.

Sponsors

Support for this show comes from Linode. Linode supplies you with virtual servers. Visit linode.com/darknet and get a special offer.

View all active sponsors.

Sources

https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/27-arrested-in-prince-william-county-narcotics-investigation/58441/

https://patch.com/virginia/manassas/undercover-narcotics-operation-nets-27-arrrests-xanax-distribution-ring

103: Cloud Hopper

Fabio Viggiani is an incident responder. In this episode he talks about the story when one of his clients were breached.

Sponsors

Support for this show, and for stretched security teams, comes from SOC.OS. Too many security alerts means alert fatigue for under-resourced SecOps teams. Traditional tools aren’t solving the problem. SOC.OS is the lightweight, cost-effective, and low-maintenance solution for your team. Centralise, enrich, and correlate your security alerts into manageable, prioritised clusters. Get started with an extended 3-month free trial at https://socos.io/darknet.

Support for this show comes from IT Pro TV. Get 65 hours of free training by visiting ITPro.tv/darknet. And use promo code DARKNET.

Sources

https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/china-cyber-cloudhopper

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-cyber-cloudhopper-companies-exc-idUSKCN1TR1D4

https://www.fbi.gov/wanted/cyber/apt-10-group

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=277A09ON7mY

https://www.wsj.com/articles/ghosts-in-the-clouds-inside-chinas-major-corporate-hack-11577729061

https://www.technologyreview.com/2018/12/20/239760/chinese-hackers-allegedly-stole-data-of-more-than-100000-us-navy-personnel/

102: Money Maker

Frank Bourassa had an idea. He was going to make money. Literally. Listen to the story of a master counterfeiter.

101: Lotería

In 2014 the Puerto Rico Lottery was mysteriously losing money. Listen to this never before told story about what happened and who did it.

Sponsors

Support for this show comes from IT Pro TV. Get 65 hours of free training by visiting ITPro.tv/darknet. And use promo code DARKNET.

Support for this show comes from Linode. Linode supplies you with virtual servers. Visit linode.com/darknet and get a special offer.

Sources

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puerto_Rico_Lottery

https://www.justice.gov/usao-pr/pr/10-individuals-indicted-drug-trafficking-and-money-laundering

https://www.dea.gov/press-releases/2014/07/22/caribbean-corridor-strike-force-arrests-10-individuals-indicted-drug

https://casetext.com/case/united-states-v-delfin-robles-alvarez-7

100: NSO

The NSO Group creates a spyware called Pegasus which gives someone access to the data on a mobile phone. They sell this spyware to government agencies around the world. How is it used and what kind of company is the NSO Group?

Thanks to John Scott-Railton and Citizen Lab for investigating this and sharing their research.

Sponsors

Support for this show comes from Detectify. Try their web vulnerability scanner free. Go to https://detectify.com/?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=DARKNET

Support for this show comes from Ping Identity, champions of identity for the global enterprise. Give your users a loveable login solution. Visit www.pingidentity.com/.

For a full list of sources used in this episode and complete transcripts visit https://darknetdiaries.com.

99: The Spy

Igor works as a private investigator in NYC. He’s often sitting in cars keeping a distant eye on someone with binoculars. Or following someone through the busy streets of New York. In this episode we hear about a time when Igor was on a case but sensed that something wasn’t right.

Sponsors

Support for this show comes from Exabeam. Exabeam lets security teams see what traditional tools can’t, with automated threat detection and triage, complete visibility across the entire IT environment and advanced behavioral analytics that distinguishes real threats from perceived ones, so security teams stay ahead and businesses keep moving — without fear of the unknown. When the security odds are stacked against you, outsmart them from the start with Exabeam. Learn more at https://exabeam.com/DD.

View all active sponsors.

Sources

Article: The Case of the Bumbling Spy

Podcast: The Catch and Kill Podcast with Ronan Farrow

98: Zero Day Brokers

Zero day brokers are people who make or sell malware that’s sold to people who will use that malware to exploit people. It’s a strange and mysterious world that not many people know a lot about. Nicole Perlroth, who is a cybersecurity reporter for the NY Times, dove in head first which resulted in her writing a whole book on it.

Affiliate link for book: This is How They Tell Me The World Ends (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1635576059/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1635576059&linkCode=as2&tag=tunn01-20&linkId=0aa8c966d98b49a7927bfc29aac76bbe)

Audiobook deal: Try Audible Premium Plus and Get Up to Two Free Audiobooks (https://www.amazon.com/Audible-Free-Trial-Digital-Membership/dp/B00NB86OYE/?ref_=assoc_tag_ph_1485906643682&_encoding=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&linkCode=pf4&tag=tunn01-20&linkId=31042b955d5e6d639488dc084711d033)

Sponsors

Support for this show comes from IT Pro TV. Get 65 hours of free training by visiting ITPro.tv/darknet. And use promo code DARKNET.

Support for this show comes from Privacy.com. Privacy allows you to create anonymous debit cards instantly to use for online shopping. Visit privacy.com/darknet to get a special offer.

View all active sponsors.

Sources

97: The Pizza Problem

What if someone wanted to own your Instagram account? Not just control it, but make it totally theirs. This episode tells the story of how someone tried to steal an Instagram account from someone.

Sponsors

Support for this show comes from Linode. Linode supplies you with virtual servers. Visit linode.com/darknet and get a special offer.

Support for this show comes from Blinkist. They offer thousands of condensed non-fiction books, so you can get through books in about 15 minutes. Check out Blinkist.com/DARKNET to start your 7 day free trial and get 25% off when you sign up.

View all active sponsors.

Sources

Vid: The $5 Million Phone Hack 📱True Life Crime

96: The Police Station Incident

Nicole Beckwith wears a lot of hats. She’s a programmer, incident responder, but also a cop and a task force officer with the Secret Service. In this episode she tells a story which involves all of these roles.

https://twitter.com/NicoleBeckwith

Sponsors

Support for this show comes from IT Pro TV. Get 65 hours of free training by visiting ITPro.tv/darknet. And use promo code DARKNET.

Support for this show comes from Exabeam. Exabeam lets security teams see what traditional tools can’t, with automated threat detection and triage, complete visibility across the entire IT environment and advanced behavioral analytics that distinguishes real threats from perceived ones, so security teams stay ahead and businesses keep moving — without fear of the unknown. When the security odds are stacked against you, outsmart them from the start with Exabeam. Learn more at https://exabeam.com/DD.

View all active sponsors.

Sources

95: Jon & Brian's Big Adventure

Jon and Brian are penetration testers who both worked at a place called RedTeam Security. They’re paid to break into buildings and hack into networks to test the security of those buildings. In this episode they bring us a story of how they prepare and execute a mission like this. But even with all the preparation, something still goes terribly wrong.

Sponsors

Support for this show comes from IT Pro TV. Get 65 hours of free training by visiting ITPro.tv/darknet. And use promo code DARKNET.

Support for this show comes from Ping Identity, champions of identity for the global enterprise. Give your users a loveable login solution. Visit www.pingidentity.com/.

View all active sponsors.

Sources

94: Mariposa

Chris Davis has been stopping IT security threats for decades. He’s currently running the company Hyas that he started. In this episode he tells a few tales of some threats that he helped stop.

Sponsors

View all active sponsors.

Sources

93: Kik

Kik is a wildly popular chat app. Their website says that 1 in 3 American teenagers use Kik. But something dark is brewing on Kik.

92: The Pirate Bay

The Pirate Bay is a website, a search engine, which has an index of torrent files. A lot of copyrighted material is listed on the site, but the site doesn’t store any of the copyrighted material. It just points the user to where you can download it from. So for a while The Pirate Bay has been the largest places you can find pirated movies, music, games, and apps. But this site first came up 2003. And is still up and operation now, 18 years later! You would think someone would shut this place down by now. How does the biggest source for copyrighted material stay up and online for that long? Listen to this episode to find out.

Sponsors

Support for this show comes from Linode. Linode supplies you with virtual servers. Visit linode.com/darknet and get a special offer.

View all active sponsors.

91: webjedi

What happens when an unauthorized intruder gets into the network of a major bank? Amélie Koran aka webjedi was there for one of these intrusions and tells us the story of what happened.

You can find more talks from Amélie at her website webjedi.net.

Sponsors

Support for this show comes from IT Pro TV. Get 65 hours of free training by visiting ITPro.tv/darknet. And use promo code DARKNET25.

This podcast is sponsored by Navisite. Accelerate IT transformation to respond to new demands, lower costs and prepare for whatever comes next. Visit Navisite.com/go.

View all active sponsors.

Sources

90: Jenny

Meet Jenny Radcliffe, the People Hacker. She’s a social engineer and physical penetration tester. Which means she gets paid to break into buildings and test their security. In this episode she tells us a few stories of some penetration testing jobs she’s done.

Sponsors

This podcast is sponsored by Navisite. Accelerate IT transformation to respond to new demands, lower costs and prepare for whatever comes next. Visit Navisite.com/go.

View all active sponsors.

Sources

humanfactorsecurity.co.uk

89: Cybereason - Molerats in the Cloud

The threat research team at Cybereason uncovered an interesting piece of malware. Studied it and tracked it. Which lead them to believe they were dealing with a threat actor known as Molerats.

Sponsors

This episode is sponsored by Cybereason. Cybereason reverses the attacker’s advantage and puts the power back in your hands. Their future-ready attack platform gives defenders the wisdom to uncover, understand, and piece together multiple threats. And the precision focus to end cyberattacks instantly – on computers, mobile devices, servers, and the cloud. They do all this through a variety of tools they’ve developed such as antivirus software, endpoint monitoring, and mobile threat detection tools. They can give you the power to do it yourself, or they can do all the monitoring and respond to threats in your environment for you. Or you can call them after an incident to get help cleaning up. If you want to monitor your network for threats, check out what Cybereason can do for you. Cybereason. End cyber attacks. From endpoints to everywhere. Learn more at Cybereason.com/darknet.

View all active sponsors.

Sources

88: Victor

Victor looks for vulnerabilities on the web and reports them responsibly. This is the story about discloser number 5780.

Listen to episodes 86, and 87 before this one to be caught up on the story leading up to this.

Sponsors

This podcast is sponsored by Navisite. Accelerate IT transformation to respond to new demands, lower costs and prepare for whatever comes next. Visit Navisite.com/go.

This podcast is sponsored by the JSCM Group. They have a service called ClosedPort: Scan, and it’s is a monthly Penetration Test performed by Cyber Security Experts. Contact JSCM Group today at jscmgroup.com/darknet.

Support for this show comes from IT Pro TV. Get 65 hours of free training by visiting ITPro.tv/darknet. And use promo code DARKNET25.

87: Guild of the Grumpy Old Hackers

In 2016 the LinkedIn breach data became available to the public. What the Guild of the Grumpy Old Hackers did with it then is quite the story. Listen to Victor, Edwin, and Mattijs tell their story.

Sponsors

Support for this show comes from Privacy.com. Privacy allows you to create anonymous debit cards instantly to use for online shopping. Visit privacy.com/darknet to get a special offer.

View all active sponsors.

86: The LinkedIn Incident

In 2012, LinkedIn was the target of a data breach. A hacker got in and stole millions of user details. Username and password hashes were then sold to people willing to buy. This episode goes over the story of what happened.

For a good password manager, check out LastPass.

Sponsors

Support for this episode comes from Quadrant Information Security. If you need a team of around the clock analysts to monitor for threat in your network using a custom SIEM, check out what Quadrant can do for you by visiting www.quadrantsec.com.

Support for this show comes from Thinkst Canary. Their canaries attract malicious actors in your network and then send you an alert if someone tries to access them. Great early warning system for knowing when someone is snooping around where they shouldn’t be. Check them out at https://canary.tools.

Support for this show comes from Linode. Linode supplies you with virtual servers. Visit linode.com/darknet and get a special offer.

85: Cam the Carder

This is the story of Cam Harrison, aka “kilobit” and his rise and fall as a prominent carder.

Sponsors

Support for this show comes from IT Pro TV. Get 65 hours of free training by visiting ITPro.tv/darknet. And use promo code DARKNET25.

Support for this episode comes from Oracle for Startups. Oracle for Startups delivers enterprise cloud at a startup price tag, with free cloud credits and 70% off industry-leading cloud services to help you reel in the big fish—confidently. To learn more, visit Oracle.com/goto/darknet.

View all active sponsors.

Sources

84: Jet-setters

How bad is it if you post your boarding pass on Instagram? Our guest, “Alex” decides to figure this out for themself and has quite a story about what happened. You can read more from “Alex” on their blog https://mango.pdf.zone.

We also hear from TProphet who’s here to give us some travel hacks to save tons on airfare when we start traveling again. You can learn more about TProphet’s travel hacks at https://seat31b.com or https://award.cat.

Sponsors

Support for this show comes from Tanium. With Tanium you can gain real-time security and operational data directly from your endpoints – along with the ability to take action on, and create reports from, that data – in just minutes, so that you and your teams can have the insight and capability necessary to accomplish the mission effectively. Learn more at https://federal.tanium.com.

View all active sponsors.

Sources

83: NSA Cryptologists

In this episode we interview two NSA Cryptologists, Marcus J. Carey and Jeff Man. We hear their story of how they got into the NSA and what they did while there.

To hear more stories from Jeff tune into Paul’s Security Weekly where Jeff is a regular co-host and shares a lot of stories and insights.

Marcus has written several books on security. They are Tribe of Hackers, Tribe of Hackers Blue Team, Tribe of Hackers Red Team, Tribe of Hackers Security Leaders, Think in Code, and a childrens book called Three Little Hackers.

Also check out the Tribe of Hackers podcast to hear interviews with all these amazing people!

Sponsors

Support for this show comes from IT Pro TV. Get 65 hours of free training by visiting ITPro.tv/darknet. And use promo code DARKNET25.

Support for this show comes from Linode. Linode supplies you with virtual servers. Visit linode.com/darknet and get a special offer.

View all active sponsors.

82: Master of Pwn

The Zero Day Initiative runs a hacker contest called Pwn2Own. The contest calls the best hackers in the world to demonstrate they can hack into software that should be secure. Like browsers, phones, and even cars. A lot of vulnerabilities are discovered from this event which means vendors must fix them. Whoever can demonstrate the most vulnerabilities will be crowned the “Master of Pwn”.

Thanks to Dustin Childs and Brian Gorenc from ZDI to hear all about Pwn2Own.

Thanks to Radek and Pedro for sharing their experiences of becoming the Masters of Pwn.

Sponsors

Support for this show comes from Kars 4 Kids. Donate your car today, this organization will sell to use for their charity.

View all active sponsors.

Sources

81: The Vendor

This is the story of a darknet marketplace vendor we’ll name V. V tells his story of how he first became a buyer, then transitioned into seller.

This episode talks about drugs. Listener discretion is advised.

If you want to contact V his email is at https://darknetdiaries.com/episode/81.

Sponsors

Support for this show comes from IT Pro TV. Get 65 hours of free training by visiting ITPro.tv/darknet. And use promo code DARKNET25.

Support for this show comes from Linode. Linode supplies you with virtual servers. Visit linode.com/darknet and get a special offer.

80: The Whistleblower

In this episode we hear a story from a social engineer who’s job it is to get people to do things they don’t want to do. Why? For profit.

Sponsors

Support for this episode comes from SentinelOne which can protect and assistwith ransomeware attacks. On top of that, SentinelOne offers threat hunting, visibility, and remote administration tools to manage and protect any IoT devices connected to your network. Go to SentinelOne.com/DarknetDiaries for your free demo. Your cybersecurity future starts today with SentinelOne.

View all active sponsors.

79: Dark Basin

What do you do when you find yourself the target of a massive hacking campaign, and you are getting thousands of phishing emails and someone following you in your car. You might turn to Citizen Lab who has the ability to research who is behind this and help bring the hackers to justice.

Our guests this episodes are Adam Hulcoop and John Scott-Railton of Citizen Lab. This episode also has an interview with Matthew Earl of Shadowfall.

Sponsors

Support for this show comes from LastPass by LogMeIn. LastPass is a great password manager but it can do so much more. It can setup 2FA for your company, or use it to monitor what your users are doing in the network. Visit LastPass.com/Darknet to start your 14 day free trial.

78: Nerdcore

Nerdcore music is music for nerds. In this episode we hear from some of the musicians who make Nerdcore music.

This episode features guests ytcracker, Ohm-I, and Dual Core.

Content warning: This episode has explicit lyrics.

Music

For a playlist of music used in this episode visit darknetdiaries.com/episode/78.

Sponsors

Support for this show comes from IT Pro TV. Get 65 hours of free training by visiting ITPro.tv/darknet. And use promo code DARKNET25.

77: Olympic Destroyer

In February 2018, during the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang South Korea, a cyber attack struck, wiping out a lot of the Olympic’s digital infrastructure. Teams rushed to get things back up, but it was bad. Malware had repeatedly wiped the domain controllers rendering a lot of the network unusable. Who would do such a thing?

We will talk with Andy Greenberg to discuss Olympic Destroyer, a chapter from his book Sandworm (affiliate link).

Sponsors

Support for this show comes from Linode. Linode supplies you with virtual servers. Visit linode.com/darknet and get a special offer.

76: Knaves Out

This is the story about how someone hacked into JP Morgan Chase, one of the biggest financial institutions in the world. It’s obvious why someone would want to break into a bank right? Well the people who hacked into this bank, did not do it for obvious reasons. The hackers are best described as knaves. Which are tricky, deceitful fellows.

Sponsors

Support for this show comes from IT Pro TV. Get 65 hours of free training by visiting ITPro.tv/darknet. And use promo code DARKNET25.

For a complete list of sources and a full transcript of the show visit darknetdiaries.com/episode/76.

75: Compromised Comms

From 2009 to 2013 the communication channels the CIA uses to contact assets in foreign countries was compromised. This had terrifying consequences.

Guests this episodes are Jenna McLaughlin and Zach Dorfman.

Sponsors

This episode was sponsored by IT Pro TV. Get 65 hours of free training by visiting ITPro.tv/darknet. And use promo code DARKNET25.

This episode was sponsored by Thinkst Canary. Their canaries attract malicious actors in your network and then send you an alert if someone tries to access them. Great early warning system for knowing when someone is snooping around where they shouldn’t be. Check them out at https://canary.tools.

View all active sponsors.

Sources

Attribution

Darknet Diaries is created by Jack Rhysider.

Research assistance this episode from Yael Grauer.

74: Mikko

Poker is a competitive game. Unlike other casino games, poker is player vs player. Criminal hackers have understood this for a while and sometimes hack the other players to get an edge. And that small edge can result in millions of dollars in winnings.

This episode contains a story from Mikko Hypponen of F-Secure. We also interview Mikko to know more about him and the history of malware.

Sponsors

This episode was sponsored by IT Pro TV. Get 65 hours of free training by visiting ITPro.tv/darknet. And use promo code DARKNET25.

Sources

73: WannaCry

It is recommend to listen to episodes 53 “Shadow Brokers”, 71 “FDFF”, and 72 “Bangladesh Bank Heist” before listening to this one.

In May 2017 the world fell victim to a major ransomware attack known as WannaCry. One of the victims was UK’s national health service. Security researchers scrambled to try to figure out how to stop it and who was behind it.

Thank you to John Hultquist from FireEye and thank you to Matt Suiche founder of Comae.

Sponsors

Support for this episode comes from LastPass. LastPass is a great password manager but it can do so much more. It can setup 2FA for your company, or use it to monitor what your users are doing in the network. Visit LastPass.com/Darknet to start your 14 day free trial.

This episode was sponsored by Linode. Linode supplies you with virtual servers. Visit linode.com/darknet and when signing up with a new account use code darknet2020 to get a $20 credit on your next project.

72: Bangladesh Bank Heist

A bank robbery with the objective to steal 1 billion dollars. This is the story of the largest bank robbery in history. And it was all done over a computer.

Our guest this episode was Geoff White. Learn more about him at geoffwhite.tech.

Check out Geoff’s new book Crime Dot Com. Affiliate link: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1789142857/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1789142857&linkCode=as2&tag=darknet04-20&linkId=bb5a6aa7ba980183e0ce7cee1939ea05

Sponsors

This episode was sponsored by IT Pro TV. Get 65 hours of free training by visiting ITPro.tv/darknet. And use promo code DARKNET25.

Support for this episode comes from Blinkist. They offer thousands of condensed non-fiction books, so you can get through books in about 15 minutes. Check out Blinkist.com/DARKNET to start your 7 day free trial and get 25% off when you sign up.

71: Information Monopoly

In this episode, we’re going into the depths of North Korea to conduct one of the greatest hacks of all time. To find a way to inject information into a country run by totalitarian regime.

A big thanks to Yeonmi Park for sharing her story with us. Also thanks to Alex Gladstein for telling us the inside story.

You can find more about Flash Drive For Freedom at flashdrivesforfreedom.org.

Yeonmi’s book "In Order to Live": https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/014310974X/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=014310974X&linkCode=as2&tag=darknet04-20&linkId=88ebdc087c6ce041105c479b1bb6c3d2

Sponsors

This episode was sponsored by IT Pro TV. Get 65 hours of free training by visiting ITPro.tv/darknet. And use promo code DARKNET25.

70: Ghost Exodus

Ghost Exodus is a hacker. He conducted various illegal activities online. Some of which he documents on YouTube. He’s also a great musician. He got into some trouble from his hacking. This is his story.

A big thanks to Ghost Exodus for sharing his story with us. Also thanks to Wesley McGrew for telling us the inside story.

Sponsors

This episode was sponsored by IT Pro TV. Get 65 hours of free training by visiting ITPro.tv/darknet. And use promo code DARKNET25.

This episode was sponsored by Detectify. What vulnerabilities will their crowdsource-powered web vulnerability scanner detect in your web applications? Find out with a 14-day free trial. Go to https://detectify.com/Darknet

Sources

69: Human Hacker

We all know that computers and networks are vulnerable to hacking and malicious actors, but what about us, the humans who interface with these devices? Con games, scams, and strategic deception are far older than computers, and in the modern era, these techniques can make humans the weakest link in even the most secure system. This episode, security consultant and master social engineer, Christopher Hadnagy, joins us to share his stories and wisdom. He describes what it was like to be a social engineer before the world knew what social engineering was and tells some of his amazing stories from his long career in penetration testing.

A big thanks to Christopher Hadnagy from social-engineer.org for sharing his stories with us.

Check out his book Social Engineering: The Science of Human Hacking, affiliate link here.

Check out his podcast called The Social-Engineer podcast.

Sponsors

Sources

Book Recommendations with affiliate links:

68: Triton

A mysterious mechanical failure one fateful night in a Saudi Arabian chemical plant leads a cast of operational technology researchers down a strange path towards an uncommon, but grave, threat. In this episode, we hear how these researchers discovered this threat and tried to identify who was responsible for the malware behind it. We also consider how this kind of attack may pose a threat to human life wherever there are manufacturing or public infrastructure facilities around the world.

A big thanks to Julian Gutmanis, Naser Aldossary, Marina Krotofil, and Robert M. Lee for sharing their stories with us.

Sponsors

This episode was sponsored by IT Pro TV. Get 65 hours of free training by visiting ITPro.tv/darknet. And use promo code DARKNET25.

Sources

67: The Big House

John Strand is a penetration tester. He’s paid to break into computer networks and buildings to test their security. In this episode we listen to stories he has from doing this type of work.

Thanks to John Strand for coming on the show and telling your story.

Sponsors

Sources

66: freakyclown

Freakyclown is a physical penetration tester. His job is to break into buildings to test the security of the building. In this episode we hear stories of some of these missions he’s been on.

Thanks to Freakyclown for coming on the show and telling your story.

Sponsors

This episode was sponsored by IT Pro TV. Get 65 hours of free training by visiting ITPro.tv/darknet. And use promo code DARKNET25.

This episode was sponsored by Molekule, a new air purifier that completely destroys air pollutants to help you breath easier. https://molekule.com.

65: PSYOP

PSYOP, or “Psychological Operations”, is something the US military has been doing to foreign audiences for decades. But what exactly is it? And what’s the difference between white, gray, and black PSYOP missions? We talk to PSYOP specialists to learn more.

Thanks to Jon Nichols for telling us about this fascinating world.

Sponsors

Sources

Videos

64: The Athens Shadow Games

Vodafone Greece is the largest telecom provider in Greece. But in 2004 a scandal within the company would pin them to be top of the news cycle in Greece for weeks. Hackers got in the network. And what they were after took everyone by surprise.

Sponsors

Support for this episode comes from Okta. Learn more about how you can improve your security posture with the leader in identity-driven security at okta.com/darknet.

This episode is supported by PlexTrac. PlexTrac is the purple teaming platform and is designed to streamline reporting, tracking and attestation so you can focus on getting the real cybersecurity work done. Whether you're creating pen test reports on the red team, or tracking and remediating on the blue team, PlexTrac can help.

63: w0rmer

The hacker named w0rmer was active within AnonOps. These are Anonymous Operations which often organize and wage attacks on websites or people often with the purpose of social justice. Eventually w0rmer joined in on some of these hacking escapades which resulted in an incredible story that he will one day tell his kids.

Thanks to w0rmer for telling us your story.

Sponsors

This episode was sponsored by IT Pro TV. Get 65 hours of free training by visiting ITPro.tv/darknet. And use promo code DARKNET25.

Support for this episode comes from LastPass. LastPass is a great password manager but it can do so much more. It can setup 2FA for your company, or use it to monitor what your users are doing in the network. Visit LastPass.com/Darknet to start your 14 day free trial.

SourcesArchived Tweets

Feb 7, 2012 Twitter user @Anonw0rmer posts “@MissAnonFatale I managed to pwn1 a site , get my papers , find my required primary IDS , yeah baby, i deservers em :)”

Feb 8, 2012 1:17 AM, Twitter user @Anonw0rmer posted, “ROFL! WaS that us? https://www.wvgazettemail.com/news/legal_affairs/hackers-group-posts-police-chiefs-information-online/article_77f79fd5-f76f-5825-ae19-43a398361fdf.html o yeah oops #OpPigRoast #CabinCr3w”

Feb 9, 2012 12:35 AM, Twitter user @Anonw0rmer posted, “DB Leak http://dps.alabama.gov https://pastehtml.com/view/bnik8yo1q.html”. The bottom of this post originally showed this NSFW image.

Feb 9, 2012 at 8:42 PM, Twitter user @Anonw0rmer posted, “Mobile Alabama Police Criminal Record Database Logins Failing To Protect And Serve I Via @ItsKahuna I http://pastehtml.com/view/bnmjxxgfp.html #OpPiggyBank.”

Feb 9, 2012 at 8:39 PM, Twitter user @CabinCr3w posted, “Texas Dept. of safety Hacked By @AnonWOrmer for #OpPiggyBank http://bit.ly/x1KH5Y #CabinCr3w #Anonymous” Bottom of pastebin also shows a woman holding a sign saying “We Are ALL Anonymous We NEVER Forgive. We NEVER Forget. <3 @Anonw0rmer”

Feb 10, 2012 at 9:07 PM, Twitter user @Anonw0rmer posted, “My baby SETS standards ! wAt U got? https://i.imgur.com/FbH2K.jpg https://i.imgur.com/zsPvm.jpg https://i.imgur.com/S2S2C.jpg https://i.imgur.com/TVqdN.jpg #CabinCr3w”.

Links

62: Cam

Cam’s story is both a cautionary tale and inspirational at the same time. He’s been both an attacker and defender. And not the legal kind of attacker. He has caused half a million dollars in damages with his attacks. Attacks that arose from a feeling of seeing injustices in the world. Listen to his story.

Sponsors

This episode was sponsored by Linode. Linode supplies you with virtual servers. Visit linode.com/darknet and when signing up with a new account use code darknet2020 to get a $20 credit on your next project.

Support for this episode comes from Blinkist. They offer thousands of condensed non-fiction books, so you can get through books in about 15 minutes. Check out Blinkist.com/DARKNET to start your 7 day free trial and get 25% off when you sign up.

Sources

61: Samy

Samy Kamkar is a hacker. And while he’s done a lot of stuff, he’s best known for creating the Samy Worm. Which spread its way through a popular social media site and had crazy results.

Thanks to our guest Samy Kamkar for telling his story. Learn more about him by visiting https://samy.pl/.

Sponsors

This episode was sponsored by IT Pro TV. Get 65 hours of free training by visiting ITPro.tv/darknet. And use promo code DARKNET25.

Sources

60: dawgyg

This is a story about the hacker named “dawgyg” and how he made over $100,000 in a single day, from hacking.

Thanks to our guest dawgyg for telling his story.

Sponsors

This episode is sponsored by SentinelOne - to learn more about their endpoint security solutions and get a 30-day free trial, visit sentinelone.com/darknetdiaries

Sources

59: The Courthouse

In this episode we hear from Gary and Justin. Two seasoned penetration testers who tell us a story about the time when they tried to break into a courthouse but it went all wrong.

Sponsors

This episode was sponsored by Detectify. Try their web vulnerability scanner free. Go to https://detectify.com/?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=DARKNET

This episode was sponsored by IT Pro TV. Get 65 hours of free training by visiting ITPro.tv/darknet. And use promo code DARKNET25.

Sources

58: OxyMonster

OxyMonster sold drugs on the darknet at Dream Market. Something happened though, and it all came crashing down.

Sponsors

This episode was sponsored by Detectify. Try their web vulnerability scanner free. Go to https://detectify.com/?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=DARKNET

This episode was sponsored by Molekule, a new air purifier that completely destroys air pollutants to help you breath easier. https://molekule.com to use check out code “DARKNET10” to get a discount.

See complete list of sources at https://darknetdiaries.com/episode/58.

57: MS08-067

Hear what goes on internally when Microsoft discovers a major vulnerability within Windows.

Guest

Thanks to John Lambert for sharing this story with us.

Sponsors

Support for this episode comes from ProCircular. Use the team at ProCircular to conduct security assessments, penetration testing, SIEM monitoring, help with patches, or do incident response. Visit www.procircular.com/ to learn more.

This episode was sponsored by IT Pro TV. Get 65 hours of free training by visiting ITPro.tv/darknet. And use promo code DARKNET25.

Sources

Attribution

Darknet Diaries is created by Jack Rhysider.

Episode artwork by odibagas.

Theme music created by Breakmaster Cylinder. Theme song available for listen and download at bandcamp. Or listen to it on Spotify.

56: Jordan

This is the story of Jordan Harbinger. A bit of a misfit teenager, who was always on the edge of trouble. In this story we hear what happened that lead to a visit from the FBI.

Guest

Thanks to Jordan Harbinger for sharing his story with us. You can find hist podcast by searching for The Jordan Harbinger Show wherever you listen to podcasts.

Sponsors

This episode was sponsored by Thinkst Canary. Their canaries attract malicious actors in your network and then send you an alert if someone tries to access them. Great early warning system for knowing when someone is snooping around where they shouldn’t be. Check them out at https://canary.tools.

More information at https://darknetdiaries.com/episode/56.

55: NoirNet

A holiday special episode. A private pen tester takes on a job that involves him with another eccentric pen tester, a mischievious smile, and his quest to gain access to the network.

Guest

Thanks to TinkerSec for telling us the story.

Sources

https://twitter.com/TinkerSec/status/1206410740099366918

Attribution

Darknet Diaries is created by Jack Rhysider.

Artwork this episode by habblesthecat.

More information at DarknetDiaries.com.

54: NotPetya

The story of NotPetya, seems to be the first time, we see what a cyber war looks like. In the summer of 2017 Ukraine suffered a serious and catastrophic cyber attack on their whole country. Hear how it went down, what got hit, and who was responsible.

Guest

Thanks to Andy Greenberg for his research and sharing this story. I urge you to get his book Sandworm because it’s a great story.

Sponsors

This episode was sponsored by Linode. Linode supplies you with virtual servers. Visit linode.com/darknet and when signing up with a new account use code darknet2019 to get a $20 credit on your next project.

Support for this episode comes from Honeybook. HoneyBook is an online business management tool that organizes your client communications, bookings, contracts, and invoices – all in one place. Visit honeybook.com/darknet to get 50% off your subscription.

This episode was sponsored by CMD. Securing Linux systems is hard, let CMD help you with that. Visit cmd.com/dark to get a free demo.

For more show notes visit darknetdiaries.com/episode/54.

53: Shadow Brokers

The NSA has some pretty advanced, super secret, hacking tools. What if these secret hacking tools were to end up in the wrong person’s hands? Well, that happened.

Guest

Thanks to Jake Williams from Rendition Security for telling us the story.

Sponsors

52: Magecart

Credit card skimming is growing in popularity. Gas pumps all over are seeing skimmers attached to them. It’s growing in popularity because it’s really effective. Hackers have noticed how effective it is and have began skimming credit cards from websites.

Guest

Thanks to Yonathan Klijnsma from RiskIQ.

Sponsors

This episode was sponsored by CMD. Securing Linux systems is hard, let CMD help you with that. Visit https://cmd.com/dark to get a free demo.

Visit darknetdiaries.com for full show notes and transcripts.

51: The Indo-Pak Conflict

Kashmir is a region right in between India, Pakistan, and China. For the last 70 years Pakistan and India have fought over this region of the world, both wanting to take control of it. Tensions sometimes heat up which can result in people being killed. When tensions get high in the real world, some people take to the internet and hack their rivals as a form of protest. In this episode we’ll explore some of the hacking that goes on between India and Pakistan.

Sponsors

Support for this episode comes from Check Point. Check Point makes firewalls and security appliances you can use to combat the latest generation of cyber attacks. Upgrade your cybersecurity at CheckPoint.com

For more show notes and links visit https://darknetdiaries.com/episode/51.

50: Operation Glowing Symphony

Operation Inherent Resolve was started in 2016 which aimed to combat ISIS. It was a combined joint task force lead by the US military. Operation Inherent Resolve sent troops, ships, and air strikes to Iraq and Syria to fire weapons upon ISIS military. It’s widely known that US military engaged with ISIS in this way. But what you may not have heard, is the story of how the US military also combated ISIS over the Internet. This is the story of how the US hacked ISIS.

Sponsors

Support for this episode comes from Honeybook. HoneyBook is an online business management tool that organizes your client communications, bookings, contracts, and invoices – all in one place. Visit [honeybook.com/darknet] to get 50% off your subscription.

49: Elliot

In this episode we meet Elliot Alderson (@fs0c131y) from Twitter. Who is this strange masked person? What adventures have they gotten themselves into? Many stories will be told. The mask will be lifted.

Sponsors

Go to https://nordvpn.com/darknet to get 70% off a 3 year plan and use code darknet for an extra month for free!

48: Operation Socialist

This is the story about when a nation state hacks into a company within another nation.

Sponsors

This episode was sponsored by IT Pro TV. Get 65 hours of free training by visiting ITPro.tv/darknet. And use promo code DARKNET25 to get 25% off.

This episode was sponsored by Nord VPN. Visit https://nordvpn.com/darknet and use promo code “DARKNET” to get 75% off when signing up for 3 years.

47: Project Raven

This is the story about an ex-NSA agent who went to work for a secret hacking group in the UAE.

Sponsors

46: XBox Underground (Part 2)

This is the story about the XBox hacking scene and how a group of guys pushed their luck a little too far.

This is part 2 of a 2 part series.

Sponsors

This episode was sponsored by IT Pro TV. Get 65 hours of free training by visiting ITPro.tv/darknet.

Learn more about stocks and investing from MyWallSt. Visit mywallst.com/darknet to learn more.

45: XBox Underground (Part 1)

This is the story about the XBox hacking scene and how a group of guys pushed the hacking a little too far.

This is part 1 of a 2 part series.

Sponsors

This episode was sponsored by Nord VPN. Visit https://nordvpn.com/darknet and use promo code "DARKNET".

This episode was sponsored by IT Pro TV. Get 65 hours of free training by visiting ITPro.tv/darknet. Use promot code "DARKNET25".

44: Zain

Ransomware is ugly. It infects your machine and locks all the the data and to unlock you have to pay a fee. In this episode we dive into some of the people behind it.

Sponsors

This episode was sponsored by CMD. Securing Linux systems is hard, let CMD help you with that. Visit https://cmd.com/dark to get a free demo.

This episode was sponsored by MyWallSt. Their app can help you find good looking stocks to invest in. Visit MyWallSt.com/dark to start your free 30 day trial.

For more show notes and links check out darknetdiaries.com.

43: PPP

This is the story about how I acquired a black badge from DEFCON (pictured above).

We also hear the story about who PPP is, and their CTF journey at DEFCON.

This episode was sponsored by Nord VPN. Visit https://nordvpn.com/darknet and use promo code “DARKNET”.

This episode was sponsored by Detectify. Try their web vulnerability scanner free. Go to https://detectify.com/?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=DARKNET

42: Mini-Stories: Vol 2

Three stories in one episode. Listen in on one of Dave Kennedy's penetration tests he conducted where he got caught trying to gain entry into a datacenter. Listen to a network security engineer talk about the unexpected visitor found in his network and what he did about it. And listen to Dan Tentler talk about a wild and crazy engagement he did for a client.

Guests

A very special thanks to Dave Kennedy. Learn more about his company at trustedsec.com.

Thank you Clay for sharing your story. Check out the WOPR Summit.

Viss also brought an amazing story to share. Thank you too. Learn more about him at Phobos.io.

I first heard Clay's story on the Getting Into Infosec Podcast. Thanks Ayman for finding him and bring that story to my attention.

Sponsors

This episode was sponsored by CMD. Securing Linux systems is hard, let CMD help you with that. Visit https://cmd.com/dark to get a free demo.

For more show notes and links check out darknetdiaries.com.

41: Just Visiting

Join JekHyde and Carl on a physical penetration test, a social engineering engagagement, a red team assessment. Their mission is to get into a building they shouldn't be allowed, then plant a rogue computer they can use to hack into the network from a safe place far away.

This episode was sponsored by Nord VPN. Visit https://nordvpn.com/darknet and use promo code "DARKNET".

This episode was sponsored by Hostinger. Go to https://hostinger.com/darknet and use code DARKNET to get 15% off a hosting plan and check out this week’s free feature.

For more information visit darknetdiaries.com.

40: No Parking

Take a ride with a red teamer. A physical penetration tester as he tries to make his away into unauthorized areas, steal sensitive documents, hack into the computers, and escape with company property.

This episode was sponsored by CMD. Securing Linux systems is hard, let CMD help you with that. Visit https://cmd.com/dark to get a free demo.

This episode was sponsored by Hostinger. Go to https://hostinger.com/darknet and use code DARKNET to get 15% off a hosting plan and check out this week’s free feature.

For complete show notes and links go to darknetdiaries.com.

39: 3 Alarm Lamp Scooter

A talk at Defcon challenged people to find a way to destroy a hard drive. A young man was inspired by this challenge and was determined to find a way to destroy a hard drive. But this is not a typical young man, with a typical plan.

For pictures of Daniel and his projects visit darknetdiaries.com/episode/39.

This episode was sponsored by Nord VPN. Visit nordvpn.com/darknet and use promo code "DARKNET".

This episode was sponsored by IT Pro TV. Get 65 hours of free training by visiting ITPro.tv/darknet.

38: Dark Caracal

A journalist wrote articles critical of the Kazakhstan government. The government did not like this and attempted to silence her. But they may have done more than just silence her. Perhaps they tried to spy on her too. The EFF investigated this case and went down a very interesting rabbit hole.

Thanks to Cooper Q from EFF's new Threat Lab. Also big thanks to Eva from EFF, Andrew Blaich and Michael Flossman from Lookout.

For another story about the EFF listen to episode 12 "Crypto Wars".

This episode was sponsored by CMD. Securing Linux systems is hard, let CMD help you with that. Visit https://cmd.com/dark to get a free demo.

37: LVS

The Venetian casino in Las Vegas Nevada was the largest hotel in the world until 2015. The parent company is Las Vegas Sands (LVS) which owns 10 properties around the world. And the CEO and founder of LVS is Sheldon Adelson. One day the CEO said something which sparked quite a firestorm.

This episode was sponsored by Nucleus. Visit nucleussec.com to start your free trial.

This episode was sponsored by CMD. Securing Linux systems is hard, let CMD help you with that. Visit https://cmd.com/dark to get a free demo.

For more show notes visit DarknetDiaries.com.

36: Jeremy from Marketing

A company hires a penetration tester to pose as a new hire, Jeremy from Marketing, to see how much he can hack into in his first week on the job. It doesn't go as planned.

Thanks to @TinkerSec for telling us this story.

This episode was sponsored by Nord VPN. Visit https://nordvpn.com/darknet and use promo code "DARKNET".

This episode was sponsored by IT Pro TV. Get 65 hours of free training by visiting ITPro.tv/darknet.

For more show notes visit https://darknetdiaries.com/episode/36.

35: Carbanak

ATM hacking. Hollywood has been fantasizing about this since the 1980's. But is this a thing now? A security researcher named Barnaby Jack investigated ATMs and found them to be vulnerable. Once he published his data the ATM hacking scene rose in popularity and is is a very serious business today.

One of the first big ATM robberies was done with the malware called Carbanak. Jornt v.d. Wiel joins us to discuss what this malware is.

This episode was sponsored by Nucleus. Visit nucleussec.com to start your free trial.

This episode was sponsored by IT Pro TV. Get 65 hours of free training by visiting ITPro.tv/darknet.

For more show notes and links visit darknetdiaries.com.

34: For Your Eyes Only

Nude selfies. This episode is all about nude selfies. What happens if you take one and give it to a vengeful boyfriend. What happens when a hacker knows you have them and wants to steal them from your phone. What happens is not good.

This episode was sponsored by Nord VPN. Visit nordvpn.com/darknet and use promo code "DARKNET".

This episode was sponsored by Molekule, a new air purifier that completely destroys air pollutants to help you breath easier. Visit molekule.com to use check out code "DARKNET" to get a discount.

For references, sources, and links check out the show notes at darknetdiaries.com/episode/34/.

33: RockYou

In 2009 a hacker broke into a website with millions of users and downloaded the entire user database. What that hacker did with the data has changed the way we view account security even today.

This episode was sponsored by CuriosityStream. A streaming service showing non-fiction and documtnaries. Visit https://curiositystream.com/darknet and use promo code "darknet".

This episode was sponsored by CMD. Securing Linux systems is hard, let CMD help you with that. Visit https://cmd.com/dark to get a free demo.

To see more show notes visit darknetdiaries.com/episode/33.

32: The Carder

A carding kingpin was tracked by the Secret Service. How did he steal the cards? Where was he stealing them from? How much was he making doing this? And where did he go wrong? Find out all this and more as we listen to how the Secret Service investigated the case.

This episode was sponsored by Eero. A solution to blanket your home in WiFi. Visit https://eero.com/darknet and use promo code "darknet".

This episode was sponsored by Nord VPN. Visit https://nordvpn.com/darknet and use promo code "darknet".

Cover image this episode created by 𝕄årç ∆⃝ 𝕄ølïñårō.

Go to Darknet Diaries for additional show notes.

31: Hacker Giraffe

In late November 2018, a hacker found over 50,000 printers were exposed to the Internet in ways they shouldn't have been. He wanted to raise awareness of this problem, and got himself into a whole heap of trouble.

For show notes and links visit DarknetDiaries.com.

This episode was sponsored by CuriosityStream. A documentary streaming service. Visit curiositystream.com/darknet and use promo code "darknet".

This episode is also sponsored by Cover. Visit cover.com/darknet to get insured today.

30: Shamoon

In 2012, Saudi Aramco was hit with the most destructive virus ever. Thousands and thousands of computers were destroyed. Herculean efforts were made to restore them to operational status again. But who would do such an attack?

Very special thanks goes to Chris Kubecka for sharing her story.

She is author of the book Down the Rabbit Hole An OSINT Journey, and Hack The World With OSINT (due out soon).

This episode was sponsored by Eero. A solution to blanket your home in WiFi. Visit https://eero.com/darknet and use promo code "darknet".

This episode is also sponsored by Cover. Visit cover.com/darknet to get insured today.

29: Stuxnet

Stuxnet was the most sophisticated virus ever discovered. It's target was a nuclear enrichment facility in Iran. This virus was successfully able to destroy numerous centrifuges. Hear who did it and why.

Special thanks to Kim Zetter for joining us this episode. You can find more about Stuxnet from her book Count Down to Zero Day.

28: Unit 8200

Israel has their own version of the NSA called Unit 8200. I was curious what this unit does and tried to take a peek inside. Hear what I found by listening along to this episode.

This episode was sponsored by Nord VPN. Visit https://nordvpn.com/darknet and use promo code “darknet”.

This episode is also sponsored by Mack Weldon. Visit mackweldon.com to shop for premium men's casual wear and get a 20% off discount with your first order by using promo code “diaries”.

27: Chartbreakers

Something is wrong with the Apple Podcasts top charts. As a podcaster, this personally annoyed and intrigued me. I investigate how this is happening and who is behind it.

For show notes visit https://darknetdiaries.com/episode/27.

This episode was sponsored by Nord VPN. Visit https://nordvpn.com/darknet and use promo code 'darknet'.

This episode is sponsored by LPSS Digital Marketing, your source for honest, transparent marketing services for businesses of all sizes. Visit LPSS at https://www.lpss.co/ for details.

26: IRS

The IRS processes $3 trillion dollars a year. A lot of criminals want to get a piece of that. In 2015 the IRS had a large data breach. Hundreds of thousands of tax records were leaked. What happened and who was behind this? Listen to this episode to find out.

For show notes visit https://darknetdiaries.com

25: Alberto

Alberto Hill was sent to prison for a long time for hacking. For a crime he said he did not commit. Listen to his story and you be the judge on whether he's guilty or not.

24: Operation Bayonet

Darknet markets are online black markets. They are highly illegal, and dangerous to run. Hear exactly how dangerous it was for Alphabay and Hansa dark markets.

23: Vladimir Levin

When banks started coming online, they almost immediately started being targeted by hackers. Vladimir Levin was one of the first ever known hacker to try to rob a bank. He succeeded a little, and failed a lot. Vladimir would go down in the history books as one of the most notorious hackers of all time because of his attempted online bank robberies.

22: Mini-Stories: Vol 1

Three stories in one! In this episode we hear about a penetration test from Mubix that he'll never forget, a incident response from Robert M. Lee which completely stunned him, and a social engineering mission from Snow.

Podcast recommendation: Moonshot.

21: Black Duck Eggs

Ira Winkler's specialty is assembling elite teams of special forces and intelligence officers to go after companies. Ira shares a story about a time he and his team broke into a global 5 company. A company so large that theft of intellictual property could result in billions of dollars of damage.

Ira's consulting company: Secure Mentum.

His books: Spies Among Us, Advanced Persistent Security, Through the Eyes of the Enemy.

20: mobman

Chances are, if you were downloading shady programs in the early 2000's, you were infected with malware he wrote called SubSeven. Hacking changed mobman's life. Hear how it happened by listening to this episode.

Image for this episode created by dr4w1ngluc4s. Check out his Instagram to see some amazing artwork!

Check out the podcasts Van Sounds and True Crime Island

19: Operation Aurora

In 2009, around Christmas time, something terrible was lurking in the network at Google. Google is the most popular website on the Internet. It’s so popular many people just think Google is the Internet. Google hires many of the most talented minds and has been online since the 90s. Hacking into Google is no easy task. There’s a team of security engineers who test and check all the configurations on the site before they go live. And Google has teams of security analysts and technicians watching the network 24/7 for attacks, intrusions, and suspicious activity. Security plays a very vital role at Google, and everything has to have the best protections. But this attack slipped past all that. Hackers had found their way into the network. They compromised numerous systems, burrowed their way into Google’s servers, and were trying to get to data they shouldn’t be allowed to have. Google detected this activity. And realized pretty quickly they were dealing with an attack more sophisticated than anything they’ve ever seen.

Podcast recommendation: Twenty Thousand Hertz

18: Jackpot

A man addicted to gambling finds a bug in a video poker machine that lets him win excessive amounts of money.

17: Finn

A 14-year-old kid who finds himself bored in class decides to hack someone's twitter account and ends up with more than he bargained for.

16: Eijah

In 2007, a hacker named Eijah got fed up with the way DRM prevented him from being able to play the content he paid for. He decided to fight back against the AACS and find a way to circumvent the DRM. By the time Eijah was done, his life wasn't the same.

15: Ill Tills

A major retailer was hacked. Their point of sales machines were riddled with malware. Listen to hear how digital forensics and incident responders handled the situation. What malware was found? Where was it found? How was it stopped? And most importantly, how much data was leaked?

14: #OpJustina

In 2013 a hospital was accused of conducting a medical kidnapping against a young girl name Justina. This enraged many people across the country, including members of anonymous. A DDOS attack was waged against the hospital.

13: Carna Botnet

In 2012 the Carna Bot was built and unleashed on the world. But it didn't have any intentions on doing anything malicious. It was built just to help us all understand the Internet better. This botnet used the oldest security vulnerable in the book. And the data that came out of it was amazing.

12: Crypto Wars

In the 1990's the Internet started to take shape. But the US goverment had strict laws regulating what type of cryptography is allowed to be used online. A few brave people stood up to the government in the name of civil rights and won the right to use strong encryption. Listen to their battle and what they had to do through to accomplish this.

11: Strictly Confidential

What happens when an innovative tech company, that's trying to develop the next big thing, detects a hacker in their network? We hear the story from a digital forensics investigator which has a surprising result.

10: Misadventures of a Nation State Actor

In today's world of intelligence gathering, governments hack other governments. This episode takes you on a ride with a nation state actor to see exactly how it's done.

9: The Rise and Fall of Mt. Gox

Mt. Gox was the largest bitcoin exchange in the world. It suddenly went offline. What happened?

8: Manfred (Part 2)

Manfred found a way to turn his passion for video games and reverse engineering into a full time business. He exploited video games and sold virtual goods and currency for real money. This was his full time job. Listen to this episode to hear exactly how he did this.

7: Manfred (Part 1)

Manfred has had the most epic story of all online video game stories. For the last 20 years, he's been hacking online games.

6: The Beirut Bank Job

Jayson E. Street tells us a story about the time he broke into a bank in Beirut Lebanon.

5: #ASUSGATE

Security researcher Kyle Lovett bought a new Asus router in 2013. He found it was riddled with security vulnerabilties. He set out on a mission to resolve these vulnerabilities not only for his own router, but for thousands of others who were also vulnerable.

4: Panic! at the TalkTalk Board Room

Mobile provider TalkTalk suffered a major breach in 2015. The CEO tried her best to keep angry customers calm and carry on. The UK government and Metropolitan Police investigate the breach. We get a rare glimpse of how the CEO handles the crisis.

3: DigiNotar, You are the Weakest Link, Good Bye!

The 2011 DigiNotar breach changed the way browsers do security. In this episode, we learn what role a CA plays, how browsers work with CAs, and what happens when a CA is breached.

2: The Peculiar Case of the VTech Hacker

VTech makes toy tablets, laptops, and watches for kids. In 2015, they were breached. The hacker downloaded gigs of children's data. Discover what the hacker did once he took the data.

1: The Phreaky World of PBX Hacking

Farhan Arshad and Noor Aziz Uddin were captured 2 years after being placed on the FBI's Cyber's Most Wanted list for PBX hacking. In this episode, we explain PBX hacking and how hackers are racking up billions of dollars in phone bills. We also learn how the two men were captured.

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Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus - 13/2026
Tällä viikolla kerromme uudenlaisesta yrityksiin kohdistuvasta huijauksesta, pikaviestipalveluiden tilikaappauksista sekä kertaamme, miten ClickFix-hyökkäys toimii. Kerromme myös, että virheelliset käyttäjätiedot johtivat yli 100 .fi-verkkotunnuksen poistamiseen, sekä tietoa organisaatioiden tekstiviestitunnusten luvituksesta. Lopuksi kerromme tarkastelujakson aikana esiintyneistä ajankohtaisista huijauksista.

Kriittinen haavoittuvuus Citrix NetScaler ADC ja NetScaler Gateway -tuotteissa
Citrix on julkaissut korjauspäivityksen vakavaan haavoittuvuuteen NetScaler ADC ja NetScaler Gateway -tuotteissa. Haavoittuvuus mahdollistaa muistin ylikirjoituksen haavoittuvassa järjestelmässä. Haavoittuva järjestelmä on syytä päivittää välittömästi.

Traficomin päivitetty ohjeistus auttaa organisaatioita viestimään kyberkriiseissä
Viestinnällä on keskeinen rooli erilaisten kyberkriisien hallinnassa. Viime vuosien aikana valitettavasti entistä useampi organisaatio ja yksilö ovat joutuneet kyberhyökkäyksen ja sitä kautta esimerkiksi tietovuodon tai -murron kohteeksi.

Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus - 12/2026
Tällä viikolla kerromme IPIDEA-välitysverkosta kirjoittamastamme artikkelista sekä erilaisiin asiakaspalvelu- ja verkkolomakejärjestelmiin kohdistuvista palvelunestohyökkäyksistä. Olemme julkaisseet uusia tilannekortteja viestinnän tueksi kyberhyökkäyksen sattuessa. Kerromme myös TIETO 2026 -harjoituksessa esillä olleesta viranomaisten ja elinkeinoelämän yhteistyöstä.

NCC Network Day ja ECCC Governing Board 9.-11.3.2026 Bukarestissa Romaniassa
European Cybersecurity Competence Center (ECCC) järjesti kansallisten koordinointikeskusten (NCC) NCC Network Day -tapahtuman 11.3.2026 Romanian parlamenttipalatsissa Bukarestissa, missä ECCC sijaitsee. Suomesta NCC Network Day -tapahtumassa oli mukana neljä NCC-FI:n edustajaa.

IPIDEA - Kotilaitteita hyödyntävä välityspalveluverkko
IPIDEA on kiinalainen yritys, joka kontrolloi Googlen raportoinnin mukaan yhtä maailman suurimmista välityspalvelinverkostosta. IPIDEA:n on havaittu ottavan haltuun kotitalouksien verkkolaitteita valesovellusten kautta ja levittämällä haitallista koodia VPN-palveluiden avulla. Kyberturvallisuuskeskus suosittelee pitämään riittävät suojauskeinot aktiivisena päätelaitteissa sekä hankkimaan älylaitteet ja sovellukset luotetuilta valmistajilta.

Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus - 11/2026
Helmikuun kybersää kertoo tuttua tarinaa kyberpoikkeamista eri rintamilla. Kuukauden kybertilanne näyttää sateiselta: tietomurrot, ohjelmistohaavoittuvuudet ja muut kyberpoikkeamat jatkoivat kasvuaan. Kyberkestävyyssääntelyä kehitetään ja osapuolia kuunnellaan! EU:n komissio haluaa kuulla asianomaisten mielipiteitä siitä, miten sääntelyä pitäisi soveltaa käytännössä.

Helmikuun Kybersää on julkaistu
Helmikuu jatkui sateisena. Kyberturvallisuuskeskukselle raportoitiin erilaisia huijauksia. Helmikuussa esiintyi lisäksi jälleen useita kriittisiä haavoittuvuuksia.

Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus - 10/2026
Autoreporter-järjestelmä on siivonnut suomalaisia verkkoja jo yli 20 vuotta, lähes kolmen miljoonan havainnon verran. Viranomaisten nimissä lähetellään taas petollisia huijausviestejä, tällä kertaa haitallisen liitetiedoston kera. Eurooppa rahoittaa kyberturvallisuutta Horisontti Eurooppa -ohjelman kautta ja Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen koordinointikeskus järjestää useita rahoitushakuja koskevia infotilaisuuksia maaliskuussa.

Ohje kvanttiturvalliseen salaukseen siirtymisestä julkaistu, infotilaisuus asiantuntijoille 11.5.2026
Nopeasti kehittyvät kvanttitietokoneet muuttavat kryptografian perusoletuksia. Klassiset salausmenetelmät perustuvat perinteisillä tietokoneilla ratkaisemattomiin matemaattisiin ongelmiin.

Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus - 09/2026
Tällä viikolla kerromme liikkeellä olevasta laskutushuijausten aallosta, pankkien nimissä tehdyistä huijauspuheluista sekä yleistyneistä valeverkkokaupoista. Lisäksi nostamme esiin WordPress-lisäosiin liittyvät haavoittuvuudet ja muistutamme verkkosivustojen ylläpidon sekä maksuprosessien huolellisen varmistamisen merkityksestä.

Kriittisiä haavoittuvuuksia Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN -tuotteissa
Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN -tuotteisiin julkaistu kriittisiä haavoittuvuuksia, joita hyväksikäyttämällä hyökkääjä voi ohittaa kirjautumisen laitteella, korottaa käyttöoikeutensa pääkäyttäjätasolle ja ottaa laitteen haltuunsa. Kyberturvallisuuskeskus kehoittaa tuotteita käyttäviä tahoja tunnistamaan haavoittuvat laitteet omasta verkkoympäristöstä, kerämään riittävät tiedot ja snapshotit haavoittuvista laitteista, päivittämään laitteet uusimpaan versioon ja suorittamaan uhkanmetsästystä ympäristöstä hyväksikäytön varalta.

Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus - 8/2026
Tällä viikolla kerromme Microsoft 365 -tilien tilimurroista, organisaatioiden kyberturvallisuustoimintojen harjoitteluihin liittyvistä kuulumisista ja julkaisuista sekä ENISA:n järjestämästä kyselystä pk-yrityksille liittyen CRA:n soveltamiseen. Kerromme myös Traficomin Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen osallistumisesta Disobey-tapahtumaan.

Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus - 07/2026
Tällä viikolla kerromme verkossa ja puhelimessa tapahtuvien huijausten ajankohtaisista ilmiöistä sekä siitä, miten kiristysviestit, robottipuhelut ja sijoitushuijaukset pyrkivät kalastelemaan tietoja ja rahaa. Lisäksi käsittelemme vuoden 2026 ensimmäistä Kybersää-julkaisua sekä selainten lisäosiin liittyviä tietoturvariskejä ja annamme vinkkejä niiden hallintaan. Lopuksi muistutamme käynnissä olevasta Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen verkkosivujen käyttäjäkyselystä.

Tammikuun Kybersää 2026
Tammikuu oli pääosin sateinen ilmiöiden jatkuessa tavanomaisina. Tekoälyavustajien yleistyminen organisaatioissa ja niihin liittyvät tietoturva- ja kyberturvallisuushaasteet puhuttivat kuukauden aikana. Vuoden ensimmäinen Kybersää toi mukanaan myös uudistetun ilmeen.

Verkostoitumismatka toi osallistujille uusia kontakteja ja tietoa EU-rahoitushauista
Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen kansallinen koordinointikeskus (NCC-FI) järjesti yhteistyössä Kyberala ry:n kanssa osaamisyhteisön jäsenilleen pitchaus- ja verkostoitumismatkan Connect4Cyber-tilaisuuteen Tallinnaan. NCC-FI:n edustajien lisäksi matkalla oli mukana yhteensä 18 osaamisyhteisön jäsentä niin yrityksistä, tutkimusorganisaatioista kuin korkeakouluistakin.

Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus - 6/2026
Liikenne- ja viestintävirasto on myöntänyt rahoitustukea yhteensä 1,65 milj. euroa kyberturvallisuuslain toimeenpanemisen tukemiseksi. Viimeisimmällä hakukierroksella saatiin 89 hakemusta, joista 35 hakijalle myönnettiin yhteensä 1,65 milj. euroa kyberturvallisuuslain toimeenpanemisen tukemiseksi. Seuraava EU-rahoitustukihaku kyberturvallisuuden tutkimiseen ja kehittämiseen alkaa jo maaliskuussa 2026. Finanssialan julkistamista tunnusluvuista pankkihuijausten torjunnasta voidaan todeta, että vaikka huijaukset lisääntyvät vuosi vuodelta, niiden tunnistamiseksi ja torjumiseksi tehdään yhä paremmin töitä yhdessä viranomaisten, pankkien ja muiden toimijoiden kesken.

Liikenne- ja viestintävirasto myönsi rahoitustukea yhteensä 1,65 milj. euroa kyberturvallisuuslain toimeenpanemisen tukemiseksi
Liikenne- ja viestintäviraston Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen kansallisen koordinointikeskuksen EU-projektista myönnetään rahoitustukea kyberturvallisuutta kehittäviin hankkeisiin vuosien 2025–2029 aikana yhteensä n. 3,7 milj. euroa. Nyt auki olleella hakukierroksella tukea oli haettavissa yhteensä 2 milj. euroa.

Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus - 5/2026
Haittaohjelmia levitellään siellä missä käyttäjät ovat, myös Discordissa. M365-tilien kaappaamiseen pyrkivät kehittyneet tietojenkalasteluhyökkäykset ovat edelleen yleisiä. Traficom ja Huoltovarmuuskeskus julkaisivat uuden selvityksen tekoälyagenttien kyberturvallisuudesta, joka auttaa organisaatioita suunnittelemaan, rakentamaan ja ylläpitämään agenttisia tekoälyjärjestelmiä turvallisesti. Lisäksi Kyberturvallisuuden vuosi 2025 -katsaus on julkaistu ja Tietoturva 2026 seminaari järjestetään lokakuussa Cyber Security Nordic -messuilla Helsingin messukeskuksessa. Liikenne- ja viestintäministeriö järjestää 4.2.2026 sidosryhmätilaisuuden liittyen Euroopan komission ehdotukseen kyberturvallisuusasetuksen uudistamisesta ja NIS 2-muutosdirektiivin uudistamisesta. Ilmoittautumislinkki löytyy viikkokatsauksen lopusta.

Kriittisiä haavoittuvuuksia Ivanti Endpoint Manager Mobile (EPMM) -tuotteessa
Ivanti on julkaissut Endpoint Manager Mobile (EPMM) -tuotteeseen päivityksiä, joilla korjataan kaksi kriittistä haavoittuvuutta (CVE-2026-1281 ja CVE-2026-1340). Haavoittuvuuksia hyväksikäyttämällä hyökkääjä voi suorittaa komentoja laitteella etänä ilman tunnistautumista. Haavoittuvuuden hyväksikäyttöä on havaittu globaalisti.

Tekoälyagentit muuttavat kyberuhkia
Tekoälyagenttien potentiaali piilee niille annettavissa oikeuksissa erilaisiin järjestelmiin ja työkaluihin. Mitä arkaluontoisempaan dataan agentilla on pääsy, ja mitä kriittisempiä päätöksiä se saa tehdä, sitä suuremmaksi kasvaa myös järjestelmän riskipotentiaali. Tekoälyagenttien käyttöönotto muuttaa olennaisesti tapaa, jolla organisaatiot hallitsevat kyberturvallisuutta.

Kyberturvallisuuden vuosi 2025 – Uhkataso pysyi kohonneena, vakavien tapausten määrät korkealla tasolla
Kyberturvallisuuden uhkataso pysyi Suomessa vuonna 2025 koholla, ja vakavien tapausten määrä pysyi korkealla tasolla. Selkeä muutos aiempiin vuosiin oli se, että hyökkääjät hyödyntävät kriittisiä haavoittuvuuksia entistä nopeammin, jopa minuuteissa ja tunneissa. Huijausten määrät jatkoivat kasvuaan.

Kriittinen haavoittuvuus FortiOS, FortiManager, FortiProxy ja FortiAnalyzer tuotteissa
Fortinet on julkaissut tiedotteen aktiivisesti hyväksikäytetystä haavoittuvuudesta, joka koskee FortiOs, FortiManager, FortiProxy ja FortiAnalyzer tuotteita, jos niissä on aktivoituna Forticloud SSO autentikointi toiminnallisuus. Jos hyökkääjällä on FortiCloud tili ja rekisteröity laite, on hänen mahdollista kirjautua laitteille, jotka ovat rekisteröity toiselle tilille. Haavoittuvuutta on käytetty aktiivisesti hyväksi ja hyväksikäytöstä on havaintoja myös Suomessa.

Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus - 4/2026
Hammaslääkärikäynnin ajanvaraukseksi naamioidut kalasteluviestit ovat lisääntyneet. Julkaisimme viikolla myös Tietoturva Nyt! -artikkelin viimeaikaisista pikaviestipalveluiden tilikaappauksista. Lisäksi kerromme viime vuoden lopussa kasvaneesta Kimwolf -bottiverkosta ja Kuntien tietoturva 2026 -webinaarista. Kyberturvallisuuskeskus kerää parhaillaan palautetta julkisista tilannekuvatuotteistaan. Lisätietoa ja linkki palautekyselyyn löytyy viikkokatsauksesta.

Telegram- ja WhatsApp-pikaviestitilit kaappausyritysten kohteena
Olemme saaneet kuluneiden viikkojen aikana paljon ilmoituksia WhatsApp- ja Telegram-pikaviestipalveluiden tilien kaappaamisista ja kaappausten yrityksistä. Tilejä voidaan kaapata linkitystoiminnolla tai rekisteröimällä tili kokonaan uudelleen kaappaajan laitteeseen vahvistuskoodin avulla. Suosittelemme suojaamaan pikaviestitilit uudelleenrekisteröintiä vastaan kaksivaiheisella tunnistautumisella ja tarkistamaan, että tileihin ei ole liitetty tuntemattomia laitteita ja että puhelinliittymäsi vastaajan PIN-koodi ei ole oletus PIN-koodi.

Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus - 3/2026
Tällä viikolla kerromme mm. tietoturvanäkökulmista AI-avustajien käyttöön, hotelli- ja matkavarausteemalla liikkuvista kalasteluviesteistä sekä nauhoitetuista huijauspuheluista pankin nimissä. Lisäksi kerromme tekstiviestitse pyytämättä saapuneista vahvistuskoodeista. Kerromme myös pk-yrityksille aukeamassa olevasta rahoitustukihausta sekä joulukuun Kybersään julkaisusta.

Joulukuun Kybersää 2025
Joulukuun alkupuoli oli kyberturvallisuuden näkökulmasta melko rauhallinen. Säätilanne kuitenkin heikkeni kuukauden loppua kohden, eikä myrskyiltäkään vältytty.

Älykkäät avustajat, uudet riskit - Tietoturvanäkökulmia AI-avustajien käyttöön
Tekoälyyn perustuvat avustajat ovat yleistyneet nopeasti organisaatioissa. Niiden käyttö ulottuu asiakaspalvelusta tietotyön tehostamiseen sekä kokous- ja viestintäympäristöihin. Samalla AI-avustajien hyödyntäminen tuo mukanaan merkittäviä tietoturva- ja kyberturvallisuushaasteita, jotka on huomioitava sekä järjestelmien suunnittelussa että operoinnissa. Tämä artikkeli kokoaa keskeiset näkökulmat ja suositukset AI-avustajien turvalliseen ja vastuulliseen käyttöön.

Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus - 2/2026
Tällä viikolla palaamme vuoden 2025 kyberilmiöihin videolla, jolla asiantuntijamme keskustelevat vuoden merkittävimmistä ja kiinnostavimmista kyberilmiöistä ja antavat kansalaisille ja organisaatiolle vinkkejä kyberturvalliseen vuoteen 2026.

Haavoittuvuus MongoDB-tietokantaohjelmistossa mahdollistaa luottamuksellisen tiedon paljastumisen
MongoDB-tietokantaohjelmiston haavoittuvuus johtaa mahdollisesti luottamuksellisen tiedon vuotamiseen ja haavoittuvuuden hyväksikäyttö on mahdollista ilman tunnistautumista. Käytännössä kaikki versiot ovat haavoittuvia ja haavoittuvuuden aktiivisesta hyväksikäytöstä on viitteitä. Korjaava päivitys on saatavilla ja sen asennusta suositellaan välittömästi.

Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus - 01/2026

Viestintäverkkojen turvallisuutta vahvistetaan - 5G-tukiasemat sääntelyn piiriin
Liikenne- ja viestintävirasto Traficom on uudistanut viestintäverkon kriittisistä osista antamansa määräyksen. Uudistettu määräys laajentaa sääntelyn koskemaan tietyiltä osin myös 5G-verkon tukiasemia. Teleyritysten on jatkossa tunnistettava 5G-verkon kriittiset osat, kuten tukiasemat, arvioitava niiden keskeisyys ja merkittävyys, sekä dokumentoitava arviot. Uusi määräys tulee voimaan 19.12.2026 ja korvaa toukokuussa 2021 annetun aiemman määräyksen.

Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus - 51/2025
Tällä viikolla muistutamme joulun ja lomakauden kyberturvallisuuteen liittyvistä riskeistä. Kerromme myös kotireitittimiä koskevasta haavoittuvuudesta. Haittaohjelmakatsauksessa tarkastelemme Prizmes-troijalaista, joka kohdistuu mobiililaitteisiin ja pyrkii keräämään käyttäjätietoja huomaamatta. Lisäksi kerromme viikkokatsauksen joulutauosta sekä vuoden 2026 ensimmäisestä koostejulkaisusta.

Kriittinen haavoittuvuus Cisco Secure Email Gateway ja Secure Email and Web Manager -tuotteissa
Cisco on julkaissut tiedotteen aktiivisesti hyväksikäytetystä haavoittuvuudesta, joka koskee Cisco Secure Email Gateway ja Secure Email and Web manager -tuotteitaan. Haavoittuus mahdollistaa mielivaltaisten komentojen ajamisen järjestelmässä root-tason oikeuksilla. Hyväksikäyttöä on havaittu myös Suomessa.

TOTOLINK X5000R (AX1800) -kotireitittimen haavoittuvuus mahdollistaa haittakoodin suorittamisen kotiverkossa
TOTOLINK X5000R -kotireitittimestä on löytynyt haavoittuvuus, joka mahdollistaa tietyissä olosuhteissa laitteen täyden kaappaamisen. Kirjoitushetkellä haavoittuvuuteen ei ole tiedossa virallista korjausta. Suosittelemme laitteen poistamista verkoista, kunnes haavoittuvuus on korjattu.

Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus - 50/2025
Tällä viikolla kerromme tallennusmedian turvallisuuden parhaista käytännöistä: miten hallitaan salauksen palautusavaimia turvallisesti. Marraskuun Kybersää muistuttaa joulusesonkia hyödyntävistä valeverkkokaupoista ja käyttäjiä vaanivista haittaohjelmista. Pilvipalveluiden turvallisuuteen liittyviä kysymyksiä, riskejä ja näkökulmia käsitellään myös kuukauden Kybersäässä.

Marraskuun Kybersää 2025
Marraskuun kybersäätila jäi yleiskuvaltaan sateiseksi, vaikka kuukausi olikin kokonaisuudessaan melko rauhallinen. Säätilaa heikensivät pääasiassa haittaohjelmiin ja haavoittuvuuksiin liittyvät havainnot.

Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus - 49/2025
Tällä viikolla kerromme Traficomin johtaman verkkorikosten torjunnan yhteistyön saamasta palkinnosta sekä ohjeistuksesta EU-rahoitushakuihin, vuoden viimeisestä Kyberala murroksessa -webinaarista, EU:n kyberkestävyyssäädöksen tilanteesta ja Nyt valppaana -yleisötilaisuudesta. Viikon haittaohjelmakatsauksessa on Waledac.

Pilvipalveluiden pääkäyttäjätunnusten hallinta – parhaat käytännöt
Pilvipalvelut ovat nykyään lähes jokaisen organisaation IT-infrastruktuuriin kuuluva osa. Niitä hyödynnetään erittäin kriittisissäkin organisaation toiminnoissa, joten pilvipalveluiden pääkäyttäjätunnusten turvallinen hallinta on erittäin tärkeää. Yhdenkin pääkäyttäjätunnuksen väärinkäyttö voi vaarantaa koko organisaation pilviympäristön ja pysäyttää liiketoiminnan. Tässä artikkelissa käymme läpi kolme yleisintä pilvipalvelua – Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure ja Google Cloud Platform (GCP) – ja kerromme, miten niiden pääkäyttäjätunnuksia tulisi suojata ja ylläpitää.

Kriittinen haavoittuvuus Reactin React Server Components -toiminnallisuudessa
React-kirjaston React Server Components -toiminnallisuudessa on havaittu haavoittuvuus, jonka avulla todentamaton hyökkääjä voi suorittaa mielivaltaista koodia kohdelaitteella. Haavoittuvuutta käytetään aktiivisesti hyväksi, minkä vuoksi on välttämätöntä asentaa päivitykset viipymättä ja tarkastaa organisaatioiden käyttämien tuotteiden tilanne haavoittuvuuden osalta. Mikäli haavoittuvia ohjelmistoja ei ole vielä paikattu, on syytä olettaa tietomurron tapahtuneen.

Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus - 48/2025
Tällä viikolla kerromme Oodissa 2. joulukuuta järjestettävästä Nyt valppaana verkossa! Tunnista ja torju digihuijaukset -yleisötilaisuudesta. Kerromme myös verkkokauppojen maksusivuihin kohdistuvista digitaalisen skimmaamisen hyökkäyksistä sekä BadBox 2.0 -haittaohjelmalle altistuneista laitteista, joita on päätynyt myyntiin tunnetuissa yhdysvaltalaisissa kauppaketjuissa. Lisäksi esittelemme uuden Shai Hulud -madon, joka leviää kehittäjäympäristöissä ja varastaa käyttöoikeustietoja. Tuomme esiin myös viimeaikaiset Microsoft 365 -tilimurrrot ja viikottaisessa haittaohjelmakatsauksessa tutustumme PromptLockiin.

Microsoft 365 -tilimurroista kertova varoitus on poistettu
Suomalaisten organisaatioiden Microsoft 365 -tilejä kaapataan tietojenkalastelun seurauksena. Tapausten mittavasta kasvusta johtuen Kyberturvallisuuskeskus julkaisi asiasta syyskuussa vakavan varoituksen. Kalasteluviestit voivat olla erittäin haastavia tunnistaa ja siksi tilimurroilta tulee suojautua ottamalla käyttöön turvallisuustoimintoja organisaatiotasolla. Kyberturvallisuuskeskukselle ilmoitettujen M365-tilimurtotapausten määrä on tasoittunut ja varoitus poistetaan, mutta M365-tilimurtojen uhka säilyy siitä huolimatta.

Shai-Hulud-hyökkäyksen toinen aalto - toimenpidesuositukset organisaatioille
Uusi haittaohjelma leviää laajasti NPM-ekosysteemissä. Se on kohdistettu erityisesti suosittujen julkaisijoiden, kuten Zapier ja ENS Domains, paketteihin. Shai-Hulud: the Second Coming -nimellä tunnettu hyökkäys tartuttaa npm-paketteja ja kerää niitä käyttävistä järjestelmistä tunnuksia sekä arkaluontoisia tietoja. Tartunta leviää edelleen uusiin koodijakeluihin ja käyttöympäristöihin täysin ilman tai vain vähäisellä ihmisen avustuksella hyödyntäen ympäristöön luotuja automaatioita. Hyökkäys aiheuttaa kehittäjäympäristöille merkittävän tietoturvariskin ja rapauttaa luottamusta ohjelmistojen toimitusketjuihin. Organisaatioiden tulee tarkistaa kehitysinfrastruktuurit tartuntojen varalta, poistaa käytöstä vaarantuneet paketit ja kierrättää altistuneet salaisuudet.

Näkymätön varas verkkokaupassasi - Digitaalisella skimmauksella voi olla merkittäviä taloudellisia vaikutuksia
Digitaalisessa skimmauksessa rikolliset asentavat verkkokauppaan haitallista koodia ja varastavat sitä kautta maksuprosessissa annettavat tiedot. Aihe on ajankohtainen, sillä erityisesti Black Fridayn alla verkkokauppojen kautta tehdään ostoksia poikkeuksellisen paljon. Tässä artikkelissa kerromme mistä digitaalisessa skimmauksessa on kysymys ja miten verkkokauppojen omistajat voivat havaita ja ennaltaehkäistä digitaalista skimmausta.

Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus - 47/2025
Tällä viikolla kerromme pakettihuijauksista, joita esiintyy etenkin Black Fridayn kaltaisten sesonkien aikana. Kerromme myös Microsoft 365-tilimurroista sekä juuri pidetystä Kriittinen Koodi -webinaarista. Muistutamme ilmoittautumaan kyberturvallisuuden EU-rahoituksen hakuinfotilaisuuksiin ja kerromme Euroopan komission järjestämästä CRA:n sidosryhmätilaisuudesta. Olemme myös avanneet kyselyn tulevista arviointi- ja hyväksyntätarpeista NCSA:n asiakkaille. Lisäksi viikottaisessa haittaohjelmakatsauksessa tutustumme Shiz-haittaohjelmaan.

Microsoft 365 -tilimurrot uhkaavat yrityksiä ja organisaatioita
Microsoft 365 -tilejä murretaan jatkuvasti onnistuneiden tietojenkalastelujen seurauksena. Tietojenkalasteluviestit ovat laadukkaita ja usein erityisen petollisia siksi, että ne voivat tulla murretulta yhteistyökumppanin tililtä. M365-tilimurtojen uhka säilyy ja siksi organisaatioilla ja yrityksillä on erityinen vastuu M365-ympäristön suojaamisessa. Tilimurron seuraukset voivat olla vakavia: mainehaittaa, laskutuspetoksia ja tietojenkalastelua organisaation nimissä, arkaluonteisten tietojen vuotaminen tai jopa koko organisaation tärkeiden tietojen päätyminen rikollisten käsiin.

Kysely tulevista arviointi- ja hyväksyntätarpeista - vastaa viimeistään 5.12.
Liikenne- ja viestintävirasto Traficomin NCSA (National Communications Security Authority) kartoittaa asiakkaidensa tulevia arviointi- ja hyväksyntätarpeita sekä kokemuksia aiemmista arvioinneista. Kyselyn tarkoituksena on tukea arviointien suunnittelua, resurssien kohdentamista ja palveluiden kehittämistä. Kysely koskee sekä tietojärjestelmäarviointeja että salaus- ja tuotearviointeja. Pyydämme teitä täyttämään ja palauttamaan oheisen kyselylomakkeen 5.12.2025 mennessä. Vastausohje löytyy kyselylomakkeelta.

Kriittinen ja hyväksikäytetty haavoittuvuus Fortinet FortiWeb -tuotteessa
Fortinet julkaisi haavoittuvuustiedotteen FortiWeb-tuotteisiin vaikuttavasta haavoittuvuudesta, joka voi mahdollistaa todentamattoman hyökkääjän suorittaa ylläpitokomentoja järjestelmässä erikseen muokattujen HTTP- tai HTTPS-pyyntöjen avulla. Fortinet sekä useat muut toimijat ovat havainneet haavoittuvuutta hyväksikäytettävän aktiivisesti tietomurtojen yrityksissä.

Huoltokatko viestinnän sähköisissä lomakkeissa ja palveluissa la 15.11. klo 7-13
Alla mainitut sähköiset lomakkeet ja palvelut eivät ole käytettävissä la 15.11. klo 7-13 huoltotöiden vuoksi. Huoltokatko ei koske Oma asiointi -palvelua.

Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus - 46/2025
Tällä viikolla kerromme siitä, kuinka Black Friday -tarjoukset houkuttelevat myös rikollsia tekemään ajankohtaisten tarjousten teemaisia valeverkkokauppoja ja kalasteluviestejä. Lisäksi kerromme ClickFix-tekniikasta, jota käytetään haittaohjelmien levittämiseen. Marraskuun 18. päivä järjestämme webinaarin ohjelmistokehityksen johtamisesta. Maksuttomaan webinaariin voi ilmoittautua katsauksessa olevan linkin kautta. Julkaisimme lokakuun Kybersään ja viikon haittaohjelmakatsauksessa syvennymme M0yv-haittaohjelman toimintaan.

Lokakuun Kybersää 2025
Lokakuu jatkoi pilvistä ja koleaa syyskautta myös Kyberturvallisuuden osalta, vaikka tilanne rauhoittuikin aavistuksen syyskuuhun verrattuna.

Haittaohjelma voidaan aktivoida huomaamatta ClickFix-tekniikan avulla - Tutustu ilmiöön ja suojaudu
ClickFix-hyökkäykset ovat nykyaikainen hyökkäyskeino, jossa käyttäjä erehdytetään suorittamaan haittaohjelma omalla laitteellaan. Haittaohjelman tarkoitus voi olla tietojen varastaminen laitteelta tai kiristyshaittaohjelman aktivoiminen. Kerromme, miten ClickFix toimii ja miten hyökkäykseltä voi suojautua.

Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus - 45/2025
Tällä viikolla kerromme viime aikojen eniten esillä olleista hyökkääjien tavoista huijata tavallisia kansalaisia. Hyökkääjiä kiinnostavat erityisesti rahat ja tiedot. Huijausten ja kalasteluviestien skaala on laaja, joten kaikkien tulee olla alati varuillaan ja tarkkana uusia viestejä tarkastellessaan. Viikolla järjestettiin myös Cyber Security Nordic -messut, joissa myös Kyberturvallisuuskeskus oli paikalla.

Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus - 44/2025
Tällä viikolla kerromme edelleen jatkuvasta M365-tilien murtoaallosta, laskutuspalveluiden hyväksikäytöstä laskutuspetoksissa, uuden EU:n kyberturvallisuuden rahoitushaun aukeamisesta ja mahdollisuudesta kommentoida EU:n Kyberkestävyyssäädöstä. Viikon haittaohjelmakatsauksessa on Nymaim-troijalainen.

Digitaalinen Eurooppa -ohjelma avasi uuden rahoitushaun: 50 miljoonaa euroa kyberturvallisuuteen
EU:n Digitaalinen Eurooppa -rahoitusohjelman vuoden 2025 toinen hakukierros avautuu. Ohjelman kautta jaetaan rahoitusta kyberaiheisiin 50 miljoonaa euroa.

Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus - 43/2025
Tällä viikolla kerromme, miksi reititin on kotiverkon tärkein suojamuuri ja miten se estää hyökkäykset kodin laitteisiin. Käsittelemme myös F5-teknologiayritykseen kohdistunutta tietomurtoa sekä VESKY 2025 -hankkeen julkaisemaa vesihuollon kyberturvallisuuden materiaalia. Lisäksi kerromme Europolin SIMcartel-operaatiosta, jossa suljettiin petoksissa käytettyä infrastruktuuria. Haittaohjelmakatsauksessa tutustumme Windows-järjestelmiä saastuttavaan Expiro-virukseen.

Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus - 42/2025
Tällä viikolla kerromme Windows 10 -käyttöjärjestelmän tuen päättymisestä, EU:n pikamaksuasetuksesta ja Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen nimissä liikkuneista huijauspuheluista. Cyber Security Nordic -messut tulevat taas ja kerromme Traficomin ja Huoltovarmuuskeskuksen järjestämästä Tietoturva 2025 -seminaarista osana messujen ohjelmaa. Kerromme myös viime viikolla julkaistun Digi- ja väestötietoviraston (DVV) vuoden 2025 Digiturvabarometrin havainnoista. Viikon haittaohjelmakatsauksessa esittelemme Ranbyus-haittaohjelman.

Yhdysvaltalainen tietoturva- ja teknologiayritys F5 tietomurron kohteena
Yhdysvaltalainen tietoturva- ja teknologiayritys F5 on ilmoittanut joutuneensa vakavan tietomurron kohteeksi. Valtiolliseksi uhkatoimijaksi arvioitu taho oli saanut pääsyn F5:n sisäisiin järjestelmiin ja kopioinut muun muassa BIG-IP-tuotteiden lähdekoodia sekä tietoja julkaisemattomista haavoittuvuuksista. Tapaus on herättynyt laajaa huomiota, sillä F5:n tietoturva- ja muuta teknologiaa käytetään laajasti eri organisaatioiden toimesta ympäri maailmaa. Kyberturvallisuuskeskus suosittelee F5:n järjestelmiä käyttäviä organisaatoita tekemään tarvittavat toimenpiteet niiden suojaamiseksi.

Tilisiirtoja kellon ympäri turvallisesti reaaliajassa
EU:n pikamaksuasetus astui voimaan 9.10.2025. Se velvoittaa pankkeja tarjoamaan pikasiirtoja kaikille asiakkailleen Euroopassa. Lisäksi pankki tarkistaa maksunsaajan nimen ja tilinumeron vastaavan toisiaan ennen maksun suorittamista. Asetuksen tavoitteena on tuoda tilisiirrot reaaliaikaan, parantaa maksujen turvallisuutta ja vähentää väärille tileille tehtyjä siirtoja.

Rikolliset soittavat Traficomin Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen nimissä huijauspuheluja
Traficomin tietoon on tullut tapauksia, joissa rikolliset ovat soittaneet uhreille ja esiintyneet Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen asiantuntijoina. Huijauspuheluissa rikolliset ovat muun muassa väittäneet uhrien matkapuhelimien olevan virusten saastuttamat ja että kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen asiantuntijat tulevat noutamaan laitteet pois. Lisäksi puheluissa on myös pyydetty pankkitunnuksia ja maksukorttien tietoja. Rikolliset ovat lähettäneet myös EU:n kyberturvallisuusdirketiivi NIS2 -aiheisia Whatsapp-viestejä, joissa viitataan organisaation tekemään tietoturvailmoitukseen. Viestissä pyydetään vahvistamaan kyseisen viestin vastaanottaminen - tarkoituksena on saada uhri vastaamaan, jolloin rikolliset voivat soittaa takaisin ja jatkaa huijausta. Näihin viesteihin ei tule vastata. Kyberturvallisuuskeskus pyytää ilmoittamaan huijaus- ja tietojenkalasteluviesteistä matalalla kynnyksellä keskukselle. Huijauspuheluissa tai viesteissä rikolliset pyrkivät synnyttämään uhrissa hätää tai pelkoa, jotta saisivat hänet toimimaan ja luovuttamaan esimerkiksi pankkitunnukset. Lisäksi rikolliset vetoavat yleensä kiireeseen, jotta uhri toimisi nopeasti.

Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus - 41/2025
Tällä viikolla kerromme kriittisten päivitysten tärkeydestä. Jos laitteista löytyy kriittisiä haavoittuvuuksia, niiden päivittämistä ei voi viivyttää tarpeettomasti. Rikolliset käyttävät päivittämättömiä laitteita tietomurtoihin säännöllisesti. Lisäksi muistutamme tarkkaavaisuuteen organisaatioiden viestinnässä. Rikolliset esiintyvät usein organisaation johtajana ja lähestyvät työntekijöitä pikaviestimillä tai sähköposteilla yrittäen saada työntekijöitä siirtämään rahaa monenlaisin verukkein.

Syyskuun Kybersää 2025
Syyskuu toi mukanaan saderintamia myös kyberturvallisuuden ylle. Loppukesästä lisääntyneet poikkeamat jatkoivat kasvuaan ja kuukauden yleiskuva oli pääosin sateinen.

Valepomon viesti voi tulla kalliiksi – tunnista toimitusjohtajahuijaus ajoissa!
Syksyn aikana Kyberturvallisuuskeskus on vastaanottanut useita ilmoituksia toimitusjohtajahuijauksista. Rikolliset hyödyntävät sosiaalista manipulointia, heikkoja prosesseja ja ajankohtaisia tapahtumia saadakseen taloudellista hyötyä: rikolliset pyytävät esimerkiksi kiireellisiä tilisiirtoja, lahjakorttiostoja tai tekaistujen laskujen maksamista. Tässä artikkelissa käydään läpi, mistä toimitusjohtajahuijauksissa on kyse.

Redis-ohjelmistossa vakava haavoittuvuus
Redis-ohjelmiston vakava haavoittuvuus altistaa järjestelmän tietomurrolle ja mielivaltaisen koodin suorittamiselle. Haavoittuvuus koskee kaikkia Redis-ohjelmiston versioita. Ohjelmisto on laajasti käytetty ja sen vakiokonfiguraatio on haavoittuva. Suosittelemme haavoittuvien instanssien paikantamista ja päivittämistä välittömästi.

Suomen kansallisen kryptotyöryhmän linjaukset kansallisiin PQC-salaustuotearviointeihin 1.1.2026 alkaen
Nykyiset klassiset julkisen avaimen kryptografiset menetelmät ovat haavoittuvia tehokkaalle kvanttilaskennalle, joten niiden korvaamiseksi on käynnissä useita kansainvälisiä projekteja, jotka tähtäävät kvanttiturvallisten algoritmien (PQC, post-quantum cryptography) standardointiin. Suomen kansallinen kryptotyöryhmä on tehnyt seuraavat linjauksia kansallisiin salaustuotearviointeihin liittyen 1.1.2026 alkaen.

Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus - 40/2025
Tällä viikolla kerromme palvelunestohyökkäyksistä ja niiden vaikutuksista. Kerromme myös Bulletproof Hosting -ilmiöstä rikollisen toiminnan mahdollistajana. Esittelemme lyhyesti harjoitusta, jossa turvallisuusviranomaiset harjoittelivat valtiolliseen kybervaikuttamiseen vastaamista ja lisäksi kerromme Euroopan kyberturvallisuuskuukaudesta, jonka teemana on omien arjen tietoturvataitojen parantaminen. Tämän viikon haittaohjelmakatsauksessa esittelemme Lockyn.

Ennakointi on paras puolustus palvelunestohyökkäyksiä vastaan
Palvelunestohyökkäys voi lamaannuttaa verkkopalvelut hetkessä ja aiheuttaa taloudellisia vahinkoja sekä mainehaittaa. Palvelun käytön estymisen vaikutukset näkyvät nopeasti palvelun käyttäjille ja voivat hankaloittaa heidän arkeaan. Tämä artikkeli kokoaa yhteen keskeiset vaiheet siitä, miten organisaatio voi varautua palvelunestohyökkäykseen, toimia sen aikana ja palautua sen jälkeen.

Omien arjen tietoturvataitojen parantaminen Euroopan kyberturvallisuuskuukauden teemana
Lokakuussa vietetään jo 13. kertaa Euroopan kyberturvallisuuskuukautta (ECSM). Tänä vuonna teema korostaa arjen valintoja ja tapoja, joilla vaikutamme omaan, muiden ja koko verkon turvallisuuteen. Traficomin Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen koordinoima Some- ja verkkohuijausten ehkäisyn verkosto kampanjoi yhdessä turvallisemman verkkokokemuksen puolesta hyödyntäen Aalto-yliopiston toteuttamaa SecPort-sivustoa, joka tarjoaa käytännön vinkkejä ja oppimateriaaleja kansalaisten kyberturvataitojen vahvistamiseen.

Bulletproof Hosting – Merkittävä rikollisen toiminnan mahdollistaja
Bulletproof Hosting (BPH) termillä viitataan toimijoihin, jotka tarjoavat rikollisille tai muille haitallisille toimijoille verkkopalveluita, joihin puuttuminen viranomaistoimin on haastavaa. Tällaiset palveluntarjoajat eivät aktiivisesti puutu käyttäjien rikolliseen toimintaan, kuten haittaohjelmien levitykseen, roskapostin lähettämiseen tai huijaussivustojen ylläpitoon. BPH-palvelut toimivat usein maissa, joissa kansainvälisiä oikeuskäytäntöjä valvotaan ja noudatetaan väljästi. Kyberturvallisuuskeskus kehittää aktiivisesti toimia ilmiön rajoittamiseksi viranomaisten ja operaattoreiden kanssa. Ilmiön rajoittaminen kuitenkin vaatii, että kaikki kyberekosysteemin toimijat huomioivat ilmiön toiminnassaan.

Haavoittuvuuksia Cisco IOS ja IOS XE -laitteissa
Cisco on julkaissut korjauspäivitykset 14 vakavaan haavoittuvuuteen eri IOS-tuoteperheen tuotteissa. Haavoittuvuuksista vakavin mahdollistaa muun muassa mielivaltaisen koodin ajamisen etänä ilman kirjautumista.

Kriittisiä Cisco ASA- ja FTD-haavoittuvuuksia käytetään hyväksi hyökkäyksissä
Cisco on julkaissut korjauspäivitykset kolmeen vakavaan haavoittuvuuteen Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) Software and Cisco Secure Firewall Threat Defense (FTD) -tuotteissa. Haavoittuvuudet mahdollistavat muun muassa mielivaltaisen koodin ajamisen etänä. Haavoittuvuuksia käytetään aktiivisesti hyväksi. Haavoittuva järjestelmä on syytä päivittää välittömästi ja tutkia tuotteet mahdollisten tietomurtojen varalta. Pelkkä päivittäminen ei riitä hyökkäyskoodin poistamiseen järjestelmistä.

Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus - 39/2025
Tällä viikolla kerromme huijauspuheluiden estotoiminnasta, joka palkittiin vuoden 2025 rikoksentorjuntakilpailussa ja joka on merkittävästi vähentänyt huijauspuheluiden määrää Suomessa. Avaamme myös, mitä haittaohjelmat ovat ja millaisia riskejä ne aiheuttavat sekä annamme vinkkejä niiltä suojautumiseen. Haittaohjelmakatsauksessa tutustumme tarkemmin Flubot-haittaohjelmaan, joka levisi huijaustekstiviestien avulla.

Paluu Connect4Cyber-tapahtuman tunnelmiin – kansainväliset kyberturvallisuustoimijat kohtasivat Helsingissä
Elokuun lopulla järjestetty Connect4Cyber – Brokerage and Info Day kokosi yhteen laajan joukon kyberturvallisuusalan toimijoita Suomesta ja eri puolilta Eurooppaa. Business Finlandin pääkonttorilla pidetty tapahtuma tarjosi täyden salin verran keskusteluja ajankohtaisista rahoitusmahdollisuuksista, teknologian kehityssuunnista ja kansainvälisestä yhteistyöstä.

Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus - 38/2025
Tällä viikolla kerromme syyskuussa paljon vaikuttaneista M365-tilimurroista ja annamme ohjeita niiltä suojautumiseen. Kerromme myös Ruotsissa tapahtuneesta laajalti vaikuttaneesta tietovuodosta sekä toimitusketjuhyökkäyksistä. Kyberkestävyyssäädöksen haavoittuvuuksista raportointivelvollisuus astuu voimaan 11.9.2026 ja ohjeistamme miten sen osalta organisaatioiden tulisi toimia. Tämän viikon haittaohjelmakatsauksessa tutustumme Tinba -haittaohjelmaan.

Suojaa Microsoft 365 -ympäristösi tietomurroilta ennakkoon – pääsy käyttäjätilille voidaan estää vielä silloinkin, kun tunnukset ovat vuotaneet
Microsoft 365 -tunnukset ovat usein hyökkäysten kohteena Suomessa. Jos hyökkääjä saa haltuunsa käyttäjän tunnukset ja salasanan, hän pääsee murretulle käyttäjätilille samoilla oikeuksilla kuin oikea käyttäjä. Seuraukset voivat olla vakavia: mainehaittaa, laskutuspetoksia ja tietojenkalastelua organisaation nimissä, arkaluonteisten tietojen vuotaminen tai jopa koko organisaation tärkeiden tietojen päätyminen rikollisten käsiin. Tilien huolellinen suojaaminen ennakolta on aina ensisijainen tapa suojautua tietomurroilta. M365-tietomurroilta voidaan suojautua myös silloin kun hyökkääjällä on jo murretut tunnukset hallussaan. Tässä artikkelissa kerromme, miten voit suojautua tietomurroilta ennakolta ja jopa silloin, kun hyökkääjällä on jo murretut Microsoft 365 -tunnukset.

Digitaalisesta Euroopasta opittua: 7 vinkkiä onnistuneen rahoitushakemuksen laatimiseen
Digitaalinen Eurooppa -rahoitusohjelma on kohta neljävuotias, ja hakijat alkavat vähitellen oppia, mistä ohjelmassa on kyse. Siksi myös rahoitushauista on tulossa entistä kilpaillumpia. Aikaisempien hakukierrosten perusteella arvioijat ovat tunnistaneet tiettyjä toistuvia puutteita, jotka pudottavat hakemusten pisteitä. Siksi kokosimme yhteen kootut vinkit hakemuksen laatimista varten. Kun otat kirjoittaessa huomioon nämä seikat, olet jo reippaasti muita hakijoita edellä!

Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus - 37/2025
Tällä viikolla kerromme julkaisemastamme vakavasta varoituksesta M365-tilimurtoja ja niiden yrityksiä koskien. Varoituksen kohderyhmää ovat kaikki yritykset ja muut organisaatioit sekä niiden työntekijät, jotka käyttävät M365-tuotteita. Esittelemme myös elokuun Kybersään ja kerromme tällä viikolla pidetystä Kriittinen koodi -webinaarista, jonka aiheena oli ohjelmistoturvallisuus huoltovarmuuden ytimessä. Tutustumme tämän viikon viikkokatsauksessa myös Hummer-haittaohjelmaan.

Elokuun Kybersää 2025
Elokuu toi päätöksen kyberturvallisuuden kannalta rauhalliselle kesäkaudelle. Myrskypilviä nähtiin kuukauden aikana erityisesti tietomurtojen sekä haittaohjelmien ja haavoittuvuuksien alueilla.

Microsoft 365 -tilejä murretaan – varo tietojenkalastelua
Traficomin Kyberturvallisuuskeskukselle on vuonna 2025 ilmoitettu yhteensä 330 Microsoft 365 -tileihin liittyvää tietomurtotapausta tai sen yritystä. Kohteena on ollut erikokoisia organisaatioita useilta toimialoilta. Hyvin usein kaapattuja tilejä käytetään kalasteluviestin lähettämiseen tilin yhteystiedoille, jolloin tietomurrot leviävät tehokkaasti organisaatiosta toiseen.

Microsoft 365 -tilejä murretaan – varo tietojenkalastelua
Lokakuun aikana Kyberturvallisuuskeskukselle on ilmoitettu 121 tapausta M365-tilimurtoihin liittyen. Lomakauden päätyttyä tapausten määrässä havaittiin huomattavaa kasvua ja tällä hetkellä organisaatioiden sähköpostitilejä murretaan kiihtyvällä tahdilla. Murroille ja jatkokalasteluviesteille altistuneita organisaatioita on lukuisia ja yhden organisaation sisällä voi tapahtua useita, jopa kymmeniä tilimurtoja. Rikolliset kirjautuvat varastettujen tunnusten avulla Microsoft 365 -palveluihin ja kaapattuja tilejä hyödynnetään uusien tietojenkalasteluviestien lähettämiseen sekä laskutuspetosten tekemiseen.

Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus - 36/2025
Tällä viikolla kerromme rahanmenetyksistä lastensuojeluteemaisiin huijausviesteihin, Microsoftin uusista todentamismenetelmistä sekä viikottaisesta haittaohjelmasta. Kutsumme teidät myös kriittinen koodi -webinaariin.

Rikolliset levittävät huijausviestejä lastensuojelun nimissä
Rikolliset levittävät tällä hetkellä huijaustekstiviestejä, joissa esiintyvät esimerkiksi sosiaalityöntekijöinä ja viittaavat lastensuojeluun. Huijauksen uhreiksi on joutunut muun muassa yksittäisiä organisaatioita ja rahalliset menetykset ovat vaihdelleet tuhansista euroista aina sataan tuhanteen euroon saakka.

Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus - 35/2025
Tällä viikolla viikkokatsauksessa kerromme lastensuojelun nimissä lähetetyistä huijaustekstiviesteistä, joilla rikolliset pyrkivät kalastelemaan tietoja. Lisäksi kerromme Teams-puheluhuijauksista, joissa rikolliset esiintyvät IT-tukena ja yrittävät saada pääsyn työntekijän koneelle. Liiikkeellä on ollut myös PDF-editointiohjelmiksi naamioituja haittaohjelmia, joiden avulla rikolliset voivat varastaa tietoja tai kaapata järjestelmän. Viikottainen haittaohjelmakatsaus käsittelee tällä viikolla Avalanche-nimistä haittaohjelmaa.

Traficom ja Supo: Kyberturvallisuuden uhkataso pysynyt koholla - vakavien tapausten määrät kasvussa
Traficomin ja Suojelupoliisin tiedote Kuluneena vuonna kyberturvallisuuden uhkataso on pysynyt Suomessa edelleen kohonneena. Uhkataso nousi vuonna 2022 sen jälkeen, kun Venäjä käynnisti laajamittaisen hyökkäyksensä Ukrainaan. Traficomin Kyberturvallisuuskeskukselle ilmoitettujen tapausten perusteella suomalaiset organisaatiot ovat edelleen vihamielisen kybertoiminnan kohteena, ja vakavien tietomurtojen sekä niiden yritysten määrä on noussut. Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen selvittämien vakavien tapausten määrä on yli kaksinkertaistunut viime vuoteen verrattuna. Havainnot ohjelmistojen haavoittuvuuksista ovat myös selvästi lisääntyneet, mikä kasvattaa merkittävästi kyberuhkaa yhteiskunnassa. Suojelupoliisin mukaan valtiollinen kybertoiminta Suomea kohtaan jatkuu aktiivisena. Traficom ja Suojelupoliisi pitävät yhteiskuntaa laajasti lamauttavien kyberiskujen todennäköisyyttä kuitenkin edelleen pienenä.

IT-tukena esiintyvät hyökkääjät lähestyvät organisaatioita Teams-puheluilla
IT-tukena esiintyvät hyökkääjät ottavat yhteyttä organisaatioiden työntekijöihin soittamalla Microsoft Teams -puhelun etäyhteysohjelman käyttämiseksi. Etäyhteysohjelman avulla hyökkääjä voi ujuttaa kohdeympäristöön haittaohjelmia, viedä tietoja ja aktivoida esimerkiksi kiristyshaittaohjelman. Kyseessä on puhelun kautta tapahtuva tietojenkalasteluyritys. Organisaatiot voivat rajoittaa ulkopuolisista Teams-organisaatioista tulevia yhteydenottoja hyökkäysten torjumiseksi.

Citrix NetScaler ADC ja NetScaler Gateway -tuotteissa kriittinen haavoittuvuus
Citrix on julkaissut korjauspäivitykset kolmeen vakavaan haavoittuvuuteen NetScaler ADC ja NetScaler Gateway -tuotteissa. Haavoittuvuudet mahdollistavat muun muassa mielivaltaisen koodin ajamisen etänä ja palvelunestotilan aiheuttamisen. Haavoittuvuuksia käytetään aktiivisesti hyväksi ja haavoittuva järjestelmä on syytä päivittää välittömästi.

Haittaohjelmia levitetään aktiivisesti PDF-editointiohjelmiksi naamioituina
Liikkeellä on haittaohjelmakampanja, jossa rikolliset levittävät näennäisiä PDF-editoreita. Ohjelma voi liittää laitteen osaksi bottiverkkoa ja varastaa tietoja. Turvallisin tapa hankkia uusia sovelluksia on ladata ohjelmistot vain virallisista lähteistä ja olla tarkkana liian hyviltä kuulostavien tarjousten kanssa.

Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus – 34/2025
Tällä viikolla kerromme nettihuijauksista, joissa rikolliset esiintyvät työeläkeyhtiön nimissä ja pelottelevat eläkkeen loppumisella. Linkin klikkaaminen kuitenkin johtaa petokselliseen sivuun, joka kalastelee eläkeläisten verkkopankkitunnuksia. Kerromme myös halpoja älylaitteita vaivaavasta BadBox-haittohjelmasta. Lisäksi Liikenne- ja viestintävirastosta voi hakea rahoitusta viestintäverkkojen ja tietojärjestelmien tietoturvallisuuden parantamiseksi kyberturvallisuuslain vaatimusten mukaiseksi.

Rahoitustukihaku kyberturvallisuuslain toimeenpanemisen tukemiseksi avattu
Liikenne- ja viestintävirasto Traficom myöntää rahoitustukea kyberturvallisuuslain (124/2025) soveltamisalaan kuuluville mikrokokoisille, pienille ja keskisuurille organisaatioille kyberturvallisuuslaissa asetettujen vaatimusten toteuttamiseksi ja toimijoiden kyberturvallisuustason nostamiseksi organisaatiossa. Haku on auki 16.10.2025 klo 16:15 asti.

Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus - 33/2025
Tällä viikolla kerromme ulkomaisista numeroista soitetuista huijauspuheluista. Lisäksi kerromme paljon liikkeellä olleista M365-tilimurroista, uuden radiolaitteita koskevan määräyksen voimaanastumisesta, sekä syksyllä tapahtuvasta ohjelmistoturvallisuutta käsittelevästä webinaarista. Lisäksi olemme julkaisseet heinäkuun Kybersään ja viikon haittaohjelmakatsauksessa kerromme 911 S5 -haittaohjelmasta.

Heinäkuun Kybersää 2025
Helteinen heinäkuu käynnistyi poutaisesti myös kybersään näkökulmasta. Kuun loppua kohden säätilanne kääntyi jälleen sateisempaan suuntaan.

Älykellot, itkuhälyttimet ja puhelimet yhä turvallisempia – EU kiristää tietoturvavaatimuksia
Älykellot, älypuhelimet ja monet muut langattomat laitteet ovat osa arkeamme, mutta tiedätkö kuinka tietoturvallisia nämä laitteet ovat? Nyt ei tarvitse murehtia – uudet EU:n vaatimukset varmistavat, että kodin laitteet ovat entistä tietoturvallisempia.

Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus - 32/2025
Tämän viikon viikkokatsauksessa kerromme havainnoista organisaatioiden M365-tilien tietomurtoihin ja kalasteluviesteihin liittyen. Lisäksi muistutamme lasten tietoturvataitojen tärkeydestä koulujen alkaessa. Nostamme esille myös Citrix-haavoittuvuuden aiheuttamien tietomurtojen tilanteen ja esittelemme uuden haittaohjelmakatsauksen, joka tarjoaa viikoittain tietoa ajankohtaisista haittaohjelmista.

SonicWall Gen 7 -palomuurien SSLVPN-haavoittuvuutta hyväksikäytetään tietomurroissa
Viime päivien aikana SonicWall Gen 7 -palomuurituotteisiin liittyen on havaittu merkittävä määrä onnistuneita tietomurtoja sekä niiden yrityksiä eri tietoturvatoimijoiden raportoimana. Joissakin tapauksissa onnistuneita tietomurtoja on havaittu myös ajantasaisissa laitteissa. Toistaiseksi ei ole tiedossa, onko näissä tapauksissa kyseessä uusi nollapäivähaavoittuvuus vai aiemmin julkaistujen haavoittuvuuksien uudenlainen hyväksikäyttö. Päivitys 7.8.2025: Sonicwallin päivitetyn tiedotteen mukaan tähän liittyvää nollapäivähaavoittuvuutta ei ole löytynyt.

Vinkkejä kyberharjoituksen suunnitteluun
Oletko saanut tehtäväksesi suunnitella ja järjestää kyberharjoituksen omassa organisaatiossasi? Olet ehkä saanut evästystä johdolta, tehnyt taustatyötä aiheesta ja lukenut Kyberharjoitusohjeemme tai tutustunut ylläpitämäämme Skenaariopankkiin. Harjoituksen suunnittelu voi tuntua haastavalta, jos ohjeita ja odotuksia tulee monesta eri suunnasta. Olemme keränneet tähän artikkeliin perusohjeiden lisäksi muutamia harjoitusten suunnittelussa hyväksi koettuja havaintoja, joiden avulla suunnittelu helpottuu ja harjoituksesta saadaan enemmän hyötyä.

Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus - 31/2025
Tällä viikolla kerromme aggressiivisesta kiristysviestikampanjasta. Lisäksi muistutamme päivitysten asentamisesta ja elinkaaren päänsä saavuttaneiden laitteiden ja ohelmistojen päivittämisestä myös lomakaudella. Muistutamme myös, että laskutushuijauksia on liikkeellä lomakaudella.

Aggressiivinen kiristysviestikampanja käynnissä
Kyberturvallisuuskeskus on havainnut aggressiivisen kiristysviestikampanjan. Viestejä on lähetetty runsaasti yksityisille henkilöille ja organisaatioille. Kampanja voi aiheuttaa kuormitusta sähköpostipalveluihin.

Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus - 30/2025
Tällä viikolla kerromme globaalisti merkittävästä Sharepoint-haavoittuvuudesta ja rikollisten verkkopetoksissa käyttämistä keinoista.

Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus - 29/2025
Tällä viikolla kerromme huijauksista tekstiviesteillä ja sähköpostilla poliisin nimissä. Viranomaisena esiintyvät rikolliset ovat yrittäneet huijata ihmisiä kertomaan verkkopankkitunnuksensa. Sillä välin oikea poliisi on osallistunut kansainväliseen poliisioperaatioon, jolla rikollisten käyttämä bottiverkko on saatu suljettua. Lisäksi kerromme laitteiden päivittämisen tärkeydestä. Päivittämättä jätetyt laitteet ovat rikollisille helppoa riistaa uusien bottiverkkojen rakentamiseen. Päivittämättömän laitteen omistaja voi tietämättään joutua rikoksen välikappaleeksi.

Päivittämättömät laitteet houkuttavat rikollisia
Laajasti käytetyn Windows 10 -käyttöjärjestelmän tuki päättyy 14.10.2025. Tämän jälkeen siihen ei ole saatavilla tietoturvapäivityksiä tai teknistä tukea. Kun minkä tahansa laitteen käyttöikä lähenee loppuaan, on tietoturvan kannalta viisainta hankkia uusi laite, johon on tarjolla päivityksiä.

Ylijohtaja Kärkkäinen: Suomi on varautunut hyvin erilaisiin kyberuhkiin
Suomessa kyberturvallisuutta on kehitetty pitkäjänteisesti ja strategisesti hyvässä yhteistyössä yhteiskunnan eri sektorien kanssa. Viranomaiset ja yhteiskunnan kriittiset sektorit varautuvat jatkuvasti erilaisiin uhkiin ja hyökkäyksiin. Kansainvälisesti tarkasteltuna Suomi on kyberturvallisuuden kärkimaita.

Kriittinen ja hyväksikäytetty SQL Injektio haavoittuvuus Fortinet FortiWeb palvelussa
Fortinet on julkaissut päivityksen FortiWebin kriittiseen haavoittuvuuteen, joka sallii todentamattoman hyökkääjän suorittaa SQL-komentoja muotoiltujen HTTP- tai HTTPS-pyyntöjen kautta. Haavoittuvuuden hyödyntämiskeino on nyt saatavilla ja sitä käytetään laajasti.

Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus - 28/2025
Tällä viikolla kerromme Microsoft 365 -ympäristön Direct Send -ominaisuudesta, jota rikolliset käyttävät hyväkseen lähettääkseen väärennettyjä kalasteluviestejä ja tutustumme kesäkuun Kybersäähän. Kerromme myös Kuluttajaliiton Huijausinfo -hankkeesta, jossa Kyberturvallisuuskeskus on ollut mukana.

Kesäkuun Kybersää 2025
Kesäkausi on tarjonnut pääosin rauhallista kybersäätä, eikä kesäkuu tehnyt poikkeusta trendiin. Vilkkaimmillaan oleva lomasesonki on heijastunut myös kyberturvallisuustilanteeseen.

Käynnissä oleva hyökkäyskampanja hyödyntää Microsoft 365:n Direct Send -ominaisuutta kalasteluviestien lähettämiseen
Microsoft 365 Direct Send -ominaisuus on haavoittuvuus, minkä avulla monitoimilaitteet, tulostimet tai sovellukset voivat lähettää sähköpostia tunnistautumattomana suoraan Microsoft 365 -ympäristöön. Tietoturvatutkijat ovat havainneet, että uhkatoimijat käyttävät tätä ominaisuutta väärentääkseen sisäisten käyttäjien sähköpostiosoitetta ja lähettääkseen kalastelusähköpostiviestejä vaarantamatta heidän tilejään. Kun uhkatoimijalla on tiedossa verkkotunnus ja vastaanottajan sähköpostiosoite, tämä voi lähettää väärennettyjä sähköposteja, jotka näyttävät olevan peräisin organisaation sisältä. Tällaisten viestien lähettäminen ei edellytä tunnistautumista M365 -palveluun. Yksinkertaisuus tekee Direct Sendistä houkuttelevan ja vaivattoman tavan tietojenkalastelukampanjoille. Huomioithan että, Direct Send -ominaisuus on erikseen otettava pois käytöstä.

Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus - 27/2025
Tällä viikolla kerromme tietoja varastavien haittaohjelmien aiheuttamista riskeistä ja muistutamme tietoturvan tärkeydestä myös lomakaudella sekä vinkkaamme Microsoft 365-ympäristön tietoturvaa parantavista keinoista.

Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus - 26/2025
Microsoft siirtyy Entra ID -todentamismenetelmien käyttöön syksyllä 2025. Valmistautuminen kannattaa aloittaa hyvissä ajoin. Kerromme myös BadBox2.0-haittaohjelmasta, joka voi päätyä uuteen laitteeseen jo valmistusvaiheessa.

Kriittisiä haavoittuvuuksia Cisco Identity Services Engine- ja Cisco ISE Passive Identity Connector -tuotteissa
Cisco Identity Services Enginen (ISE) ja Cisco ISE Passive Identity Connectorin (ISE-PIC) -tuotteissa on havaittu kaksi kriittistä haavoittuvuutta, joita hyväksikäyttämällä hyökkääjä voi etänä suorittaa komentoja käyttöjärjestelmässä pääkäyttäjän (root) oikeuksin ilman tunnistautumista. Haavoittuvuuksiin on saatavilla korjaava päivitys, joka suositellaan asentamaan välittömästi.

Ole valppaana tekoälyn kanssa
Erilaiset tekoälymallit ovat hyödyllinen ja hauska lisä sekä työhön että vapaa-aikaan, ja tarjolla on nykyään palveluita moniin eri käyttötarkoituksiin. Uutena teknologiana tekoäly tarjoaa hienoja mahdollisuuksia, mutta sen kanssa on myös syytä olla varovainen, koska kaikkia riskejä ei vielä tunneta kattavasti.

Kriittinen ja hyväksikäytetty haavoittuvuus NetScaler ADC ja NetScaler Gateway -tuotteissa
Citrix on julkaissut NetScaler ADC ja NetScaler Gateway -tuotteissa olevaan kriittiseen haavoittuvuuteen CVE-2025-6543 korjauksen. Haavoittuvuutta hyödyntämällä hyökkääjä saa tuotteen siirtymään palvelunestotilaan. Haavoittuvuuden hyväksikäyttöä on jo havaittu ja sen korjaava päivitys on syytä asentaa viipymättä.

Haittaohjelma voi lymyillä laitteessa jo ostovaiheessa – laitteet on poistettava käytöstä, jos valmistaja ei tarjoa korjausta
Suomen kuluttajamarkkinoilla on havaittu valmiiksi haittaohjelmalla saastuneita Android-älylaitteita. Haittaohjelman asentamista varten laitteisiin on upotettu takaovi jo valmistusvaiheessa, eikä sitä voi poistaa. Jos laitteen valmistaja ei tarjoa virallista korjausta, laite on poistettava verkosta ja toimitettava sähkö- ja elektroniikkajätteen keräykseen. Traficomin Kyberturvallisuuskeskus kehottaa kansalaisia tarkistamaan käytössään olevat laitteet ja epäilysten herätessä harkitsemaan huolellisesti uusien hankintaa.

Lausuntopyyntö - Määräys viestintäverkon kriittisistä osista
Liikenne- ja viestintävirasto Traficom pyytää lausuntoa luonnoksista määräykseksi viestintäverkon kriittisistä osista sekä sen perustelumuistioksi. Lausunto pyydetään toimittamaan Liikenne- ja viestintävirasto Traficomille lausuntopalvelu.fi verkkopalvelun kautta viimeistään 15.8.2025.

Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus - 25/2025
Tällä viikolla kerromme neuvoja huijausten uhreille avun saamiseksi ja muistutamme ylläpitäjiä DNS:stä huolehtimisesta. Muina aiheina OTKES:in raportti Helsingin tietomurrosta, päivitetty ohje tietoturvallisuuden arviointilaitosten toiminnasta ja näkökulmia viimeviikkoisesta pilvipalvelujen kriteeristöt ja arviointi -tilaisuudesta.

Kriittinen haavoittuvuus Veeam Backup & Replication -tuotteessa
Veeam Backup & Replication -tuotteeeseen on julkaistu haavoittuvuuksia, joista yksi on kriittinen ja mahdollistaa koodin suorittamisen etänä varmuuskopiointipalvelimella todennetulla toimialueen käyttäjätunnuksella. Haavoittuvuuksiin on saatavilla korjaava pävitys, järjestelmien päivittämistä suositellaan välittömästi.

Kriittinen haavoittuvuus NetScaler ADC ja NetScaler Gateway -tuotteissa
Citrix on julkaissut korjauspäivitykset kahteen vakavaan haavoittuvuuteen NetScaler ADC ja NetScaler Gateway -tuotteissa. Haavoittuvuudet mahdollistavat muun muassa käyttöoikeuksien kiertämisen sekä oikeudettoman pääsyn järjestelmämuistiin. Haavoittuva järjestelmä on syytä päivittää välittömästi ja haavoittuvuudelle mahdollisesti alttiina olleet järjestelmät tutkia murron varalta.

Verkkorikollisuutta kitketään yhteistyössä
Verkkorikollisuuden määrä on kasvanut viime vuosina globaalisti, ja se on johtanut myös Suomessa useiden miljoonien eurojen menetyksiin vuosittain. Kehityssuunta on huolestuttava, sillä se voi horjuttaa yleistä luottamusta digitaaliseen yhteiskuntaan ja sen palveluihin. Verkkorikollisuuden kitkemiseksi tehdään monipuolista ja aktiivista yhteistyötä eri toimijoiden kesken - samaan aikaan jokainen verkkopalveluiden käyttäjä vaikuttaa toiminnallaan omaan ja muiden turvallisuuteen.

Mistä apua, jos tulee huijatuksi netissä?
Verkossa huijatuksi joutuminen ei ole leikin asia. Uhri voi menettää rahansa tai henkilökohtaisia, arkaluonteisia tietoja. Rikoksen uhri voi menettää myös mielenrauhansa ja turvallisuuden tunteensa. Vahinkojen minimoimiseksi täytyy toimia nopeasti. Kerromme, mitä tehdä ihan ensimmäiseksi, kun huomaa tai epäilee tulleensa huijatuksi sekä siitä, mistä huijatuksi tullut voi saada apua niin teknisiin, taloudellisiin kuin mielen hyvinvoinnin kysymyksiin.

Uudet kyberturvallisuusrahoitushaut Digitaalinen Eurooppa- ja Horisontti Eurooppa -ohjelmista ovat nyt auki
Euroopan kyberturvallisuuden teollisuus-, teknologia- ja tutkimusosaamiskeskus (ECCC) on avannut uusia rahoitushakuja Digitaalinen Eurooppa (DEP) - ja Horisontti Eurooppa (HE) -ohjelmien alla. Avautuneissa hauissa on haettavana rahoitusta yhteensä enintään 145,5 miljoonaa euroa.

Tietoturvallisuuden arviointilaitosten toimintaa koskeva ohje on päivitetty
Liikenne- ja viestintävirasto Traficom on julkaissut päivitetyn ohjeen tietoturvallisuuden arviointilaitosten toiminnasta. Uudistettu ohje sisältää muun muassa NIS2-direktiiviin liittyviä päivityksiä sekä ohjeistusta salaustuotearviointipätevyyden hakemisesta.

Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus - 24/2025
Tällä viikolla kerromme muun muassa Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen nimissä soitetuista huijauspuheluista ja Kyberala murroksessa -webinaarista.

Toukokuun Kybersää 2025
Toukokuu oli kyberturvallisuuden osalta pääosin rauhallinen. Toisaalta kulunut kuukausi toi mukanaan myös yksittäisiä myrskypilviä, kun useat länsimaat kertoivat joutuneensa valtiollisiin kyberuhkatoimijoihin yhdistettyjen hyökkäysten kohteeksi.

Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus - 23/2025
Tällä viikolla kerromme miten huijaussivustot hyödyntävät ETA- ja ESTA -matkustuslomakkeita, muistutamme myös päivityksien ja hyvien salasanojen tärkeydestä.

Uusi nelivuotinen hanke jatkaa EU:n kyberturvallisuuden vahvistamista – seuraa avautuvia rahoitushakuja
Hankkeen aikana rahoitustukea myönnetään mm. uusien kyberturvallisuussäädösten toimeenpanemisen tukemiseen. Tavoitteena on kyberturvallisuuden vahvistaminen Euroopassa ja kansallisella tasolla.

Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus - 22/2025
Tällä viikolla kiinnitämme huomiota lähestyvään lomakauteen. Huijarit eivät lomaile, vaan päinvastoin kohdistavat toimitusjohtajahuijauksia lomailevien talousvastaavien sijaisiin. Lisäksi kerromme lisääntyvästä yhteistyöstä kyberturvallisuuden alalla ja uudesta langattomien laitteiden turvallisuutta parantavasta lainsäädännöstä.

Radiolaitteiden uudet tietoturvavaatimukset käyttöön 1.8.2025
EU:n radiolaitedirektiivin tietoturvavaatimuksia aletaan soveltaa 1.8.2025. Tavoitteena on suojata viestintäverkkoja, parantaa yksityisyyttä ja estää verkon kautta tapahtuvia taloudellisia petoksia.

Suomen ja Ukrainan kyberturvallisuusviranomaiset allekirjoittivat yhteisymmärryspöytäkirjan - Suomi ja Ukraina syventävät yhteistyötään kyberturvallisuuden edistämisessä.
Suomi ja Ukraina syventävät yhteistyötään kyberturvallisuuden ja suojauksen edistämisessä. Maat ovat allekirjoittaneet yhteisymmärryspöytäkirjan, jonka tavoitteena on vahvistaa yhteistyötä sekä helpottaa hyvien käytäntöjen ja teknisen tiedon jakamista kyberturvallisuusviranomaisten välillä.

TV on älylaite, jonka turvallisuudesta tulee huolehtia - Ole tarkkana Android TV -medialaitteiden kanssa
Markkinoilla on runsaasti erilaisia Android TV -laitteita, jotka tarjoavat käyttäjille mahdollisuuden suoratoistaa sisältöä, käyttää sovelluksia ja selata internetiä television kautta. Kaikki laitteet eivät kuitenkaan ole laadultaan tai tietoturvaltaan samalla tasolla.

Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus - 21/2025
Tällä viikolla kerromme Android TV -laitteisiin kohdistuvasta ja laajalle levinneestä haittaohjelmasta.

Kansalliset ja EU-rahoitusmahdollisuudet kyberturvallisuuden kehittämiseen -webinaari 18.6.2025
Kyberturvallisuuskeskus järjestää ke 18.6.2025 klo 9–10 kaikille avoimen webinaariin, jossa esitellään ajankohtaisia näkymiä kansallisesti haettavista rahoitustuista ja EU-rahoitusmahdollisuuksista kyberturvallisuuden kehittämiseen sekä rahoituksen hakemiseen liittyviä palveluita.

Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus - 20/2025
Tällä viikolla kerromme Suomessakin erittäin suositun WordPress-julkaisujärjestelmän turvallisemmasta ylläpidosta. Kerromme lisäksi tietoja varastavista haittaohjelmista sekä EU:n haavoittuvuustietokannasta.

Ajankohtaista verkkojulkaisualustoista – huolehdi sivustosi tai verkkokauppasi turvallisuudesta
Yhä useammalla organisaatiolla on jonkinlainen maksu- ja henkilötietoja käsittelevä verkkokauppa, ja useimmilla vähintään verkkosivut. Uudessa ohjeessamme annamme vinkkejä verkkokauppojen turvallisuuden parantamiseen. Tässä kirjoituksessa käsittelemme myös ajankohtaisia asioita ohjeen taustalla.

Tunnistautuminen sähköisiin asiointipalveluihimme muuttuu – Suomi.fi-viestien käyttöönottoa ehdotetaan tunnistautumisen yhteydessä
Digi- ja väestötietovirasto (DVV) uudistaa Suomi.fi-tunnistautumista. 12.5.2025 alkaen sinulle voidaan ehdottaa Suomi.fi-viestien käyttöönottoa, kun tunnistaudut vahvasti viranomaisen sähköiseen asiointipalveluun. Muutos koskee myös Traficomin asiointipalveluita.

Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus - 19/2025
Tällä viikolla kerromme mm. siitä miten Hyöky-palvelu uudistuu sekä tulevasta webinaarista, jossa keskustellaan kysymyksistä, jotka kannattaa esittää ohjelmistotoimittajalle.

Huhtikuun Kybersää 2025
Kyberturvallisuudessa oli kuun alkuvaiheessa tarjolla leutoa kevätsäätä, jota kuitenkin sumensivat huijausten ja kalastelun alueella havaitut ajoittaiset sadekuurot. Maaliskuussa tietomurtoja ja -vuotoja lähestyneet ukkospilvet väistyivät huhtikuun aikana, sään jäädessä edelleen sateiseksi.

Save the Date: Kansainvälinen EU-rahoituksen verkostoitumistapahtuma Helsingissä 27.8.2025
Haluatko löytää uusia kumppaneita EU-hankkeisiin ja kuulla ajankohtaisista rahoitusmahdollisuuksista kyberturvallisuuden alalla? Varaa kalenteristasi 27.8.2025 ja suuntaa EU-rahoituksiin keskittyvään verkostoitumistapahtumaan Helsinkiin!

Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus -18/2025
Tällä viikolla kerromme mm. kansallisen kyberturvallisuuslain toimeenpanosta ja siitä miten voit tunnistaa uusia liikkeellä olevia kalasteluviestejä.

Kriittinen aktiivisesti hyväksikäytetty haavoittuvuus SAP NetWeaver-komponentissa
SAP NetWeaver-ohjelmistokomponentista löydetty haavoittuvuus on kriittinen ja mahdollistaa uhkatoimijalle järjestelmän haltuunoton. Haavoittuvuutta on hyväksikäytetty aktiivisesti ja havaintoja haavoittuvuuden avulla tehdyistä murroista on myös Suomesta. Haavoittuva järjestelmä on syytä päivittää välittömästi ja haavoittuvuudelle mahdollisesti alttiina olleet järjestelmät tutkia murron varalta.

Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus - 17/2025
Tällä viikolla kerromme Ajovarman nimissä levitettävistä tietojenkalasteluviesteistä, Oraclen pilvipalveluiden mahdollisen tietovuodon riskeistä organisaatioille sekä Traficomin uudistuneesta ohjeesta tietojärjestelmien tietoturvallisuuden arviointi- ja hyväksyntäprosesseista.

Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus – 16/2025
Viime viikon vaalit sujuivat kyberturvallisissa merkeissä. Tällä viikolla kerromme, mitä uusi kyberturvallisuuslaki tuo tullessaan. Voit ilmoittautua toukokuun webinaariin, jossa asiasta kerrotaan vielä lisää. Viikon kuumin puheenaihe on ollut haavoittuvuustietokannan tuleva kohtalo, kun CVE-projektin rahoitus on päättymässä ja kansainväliselle kyberturvallisuudelle tärkeitä palveluita ajetaan alas.

Uusittu ohje tietojärjestelmien tietoturvallisuuden arviointi- ja hyväksyntäprosesseista
Liikenne- ja viestintävirasto Traficom on antanut uusitun ohjeen tietojärjestelmien tietoturvallisuuden arviointi- ja hyväksyntäprosesseista. Se korvaa aiemmin julkaistun ohjeen. Ohje on tarkoitettu viranomaisille ja yrityksille, joilla on tarve käsitellä kansallista tai kansainvälistä turvallisuusluokiteltua tietoa sähköisessä muodossa.

Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus - 15/2025
Tällä viikolla kerromme mm. ajankohtaisista huijauksista ja miltä kuluneen viikon palvelunestohyökkäykset näyttivät Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen silmin.

Maaliskuun Kybersää 2025
Maaliskuun haavoittuvuuksien, huijausten ja tilimurtojen himmentämässä puolipilvisessä Kybersäässä oli kuitenkin havaittavissa myös verkkojen toimivuuden ja sääntelyn kehityksen aiheuttamia keväisiä auringonpilkahduksia.

Kyberturvallisuuslaki on hyväksytty eduskunnassa - NIS2-direktiivin mukaiset velvoitteet astuvat voimaan 8.4.2025
Kyberturvallisuuslaki tuo mukanaan uusia riskienhallinta- ja raportointivelvoitteita monille toimialoille. Yksi ensimmäisistä askeleista on toimijaluetteloon ilmoittautuminen.

Digitaalinen Eurooppa -rahoitusohjelman työsuunnitelma vuosille 2025-2027 on julkaistu
Digitaalinen Eurooppa -ohjelman vuosien 2025–2027 työohjelma julkaistiin maaliskuun lopussa. Kyberturvallisuuteen on varattu 390 miljoonaa euroa, ja tulevissa hauissa rahoitusta suunnataan muun muassa uusien teknologioiden, kuten tekoälyn ja kvanttiturvallisten algoritmien kehittämiseen. Ensimmäiset haut avautuvat vuoden 2025 aikana.

Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus - 14/2025
Tällä viikolla kerromme tietoja varastavasta haittaohjelmasta, jota levitetään tekijänoikeusrikkomusten varjolla. Muina aiheina ovat verkon reunalaitteiden riskit sekä EU:n digipalveluasetuksen keinot vaalihäirinnän ehkäisemiseksi.

Ivanti Connect Secure -haavoittuvuuden hyväksikäyttöä havaittu vanhemmissa versioissa
Ivanti Connect Secure -tuotteen haavoittuvuutta (CVE-2025-22457) on käytetty hyväksi helmikuun päivityksiä vanhemmissa versioissa. Päivitykset tai vanhentuneen 9.x version käytöstä poistaminen on syytä tehdä nopealla aikataululla.

Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus - 13/2025
Tällä viikolla kerromme muun muassa, miten viestiä kyberhyökkäyksestä sekä pian voimaantulevasta kyberturvallisuuslaista, joka voi vaatia toimenpiteitä NIS2-velvollisilta.

Kuberneteksen ingress-nginx controller -komponentissa useita haavoittuvuuksia
Kuberneteksen ingress-nginx controller -komponentista on löydetty neljä haavoittuvuutta joista yksi on erityisen kriittinen. Kriittistä haavoittuvuutta (CVE-2025-1974) hyväksikäyttämällä hyökkääjä voi suorittaa mielivaltaista koodia etänä ilman tunnistautumista haavoittuvissa Kubernetes klustereissa. Hyökkääjä voi päästä käsiksi myös kaikkiin Kubernetes klusterin salaisuuksiin. Haavoittuvat Kubernetes-instanssit tulisi päivittää mahdollisimman pian.

Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus - 12/2025
Tällä viikolla kerromme mm. Tietoturvaseminaarista ja siitä miten voit tunnistaa huijaukset.

Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus - 11/2025
Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen vuosikatsaus on julkaistu! Tällä viikolla kerromme myös helmikuun kybersäästä ja uudesta ohjeesta Microsoft 365 Entra ID:n asetusten tarkistamiseen

Helmikuun Kybersää 2025
Helmikuun Kybersään vallitseva kybersäätila oli sateinen, jopa ehkä räntäsateinen, vaikka pieniä pilkahduksia auringosta oli havaittavissa. Toimitusjohtajahuijaukset, viranomaisten nimissä tehty kalastelu ja M365-tilimurrot jatkuivat helmikuussa.

Tietoturvan suunnannäyttäjä -tunnustus annettiin pitkäjänteisestä työstä digitaalisen yhteiskunnan turvaamiseksi
Liikenne- ja viestintävirasto Traficomin jakaman Tietoturvan suunnannäyttäjä -tunnustuksen sai tänä vuonna johtava erityisasiantuntija Kimmo Rousku Digi- ja väestötietovirastosta. Perusteluissa Kimmo Rouskua kiitettiin esimerkillisestä ja pitkäjänteisestä työstä suomalaisen yhteiskunnan kyber- ja digiturvallisuuden edistämiseksi.

Vuosi 2024 muistetaan isoista kybertapauksista
Helsingin kaupungin tietomurto sekä Suomenlahden ja Itämeren alla kulkeneiden kaapelien vaurioitumiset nostivat kyberturvallisuuden otsikoihin vuonna 2024. Liikenne- ja viestintävirasto Traficomin julkaisema Kyberturvallisuuden vuosi 2024 kertaa maamme vuoden tärkeimmät kyberturvallisuuden tapahtumat, kehitystrendit sekä luotaa tulevaisuuteen havaintojen perusteella.

Kyberturvallisuus Suomessa - kuvitettu käsikirja kyberturvallisuuteen
Kyberturvallisuus Suomessa on tiivis, kuvitettu käsikirja tämän päivän kyberturvallisuuteen. Visualisoinnit auttavat havainnollistamaan monimutkaisia ja teknisiä ilmiöitä sekä hahmottamaan asioiden mittakaavaa.

Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus - 10/2025
Tällä viikolla kerromme mm. Facebook-tilimurtoihin johtavista huijausviesteistä, 12.3. pidettävästä Tietoturva 2025 -seminaarista ja siitä miten salasanoja hallitaan turvallisesti.

Into Certification Oy on kolmas tietoturvallisuuden arviointilaitos, jolla on Katakri 2020 -pätevyys
Liikenne- ja viestintävirasto Traficom on 25.2.2025 laajentanut tietoturvallisuuden arviointilaitos Huld Certification Oy:n arviointilaitoshyväksyntää niin, että se kattaa jatkossa myös Katakri 2020 -pätevyysalueen turvallisuusluokkien TL IV ja TL III osalta.

Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus - 09/2025
Tällä viikolla kerromme muun muassa miten kierrätät vanhat laitteet tietoturvallisesti. Lisäksi kerromme kaapelivaurioiden varalta olemassa olevista varajärjestelyistä. Kerromme verkkoalustoilla tapahtuvista huijauksista sekä Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen nimissä soitetuista huijauspuheluista.

Huijauspuheluita Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen nimissä
Traficomin Kyberturvallisuuskeskus on saanut viime viikkoina muutamia ilmoituksia huijauspuheluista, joissa on esiinnytty Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen edustajana.

Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus - 08/2025
Tällä viikolla kerromme Steam-tunnusten kalastelusta, toimitusjohtajahuijauksista sekä ohjelmistoriippuvuuksien riskienhallinnasta. Loppuun kuulumiset Disobey-tapahtumasta.

Vakava haavoittuvuus Palo Alton PAN-OS järjestelmässä
Palo Alton PAN-OS järjestelmässä on havaittu vakava haavoittuvuus, jota hyväksikäyttämällä hyökkääjä voi ohittaa tunnistautumisen ja suorittaa tiettyjä PHP-skriptejä. Haavoittuvuuden hyväksikäytöstä on jo viitteitä, joten on suositeltavaa asentaa korjaava päivitys ja selvittää onko hyväksikäyttöä jo tapahtunut.

Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus - 07/2025
Tällä viikolla kerromme mm. rakkauspetoksista ja siitä miten kybermaailmassakin on hyvä varautua häiriöihin

Radiolaitteiden tietoturvavaatimukset täsmentyvät – tarkista tuotteen vaatimustenmukaisuus ajoissa
EU:n radiolaitedirektiivin tietoturvavaatimusten soveltaminen alkaa 1.8. Nyt julkaistut standardit helpottavat valmistajia, maahantuojia ja myyjiä varmistamaan laitteidensa vaatimustenmukaisuuden.

Tammikuun Kybersää 2025
Ensimmäisessä vuotta 2025 käsittelevässä Kybersäässä julkaistaan pitkän aikavälin ilmiöt, joiden seurantaan Kyberturvallisuuskeskus tänä vuonna erityisesti keskittyy. Tammikuun säätiedotteessa perehdytään jälleen myös viiteen keskeisimpään lähitulevaisuuden uhkaan.

Kriittisiä haavoittuvuuksia Ivanti Connect Secure ja Ivanti Policy Secure
Ivanti on julkaisut tietoturvapäivitykset, joista Ivanti Connect Secure ja Ivanti Policy Secure haavoittuvuuksia hyväksikäyttämällä hyökkääjä voi suorittaa mielivaltaisia koodia komentoja haavoittuvalla laitteella.

Kansallisen koordinointikeskuksen rahoitustuki edisti yritysten kyberturvallisuutta
Traficomin Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen kansallinen koordinointikeskus myönsi vuosina 2023–2024 mikro- ja pk-yrityksille rahoitustukea modernien tieto- ja kyberturvaratkaisujen käyttöönottoon ja innovointiin yhteensä noin 2 milj. euroa. 4Front Oy:n laatiman rahoitustuen vaikuttavuusarvioinnin mukaan tuen suorat vaikutukset tuen saajien kyberturvallisuuteen ovat merkittäviä. Lisäksi rahoitustuen voidaan arvioida vaikuttavan positiivisesti kansalliseen kyberturvallisuuskapasiteettiin esimerkiksi tuen saajien asiakassuhteiden ja toimitusketjujen kautta.

Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus - 06/2025
Tällä viikolla kerromme tietojenkalastelusta, jossa hyödynnetään suosittua tiedostonjakopalvelu Dropboxia. Muina aiheina ovat konfiguroimattoman palvelun aiheuttama tietovuodon riski, riskienhallinta ohjelmistoturvallisuudessa ja ajankohtaiset huijaukset.

Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus - 05/2025
Tällä viikolla kerromme mm. Internetin kauppapaikoilla leviävästä haittaohjelmasta ja siitä miten yhdistysten pitää panostaa myös tietoturvaan.

Verkon reunalaitteiden riskit ovat merkittävä uhka organisaatioille
Reunalaitteiden näkyminen ja avoimuus internetiin avaa paljon hyökkäyspintaa pahantahtoisille toimijoille. Haavoittuvuudet sekä virheet konfiguraatiossa ovat kirjautumistunnusten vuotamisen ohella merkittävimmät murrolle altistavat tekijät.

Määräyshankepäätös: Määräys viestintäverkon kriittisistä osista
Liikenne- ja viestintävirasto Traficom on antanut 23.1.2025 seuraavan määräyshankepäätöksen: Määräys viestintäverkon kriittisistä osista (TRAFICOM/36420/03.04.05.00/2025).

Internetin kauppapaikoilla leviää nyt haittaohjelma - toimi näin
Poliisi kertoi viime viikolla puhelimiin asennettavasta haittaohjelmasta, jota levitetään internetin kauppapaikoilla. Haittaohjelman avulla huijari voi saada koko puhelimesi hallintaansa ja päästä esimerkiksi verkkopankkiisi. Älä avaa viesteissä olevia linkkejä tai lataa sovelluksia ulkopuolisen pyynnöstä.

Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus - 04/2025
Tällä viikolla kerromme uusien tekniikoiden ja tekoälypalveluiden turvallisesta käyttöönotosta. Mukana asiaa myös ohjelmistoturvallisuudesta.

Sonicwall SMA1000 laitteiden hallintakäyttöliittymässä kriittinen haavoittuvuus
Kriittinen haavoittuvuus SonicWall SMA1000 -laitteiden Appliance Management Console (AMC) ja Central Management Console (CMC) -hallintakäyttöliittymissä mahdollistaa hyökkääjälle mielivaltaisten komentojen suorittamisen etänä ilman autentikointia. Haavoittuvuuden hyväksikäyttöä on mahdollisesti havaittu. Käyttäjiä kehotetaan päivittämään laitteiden ohjelmisto välittömästi.

Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus - 3/2025
Hakukoneiden hakutuloksiin ei kannata luottaa kritiikittömästi. Tälläkin viikolla on nähty väärennettyjen hakutulosten johtavan kalastelusivuille. Tällä viikolla kerromme myös, kuinka Suomessa järjestetty Nato-huippukokous sujui kyberturvallisuuden näkökulmasta. Muistutamme verkon reunalaitteiden turvallisesta hallinnoinnista ja ajankohtaisten turvallisuuspäivitysten tärkeydestä. Lisäksi kutsumme tutustumaan uusiin sääntelyvaatimuksiin CRA (Cyber Resilience Act) -teematilaisuuteen.

Kriittinen rsync-haavoittuvuus vaatii välitöntä korjausta
Rsync-palvelussa on julkaistu kriittinen haavoittuvuus. Pinonylivuotohaavoittuvuus (CVE-2024-12084) antaa hyökkääjille mahdollisuuden suorittaa mielivaltaista koodia kohdepalvelussa. Päivitä rsync välittömästi.

Joulukuun Kybersää 2024
Joulukuussa havaittiin verkon reunalaitteisiin kohdistuneita tietomurron yrityksiä ja kiristyshaittaohjelmia. Lisäksi viranomaisten nimissä tehtiin tietojenkalastelua ja erilaiset huijaukset jatkuivat. Viranomaisten tehokas yhteistyö ja yhteiskunnan varautumisen hyvä taso näkyivät jälleen, kun 25.12.2024 tapahtunutta merikaapeleiden vauriotapausta ryhdyttiin selvittämään.

Fortinetin FortiOS ja FortiProxy -tuotteissa kriittinen haavoittuvuus
Fortinet on julkaissut päivityksiä kriittiseen haavoittuvuuteen FortiOS ja FortiProxy -tuotteissaan. Haavoittuvuutta hyväksikäyttämällä hyökkääjän on mahdollista saavuttaa superadmin-tason oikeudet järjestelmässä. Fortinet on kertonut, että haavoittuvuutta hyväksikäytetään aktiivisesti. Fortinet on julkaissut 14.1 myös muita päivityksiä eri tuoteperheisiinsä.

Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus - 2/2025
Kiristyshaittaohjelmatapauksia havaittiin viime vuonna aiempaa vähemmän, mutta ilmoitusten määrä kasvoi loppuvuonna. Tällä viikolla varoitamme myös kryptovaluutoista kiinnostuneista huijareista.

Ivanti Connect Secure -haavoittuvuuden hyväksikäyttöä havaittu
Ivanti julkaisi kaksi uutta haavoittuvuutta Ivanti Connect Secure, Ivanti Policy Secure ja ZTA Gateway-tuotteisiinsa. Päivitys tulee suorittaa välittömästi, sillä Ivanti Connect Secure -tuotteessa olevan haavoittuvuuden (CVE-2025-0282) hyväksikäyttöä on jo havaittu.

Vastaa Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen tilannekuvatuotteiden palautekyselyyn

SonicWall julkaisi päivityksiä palomuureissa havaittuihin kriittisiin haavoittuvuuksiin
SonicWall julkaisi palomuurituotteisiinsa viisi uutta haavoittuvuutta, joiden avulla hyökkkääjä voi ohittaa tunnistatumisen sekä voi suorittaa haluamiaan komentoja kohteina olevilla laitteilla. Haavoittuvat ohjelmistot tulee päivittää viipymättä ja lisäksi on selvitettävä, onko mahdollista haavoittuvuuden hyväksikäyttöä jo tapahtunut sekä estettävä mahdollisesti jo vaarantuneiden tunnusten hyväksikäyttö.

Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus - 01/2025
Vuoden ensimmäisen viikkokatsauksen aiheena on Viikkokatsausten vuosi 2024.

Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus - 51/2024
Tällä viikolla kerromme esimerkiksi tekijänoikeusteemaisista huijausviesteistä, joilla pyritään saamaan käyttäjän tietokoneelle haitallisia tiedostoja. Kerromme myös yhteistyöstä sekä some-palveluista tehdyistä valituksista.

Puolustusvoimat ja Traficom käynnistivät kyberturvallisuuden yhteistyöryhmän
Yhteistyöryhmässä (MIL-ISAC) on mukana monipuolisesti puolustusjärjestelmään liittyviä yrityksiä. Työryhmän toiminta käynnistyy tilannekuvan muodostamisella ja keskinäisellä tiedonvaihdolla.

Kansallisen koordinointikeskuksen vuosi 2024
Vuosi 2024 ja sen myötä kansallisen koordinointikeskuksen (NCC-FI) ensimmäinen EU-rahoitteinen projekti on tulossa päätökseen. Kulunut vuosi on ollut tapahtumarikas. Vuoden aikana koordinointikeskus on muun muassa myöntänyt mikro- ja pk-yrityksille 1,5 miljoonan euron edestä rahoitustukea tietoturvaratkaisujen käyttöönottoon, tarjonnut koulutusta EU-rahoitushakemuksien laatimiseen sekä järjestänyt erilaisia tapahtumia.

Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus - 50/2024
Tällä viikolla kerromme mm. uudesta Lumma Stealer -haittaohjelman levitystavasta ja siitä miten inhimillinen virhe voi johtaa tietovuotoon.

Marraskuun Kybersää 2024
Marraskuu osoitti varautumisen tärkeyden, kun Suomea kohtasi kaksi hyvin erilaista digitalisoituneen yhteiskunnan poikkeamaa. Vuoden harmaimmaksi luonnehdittua kuukautta ovat lisäksi sävyttäneet eri pankkien nimissä tehdyt huijaus- ja kalastelukampanjat. Kulunut kuukausi toi mukanaan myös merkittäviä askelia kyberturvallisuuden parantamiseksi EU:ssa.

Kriittisiä haavoittuvuuksia Ivanti Cloud Services (CSA) -tuotteissa
Ivantin Cloud Services Application (CSA) -tuotteissa on julkaistu kolme kriittisiä haavoittuvuutta. Haavoittuvuuksia hyväksikäyttämällä hyökkääjät voivat suorittaa haluamiaan komentoja kohdeorganisaatioiden laitteilla. Päivitykset on syytä tehdä välittömästi.

Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus - 49/2024
Tällä viikolla kerromme mm. alkuviikolla puhuttaneesta kaapelirikosta ja QR-koodien turvallisesta käytöstä.

Traficomin Kyberturvallisuuskeskus osallistui Puolustusvoimien järjestämään Naton Cyber Coalition -harjoitukseen
"Traficomilla on keskeinen rooli kriittisen infrastruktuurin turvaamisessa sekä vastuu kansallisen kybertilannekuvan ylläpitämisestä. Yhteiset kyberharjoitukset tarjoavat viranomaisille turvallisen alustan arvioida ja kehittää toimintatapoja haastavissa kriisi- ja häiriötilanteissa sekä niistä toipumisessa", sanoo Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen Poikkeamanhallintaosaston johtaja Samuli Bergström.

Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus - 48/2024
Tällä viikolla kerromme mm. ajankohtaisista M365-kalasteluista ja siitä miten loppuvuoden alennusmyynnit ja pakettisumat saavat myös rikolliset liikkeelle.

Digitaalinen skimmaus - vinkkejä verkkokaupan suojaamiseen
Digital skimming, eli digitaalinen skimmaus, on menetelmä, jota rikolliset käyttävät varastaakseen maksukorttitietoja ja muuta arkaluonteista tietoa suoraan verkkokaupoista. Kyseessä on merkittävä uhka, joka voi jäädä huomaamatta pitkiksi ajoiksi, ja aiheuttaa huomattavia taloudellisia ja maineellisia vahinkoja verkkosivustoille sekä niiden asiakkaille. Poimi tästä artikkelista talteen vinkit digitaalisen skimmauksen havaitsemiseen, ennaltaehkäisyyn ja toimenpiteisiin skimmaus-havainnon jälkeen.

Uudistettu määräys hätäliikenteen teknisestä toteutuksesta ja varmistamisesta
Määräys tulee pääosin voimaan 1.3.2025, ja se korvaa 20.12.2016 annetun Viestintäviraston määräyksen hätäliikenteen teknisestä toteutuksesta ja varmistamisesta (Viestintävirasto 33 G/2016 M).

Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus - 47/2024
Tällä viikolla kerromme mm. juuri julkaistusta EU:n kyberkestävyyssäädöksestä sekä varautumisesta erilaisiin häiriötilanteisiin.

Sisäministeriö on julkaissut Häiriö- ja kriisitilanteisiin varautumisen oppaan
Uusi koko väestölle suunnattu Häiriö- ja kriisitilanteisiin varautuminen -opas on julkaistu Suomi.fissä. Sisäministeriö on toteuttanut verkko-oppaan Digi- ja väestötietoviraston sekä laajan yhteistyöverkoston kanssa. Opas kokoaa varautumisohjeet yhteen paikkaan. Traficom on ollut mukana oppaan tuottamisessa.

Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus - 46/2024
Tällä viikolla kerromme mm. kiristyshaittaohjelmista, ilmoittamisesta ja kybersäästä.

Lokakuun Kybersää 2024
Lokakuussa Kyberturvallisuuskeskukselle tehdyissä kyberpoikkeamatapauksissa havaittiin määrällistä kasvua rauhallisemman alkusyksyn jälkeen. Syyssäässä on esiintynyt ajoittaisia sadepilviä ja harmautta suomalaisiin organisaatioihin viime aikoina kohdistuneiden erilaisten sähköpostitse ja tekstiviestitse lähetettävien tietojenkalastelu- ja huijauskampanjoiden vuoksi.

Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus - 45/2024
Tekstiviestihuijauksia on liikkeellä jatkuvasti, mutta niitä myös pysäytetään viranomaisten ja palveluntarjoajien yhteistyöllä. Kerromme myös hotelliasiakkaita jo pitkään kiusanneista huijauksista, joissa hyödynnetään varausjärjestelmien tietomurtoja.

Hotelli- ja matkanvarauspalveluiden tietomurtoja käytetään asiakkaiden huijaamiseen
Tässä analyysissä käydään läpi hotellien ja heidän asiakkaidensa raportoimia tietoturvapoikkeamia, joihin liittyy tietomurtoja hotellien omiin varausjärjestelmiin ja Booking.com-varauspalveluun. Booking.com on yleinen ja suosittu matka- ja majoitusvarauksia tarjoava palvelu. Erilaisia Booking.com-teemaisia petoksia ja tietojenkalasteluita on maailmalla raportoitu jo usean vuoden ajan. Kyberturvallisuuskeskus on raportoinut Booking.comin avulla tehdyistä petoksista mm. viikkokatsauksessa 2024/27. Yleisimpiä Booking.com-teemaisia verkkopetoksia ovat erilaiset tietojenkalasteluviestit.

Runsaasti tekstiviestikalastelua eri organisaatioiden nimissä
Traficomin Kyberturvallisuuskeskus on vastaanottanut viime aikoina runsaasti ilmoituksia tekstiviestikalasteluista esimerkiksi Fortumin, Terveystalon ja Traficomin nimissä. Olethan tarkkana jos saat tekstiviestin, jossa vaaditaan tekemään jotain kiireellisesti.

Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus - 44/2024
Tällä viikolla kerromme, miten voit itse tarkistaa, näkyykö kotireitittimesi internettiin sekä voimakkaasti digitalisoituneen kiinteistö- ja rakennusalan kyberturvallisuushaasteista.

Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus - 43/2024
Tällä viikolla kerromme palvelunestohyökkäyksistä sekä ilmiöstä, jossa yrityksiltä on udeltu eri tahojen avoimia laskuja ja todennäköisimmin valmisteltu laskutuspetoksia. Muina aiheina ovat Kaikki liikkeessä ja Cyber Security Nordic -tapahtumat sekä yli 300:lle yritykselle myönnetty tietoturvan kehittämisen tuki.

Fortinetin FortiManager-tuotteessa kriittinen haavoittuvuus
Fortinet on julkaissut korjauksia kriittiseen FortiManager-tuotteen haavoittuvuuteen. Haavoittuvuutta käytetään aktiivisesti hyväksi, joten on suositeltavaa asentaa korjaava päivitys viipymättä ja selvittää onko hyväksikäyttöä jo tapahtunut.

Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus - 42/2024
Yhteistyön merkitys on ensisijaisen tärkeää yhteiskunnan palveluiden ja toimintojen suojaamiseksi kyberuhkia vastaan. Jokainen voi omilla toimillaan parantaa yhteistä kyberturvallisuuttamme huolehtimalla omien verkkolaitteidensa turvallisuudesta. Siihen saa parhaat neuvot tutustumalla juuri päivitettyihin Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen ohjeisiin.

Määräyshankepäätös: Määräys teletoiminnan häiriötilanteista
Liikenne- ja viestintävirasto Traficom on antanut 2.10.2024 seuraavan määräyshankepäätöksen: Määräys teletoiminnan häiriötilanteista (TRAFICOM /499548/03.04.05.00/2024).

Tietoturvan kehittämisen tukea 313 yhteiskunnan kannalta elintärkeälle yritykselle
Liikenne- ja viestintävirasto Traficom on myöntänyt elokuun 2024 aikana loppuun tietoturvan kehittämisen tukena myönnettäväksi varatun 6 miljoonan euron määrärahan. Tietoturvan kehittämisen tuki tuli haettavaksi Liikenne- ja viestintävirasto Traficomilta 1.12.2022 alkaen. Yhteensä tukea myönnettiin 313 yhteiskunnan kannalta elintärkeälle yritykselle. Myönnetyt tuet vaihtelevat 371 eurosta 100 000 euroon.

Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus - 41/2024
Tällä viikolla kerromme organisaatioita ja niiden asiakkaita kiusaavista palvelunestohyökkäyksistä. Tutustumme myös juuri julkaistun kansalliseen kyberturvallisuusstrategiaan.

Kriittisiä haavoittuvuuksia Palo Alto Networks Expeditionissa
Palo Alto Networks on julkaissut kriittisiä haavoittuvuuksia Palo Alto Networks Expedition -siirtotyökalussa. Haavoittuvuuden avulla hyökkääjä voi saada haltuun palomuurien järjestelmänvalvojan tilit ja paljastaa arkaluontoisia tietoja, kuten käyttäjänimiä, selväkielisiä salasanoja ja PAN-OS-palomuurien API-avaimia.

Syyskuun Kybersää 2024
Syyskuu toi tullessaan kyberturvallisuuden tapausrintamalla lievää kasvua rauhallisten kesäkuukausien jälkeen. Muutoin melko kirkkaassa syyssäässä esiintyi usvaa organisaatioihin kohdistuneiden palvelunestohyökkäysten sekä erilaisten tietojenkalastelu- ja huijauskampanjoiden vuoksi.

Palvelunestohyökkäystilanne Suomessa
Traficomin Kyberturvallisuuskeskus on vastaanottanut ilmoituksia palvelunestohyökkäyksistä aiempaa enemmän. Hyökkäykset ovat kuitenkin osa internetin arkea ja suurimmalla osalla niistä ei ole vaikutuksia organisaatioiden tai kansalaisten toimintaan.

Kvanttiturvallisia algoritmeja lisätty kansalliseen kriteeristöön
Klassiset julkisen avaimen salausmenetelmät ovat haavoittuvia riittävän tehokkaalle kvanttilaskennalle. Traficom suosittelee organisaatioita siirtymään mahdollisimman pian kvanttiturvallisten algoritmien käyttöön.

Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus - 40/2024
Tällä viikolla kerromme mediassakin esillä olleesta verkkotunnusten päätymisestä vääriin käsiin. Kerromme mikä on verkkosivujen ja verkkotunnuksen ero sekä neuvomme miten verkkotunnuksista ja niiden hallinnasta voi huolehtia asianmukaisesti. Muina aiheina ovat Lumma Stealer haittaohjelman uudet levittämiskeinot, Digiturvaviikko ja alkanut kyberturvallisuuskuukausi, sekä tekstiviestien lähettäjätunnuksen suojaaminen.

Älä ota kesädomainia! – verkkotunnukset ovat arvokasta omaisuutta
Verkkotunnukset ovat nykyisin merkittävää aineetonta omaisuutta ja niistä kannattaa pitää huolta. Verkkotunnuksen päätyminen toisen käsiin voi olla kiusallista tai jopa vaarantaa tietoturvaa, eikä verkkotunnusta yleensä saa helposti takaisin.

Poikkeamien hallinnointi turvallisuuden parantajana
NIS 2 -direktiivin myötä organisaatioille tulee velvoite ilmoittaa merkittävistä tietoturvapoikkeamista valvovalle viranomaiselle. Miten poikkeama havaitaan? Tässä artikkelissa tarjoamme vinkkejä ja käytäntöjä, miten havaintokyvykkyyttä kehitetään.

CUPS-tulostusjärjestelmän haavoittuvuudet mahdollistavat mielivaltaisen koodin suorittamisen
CUPS-tulostusjärjestelmässä on useita haavoittuvuuksia, jotka voivat johtaa mielivaltaisen koodin suorittamiseen etänä ilman tunnistautumista. Organisaatioiden on suositeltavaa poistaa cups-browsed-palvelu käytöstä ja seurata tulevia päivityksiä.

Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus - 39/2024
Tällä viikolla kerromme palvelunestohyökkäysten tilanteesta, kiristyshaittaohjelmista ja uusista huijauksista.

Akira- ja Lockbit-kiristyshaittaohjelmat valokeilassa
Kiristyshaittaohjelmat ovat yksi merkittävimmistä organisaatioihin kohdistuvista kyberuhista. Viime vuosina Suomessa havaituissa kiristyshaittaohjelmahyökkäyksissä ovat korostuneet Akira ja Lockbit 3.0. Hyvä varautuminen antaa parhaat mahdollisuudet hyökkäyksen torjumiseen ja siitä palautumiseen.

Traficomin ensimmäinen NATO-tuotehyväksyntä salausratkaisulle
Liikenne- ja viestintävirasto Traficomin Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen kansainvälisiin tietoturvavelvoitteisiin liittyviin tehtäviin kuuluu salaustuotteiden hyväksyntä EU- ja NATO- turvallisuusluokitellun tiedon suojaamiseksi Suomessa. Julkisia hyväksyntiä myönnetään tuotteille, jotka täyttävät vaaditut turvallisuusominaisuudet. Turvaluokasta riippuen vaatimuksia on määritelty esimerkiksi salausalgoritmeille, tuotteen ohjelmisto- ja laiteturvallisuudelle sekä turvallisen kehityksen menettelyille.

Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus - 38/2024
Tällä viikolla kerromme mm. carpet bombing -tekniikasta palvelunestohyökkäyksissä ja siitä miten Hyöky-palvelun ensimmäinen vuosi sujui.

Kansainvälinen kumppanuustapahtuma tarjosi tietoa ja verkostoitumismahdollisuuksia
Kansallinen koordinointikeskus järjesti syyskuun alussa kansainvälisen kumppanuustapahtuman yhdessä järjestelykumppanien kanssa. Tapahtumassa kuultiin monipuolisesti puheenvuoroja niin teknologisista kehityssuunnista kuin ajankohtaisista EU-rahoitusmahdollisuuksista kyberturvallisuuden alalla. Osallistujat pääsivät paitsi kysymään kysymyksiä asiantuntijoilta, myös verkostoitumaan keskenään.

EU-rahoitushakemuksiin tukea koulutuksella
EU-hankerahoituksien hakeminen voi näyttäytyä haastavana ja työläänä prosessina. Kansallinen koordinointikeskus (NCC-FI) tarjosi alkusyksystä koulutusta kyberalan EU-rahoitushakemuksien laatimiseen. Koulutuksen tavoitteena oli tukea suomalaisia organisaatioita korkeatasoisten EU-rahoitushakemusten laatimisessa.

Kriittisiä haavoittuvuuksia VMware vCenter Serverissä
VMware vCenter Server-ohjelmistosta on löydetty kaksi kriittistä haavoittuvuutta, joita hyväksikäyttämällä hyökkääjän on mahdollista saada itselleen ohjelmistoa pyörittävän palvelimen täysi hallinta. Valmistaja on julkaissut korjaavat päivitykset, jotka on syytä asentaa mahdollisimman pian.

Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4: kriittisiä haavoittuvuuksia
Red Hat OpenShiftistä on löydetty kaksi kriittistä haavoittuvuutta. Haavoittuvuudet mahdollistavat mielivaltaisen koodin suorittamisen ja OpenShiftiä suorittavien noodien kaappaamisen. Haavoittuvuuksia vastaan on olemassa rajoituskeinot, jotka on syytä suorittaa viipymättä.

Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus - 37/2024
M365-tunnuksia kalastellaan nyt etenkin Dropbox-palvelun avulla. Olethan tarkkana Dropboxista saapuvien tiedostojen kanssa.

Elokuun Kybersää 2024
Elokuun Kybersää jatkui kesä-heinäkuun tapaan tavanomaista rauhallisempana. Sääntelykentällä aurinko porottaa lämpimästi, kun Traficomin uudistettu määräys teletoiminnan tietoturvasta astui voimaan.

SonicWall SSLVPN haavoittuvuutta hyväksikäytetään aktiivisesti
SonicWall SSLVPN -tuotteen haavoittuvuutta CVE-2024-40766 on havaittu hyväksikäytettävän aktiivisesti kiristyshaittaohjelmahyökkäyksissä. Haavoittuvat ohjelmistot tulee päivittää viipymättä ja selvittää onko mahdollista haavoittuvuuden hyväksikäyttöä jo tapahtunut sekä estää mahdollisesti jo vaarantuneiden tunnusten hyväksikäyttö.

Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus - 36/2024
Tällä viikolla kerromme muun muassa vinkkejä lapsille ja vanhemmille turvalliseen pelaamiseen sekä bottiverkoista.

Uudistettu teletoiminnan tietoturvamääräys voimaan 1.9.2024
Liikenne- ja viestintävirasto Traficom on antanut uudistetun teletoiminnan tietoturvamääräyksen. Määräys tulee pääosin voimaan 1.9.2024, ja se korvaa 4.3.2015 annetun teletoiminnan tietoturvamääräyksen. Uudistus edellyttää kaikilta teleyrityksiltä toimenpiteitä tietoturvallisuuden ja riskien hallinnan vaatimusten toteuttamiseksi ja dokumentoimiseksi.

Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus - 35/2024
Tällä viikolla toivotamme uudet koululaiset tervetulleiksi myös digitaaliselle opintielle. Kerromme myös Microsoftin uudistuksesta, jolla palveluihin kirjautumisen ja hallinnan turvallisuutta parannetaan kaksivaiheisella kirjautumisella.

Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus - 34/2024
Tällä viikolla kerromme mm. Nyt valppaana! -kampanjasta ja kokoamme tunnelmia Assembly-tapahtumasta. Mukana myös ajankohtaiset huijaukset.

Kriittinen haavoittuvuus LiteSpeed Cache WordPress -lisäosassa
LiteSpeed Cache WordPress -lisäosasta on löydetty kriittinen haavoittuvuus. Haavoittuvuuden hyväksikäyttö mahdollistaa hyökkääjälle pääsyn järjestelmään luomalla uusia käyttäjätunnuksia ilman tunnistautumista.

Uhka-analyysi ja uhkamallinnus varautumisen työkaluina kyberturvallisuusriskien hallinnassa
NIS 2 -direktiivi velvoittaa monia toimijoita riskienhallintaan omissa organisaatioissaan. Uhka-analyysin teko ja uhkamallinnuksen käyttöönotto ja ajan tasalla pitäminen tarjoavat järjestelmällisen menetelmän kyberturvallisuusriskien tunnistamiseen ja varautumiseen.

Nyt valppaana! - Kyberturvallisuuden kansalaiskampanjassa annetaan ohjeita tietoverkkohuijausten tunnistamiseen
Traficomin Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen, Digi- ja väestötietovirasto DVV:n ja poliisin yhteisessä Nyt valppaana! -kampanjassa opetellaan tunnistamaan internetin varjopuolia ja suojautumaan niiltä.

Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus - 33/2024
Tällä viikolla kerromme mitä kiristyshaittaohjelmat ovat ja miten niiltä voi suojautua.

Mikä ihmeen kiristyshaittaohjelma?
Kiristyshaittaohjelma on ohjelma, joka estää laitteen normaalin käytön ja esittää vaatimuksen lunnaiden maksamisesta rikollisille. Haittaohjelmatyypistä käytetään myös nimitystä lunnastroijalainen.

Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus - 32/2024
Tällä viikolla kerromme mitä voit tehdä, jos henkilötietojasi joutuu väärin käsiin. Huijarit eivät lepää kesälläkään, joten muistutamme myös Traficomin nimissä lähetetyistä huijausviesteistä.

Heinäkuun Kybersää 2024
Kybersää oli heinäkuussa aikaisempia kuukausia jonkin verran rauhallisempi. Toisaalta heinäkuuhun mahtui merkittäviäkin tapahtumia, kun CrowdStrike-tietoturvatuotteen päivitys aiheutti laajan häiriön ympäri maailmaa. Huijausviestien osalta loppukuussa veronpalautusteemaiset viestit alkoivat jälleen yleistymään elokuun alun veronpalautuksia ennakoiden.

Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus - 31/2024
Tällä viikolla kerromme mm. lainahuijauksista ja siitä miten syksyllä maksettavat veronpalautukset kiinnostavat myös rikollisia.

Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus - 30/2024
Tällä viikolla kerromme mm. CrowdStriken päivityksen aiheuttamasta häiriöstä sekä annamme vinkkejä turvalliseen somettamiseen.

Sometilit kuntoon – vinkit turvalliseen somettamiseen
Oletko miettinyt, mitä tietoja sinusta voi sosiaalisen median kautta saada tai mitä tapahtuisi, jos sosiaalisen median tilisi saisikin haltuun jokin ulkopuolinen taho? Sosiaalisesta mediasta on tullut iso osa jokapäiväistä elämäämme, ja sen avulla on helppoa pitää ihmisiin yhteyttä tai jakaa pätkiä elämästään kuvien tai julkaisujen muodossa. On tärkeää muistaa, että sosiaalisen median pelikentällä on myös pelaajia, joilla ei ole hyvät mielessä. Tässä artikkelissa pureudutaan sosiaalisen median turvalliseen käyttöön, sekä avataan riskejä, joita sosiaalinen media tuo mukanaan.

CrowdStriken päivitys aiheuttanut häiriöitä Windows-laitteissa
CrowdStrike-tietoturvaohjelmiston päivitys on aiheuttanut Windows-laitteissa toistuvan uudelleenkäynnistymistilan (boot loop). CrowdStrike on pääosin organisaatiokäytössä oleva tietoturvaohjelmisto. Tapauksesta on aiheutunut häiriöitä ja käyttökatkoja organisaatioille ja eri palveluille ympäri maailmaa.

Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus - 29/2024
Tällä viikolla kerromme mm. haavoittuvuuksien entistäkin nopeammasta hyväksikäytöstä ja osallistumisestamme Assembly-tapahtumaan.

Kriittinen haavoittuvuus Cisco Secure Email Gatewayssa (ent. IronPort)
Cisco Secure Email Gatewaysta (entinen IronPort) on löytynyt kriittinen haavoittuvuus. Haavoittuvuuden hyväksikäyttö mahdollistaa hyökkääjälle haitallisen koodin suorittamisen laitteen käyttöjärjestelmässä.

Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus – 28/2024
Valtioneuvosto on asettanut tutkintaryhmän selvittämään Helsingin kaupunkiin kohdistunutta tietomurtoa. Käymme läpi, mitä tapauksesta voi oppia.

Kesäkuun Kybersää 2024
Kesäkuu näyttäytyi monella kyberrintamalla aikaisempia kuukausia rauhallisempana. Toisaalta esimerkiksi kalasteluviestit sekä Microsoft 365 -käyttäjätilien kalastelut jatkuivat. Kesälläkin on hyvä muistaa pitää organisaatioiden tietoturvasta huolta.

Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus - 27/2024
Tällä viikolla varoittelemme M365-tietomurroista ja tietojenkalastelusta hotellivarauspalvelun kautta. Annamme myös vinkkejä kyberturvalliseen lomamatkailuun.

Ajankohtaiset EU-rahoitusmahdollisuudet kyberturvallisuusalalle
Heinäkuun aikana kyberturvallisuuden alalle avautuu useita kiinnostavia EU-rahoitusmahdollisuuksia. Rahoitusmahdollisuuksia on tarjolla niin yksityisen, julkisen kuin tutkimussektorinkin toimijoille. Rahoitusta myönnetään uusien teknologioiden käyttöönottoon ja hyödyntämiseen, sekä tutkimus- innovaatio- ja kehittämistoimintaan. Myös Naton DIANA-kiihdyttämöohjelma avaa kiinnostavia mahdollisuuksia kunnianhimoisten innovatiivisten teknologioiden kehittämiseen yhteistyötyössä laajan kumppani- ja asiantuntijaverkoston kanssa.

Kriittinen haavoittuvuus OpenSSH-ohjelmistossa
OpenSSH-ohjelmistosta löytynyt kriittinen haavoittuvuus mahdollistaa allaolevan järjestelmän täyden haltuunoton etänä ilman tunnistautumista. Haltuunotto on tähän mennessä todennettu glibc-pohjaisilla Linux-järjestelmillä sekä FreeBSD-järjestelmillä. Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksella ei ole tiedossa haavan aktiivista hyväksikäyttöä.

Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus - 26/2024
Tällä viikolla kerromme esimerkiksi kyberturvallisuusharjoittelun tärkeydestä ja loma-ajan tietoturvasta.

Traficom ohjeistaa tietovälineiden turvalliseen tyhjentämiseen
Traficomin on julkaissut ohjeen suojattavaa tietoa sisältävien tallennusvälineiden tyhjennyksestä ja mahdollisessa uusiokäytöstä organisaatioiden riskienhallinnalle. Ohjeessa kuvataan yleisimmät edellytykset tallennusmedioiden luotettavaan, todennettavissa olevaan tyhjennykseen ja uusiokäyttöön.

Huijausviestejä Traficomin nimissä
Liikenne- ja viestintävirasto Traficom varoittaa Traficomin nimissä lähetetyistä huijausviesteistä. Huijausviesteissä väitetään, että viestin saajalla on erääntynyt maksamatta oleva sakko. Kyse on kalasteluviestistä, jolla sinut yritetään saada klikkaamaan viestissä olevaa linkkiä ja luovuttamaan pankkitunnuksesi rikollisille.

Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus - 25/2024
Tällä viikolla kerromme mm. siitä, miten fyysinen turvallisuus on yksi tietoturvan keskeisimmistä tekijöistä ja suosittelemme valmistautumaan kvanttiturvallisiin salausalgoritmeihin siirtymiseen.

Traficom kehottaa valmistautumaan kvanttiturvallisiin salausalgoritmeihin siirtymiseen
Klassiset julkisen avaimen salausmenetelmät ovat haavoittuvia riittävän tehokkaalle kvanttilaskennalle. Tämä tarkoittaa sitä, että näillä menetelmillä salattuja tietoja voidaan kerätä talteen nyt ja purkaa myöhemmin, kun riittävän tehokas kvanttikone on saatavilla. Haavoittuvien menetelmien korvaamiseksi on käynnissä useita kvanttiturvallisten algoritmien standardointiin tähtääviä hankkeita, ja ensimmäisten standardien odotetaan valmistuvan tänä vuonna. Kvanttiturvallisia toteutuksia (esim. Signal-viestisovellus) on jo tehty standardiluonnosten perusteella.

Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus - 24/2024
Tällä viikolla kerromme muun muassa toimitusjohtajien nimissä lähetetyistä huijauksista ja siitä miten toimitusketjuhyökkäykset ovat viime vuosina yleistyneet. Palaamme myös toukokuun Kybersään merkeissä viime kuun tapahtumiin.

Kriittisiä haavoittuvuuksia Adobe FrameMaker Publishing, Adobe Commerce ja Magento alustoissa
Adobe on julkaissut kriittisiä tietoturvapäivityksiä Adobe FrameMaker Publishing, Adobe Commerce ja Magento -ohjelmistoihin. Onnistunut hyväksikäyttö voi johtaa mielivaltaisen koodin suorittamiseen, tietoturvasuojauksien ohitukseen ja käyttöoikeuksien laajenemiseen. Jos käytössänne on Adoben FrameMaker Publishing palvelin, Adobe Commerce ja Magento -verkkokauppa-alusta, kehoitamme päivittämään Adobe -ohjelmistojen tietoturvapäivitykset viipymättä.

Toukokuun Kybersää 2024
Kybersää jatkui synkeänä myös toukokuussa. Kybersäätä synkensivät erityisesti tietomurtojen ja -vuotojen alalla julki tulleet tapaukset. Myös huijausten ja kalastelujen saralla myrskysi.

Huomio hankintojen ja toimitusketjujen turvallisuuteen - NIS2-direktiivissä uusia velvoitteita
Toimitusketjuhyökkäykset ovat yleistyneet viime vuosina. Asia on huomioitu myös NIS2-direktiivissä ja sen kyberturvallisuuden riskienhallinnan toimenpiteissä. NIS2-direktiivissä toimitusketjun hallintavelvoite ulottuu toimijan välittömiin toimittajiin ja palveluntarjoajiin. Hankintojen osalta uusi NIS2-direktiivi korostaa tuotteen tai palvelun kyberturvallisuuden huomioimista koko elinkaaren ajalta.

Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus - 23/2024
Traficomin nimeä käytettiin SMS-huijaukseen, jossa maksamattoman sakon verukkeella kalasteltiin pankkitunnuksia. Poliisioperaatiossa suljetussa bottiverkossa oli yli 19 miljoonaa päätelaitetta. Bottiverkkoa operoitiin haittaohjelmalla, joka oli asennettuna miljooniin päätelaitteisiin ympäri maailmaa. Näillä ohjeilla varmistat, ettet ole osa bottiverkkoa.

911 S5 -bottiverkossa tuhansia suomalaisia IP-osoitteita mukana
Toukokuussa 2024 suljettu 911 S5 -bottiverkko tarjosi rikollisille pääsyn vaarantuneisiin IP-osoitteisiin ja niihin liittyviin yksityishenkilöiden ja yritysten omistamiin laitteisiin. Joukossa on ollut myös tuhansia kaapattuja laitteita, joiden IP-osoite sijaitsee Suomessa. Kaappaukset ovat tapahtuneet haitallisten VPN-palveluiden avulla. Ohjeen avulla tunnistat ja poistat haitallisen palvelun laitteeltasi.

Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus - 22/2024
Tällä viikolla kerromme mm. oman organisaation palveluiden tietoturvan kartoittamisesta, sekä NIS2-direktiivin riskienhallintavelvoitteesta.

Vakava haavoittuvuus Check Point Quantum Gateway -tuotteissa
Check Point Quantum Gateway palomuurituotteissa on löydetty haavoittuvuus, jota on havaittu hyväksikäytettävän rajattuun asiakaskuntaan kohdistuvissa hyökkäysyrityksissä. Valmistaja on julkaissut korjaavan ohjelmistopäivityksen sekä ohjeita päivityksen suorittamiseen. Päivitys tulee ottaa käyttöön viipymättä ja varmistaa ettei onnistuneesta hyväksikäytöstä ole havaintoja. Haavoittuvuudelle on julkinen hyväksikäyttömenetelmä, joten ohjelmistojen päivittäminen tulee priorisoida korkeimmalle mahdolliselle tasolle.

Millaiseen kyberpoikkeamaan organisaatiosi on varautunut? Tutustu NIS2-direktiivin riskienhallintavelvoitteeseen
NIS2-direktiivissä säädetään kyberturvallisuuden riskienhallinnasta ja hallintatoimenpiteiden perustason velvoitteista. Traficomin valmistelemasta suositusluonnoksesta voi hakea tukea riskienhallinnan suunnitteluun.

Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus - 21/2024
Kuntiin kohdistuneet kyberhyökkäykset ovat yleistyneet, ja tällä viikolla muistutammekin kuntien tietoturvan merkityksestä. Huomioimme myös tulevat europarlamenttivaalit ja annamme vinkkejä tietoturvasta huolehtimiseen vaalikampanjoinnin aikana.

Huippuhakkerit kolkuttelivat luvan kanssa paikallisten 5G-verkkojen tietoturvaa
Viime viikonloppuna kansainvälisessä 5G-tapahtumassa Espoon Dipolissa oli koolla 70 valkohattuhakkeria. Heille annettiin lupa testata 5G-verkon puolustusta, murtautua sisälle verkkoon, kartoittaa verkon sisäisiä komponentteja ja palveluja, korottaa omia käyttöoikeuksia ja saada verkko paremmin haltuun. Tämän lisäksi he saivat luvan muuttaa, asentaa, poistaa ja rikkoa verkon komponentteja. Testaamalla ja korjaamalla uutta, vielä kehitysvaiheessa olevaa, teknologiaa edistämme kyberturvallisuutta ja yhteiskunnan varautumista.

Mitä NIS2-direktiivissä esitetyt kyberhygieniakäytännöt ovat?
Kyberhygieniakäytännöt eli perustason tietoturvakäytännöt luovat perustan organisaation kyberturvallisuudelle. Jos kyberturvallisuus ei ole organisaatiolle vielä kovin tuttua, kyberhygieniakäytännöillä organisaatio pääsee alkuun kyberturvallisuudesta huolehtimisessa.

Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus - 20/2024
Tällä viikolla kerromme esimerkiksi Helsingin tietomurrosta, joka osoittaa monille organisaatioille kuinka tärkeää tietoturvaan panostaminen on.

Oikotietä hyvään tietoturvaan ei ole - tukea ja tietoa on tarjolla
Oletteko miettineet kunnassanne, miten hyvin kuntanne ja hallussanne olevien kuntalaisten tiedot on suojattu? Milloin järjestelmät ja sovellukset on päivitetty? Milloin olette viimeksi harjoitelleet kyberhyökkäyksen varalle?

Modernien tietoturvaratkaisujen ja -innovaatioiden käyttöönoton tukea myönnettiin 36 yritykselle
Liikenne- ja viestintäviraston Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen Kansallinen koordinointikeskus (NCC-FI) avasi 2.1.2024 Suomeen rekisteröidyille mikro- ja pk-yrityksille haettavaksi rahoitustukea modernien tietoturvaratkaisujen ja -innovaatioiden käyttöönottoprojekteihin. Rahoitustukea oli jaossa yhteensä 1,5 milj. euroa. 1.3.2024 päättyneeseen hakuun saapui 160 hakemusta. Rahoitustukea haettiin yhteensä noin 6,5 milj. euron edestä.

Kyberuhkien lieventäminen rajallisilla resursseilla - ohje kansalaisyhteiskunnalle julkaistu
Yhdysvaltain kyberturvallisuusvirasto (Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, CISA) on luonut yhteisen kyberturvallisuuden ohjeistuksen keskeisten valtiollisten, valtiosta riippumattomien, yritysmaailman ja kansalaisyhteiskunnan kumppaneiden kanssa erityisen riskialttiille yhteisötoimijoille, kuten kansalaisyhteiskunnan järjestöille ja yksilöille. Suomesta yhteistyössä oli mukana Traficomin Kyberturvallisuuskeskus.

Tietomurrot - mitä ne ovat?
Helsingin kaupunki kertoi joutuneensa tietomurron kohteeksi toukokuun alussa. Tietomurto tarkoittaa luvatonta tietojärjestelmään, palveluun tai laitteeseen tunkeutumista tai sovelluksen, kuten esimerkiksi sähköpostitilin luvatonta käyttöä haltuun saatujen tunnusten avulla. Tietomurto on rikoslaissa määritelty rangaistava teko ja myös tietomurron yritys on rangaistavaa. Tässä artikkelissa kerromme tietomurroista yleisesti.

Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus - 19/2024
Tällä viikolla poistimme huhtikuussa julkaistun vakavan varoituksen Palo Alton tuotteiden kriittisestä haavoittuvuudesta. Kerromme myös tarkempaa pohdintaa Mirai-haittaohjelman varjopuolista ja keinoista, joilla jokainen kuluttaja voi omalta osaltaan huolehtia laitteidensa ja verkkoympäristönsä tietoturvasta.

Huhtikuun Kybersää 2024
Kevät lähti kyberturvallisuuden osalta myrskyisästi käyntiin. Myrskyn merkkejä Kybersäähän toivat erityisesti huhtikuussa julkaistu Varoitus 1/2024 Palo Alton GlobalProtect-tuotteisiin liittyen, mutta myös Android-puhelimissa huijausviesteillä levinnyt haittaohjelma.

Palo Alto GlobalProtect -tuotteita koskenut Varoitus on poistettu
Palo Alto GlobalProtect -tuotetta käyttäviin organisaatioihin kohdistui vakava uhka huhtikuussa. Kriittinen haavoittuvuus johti Suomessakin tietomurtotapauksiin, mutta vakavammilta vahingoilta vältyttiin.

Miraissa on tulevaisuus
Mirai-haittaohjelmatartuntojen torjunta ja siivoaminen on osoittautunut vaikeaksi, sillä se nähdään helposti “jonkun toisen ongelmana”, kirjoittaa erityisasiantuntijamme Perttu Halonen.

Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus - 18/2024
Tällä viikolla kerromme muun muassa pankkitietoja varastavasta Android-haittaohjelmasta. Mukana on tuttuun tapaan myös ajankohtaiset huijaukset.

Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus - 17/2024
Tällä viikolla kerromme mm. tietojenkalastelusta -.fi-verkkotunnuksissa ja siitä miten tietoturvalliseen lomakauteen kannattaa varautua työpaikalla.

Useita vakavia haavoittuvuuksia Cisco ASA ja FTD-tuotteissa
Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance ja Firepower Threat Defense tuotteissa on havaittu haavoittuvuuksia, joita on käytetty osana valtiollisen toimijan suorittamia kyberhyökkäyksiä. Valmistaja on julkaissut korjaavat ohjelmistopäivitykset sekä ohjeita mahdollisen tietomurron havaitsemiseksi.

Miksi tietoturvapoikkeaman selvittäminen on tärkeää ja miksi asiasta kannattaa ilmoittaa viranomaiselle?
Tietoturvapoikkeama voi osua suoraan tai välillisesti mihin tahansa organisaatioon. Vaikka tietoturvaan olisi panostettu, järjestelmät olisivat päivitysten osalta ajan tasalla ja prosessit kunnossa, voi poikkeama silti päästä yllättämään. Kerromme, miksi organisaation CISO:n on hyvä pitää huolta siitä, että poikkeaman syy selvitetään ja miksi asiasta on hyvä ilmoittaa myös viranomaiselle.

Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus - 16/2024
Tällä viikolla kerromme Palo Alto -verkkolaitteiden kriittisestä haavoittuvuudesta ja siihen julkaistusta keltaisesta varoituksesta. Luottotietorekisteriin nimissä on liikkeellä tietojenkalasteluviestejä ja organisaatiot ovat vastaanottaneet erilaisia laskutushuijauksia.

Tietomurtoja Palo Alto GlobalProtect-tuotteisiin – vaatii välittömiä toimia
Organisaatioissa laajasti käytetyn Palo Alto GlobalProtect-tuotteen haavoittuvuutta (CVE-2024-3400) käytetään aktiivisesti hyväksi. Haavoittuvuudella on merkittäviä vaikutuksia ja se vaatii laitteiden päivitystä ja tutkintaa. Haavoittuvuudelle alttiita laitteita on syytä epäillä murretuiksi.

Vakava haavoittuvuus PuTTY-ohjelmiston ECDSA-algoritmin toteutuksessa
PuTTY-tietoliikenneasiakasohjelmiston ja sen koodia käyttävien sovellusten heikko NIST P-521 ECDSA-algoritmin toteutus voi paljastaa käyttäjän yksityisen avaimen, mikäli avain on edellä mainittua tyyppiä.

Kriittinen haavoittuvuus Palo Alton GlobalProtect -tuotteessa
Palo Alton PAN-OS-järjestelmän GlobalProtect-ominaisuuden haavoittuvuus mahdollistaa järjestelmän täyden haltuunoton etänä ilman tunnistautumista. Valmistaja on julkaissut ensimmäiset korjaavat päivitykset 14.4. Haavoittuvuutta hyväksikäytetään aktiivisesti ja haavoittuvuuden korjaavat päivitykset on syytä suorittaa välittömästi.

Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus - 15/2024
Tällä viikolla kerromme kotien internetiin kytkettyjen laitteiden, erityisesti televisioiden, tietoturvasta ja haavoittuvuuksista, jotka voivat altistaa laitteet pahantahtoisille hyökkäyksille sekä kerromme, miten kotien laitteet tulee suojata. Muita viikkokatsauksen aiheita ovat maaliskuisen tietoturvaseminaarimme tallenne, NIS2-direktiivi sekä verkkosivujemme palautekysely.

Lausuntopyyntö suositusluonnoksesta NIS2-direktiivin kyberturvallisuuden riskienhallinnan toimenpiteistä
Liikenne- ja viestintävirasto Traficomin Kyberturvallisuuskeskus pyytää lausuntoja suositusluonnoksesta valvoville viranomaisille NIS2-direktiivin mukaisista kyberturvallisuuden riskienhallinnan toimenpiteistä.

TIEDOTE: Kyberturvallisuuskeskus on muuttanut haavoittuvuustiedotteen ulkoasua
Kirjoitamme edelleenkin artikkelin ingressiin kuvauksen haavoittuvuudesta ja sen kriittisyydestä. Halusimme muutoksella jouhevoittaa haavoittuvuustiedottamista.

Maaliskuun Kybersää 2024
Keväiset sateet sävyttivät maaliskuun kybersäätä, mutta aurinkokin pilkahteli. Huijauksissa esillä oli erityisesti ajoneuvoveroteemainen kalastelu. Myös palvelunestohyökkäyksiä ja sähköpostikalastelua nähtiin maaliskuussa. Tässä Kybersäässä mukana ovat myös neljä kertaa vuodessa päivitettävät kvartaalitilastot.

Tietoturva 2024 -seminaarissa puhutti tekoäly ja kvanttiteknologia
Traficomin Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen sekä Huoltovarmuuskeskuksen järjestämä Tietoturva 2024 -seminaari kokosi maaliskuun puolivälissä tietoturvan tulevaisuuteen liittyvistä aiheista kiinnostuneet jälleen yhteen. Tänä vuonna seminaarin teemoina olivat tekoäly sekä kvanttiteknologia. Seminaarissa jaettiin myös Tietoturvan suunnannäyttäjä -tunnustus, joka myönnettiin tänä vuonna huijauspuhelujen ja -viestien estämiseen tähtäävälle yhteistyölle.

Auta meitä kehittämään verkkosivujamme
Kehitämme Traficomin Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen verkkosivuja ja haluamme kuulla sinun mielipiteesi verkkosivuston sisällöistä ja arjen tietoturvan viestinnästä. Voit osallistua sekä kyselyyn että käytettävyystutkimukseen tai halutessasi vain toiseen. Palautteesi auttaa meitä kehittämään sisältöä entistä asiakaslähtöisemmäksi.

Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus - 14/2024
Tällä viikolla kerromme mm. Linuxin käyttöjärjestelmän varaantaneesta kriittisestä haavoittuvuudesta ja julkaisimme DeepFake-tietopaketin.

Kun jokainen päivä voi olla aprillipäivä - Mistä deepfakeissa on kysymys?
Olet todennäköisesti törmännyt viime aikoina sanaan "deepfake". Mistä deepfakeissa ja niiden taustalla olevassa teknologioissa ja tekniikoissa on kysymys?

Kriittinen haavoittuvuus Linux-jakeluissa XZ Utils -tiedonpakkausohjelmistossa
Linux-jakeluiden XZ Utils -tiedostonpakkausohjelman 5.6.0 ja 5.6.1 versiot sisältävät haitallista koodia, joka sallii luvattoman pääsyn luoden takaportin järjestelmään. Haitallinen koodi on käytössä useissa Linux-jakeluissa. Valmistaja suosittelee ottamaan käyttöön vanhemman version (5.4.6) XZ Utils -tiedostonpakkausohjelmasta tai poistamaan sen käytöstä kokonaan, sillä korjaavaa ohjelmistopäivitystä ei ole vielä julkaistu.

Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus - 13/2024
Tällä viikolla kerromme mm. verkkotunnusten huolellisesta hallinnasta sekä tulevasta Hack the Networks -hackathon tapahtumasta.

Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus - 12/2024
Tällä viikolla kerromme Tietoturvan vuosi 2023 -katsauksesta sekä kyberturvallisuusaiheiden käsittelystä Futucast-podcastissa. Lisäksi kerromme uusista ohjeista pilvipalveluihin ja tietoturvan vähimmäisvaatimuksiin liittyen.

Tietoturvan vuosi 2023 -katsaus arvioi uhkatason pysyvän kohonneena myös vuonna 2024
Tietoturvan vuosi 2023 kokoaa tietoa, arvioita ja analyysejä menneen vuoden merkittävimmistä kyberilmiöstä, trendeistä ja tietoturvasääntelystä yksiin kansiin.

Harjoittelu ja varautuminen ovat osa yritysten vastuullisuutta
Miten toimitte, jos toimistolla syttyy kesken työpäivän tulipalo? Hätäuloskäynnit, kokoontumispaikat ja muut toimintatavat on luultavasi harjoiteltu yhdessä moneen kertaan. Hyvä! Mutta mitä jos kohdalle osuu tietomurto tai kiristyshaittaohjelma? Myös erilaisiin kyberhäiriöihin kannattaa varautua harjoittelemalla, muistuttaa Traficomin pääjohtaja Jarkko Saarimäki.

Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus - 11/2024
Microsoft 365 -tilimurrot ovat taas kääntyneet nousuun. Tällä kertaa tunnuksia kalastellaan Dropboxin nimissä. Monivaiheinen tunnistautuminen on tehokas keino tietojenkalastelua vastaan.

Helmikuun Kybersää 2024
Helmikuussa vallitseva kybersäätila oli sateinen. Microsoft 365 -tilimurrot jatkuivat helmikuussakin. Myös haktivistit jatkoivat palvelunestohyökkäyksiään, kun kuun alussa suureen määrään suomalaisia organisaatioita kohdistui palvelunestohyökkäyksiä.

Tekoäly on yhä keskeisempi tekijä tulevaisuuden tietoturvaratkaisuissa
Tekoälystä ja sen hyödyntämisestä kyberturvallisuuden edistämisessä keskustellaan paljon. Jo tänä päivänä eri toimialoilla on käytössä erilaisia tekoälypohjaisia tietoturvaratkaisuja. Missä mennään tällä hetkellä ratkaisujen kehittämisessä ja käytössä? Millaisia kehityskulkuja voidaan nähdä tulevaisuudessa? Millaiset ovat ylipäätään tekoälyn mahdollisuudet tietoturvan parantamisessa?

Traficom palkitsee yhteistyön huijauspuheluiden ja huijausviestien estämiseksi Tietoturvan suunnannäyttäjä -tunnustuspalkinnolla
Traficom myönsi Tietoturvan suunnannäyttäjä tunnustuspalkinnon tahoille, jotka ovat olleet yhdessä laatimassa ja toteuttamassa toimenpiteitä kansainvälisten huijauspuheluiden ja huijausviestien estämiseksi. Yhteistyön ansiosta väärennetyillä suomalaisilla numeroilla soitetut huijauspuhelut ovat käytännössä loppuneet. Koska ongelma on maailmanlaajuinen, suomalainen osaaminen ja uranuurtava tekeminen herättää kiinnostusta myös kansainvälisesti.

Kyberhyökkäykset siirtyvät pilveen - Näin suojaudut ja raportoit Kyberturvallisuuskeskukselle
Pilvisiirtymän myötä myös kyberhyökkäykset siirtyvät pilveen. Niin kyberrikolliset kuin valtiolliset toimijat kohdistavat operaatioitaan entistä enemmän organisaatioiden pilviympäristöihin. Esittelemme tyypillisimmät murtautumiskeinot pilvipalveluihin ja neuvomme miten niiltä voi suojautua. Kyberturvallisuuskeskukselle voi ilmoittaa myös pilviympäristöihin kohdistuneista tietomurroista.

Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus - 10/2024
Saitko sinäkin tekstiviestin, joka pelottelee liikennerikkomuksien seurauksilla? Niitä on nyt paljon liikkeellä. Huijauksia liikkuu myös muun muassa suomi.fi-palvelun nimissä.

Riskialttiit verkon reunalaitteet aktiivisten murtoyritysten kohteena
Verkon reunalla sijaitsevat laitteet voivat olla riskialttiita ja tarvitsevat erityistä huomiota organisaatioilta. Haavoittuvuudet, puutteet prosesseissa ja konfiguraatiovirheet altistavat organisaatiot hyökkääjille. Säännöllinen harjoittelu auttaa organisaatioita varautumaan erilaisiin kyberpoikkeamiin.

JetBrains TeamCity -ohjelmistossa kriittinen haavoittuvuus
JetBrains TeamCity -ohjelmistoon on julkaistu päivitys, joka korjaa kaksi tunnistautumisen ohittamisen mahdollistavaa haavoittuvuutta. Haavoittuvuudet koskevat TeamCity On-premises tuotteita. Korjaava päivitys on suositeltavaa asentaa mahdollisimman pian.

Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus - 09/2024
Tällä viikolla kerromme erilaisista rekrytointihuijauksista sekä haitallisten liitetiedostojen vaarallisuudesta.

Anssi Kärkkäinen Liikenne- ja viestintävirasto Traficomin Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen uusi ylijohtaja
Traficomin Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen uudeksi ylijohtajaksi on nimitetty TkT, DI, ye.ups. Anssi Kärkkäinen 4.3.2024 alkaen kolmen vuoden määräajaksi. Kärkkäisellä on laaja-alainen tausta kyberturvallisuuden eri johtotehtävistä sekä valtionhallinnon että elinkeinoelämän puolelta.

Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus - 08/2024
Tällä viikolla kerromme mm. sähköpostitilien murtoaallosta ja siitä, miten toimitusjohtajahuijauksia sekä petoksen yrityksiä yritetään tehdä verkossa Matkahuollon ja Postin nimiä käyttäen.

Rikollisten tehtailemat tekstiviestihuijaukset vaikeutuvat - jo 70 lähettäjätunnusta on suojattu
Liikenne- ja viestintävirasto Traficomin ja operaattoreiden työ tekstiviestihuijausten kampittamiseksi kantaa hedelmää. Tähän mennessä eri organisaatiot ovat suojanneet jo 70 tekstiviestin lähettäjätunnusta. Traficom kannustaakin myös muita tekstiviestejä lähettäviä organisaatioita tarkistamaan suojaustarpeensa ja rekisteröimään tarvittavat tunnukset Traficomin palvelussa.

Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus - 07/2024
Tällä viikolla kerromme mm. haavoittuvuuksista, ajankohtaisista tietojenkalastelukampanjoista ja siitä miten presidentinvaalit sujuivat kyberturvallisuuden näkökulmasta.

Kriittisiä haavoittuvuuksia Fortinetin FortiOS -ohjelmistossa
Fortinet julkaisi useita korjauksia FortiOS-ohjelmiston komponenttien haavoittuvuuksiin. Yhtä haavoittuvuuksista on jo todennäköisesti hyväksikäytetty, joten korjaavat päivitykset on suositeltavaa asentaa viipymättä.

Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus - 06/2024
Tällä viikolla kerromme mm. pankkitunnusten kalastelusta OmaKannan sekä Suomi.fi-teeman avulla, ja palvelunestohyökkäyshavainnoista alkuvuoden osalta.

Tammikuun Kybersää 2024
Vuosi 2024 alkoi kybersäässä sateisissa merkeissä. Vuoden ensimmäinen kuukausi piti sisällään niin piikin Microsoft 365 -tilimurtojen ilmoitusmäärissä, kuin useampia kriittisiä haavoittuvuuksia. Myös haktivistien tekemät palvelunestohyökkäykset jatkuivat alkuvuonna.

Vieraskynä: Läheistäni huijataan – mitä voin tehdä?
Läheisellä voi olla tärkeä rooli romanssihuijauksen pysäyttämisessä. Taloudellisten menetysten lisäksi huijaus aiheuttaa uhreille ja heidän läheisilleen häpeää ja ahdistusta, kirjoittaa Jimi Tikkanen Nettideittiturva-hankkeesta.

Kriittisiä haavoittuvuuksia GitLabin Community Edition ja Enterprise Edition -tuotteissa
GitLab on julkaissut päivityksen Community Edition (CE) ja Enterprise Edition (EE) -tuotteiden kriittiseen haavoittuvuuteen. Korjaava versiopäivitys kannattaa asentaa mahdollisimman pikaisesti.

Useita kriittisiä haavoittuvuuksia konttiteknologioiden runc ja Moby BuildKit -työkaluissa
runc ja Moby BuildKit ovat konttiteknologian alustaratkaisuissa käytettäviä työkaluja, joihin yläkerrosten sovellukset, kuten Docker ja Kubernetes nojaavat. Työkaluissa on havaittu kriittisiä haavoittuvuuksia, joiden avulla hyökkääjä voi saada pääsyn järjestelmään ja sen arkaluonteisiin tietoihin. Haavoittuvuudet mahdollistavat myös jatkohyökkäyksien tekemisen.

Palvelunestohyökkäykset jatkuvat myös vuonna 2024
Palvelunestohyökkäyksellä pyritään aiheuttamaan hetkellistä haittaa esimerkiksi verkkosivuihin. Erityisesti haktivistien palvelunestohyökkäykset näkyivät Suomessa vuonna 2023. Sama näyttää jatkuvan myös tänä vuonna.

Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus - 05/2024
Tällä viikolla kerromme Poliisin nimissä tehtävistä huijauspuheluista. Muistetaan myös hyvät uutiset – ensi viikolla vietetään Mediataitoviikkoa ja Tietoturva 2024 -seminaarin ilmoittautuminen on avattu.

Merkittävä haavoittuvuus GNU glibc-kirjastossa
GNU glibc-kirjastossa on havaittu puskurin ylivuotohaavoittuvuus, joka vaikuttaa useisiin Linux-jakeluihin. Haavoittuvuus mahdollistaa paikallisille käyttäjille oikeuksien korottamisen pääkäyttäjän (root) tasolle. Linux-jakeluista haavoittuvaiseksi on todettu ainakin Debian (versiot 12 ja 13), Ubuntu (23.04 ja 23.10) ja Fedora (37 - 39). Mainittuihin jakeluihin on tarjolla korjaavat päivitykset.

Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus - 04/2024
Tällä viikolla kerromme voimakkaasti lisääntyneestä veroaiheisista huijauksista ja käyttäjätilien tietomurroista. Huijarit ovat taitavia laatimaan petoksia kulloinkin ajankohtaisista aiheista. Nyt petkutusten aiheiksi ovat valikoituneet tietomurrot ja veronpalautukset. Kyberala murroksessa -seminaarissa yleisöä kiinnosti mm. yritysten EU-sääntely.

Apple julkaisi kriittisiä päivityksiä useisiin tuotteisiinsa, haavoittuvuuksien hyväksikäyttöä on havaittu
Useissa Applen tuotteissa ja Safari-verkkoselaimessa on korjattu kriittisiä haavoittuvuuksia. Haavoittuvuudet korjaavat päivitykset on suositeltavaa asentaa välittömästi, sillä haavoittuvuuksien hyväksikäyttöä on jo havaittu maailmalla.

Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus - 03/2024
Tällä viikolla kerromme pankkitunnuksia havittelevista huijauskampanjoista, vaalien kyberturvallisuudesta sekä syväväärennöksistä, ja siitä miten ne voidaan tunnistaa.

Kriittisiä haavoittuvuuksia Atlassianin tuotteissa
Atlassianin Bitbucket-, Confluence-, Jira-, Bamboo- ja Crowd-tuotteissa on useita haavoittuvuuksia, joista vakavimmat mahdollistavat hyökkääjälle mielivaltaisen koodin suorittamisen (RCE). Valmistaja kehottaa ryhtymään välittömästi toimenpiteisiin haavoittuvuuksien johdosta. Haavoittuviin ohjelmistoihin on olemassa ongelman korjaavat versiot. Haavoittuvuudet eivät koske Atlassianin itse pilvipalveluna tuottamia palveluita.

Vaalit turvataan viranomaisten yhteistyöllä
Alkanut vuosi on todellinen vaalivuosi niin Suomessa kuin maailmallakin. Presidentinvaaleihin ja europarlamenttivaaleihin valmistautuminen on useiden eri toimijoiden pitkäjänteistä varautumistyötä ministeriöistä ja virastoista aina kuntatasolle ja yksittäisille äänestyspaikoille asti. Vaikka jännitteinen kansainvälinen tilanne saattaa herättää kansalaisissa huolta, suomalainen vaalijärjestelmä on vakaa ja turvallinen.

Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus - 02/2024
Tällä viikolla kerromme Ivantin ohjelmistohaavoittuvuuksista, jotka koskevat useita satoja kotimaisia palvelimia. Myös Akira-kiristyshaittaohjelmatapaukset ja OmaVero-huijaukset ovat näkyneet Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen ilmoituksissa.

Joulukuun kybersäätä synkistivät kiristyshaittaohjelmat
Vuosi 2023 päättyi kyberturvallisuuden osalta sateisissa merkeissä. Jopa salamointia oli ilmassa, kun Kyberturvallisuuskeskus sai kaikkiaan kuusi ilmoitusta Akira-kiristyshaittaohjelmasta. Myös seurauksiltaan vakavien tietomurtojen määrä kasvoi joulukuussa.

Ivantin tuotteissa kriittisiä hyväksikäytettyjä haavoittuvuuksia
PÄIVITYS 31.1.2024: Ivanti julkaisi kaksi uutta haavoittuvuutta Ivanti Connect Secure (tunnettiin aikaisemmin nimellä Pulse Secure) sekä Ivanti Policy Secure -tuotteissaan. Toista 31.1. julkaistua haavoittuvuutta on jo hyväksikäytetty. Lukuisten kotimaisten organisaatioiden on syytä reagoida haavoittuvuuksiin välittömästi.

Suomalaiset organisaatiot Akira-kiristyshaittaohjelmien kohteena
Kyberturvallisuuskeskus vastaanotti 12 ilmoitusta Akira-kiristyshaittaohjelmatapauksista kotimaisilta organisaatioilta vuonna 2023. Tapaukset liittyivät erityisesti heikosti suojattuihin Ciscon VPN-toteutuksiin tai niiden paikkaamatta jääneisiin haavoittuvuuksiin. Toipuminen on yleensä vaikeaa.

Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus - 01/2024
Tällä viikolla kerromme alkuvuonna auki olevista rahoitushauista ja kertaamme vuoden 2023 tärkeimpiä kybertapahtumia.

Osallistu alkuvuodesta 2024 auki olevien kyberturvallisuusrahoitushakujen esittelyn webinaariin 18.1.2024
Kyberturvallisuuden tutkimuksen, kehityksen ja innovaatioiden kansallinen koordinointikeskus esittelee alkuvuodesta 2024 auki olevia, Traficomin ja EU:n kyberturvallisuuden rahoitushakuja torstaina 18.1.2024 klo 10:00–11:30 järjestettävässä webinaarissa. Rahoitusohjelmasta riippuen rahoitusta voivat hakea yritykset, yhdistykset ja säätiöt, yliopistot, tutkimuslaitokset sekä julkisen sektorin toimijat.

Haavoittuvuus SMTP-protokollan toteutuksessa useissa eri sähköpostiohjelmistoissa
Vuoden 2023 lopulla SMTP-protokollan useisiin toteutuksiin julkaistiin nollapäivähaavoittuvuus. Haavoittuvuutta hyödyntämällä uhkatoimijat voivat väärinkäyttää haavoittuvia SMTP-palvelimia maailmanlaajuisesti lähettääkseen haitallisia sähköposteja mielivaltaisista sähköpostiosoitteista, mikä mahdollistaa mm. kohdistettuja tietojenkalasteluhyökkäyksiä. Haavoittuvuus koskee SMTP-ohjelmistoista ainakin Postfixiä, Sendmailia ja Eximiä.

Rahoitustukihaku modernien tietoturvaratkaisujen ja -innovaatioiden käyttöönottoon pk-yrityksissä on avattu
Liikenne- ja viestintävirasto Traficomin Kyberturvallisuuskeskus on avannut mikroyrityksille ja pienille ja keskisuurille yrityksille haettavaksi rahoitustukea modernien tietoturvaratkaisujen ja -innovaatioiden käyttöönottoon. Haku on auki 2.1.–1.3.2024 klo 16:15 asti. Haettavana on yhteensä 1,5 miljoonaa euroa.

Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus - 52/2023
Tällä viikolla kerromme suomalaisiinkin organisaatioihin hyökänneestä Akira-kiristyshaittaohjelmasta sekä Kyberala murroksessa -seminaarista. Vuoden viimeisessä viikkokatsauksessa toivotamme kaikille turvallista uutta vuotta 2024!

Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus - 51/2023
Tällä viikolla kerromme mm. erilaisista petoksista ja elektronisten työkalujen tarjoamista mahdollisuuksista, Digitaalinen Eurooppa -ohjelmasta sekä yksityisten sähköpostitilien kalastelusta.

Traficom laatii suositusta NIS2-direktiivin kyberturvallisuuden riskienhallinnan toimenpiteistä
Liikenne- ja viestintävirasto Traficom valmistelee suositusta kyberturvallisuuden riskienhallinnan toimenpiteistä. Suosituksen taustalla on 16.1.2023 voimaan tullut NIS2-direktiivi, jonka tavoitteena on kyberturvallisuuden yhteisen tason varmistaminen kaikkialla Euroopan unionissa.

EU-rahoitusta kyberturvallisuussektorin eri osa-alueille Digitaalinen Eurooppa -ohjelmasta
Euroopan komission Digitaalinen Eurooppa -rahoitusohjelmassa on julkistettu uusia kyberturvallisuussektoria koskevia hakuja. Hakujen teemoja ovat muun muassa osaamisen kehittäminen sekä tekoälyn, kvanttikryptografian ja kyberkestävyyssäädöksen edistäminen.

Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus - 50/2023
Tällä viikolla kerromme mm. WhatsAppissa liikkuvista rekrytointihuijauksista. Muistutamme myös, mitä tulee ottaa huomioon uuden älylaitteen hankinnassa ja käyttöönotossa.

Marraskuun kybersäässä kiristyshaittaohjelmat aiheuttivat salamointia
Lokakuun myrskyt jäivät varoituksen poistamisen myötä marraskuussa taa, mutta loppusyksyinen kybersää jatkui valtaosin sateisena. Erityisesti haittaohjelmien ja haavoittuvuuksien osalta salamointia aiheuttivat useat ilmoitukset kiristyshaittaohjelmahavainnoista. Kyberrikollisten kyky hyödyntää julki tulleita haavoittuvuuksia on nopeaa. Myös joulun aikaan onkin hyvä muistaa pitää päivityksistä huolta.

Apache Struts 2 -ohjelmistokehyksestä korjattu kriittinen haavoittuvuus
Apache-projektin tuottamassa web-sovellusten toteuttamiseen käytettävässä avoimen lähdekoodin Struts 2 -ohjelmistokehyksessä on havaittu kriittinen haavoittuvuus CVE-2023-50164. Haavoittuvuutta hyväksikäyttämällä hyökkääjä voi suorittaa verkon yli kohteessa mielivaltaista koodia ja ottaa mahdollisesti haltuunsa haavoittuvan järjestelmän. Haavoittuvuuden korjaamiseen on julkaistu ohjelmistopäivitys, joka tulee ottaa käyttöön välittömästi.

Lausuntopyyntö luonnoksesta määräykseksi teletoiminnan tietoturvasta
Liikenne- ja viestintävirasto Traficomin määräystä teletoiminnan tietoturvasta päivitetään. Traficom pyytää lausuntoa määräyksen ja perustelumuistion luonnoksista.

Apple julkaisi kriittisiä päivityksiä useisiin tuotteisiinsa
Apple julkaisi useisiin eri tuotteisiinsa monia kriittisiä haavoittuvuuksia korjaavat ohjelmistoversiot. Mukana myös vanhempia edelleen tuettuja ohjelmistoversioita, joihin ei vielä aiemmin ollut haavoittuvuuksia korjaavia versioita saatavilla. Haavoittuvuudet korjaavat ohjelmistoversiot tulee ottaa käyttöön viipymättä, koska osaa haavoittuvuuksista on havaittu jo hyväksikäytettävän.

EU:n Horisontti Eurooppa -rahoitushakuja julkistettu kyberturvallisuussektorille
Euroopan komission Horisontti Eurooppa -rahoitusohjelmassa on julkistettu uusia kyberturvallisuussektoria koskettavia tutkimus-, kehittämis- ja innovaatiohakuja.

Kansallisen koordinointikeskuksen järjestämän ensimmäisen rahoitustukihaun päätökset annettu
Kansallisen koordinointikeskuksen järjestämän ensimmäisen rahoitustukihaun päätökset annettiin 15.11.2023. Rahoitustukea oli haettavissa aikavälillä 16.6.–16.8.2023 yhteensä 500 000 euroa. Tukea myönnettiin yhteensä noin 485 000 euroa pk-yritysten kyberturvallisuutta parantaviin projekteihin.

Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus - 49/2023
Tällä viikolla kerromme huijausviesteistä, joissa vastaanottaja koitetaan pelästyttää veronpalautusten peruutuksella. Muina aiheina ovat Akira-kiristyshaittaohjelma Suomessa sekä sijaisjärjestelyjen tärkeys myös joulupyhien aikana.

Vakavia haavoittuvuuksia Atlassianin tuotteissa
Atlassianin Bitbucket, Confluence ja Jira-tuotteissa on useita haavoittuvuuksia, jotka mahdollistavat hyökkääjälle mielivaltaisen koodin suorittamisen (RCE). Valmistaja kehottaa ryhtymään välittömästi toimenpiteisiin haavoittuvuuksien johdosta. Haavoittuviin ohjelmistoihin on olemassa ongelman korjaavat versiot. Haavoittuvuudet eivät koske Atlassianin itse pilvipalveluna tuottamia palveluita.

Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus - 48/2023
Rikollisten tähtäimessä ovat nyt yritysten ja yhdistysten Facebook-tilit. Messengerin kautta lähetetyissä viesteissä väitetään, että käyttäjän tili aiotaan sulkea esimerkiksi tekijänoikeusrikkomuksen vuoksi.

Kriittinen haavoittuvuus Qlik Sense -tuotteessa
Kriittiseksi luokiteltu haavoittuvuus Qlik Sense -tuotteessa mahdollistaa hyökkääjälle oikeuksien korottamisen sekä mielivaltaisen koodin suorittamisen Qlik Sensen arkiston (repository) taustapalvelimella. Kyberturvallisuuskeskus varoittaa haavoittuvuudesta nyt, sillä kiristyshaittaohjelmatoimijan on havaittu hyväksikäyttävän sitä.

Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus - 47/2023
Tällä viikolla kerromme mm. liikkeellä olevista Signal- ja Telegram-huijausviesteistä sekä siitä, miten Kelan nimissä lähetetään aktiivisesti huijaustekstiviestejä.

Kriittinen haavoittuvuus ownCloud -tuotteessa
ownCloud-tiedostonjako-ohjelmiston valmistaja on ilmoittanut tuotteessa havaitusta kriittisestä haavoittuvuudesta. Haavoittuvuus mahdollistaa hyökkääjälle pääsyn järjestelmässä olevaan osoitteeseen, josta saa luettua arkaluonteista tietoa.

Osallistu verkkotilaisuuteen EU:n uusista rahoitushauista kyberturvallisuussektorille
Kyberturvallisuussektorin osaamisen kehittämiseen on avautumassa uusia Euroopan komission rahoitushakuja. Hakujen yhteenlaskettu arvo on 46 miljoonaa euroa. Komissio esittelee hakuja 12.12.2023 verkkotilaisuudessa, johon hauista kiinnostuneet voivat osallistua. Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen kansallinen koordinointikeskus (NCC-FI) tukee suomalaisia hakijoita hakemusvalmistelussa ja konsortion muodostamisessa.

Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus - 46/2023
Tällä viikolla kerromme kiristyshaittaohjelmien uusista tuulista ja tilanteesta kotimaassa. Muistutamme myös virheellisestä oletuskonfiguraatiosta suositussa ServiceNow-alustassa.

Tietoturvan kehittämisen tukea 24 yritykselle - enintään 100 000 euron tuet jaettiin loppuun
Tietoturvan kehittämisen tuen enintään 100 000 euron tukina myönnettäväksi varattu 2 miljoonan euron määräraha on nyt myönnetty kokonaan. Tukea myönnettiin lopulta 24 yritykselle, kun kaiken kaikkiaan enintään 100 000 euron tukea haki 150 yritystä. Suuri määrä tukea hakeneista yrityksistä jäi siten ilman tukea. Liikenne- ja viestintävirasto Traficom tulee antamaan kyseisille yrityksille vielä erillisen päätöksen asiassa.

Kiristyshaittaohjelmissa uusia toimijoita ja toimintatapoja
Kuluneen vuoden aikana eri kiristyshaittaohjelmat ovat levinneet yhä nopeammin ympäri maailmaa. Myös kiristyshaittaohjelmien variaatiot sekä toimijoiden määrä ovat kasvaneet.

Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus - 45/2023
Tällä viikolla kerromme muun muassa Microsoft 365 -tietomurtoaallon varoituksen päättymisestä, sekä OnniTV:llä esitettävästä Turvallisesti netissä -sarjastamme.

Lokakuun kybersäässä myrskysi monella rintamalla
Lokakuun kybersää oli myrskyvoittoinen. Erityisesti myrskyisyyttä selittää lokakuussa julkaistu vakava varoitus 1/2023, jossa varoitettiin Microsoft 365 -tietojenkalastelu- sekä tietomurtoaallosta. Aalto poiki Suomessa satoja ilmoituksia sähköpostitilimurroista. Lisäksi lokakuussa julkaistiin useita kriittisiä haavoittuvuuksia, joista monia oli myös käytetty jo hyväksi.

Microsoft 365 -tietomurtoaallosta kertova varoitus on poistettu
Suomalaisten organisaatioiden sähköpostitilejä kaapannut tietojenkalastelukampanja on hiipunut, ja ilmoitusmäärät Microsoft 365 -tilimurroista ovat kääntyneet laskuun. Vastaavia laajoja tietojenkalastelu- ja tietomurtokampanjoita nähtäneen tulevaisuudessakin, mutta tällä hetkellä syytä varoitukseen ei ole.

Kriittisiä haavoittuvuuksia Veeam ONE -ohjelmistossa
Veeam on ilmoittanut kahdesta kriittisestä haavoittuvuudesta Veeam ONE ohjelmistossa. Ensimmäinen haavoittuvuus (CVE-2023-38547) mahdollistaa koodin etäsuorittamiseen Veeam ONE -ohjelmiston asetustietokantanaan käyttämällä SQL-palvelimella. Toisessa haavoittuvuudessa (CVE-2023-38548) hyökkääjän on mahdollista saada käyttöönsä Veeam ONE -raportointipalvelussa käytetyn tilin NTLM-tiivisteen (hash). Haavoittuvat Veeam-versiot ovat Veeam ONE 11, 11a ja 12. Haavoittuvuuksiin on saatavilla korjaava päivitys.

Kriittisiä haavoittuvuuksia QNAP NAS -laitteissa
QNAP on julkaissut korjaavia ohjelmistopäivityksiä kahteen kriittiseen haavoittuvuuteen. Haavoittuvuudet mahdollistavat hyökkääjälle haavoittuvan järjestelmän etäkäytön. Ylläpitäjiä suositellaan asentamaan korjaava ohjelmistopäivitys mahdollisimman pian.

F5 BIG-IP tuotteissa kriittinen haavoittuvuus - Hyväksikäyttöä havaittu
F5 on julkaissut päivitykset kahteen haavoittuvuuteen CVE-2023-46747 ja CVE-2023-46748, joiden avulla hyökkääjä voi suorittaa etänä komentoja järjestelmässä. Toinen haavoittuvuuksista on luokiteltu kriittiseksi. F5 suosittelee haavoittuvien järjestelmien päivittämistä.

Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus - 44/2023
Tällä viikolla kerromme vuokra- ja vastikerahojen perässä olevasta huijauskampanjasta sekä ServiceNow-alustassa havaitusta virhekonfiguraatiosta, joka on altistanut organisaatioita tietovuodoille. Muina aiheina ovat Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen tulevaisuuten keskittyvä teemakuukausi sekä Digi- ja väestötietoviraston Taisto-harjoitus.

Virheellinen oletuskonfiguraatio ServiceNow -alustalla mahdollistaa tietovuodon
ServiceNow ilmoitti noin viikko sitten tukisivustollaan, että alustan virheelliset konfiguraatiot voivat mahdollistaa arkaluonteisen tiedon vuotamisen. Kyseinen tietoturva-aukko on palvelua käyttäville organisaatioille kriittinen huolenaihe, sillä se voi johtaa arkaluonteisten yritystietojen merkittävään tietovuotoon. Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksella on tiedossa tapauksia, joissa tätä tietoturva-aukkoa on hyödynnetty.

Kriittinen etäkäytön mahdollistava haavoittuvuus Apache ActiveMQ tuotteessa
Apache on julkaissut korjaavan ohjelmistopäivityksen ActiveMQ tuotteesta löytyneeseen etäkäytön mahdollistavaan haavoittuvuuteen. Ylläpitäjiä suositellaan asentamaan korjaava ohjelmistopäivitys mahdollisimman pian.

Kriittinen haavoittuvuus Atlassian Confluence -tuotteissa - Hyväksikäyttöä havaittu
Atlassian Confluence Data Center ja Server tuotteiden paikallisesti asennetuissa versioissa on havaittu kriittinen virheelliseen valtuuttamiseen liittyvä haavoittuvuus. Atlassian suosittelee asentamaan päivitykset välittömästi tai rajoittamaan haavoittuvuuden hyväksikäyttömahdollisuuksia estämällä palvelun näkyvyys julkiseen verkkoon. Haavoittuvuutta on hyväksikäytetty.

Euroopan kyberturvallisuuskuukauden teemana on sosiaalinen manipulointi
Internetissä kohtaamamme henkilöt voivat olla myös aivan muuta kuin mitä he väittävät. Henkilöt ja henkilöllisyydet voivat olla tekaistuja, digitaalisin keinoin muunneltuja tai siellä voidaan esiintyä sinulle tuttuna henkilönä, vaikkapa äitinäsi. Meitä yritetään huijata sosiaalisen manipuloinnin keinoin. Se on Euroopan tietoturvakuukauden teema tänä vuonna. Esittelemme vinkkejä ja neuvoja, miten sinä voi suojautua sosiaaliselta manipuloinnilta.

Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus - 43/2023
Tällä viikolla kertaamme Microsoft 365 -tilien tietomurtoaallon tilannetta, sekä kerromme tietomurtojen aallosta haavoittuvissa Ciscon verkkolaitteissa. Lisäksi muistutamme, että Tietoturva 2023 -seminaarin sekä Ketjutonttu-kampanjan tuloskatsauswebinaarin tallenteet ja aineistot ovat saatavilla verkkosivuillamme.

Tietoturva 2023 -seminaarissa katsottiin tietoturvan tulevaisuuteen
Tietoturva 2023 -seminaari pidettiin torstaina 12.10.2023 Helsingissä sekä verkossa. Seminaarin teemana oli tänä vuonna kyberturvallisuuden ja -uhkien tulevaisuus. Erityisesti tekoäly ja toimitusketjut nousivat puheeksi monessa eri puheenvuorossa.

Keltainen varoitus: Tietojenkalastelun seurauksena Microsoft 365 -tilien tietomurtoaalto
Rikolliset kalastelevat väärennetyillä sähköpostiviesteillä Microsoft 365 -ympäristön salasanoja. Tietojenkalastelulla saatujen käyttäjätunnusten ja salasanojen avulla rikollisten on mahdollista murtautua M365-tilille. Kalasteluviestejä ja uusia tilimurtoja on kuluvalla viikolla raportoitu kymmenistä suomalaisista organisaatioista. Kalastelukampanja leviää organisaatiosta toiseen hyödyntämällä murrettujen käyttäjätilien yhteystietolistoja.

Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus - 42/2023
Tällä viikolla kerromme Microsoft 365 -tilien tietomurtoaallosta ja annamme ohjeita kotiverkon ja reitittimien suojaamiseen.

Tietomurtoaalto leviää organisaatiosta toiseen – katkaise tietojenkalastelu
Suomalaisten organisaatioiden sähköpostitilejä kaapataan laajalle levinneen tietojenkalastelukampanjan avulla. Rikolliset ovat kalastelleet yritysten työntekijöiden käyttäjätunnuksia ja salasanoja sähköpostitse ja huijaussivujen avulla, sekä kirjautuneet saamillaan tunnuksilla Microsoft 365 -sähköpostijärjestelmiin. Kaapattuja tilejä käytetään uusien tietojenkalasteluviestien lähettämiseen sekä sisäisesti että muihin organisaatioihin.

Kriittistä Citrix Netscaler ja ADC -haavoittuvuutta käytetty hyväksi
Citrix julkaisi 10.10.2023 päivityksen haavoittuvuuteen CVE-2023-4966, jota on hyväksikäytetty jo elokuusta asti. Organisaatioiden tulee päivittää tuote viimeistään nyt ja tarkastaa, ettei hyväksikäyttöä ole tapahtunut.

Miten ohjelmistokehityksen turvallisuutta voidaan kehittää? Tuore selvitys kartoitti ohjelmistokehityksen nykytilaa ja kehittämistarpeita
Mikä on ohjelmistokehityksen turvallisuuden taso Suomessa tänään? Miten turvallista ohjelmistokehitystä ja ohjelmiston hankintaa voidaan kehittää kansallisella tasolla? Muun muassa näitä kysymyksiä tarkastellaan Traficomin ja Huoltovarmuuskeskuksen tuoreessa selvityksessä.

Osaamisyhteisö ja yhteistyö kansallisen koordinointikeskuksen ensimmäisen toimintavuoden toiminnan keskiössä
Liikenne- ja viestintävirastossa sijaitsevaan Kyberturvallisuuskeskukseen perustettiin tämän vuoden alussa uusi Kyberturvallisuuden tutkimuksen, kehityksen ja innovaatioiden Suomen kansallinen koordinointikeskus (National Coordination Centre Finland, NCC-FI ), jonka tehtävänä on luoda edellytyksiä suomalaiselle kyberturvallisuustoimialalle, kuten yrityksille, korkeakouluille ja tutkimuslaitoksille osallistua kansainväliseen tutkimus- ja kehitystoimintaan. Ensimmäinen toimintavuotemme alkaa olemaan muutamaa kuukautta vaille valmis, joten on hyvä aika pysähtyä ja tehdä yleiskatsaus kansallisen koordinointikeskuksen työntäyteiseen vuoteen.

Cisco IOS XE ohjelmiston web-käyttöliittymässä käyttöoikeuksien laajentamisen mahdollistava haavoittuvuus
Cisco julkaisi tiedotteen haavoittuvuudesta CVE-2023-20198, joka vaikuttaa Cisco IOS XE -ohjelmiston web-käyttöliittymään. Hyökkääjä voi käyttää haavoittuvuutta hyväkseen saadakseen haavoittuvan laitteen hallintaansa. Päivitys 23.10.2023: Tiedotteeseen lisätty myös järjestelmätason pääsyn mahdollistava haavoittuvuus CVE-2023-20273. Osaan IOS XE -järjestelmäversioista on saatavilla korjaukset.

Kansallisen koordinointikeskuksen rahoitustuki kannustaa pk-yrityksiä kyberturvallisuuden vahvistamisessa
Kansallisen koordinointikeskuksen ensimmäinen rahoitustukihaku pk-yritysten kyberturvallisuusprojekteille päättyi 16.8.2023. Vastaa palautekyselyyn ja vaikuta seuraaviin rahoitustukihakuihin! Seuraava rahoitustukihaku pk-yrityksille järjestetään alkuvuodesta 2024.

Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus - 41/2023
Tällä viikolla kerromme mm. Suomeen kohdistuneista palvelunestohyökkäyksistä, sekä Veron nimissä tapahtuvasta pankkitunnuskalastelusta.

Tietoturvan suunnannäyttäjä -tunnustus Keski-Uudenmaan koulutuskuntayhtymä Keudalle
Liikenne- ja viestintävirasto Traficomin jakaman Tietoturvan suunnannäyttäjä -tunnustuksen sai tänä vuonna Keski-Uudenmaan koulutuskuntayhtymä Keuda. Tunnustuksen perusteluissa Keudaa kiitettiin muun muassa avoimesta viestinnästä, sen jouduttua marraskuussa 2022 kiristyshaittaohjelmalla tehdyn verkkohyökkäyksen kohteeksi.

Syyskuun Kybersäässä sateisuutta aiheuttivat huijauspuhelut sekä palvelunestohyökkäykset
Syyskuu oli huijauspuhelujen sekä palvelunestohyökkäysten värittämä. Väärennetyistä numeroista soitettuja huijauspuheluja ilmoitettiin jopa ennätysmäärä ennen lokakuun alussa voimaantullutta Traficomin määräystä. Kuukauden valonpilkahduksena olivat vähentyneet ilmoitusmäärät tietomurroista, tietomurron yrityksistä ja tietovuodoista.

Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus - 40/2023
Tällä viikolla kerromme täysimääräisesti voimaantulleesta Traficomin määräyksestä, joka on antanut teleoperaattoreille uudet velvoitteet soittajan puhelinnumeron väärentämisen estämiseksi. Muina aiheina ovat QR-koodipohjaiset kalasteluviestit, NIS2-direktiivin kansallisen toimeenpanon eteneminen sekä onnistunut Ketjutonttu-kampanja.

Atlassian Confluence -tuotteissa kriittinen haavoittuvuus
Atlassian Confluence Data Center ja Server tuotteissa on havaittu kriittinen käyttöoikeuksien korottamisen mahdollistava haavoittuvuus. Haavoittuvuutta on Atlassianin tietojen mukaan havaittu jo hyväksikäytettävän rajatun asiakasjoukon piirissä. Atlassian suosittelee asentamaan päivitykset välittömästi tai rajoittamaan haavoittuvuuden hyväksikäyttömahdollisuuksia rajaamalla palvelun näkyvyyttä julkiseen verkkoon.

Lokakuussa esittelemme tietoturvan tekijöitämme kyberilmiöiden takana - sarjan ensimmäinen video julkaistu!
Ehkä sinäkin olet joutunut joko tietämättäsi tai tietoisesti kyberhyökkäyksen kohteeksi. Ne ovat voineet näkyä outoina viesteinä, puheluina tai häiriöinä palveluiden saatavuudessa ja toimivuudessa. Traficomin Kyberturvallisuuskeskus selvittää ja torjuu kyberhäiriöitä yhteistyössä muiden viranomaisten ja organisaatioiden kanssa. Päätimme avata muutamia viimeaikaisia kybertapahtumia tietoturva-asiantuntijoiden silmin ja videon keinoin. Näillä videoilla haluamme valottaa, mitä kyberhäiriöt ovat ja miten tietoturva-asiantuntijat ottavat niistä niskalenkin, usein yhteistyössä muiden toimijoiden kanssa.

Kampanja tunnisti ja korjasi toimitusketjuihin liittyviä kyberriskejä
Traficomin Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen Ketjutonttu-kampanja paransi suomalaisen yrityskentän tietoturvaa tunnistamalla ja korjaamalla riskejä niiden toimitusketjuissa. Huoltovarmuuskeskuksen Digitaalinen turvallisuus 2030 -ohjelmasta rahoitettuun kampanjaan osallistui 150 organisaatiota ja yritystä.

Traficomin määräys lopettaa suomalaisiksi naamioidut valepuhelut lähes kokonaan
Huijaussoittojen estämistä on taklattu viranomaisten ja teleoperaattorien tiiviillä yhteistyöllä. Lokakuun alussa voimaan tulleella Traficomin määräyksellä teleoperaattorit velvoitetaan torjumaan yhä paremmin ulkomailta tulevia, mutta suomalaisiksi naamioituja puheluita, myös mobiilinumeroiden osalta. Soittojen suodatus on nyt käytössä kaikilla suomalaisilla, ulkomailta liikennettä vastaanottavilla teleoperaattoreilla. Työ puhelinnumeroita käyttävien huijausten estämiseksi jatkuu - Traficomissa on valmisteilla määräys, jonka avulla torjutaan tekstiviestihuijauksia.

Exim julkaisi korjauksia useisiin vakaviin haavoittuvuuksiin
Exim sähköpostin välitysohjelmistossa (Mail transfer agent - MTA) raportoitiin kuusi kappaletta nollapäivähaavoittuvuuksia Zero Day Initiative (ZDI) julkaisemana 27.9.2023. Tuolloin ohjelmiston kehittäjät eivät olleet vielä julkaisseet haavoittuvuuksiin liittyen mitään tiedotetta tai tarkempia tietoa haavoittuvuuksista eikä niiden hyväksikäytön estämisestä. 1.10.2023 Exim julkaisi tiedotteen haavoittuvuuksista sivuillaan, jossa kerrottiin aikataulu korjausten julkaisulle 2.10.2023 klo 15:00 sekä hyväksikäytön rajoituskeinoja.

Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus - 39/2023
Tällä viikolla pankkiasiakkaita on yritetty huijata tuhansilla kalasteluviesteillä. Huijausviestien tarkoituksena on saada asiakkaita syöttämään pankkitunnuksensa huijarien tekemille valesivuille. Lisäksi annamme arvokkaita toimintaohjeita pilviympäristön poikkeamanhallintaan.

Vakava haavoittuvuus libwebp-kirjastossa
Google on julkaissut haavoittuvuuden (CVE-2023-4863) libwebp-ohjelmistokirjastossa. Haavoittuvuus mahdollistaa mielivaltaisen koodin suorittamisen käyttäjän tietokoneessa, jos haavoittuvaa kirjastoa käyttävällä selaimella lataa haitallisen verkkosivun. Google on arvioinut haavoittuvuuden vakavuudeksi (CVSS) täydet 10 pistettä.

Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus - 38/2023
Tällä viikolla kerromme muun muassa haktivismista ja palvelunestohyökkäyksistä informaatiovaikuttamisen keinona. Lisäksi mukana on tietoa Ketjutonttu-kampanjan tulevasta tuloskatsauswebinaarista.

Useita haavoittuvuuksia Applen tuotteissa
Useissa Applen tuotteissa sekä Safari verkkoselaimessa on korjattu kriittisiä haavoittuvuuksia. Haavoittuvuudet korjaavat päivitykset on suositeltavaa asentaa välittömästi, sillä haavoittuvuuksien hyväksikäyttöä on jo havaittu maailmalla.

Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus - 37/2023
Tällä viikolla kerromme aktiivisesta huijauspuhelukampanjasta, josta olemme saaneet lukuisia ilmoituksia kansalaisilta ja organisaatioista. Kerromme myös kiristyshaittaohjelmista ja kuntasektorille suunnatusta HYÖKY-palvelusta.

Tietomurrot ja tietojenkalastelu tekivät elokuun kybersäästä myrskyisän
Elokuussa kybersää oli jo syksyisen sateinen. Tietojenkalastelu oli hyvin vilkasta, ja Citrix Netscaler -haavoittuvuus johti useisiin tietomurtoihin Suomessa. Haavoittuvuuden hyödyntäminen vaikutti olleen nopeaa ja automatisoitua. Päivitykset olisikin hyvä asentaa mahdollisimman nopeasti aina kun niitä tarjotaan.

Traficomin Kyberturvallisuuskeskus tukee kuntien kyberturvallisuuden parantamista
Kunnilla on keskeinen rooli ja tehtävä erilaisten julkisten palveluiden tuottamisessa. Kuntien tietoverkoissa käsitellään ja hallinnoidaan suurta määrää erilaista tietoa. Mitä enemmän yhteiskunnan palvelut digitalisoituvat, sitä tärkeämpää on kiinnittää huomiota sähköisten palveluiden, tietoverkkojen ja -varantojen kyberturvallisuuteen. Tärkein tietoturvateko on tiedostaa, mikä on organisaation nykyinen tietoturvallisuuden taso. Mitä tulisi kehittää? Tämän jälkeen pitäisi myös viedä läpi tarvittavat kehitystoimet.

Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus - 36/2023
Tällä viikolla Traficom sai osansa palvelunestohyökkäyksistä, mikä aiheutti palveluiden toimintaan lyhyen katkon. Kerromme myös Postin nimissä lähetetyistä huijausviesteistä.

Syyskuun teemakuukausi: Tietoturvailmiöt tutuksi
Loppuvuoden aikana Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksessa vietetään teemakuukausia. Teemakuukausien sarjan käynnistää syyskuussa Tietoturvailmiöt tutuksi -teemakuukausi, jonka aikana tarjoamme arvokasta tietoa yleisimmistä tietoturvauhkista ja siitä, miten voit suojata itsesi verkossa. Jatka lukemista ja ota ensimmäinen askel kohti turvallisempaa digitaalista elämää!

Miten pyydän tietojeni poistamista Yango-taksipalvelulta?
Oletko käyttänyt Yango-taksipalvelua ja toivot että Yango poistaisi palvelimiltaan itsestäsi kertyneet tiedot? Tiesitkö, että voit pyytää tietojen poistoa suoraan Yangolta EU:n tietosuoja-asetuksen (ns. GDPR) nojalla.

Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus - 35/2023
Tällä viikolla muistutamme nopean reagoinnin tärkeydestä tietoturvapoikkeamatilanteessa. Esimerkiksi tietojenkalasteluun langetessa vakavat vahingot on vielä mahdollista estää nopeilla toimilla. Kerromme myös romanssipetoksista ja varoitamme veronpalautusaiheisista huijauksista.

Kriittisiä haavoittuvuuksia VMware Aria Operations for Networks -ohjelmistossa
VMware on julkaissut päivityksen, joka korjaa kaksi kriittistä haavoittuvuutta Aria Operations for Networks -ohjelmassa. Haavoittuvuuksien ansiosta hyökkääjät voivat ohittaa todennuksen ja saada koodin etäsuorittamisen korjaamattomissa laitteissa.

Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus - 34/2023
Aggressiivinen tunnusten kalastelu piinaa sähköpostin käyttäjiä. Olkaa valppaina! Hälytyskellojen pitäisi soida, jos turvaposti-linkin takana kysellään erikseen käyttäjätunnusta ja salasanaa.

Kriittinen haavoittuvuus Juniperin Junos OS-järjestelmää käyttävissä SRX- ja EX-sarjan laitteissa
Juniper on julkaissut normaalista päivitystahdista poikkeavan turvallisuuspäivityksen SRX- ja EX-sarjan laitteilleen. Päivitys korjaa mainituilla laitteilla Junos OS-järjestelmässä havaitun ongelman, jossa neljää eri haavoittuvuutta ketjuttamalla hyökkääjä voi suorittaa laitteella verkon yli mielivaltaista koodia ilman kirjautumista. Päivitys on syytä suorittaa välittömästi.

Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus - 33/2023
Kuluvan kesän aikana on tullut julki useita kriittisiä ohjelmistohaavoittuvuuksia. Onhan organisaatiossasi huolehdittu järjestelmien päivittämisestä myös lomien aikana?

Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus - 32/2023
Viime aikoina huijaussivustoja on rekisteröity myös Suomen kansalliseen .fi-verkkotunnukseen. Sivustoilla pyritään .fi-verkkotunnuksen mainetta hyväksikäyttämällä kalastelemaan ihmisten verkkopankkitunnuksia.

Heinäkuun kybersäässä haavoittuvuudet aiheuttivat sateisuutta
Kyberrikolliset eivät lomaile, joten heinäkuussakin nähtiin monenlaisia tapahtumia tietoturvan maailmassa. Esimerkiksi viime kuun aikana julkaistiin useita kriittisiä haavoittuvuuksia. Myös pankkitunnuksia kalasteltiin ahkerasti suomi.fi-viranomaispalvelun sekä pankkien nimissä.

Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus - 31/2023
Huijausviestejä on viime viikkoina ollut liikkeellä mm. Suomi.fi-palvelun ja Osuuspankin nimissä. Myös turvapostiksi naamioitujen sähköpostiviestien kanssa kannattaa olla tarkkana.

Uusi työkalu helpottaa kyberharjoituksen suunnittelua
Olitpa suunnittelemassa kyberharjoitusta ensimmäistä kertaa tai jo harjoittelun konkari, Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen uusi harjoituksen suunnittelun työkalu auttaa muotoilemaan organisaatiollenne tarkoituksenmukaisen ja toimivan kyberharjoituksen.

Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus - 30/2023
Tällä viikolla kerromme Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen ajankohtaisten ohjelmistohaavoittuvuuksien kartoitustyöstä ja edelleen aktiivisista sosiaalisen median tilimurroista.

Useita kriittisiä haavoittuvuuksia Applen tuotteissa
Useissa Applen tuotteissa sekä Safari verkkoselaimessa on korjattu kriittisiä haavoittuvuuksia. Haavoittuvuudet korjaavat päivitykset on suositeltavaa asentaa välittömästi, sillä haavoittuvuuksien hyväksikäyttöä on jo havaittu maailmalla.

Kriittinen haavoittuvuus Ivanti Endpoint Manager Mobile (MobileIron Core) -tuotteessa
Ivanti on julkaissut Endpoint Manager Mobile -tuotteeseen päivityksiä, joilla korjataan kriittinen haavoittuvuus (CVE-2023-35078). Haavoittuvuutta hyväksikäyttämällä hyökkääjä voi päästä käsiksi järjestelmässä oleviin tietoihin ja tehdä joitakin muutoksia järjestelmään. Haavoittuvuuden hyväksikäyttöä on jo havaittu. Ivanti suosittelee järjestelmän päivittämistä välittömästi.

Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus - 29/2023
Tällä viikolla kerromme USB-tikkujen avulla levitettävistä haittaohjelmista ja lisäksi kesäkuun Kybersäästä, annamme vinkkejä puhelimen tietoturvalliseen käyttöön sekä tietoturvalliseen kesään.

Kyberrikolliset eivät lomaile - Vinkit tietoturvalliseen kesään
Kesä on monelle meistä rentoutumisen ja henkisten akkujen lataamisen aikaa. Kun hyvät tietoturvataidot ovat osa arkisia rutiineja, ei kesäiltoja tarvitse käyttää salasanoista ja päivityksistä huolehtimiseen.

Kriittinen haavoittuvuus Citrix Netscaler Gateway ja ADC -ohjelmistoissa
Citrix on julkaissut tietoturvapäivityksiä korjatakseen yhden kriittisen (CVE-2023-3519) ja kaksi vakavaa haavoittuvuutta Citrix Netscaler ADC - ja Gateway -tuotteissaan. Citrix kehottaa kyseisten tuotteiden järjestelmänvalvojia päivittämään tuotteiden ohjelmistoversiot uusimpiin versioihin viipymättä. Haavoittuvuuksien hyväksikäyttöä on jo havaittu.

Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus - 28/2023
Tällä viikolla kerromme kyberturvallisuustilanteesta Nato-huippukokousviikolla ja siitä, miten haittaohjelmatartunnat ovat yhä yleisempiä.

Kesäkuun kybersäässä nähtiin kesäsateita usealla rintamalla
Kesäkuun kybersää oli sateinen. Ilmoitukset sometilien murroista ovat jatkuneet korkealla tasolla. Tietojenkalastelussa käytetään yhä useammin hyväksi QR-koodien taakse laitettuja tietojenkalastelusivuja. Valonpilkahduksiakin kuitenkin mahtui joukkoon esimerkiksi pk-yrityksille suunnatun rahoitushaun auettua.

Haittaohjelmatartunnat ovat yhä yleisempiä
Haittaohjelmia ovat esimerkiksi erilaiset madot, virukset, sekä vakoilu- ja kiristysohjelmat. Rikolliset keksivät jatkuvasti uusia tapoja tartuttaa laitteita haittaohjelmilla ja kätkeä niiden haitallisuus. Haittaohjelmaa voi olla vaikea havaita, ennen kuin tartunta on jo tapahtunut.

Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus - 27/2023
Tällä viikolla kerromme tietojenkalastelun tuoreesta ilmiöstä, jossa QR-koodia käytetään kalastelun toteutuksessa. Lue myös, miten rikolliset hyödyntävät elektronista SIM-korttia huijauksissaan.

QR-koodin käyttö tietojenkalastelussa yleistyy
QR-koodien käyttö lisääntyi koronapandemian aikana, kun esimerkiksi monet ravintolat ja yritykset pyrkivät vähentämään kontakteja. Samalla QR-koodien käyttö on yleistynyt myös huijauksissa.

Elektroninen SIM tarjoaa uuden hyökkäysvektorin rikollisille
SIM-kortin vaihtaminen puhelimesta toiseen on helppoa ja mutkatonta. Valitettavasti myös rikolliset osaavat hyödyntää tätä ominaisuutta.

Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus - 26/2023
Toimitusjohtajahuijaukset aktivoituvat erityisesti kesällä. Microsoft 365 -tilejä on murrettu aktiivisesti viime kuukausina. Kirjoitimme uuden ohjeen, jotta tilin turvaaminen olisi entistäkin helpompaa.

Kriittinen haavoittuvuus FortiNAC -tuotteessa
Fortinetin on julkaissut FortiNAC -tuotteeseen päivityksen, jotka korjaavat kriittiseksi luokitellun haavoittuvuuden. Haavoittuvuutta hyväksikäyttämällä hyökkääjä voi suorittaa mielivaltaisia komentoja tai koodia tcp/1050 palveluun erityisesti muodostetun pyynnön kautta. Fortinet suosittelee päivittämään haavoittuvat tuotteet pikaisesti.

Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus - 25/2023
Tietojenkalastelu- ja huijausviestit kehittyvät jatkuvasti. Arviomme mukaan noin sadan organisaation sähköpostitilejä on murrettu onnistuneesti lähikuukausien aikana. Tällä viikolla muistutamme myös verkkolaitteiden päivittämisen tärkeydestä.

Tietojenkalastelu- ja huijausviestien kanssa tulee olla yhä tarkempi
Tietojenkalastelu- ja huijausviestit kehittyvät jatkuvasti. Erilaiset teknologiat, kuten koneoppiminen ja tekoäly sekä psykologiset keinot auttavat rikollisia pyrkimyksissään voittaa uhrin luottamus. Kalastelukampanjat tuottavatkin jatkuvasti tulosta rikollisille ja Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen arvion mukaan noin sadan organisaation sähköpostitilejä on murrettu onnistuneesti lähikuukausien aikana.

Zyxel korjasi kriittisen haavoittuvuuden verkkolevyasemissaan (NAS)
Verkkolaitevalmistaja Zyxel julkaisi korjaavat päivitykset kriittisiin haavoihin verkkolevyasemissa (NAS). Kyberturvallisuuskeskus suosittelee omistajia päivittämään kyseiset laitteet välittömästi.

Rahoitustukihaku pk-yrityksille modernien kyberturvallisuusratkaisujen käyttöönottoon on avattu
Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen Kansallinen koordinointikeskus (NCC-FI) on avannut ensimmäisen rahoitustukihakunsa modernien kyberturvallisuusratkaisujen ja -innovaatioiden käyttöönottoon pk-yrityksissä. Rahoitustuella vahvistetaan ensisijaisesti pk-yritysten omia valmiuksia sekä Suomen kansallista kapasiteettia ja infrastruktuuria kyberhyökkäyksiltä suojautumiseen. Tukea voivat hakea Suomeen rekisteröidyt pienet ja keskisuuret yritykset. Haku on auki 16.6.–16.8.2023 klo 16:15.

Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus - 24/2023
Tällä viikolla kerromme kiristyshaittaohjelmien kehittyvistä trendeistä ja muistutamme kyberturvallisuuden huomioimisesta myös alkaneella lomakaudella. Yhä useammin kiristyshaittaohjelmat kohdistuvat palautumisen mahdollistaviin varmuuskopioihin, ja tietojen salaamisen lisäksi hyökkääjät kiristävät varastetun tiedon julkaisulla.

Kyberturvallisuuskeskus CVE-tunnisteita jakavaksi CNA-toimijaksi
Kyberturvallisuuskeskus on hyväksytty haavoittuvuuksille CVE (Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures) -tunnisteita jakavaksi CNA-toimijaksi (CVE Numbering Authority).

Kriittinen haavoittuvuus Fortinetin FortiOS ja FortiProxy -ohjelmistoissa
Fortinetin FG-IR-23-097 päivitys korjaa kriittisen haavoittuvuuden FortiOS ja FortiProxy -ohjelmistojen SSL-VPN -komponentissa. Muistin käsittelyyn liittyvää kriittistä haavoittuvuutta hyväksikäyttämällä hyökkääjä voi suorittaa mielivaltaisia komentoja kohdelaitteella. Fortinet suosittelee päivittämään haavoittuvat ohjelmistot pikaisesti.

Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus - 23/2023
Kesäkuun toisessa viikkokatsauksessa kerromme ikäviä uutisia väärennetyistä puhelinnumeroista, saastutetuista verkkopeleistä ja rikotuista palomuureista. Onneksi hyviäkin asioita tapahtuu: Keskusrikospoliisi ja Lounais-Suomen poliisilaitos ovat saaneet valmiiksi verkkopankkipetoksiin liittyvän esitutkinnan.

Toukokuun kybersäässä sosiaalisen median tilimurrot aiheuttivat salamointia
Toukokuun kybersää oli huijauspuhelujen ja erilaisten haavoittuvuuksien myötä sateinen. Myös myrskyä oli ilmassa, kun ilmoitusmäärät sosiaalisen median tilien murroista kasvoivat merkittävästi. Toukokuun kybersään pitkän aikavälin tarkastelussa on vuorossa puolijohdepula.

Post-Quantum Crypto -aikaan valmistautuminen on käynnissä myös Suomessa
Yhdysvaltalainen matemaatikko Peter Shor esitti vuonna 1994 kvanttitietokoneille algoritmin, jolla voidaan tehokkaasti jakaa isoja kokonaislukuja tekijöihinsä. Kvanttitietokoneiden kehitys on kovassa vauhdissa ja kun riittävän tehokas kvanttitietokone saadaan rakennettua, voidaan Shorin algoritmia käyttäen murtaa nykyiset julkisen avaimen salausalgoritmit, jotka ovat välttämättömiä mm. internetin turvalliselle toiminnalle.

Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus - 22/2023
Tällä viikolla kerromme eri pankkien nimissä tapahtuvasta kalastelusta sekä sähköpostien mukana leviävistä haittaohjelmista. Muistutamme myös, mitä on hyvä ottaa huomioon, kun lapsi saa ensimmäisen älylaitteensa.

VISA OTP palvelinten päivitys ke 31.5. klo 9:30-16

Kybermittarista apua kyberturvallisuusriskien hahmottamiseen
Kybermittarin uutta versiota on kehitetty käyttäjiltä saadun palautteen perusteella. Kybermittarin uusi versio sekä uudet tukimateriaalit ovat saatavilla Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen verkkosivuilla. Ilmoittaudu kesän ja syksyn esittely- ja koulutustapahtumiin!

Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus - 21/2023
Tällä viikolla kerromme Facebookissa laajalle levinneestä huijauksesta, jossa tilejä kaapataan tekaistun rahapalkinnon verukkeella. Muina aiheina ovat uudet ylätason verkkopäätetunnukset ja Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen asiantuntijat Disobey hakkeritapahtumassa.

Kriittinen haavoittuvuus GitLabin Community Edition ja Enterprise Edition tuotteissa
GitLab on julkaissut päivityksen Community Edition (CE) ja Enterprise Edition (EE) tuotteissa olevaan kriittiseen haavoittuvuuteen. Korjaava versiopäivitys kannattaa asentaa mahdollisimman pian.

Kriittisiä haavoittuvuuksia Zyxelin palomuurituotteissa - Hyväksikäytöstä viitteitä
Zyxel on julkaissut korjauspäivitykset kahteen kriittiseen haavoittuvuuteen. Haavoittuvuudet koskevat useita Zyxelin palomuurituoteperheitä. Korjaavat päivitykset kannattaa asentaa haavoittuviin tuotteisiin mahdollisimman pian.

Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus - 20/2023
Tällä viikolla kerromme palvelunestohyökkäystilanteesta ja neuvomme teollisuusorganisaatioita suojautumaan kyberpoikkeamilta. Huoltovarmuuskeskus on julkaissut oppaan pilvipalveluihin liittyen.

Teollisuuden järjestelmätoimittajaan kohdistunut tietomurto edellyttää myös sen asiakkailta ripeitä toimenpiteitä
Organisaatioiden varautumisen tulee kattaa myös toimittajiin kohdistuvat poikkeamat. Pahimmillaan tärkeä toimittaja voi joutua kyberhyökkäyksen uhriksi, mikä vaatii pikaisia toimia myös asiakasorganisaatiossa.

Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus - 19/2023
Tällä viikolla kerromme turvapostiteemaisista kalasteluviesteistä ja vahvan sähköisen tunnistuksen uusista vaatimuksista. Tutustu myös huhtikuun kybersäähän ja päivitystiistain mukanaan tuomiin korjauspäivityksiin.

Sähköpostikalastelut ja huijauspuhelut toivat huhtikuun kybersäähän epävakautta
Huhtikuussa kybersäässä havaittiin sekä keväisiä auringon pilkahduksia että perinteisiä sateitakin. Sähköpostikalastelut ja huijauspuhelut toivat kybersäähän epävakautta, kun taas esimerkiksi haittaohjelmien osalta mennyt kuukausi oli edellistä valoisampi ilmoitusmäärän ollessa hieman pienempi kuin maaliskuussa. Tässä kybersäässä ovat mukana myös neljä kertaa vuodessa päivitettävät TOP5-uhat.

Vahvan sähköisen tunnistuksen uudet vaatimukset tekevät asioinnista entistä turvallisempaa
Liikenne- ja viestintäviraston määräys koskien vahvaa sähköistä tunnistusta ja luottamuspalveluita astuu täysimääräisinä voimaan kesäkuussa 2023. Uudessa määräyksessä on kaksi tärkeää kohtaa, jotka tekevät sähköisestä asioinnista entistä turvallisempaa.

Vahva sähköinen tunnistus uudistuu - tietoa asiointipalveluille
Liikenne- ja viestintäviraston määräys M72B koskien vahvaa sähköistä tunnistusta ja luottamuspalveluita astuu voimaan täysimääräisenä kesällä 2023. Uudistetussa määräyksessä on vaatimuksia, jotka heijastuvat myös asiointipalvelutoteutuksiin.

Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus - 18/2023
Tällä viikolla kerromme suomalaisesta huippukyberosaamisesta ja yhteistyöstä, joka pääsi lavalle eräässä maailman suurimmista tietoturvatapahtumista. Kokosimme yhteen myös ajankohtaiset huijaukset ja kalastelut.

Turvapostiteemaiset kalasteluviestit johtavat sähköpostitilimurtoihin
Kyberturvallisuuskeskus on vastaanottanut alkuvuonna merkittävän määrän ilmoituksia turvapostiteemaisista kalasteluviesteistä. Uusi kampanja käynnistyi aktiivisena huhtikuun puolivälissä ja murrettuja sähköpostitilejä on havaittu Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen tilastojen mukaan 20:ssa eri organisaatiossa. Turvapostiteemaisia kalasteluviestejä on lähetetty Suomessa huhtikuussa Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen arvion mukaan viisinumeroinen määrä. Monivaiheisen tunnistautumisen käyttöönotto on edelleen tehokas keino tilimurtojen estämiseen.

Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus - 17/2023
Tällä viikolla kerromme teknisen tuen huijauspuheluista ja suomi.fi-palvelun nimissä lähetetyistä kalasteluviesteistä.

Haavoittuvuuksien ilmoittamista helpottavaa käytäntöä ei vielä täysin hyödynnetä Suomessa
Miten saan tiedon, kun joku löytää haavoittuvuuden organisaationi verkkopalvelusta? Entä kuinka tiedän, kenelle ja miten ilmoitan löytämästäni haavoittuvuudesta? Kuinka organisaationi voi sopia haavoittuvuuden löytäjän kanssa yhteisistä pelisäännöistä, kun emme edes tunne toisiamme? Avuksi on ehdotettu käytäntöä, jossa yhteystiedot ja pelisäännöt julkaistaisiin aina samassa paikassa. Kyberturvallisuuskeskukselle tehdyssä opinnäytetyössä tutkittiin kyseistä käytäntöä. Artikkelissa on myös tutkimuksen tulosten valossa laadittuja neuvoja käyttöönottoon.

Kyberturvallisuuden uhkataso pysynyt kohonneena - kohdistettujen hyökkäysten määrä noussut
Suomalaisiin organisaatioihin kohdistuu nyt jatkuvasti kasvavaa kiinnostusta. Kyberhyökkäysten luonne on muuttunut. Erityisesti kohdistettujen kyberhyökkäysten määrä, joissa kohdeorganisaatio on tarkkaan valittu, on kasvanut. Tapausmäärän kasvusta huolimatta Traficom ja Suojelupoliisi pitävät yhteiskuntaa lamauttavaa kyberhyökkäystä epätodennäköisenä.

Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus - 16/2023
Tällä viikolla kerromme aktiivisesta turvapostiteemaisesta kalastelukampanjasta ja kyberuhkatason noususta Euroopassa.

Selvitämme ohjelmistoturvallisuuden tilaa - vastaa kyselyyn
Kyberturvallisuuskeskus kartoittaa ohjelmistoturvallisuuden tilaa Suomessa. Nykytilanteen kartoittamisen lisäksi toivomme tietoa kipukohteista ja hyvistä käytännöistä, joilla voisimme tukea yrityksiä ja muita organisaatioita.

Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus - 15/2023
Tällä viikolla kerromme mm. sosiaalisen median tilien tietomurroista sekä Microsoftin M365-käyttäjätilien tunnusten kalasteluista. Päivitystiistai toi mukanaan paljon päivityksiä - muistathan päivittää laitteesi!

Tietomurtojen ja huijausten määrät tekivät maaliskuun kybersäästä sateisen
Maaliskuun kybersää oli helmikuuta sateisempi. Tietomurtoilmoitusten noussut määrä ja alkukuun runsaat vuokranmaksuhuijausviestit toivat ilmaan pieniä myrskyn merkkejä. Vuoden alussa uudistuneessa kybersäässä on tässä kuussa mukana vuoden ensimmäisen kvartaalin päivitetyt tilastot huijausten, palvelunestohyökkäysten sekä Autoreporterin osalta.

Kriittisiä haavoittuvuuksia Applen tuotteissa - päivitä heti
Uusia ja kriittisiä päivityksiä Applen iOS, macOS Ventura, macOS Monterey, macOS Big sur ja iPadOS-laitteissa, sekä Safari verkkoselaimessa. Päivitykset tulee asentaa välittömästi, sillä hyväksikäyttöä on havaittu maailmalla.

Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus - 14/2023
Tällä viikolla kerromme suomalaisten puhelinnumeroiden väärentämisestä. Muistutamme myös, että palvelunestohyökkäyksistä ei kannata huolestua, sillä niiden vaikutukset jäävät usein vähäisiksi.

Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus - 13/2023
Tällä viikolla kerromme Hack and Leak -ilmiöstä sekä 3CXDesktopApp-videoneuvotteluohjelmistoon kohdistuneesta toimitusketjuhyökkäyksestä.

Toimitusketjuhyökkäys 3CXDesktopApp-videoneuvotteluohjelmistoon
Tietoturvayhtiöiden havaintojen mukaan maailmalla laajasti käytetyn 3CXDesktopApp-videoneuvotteluohjelman asennuspakettiin on ujutettu haitallista koodia, joka asentuu laitteelle ohjelmiston päivityksen tai asennuksen yhteydessä. Haitalliset ohjelmaversiot ovat Windows 3CX Desktop App 18.12.407 ja 18.12.416 sekä Mac 3CX Desktop App 18.11.1213, 18.12.402, 18.12.407 ja 18.12.416. Haitallisia versiopäivityksiä on ollut saatavilla maaliskuun 2023 aikana.

Hack and Leak -ilmiö yhdistää kyber- ja informaatiovaikuttamisen
Hack and Leak -ilmiöissä on kyse tapauksista, joissa hyökkääjän pyrkimyksenä on toteuttaa kohteelleen tietomurto ja tämän jälkeen varastaa ja hyödyntää uhrille kriittistä tietoa. Voidaan puhua niin sanotusta hybridihyökkäyksestä.

Varo, varmista, varoita -kampanja: Digihuijausten määrä kasvoi selvästi vuoden 2022 jälkipuoliskolla
Vuonna 2022 suomalaiset menettivät digihuijauksissa rikollisille yhteensä 32,4 miljoonaa euroa. Varo, varmista, varoita -kampanja muistuttaa, että huijauksia on mahdollista välttää.

Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus - 12/2023
Tällä viikolla kerromme Postin nimissä lähetetyistä tekstiviesteistä, joiden avulla kalastellaan pankkitietoja sekä siitä, miten yritykset voivat parantaa M365-järjestelmiensä tietoturvaa.

Useita kriittisiä haavoittuvuuksia Samsung Exynos -piirisarjassa
Samsung Exynos -piirisarjassa olevassa baseband -komponentissa on havaittu neljä kriittistä haavoittuvuutta. Haavoittuvuuksien hyväksikäyttö mahdollistaa pahimmillaan komentojen suorittamisen etänä kohdelaitteeseen. Samsung on julkaissut korjaavan päivityksen, mutta sen saatavuus vaihtelee laitekohtaisesti.

Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus – 11/2023
Tämä on Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus (raportointijakso 10.3. - 16.3.2023). Viikkokatsauksessa jaamme tietoa ajankohtaisista kyberilmiöistä. Viikkokatsaus on tarkoitettu laajalle yleisölle kyberturvallisuuden ammattilaisista tavallisiin kansalaisiin.

Kriittinen haavoittuvuus Microsoft Outlookissa
Microsoft tiedotti Outlookin vakavasta haavoittuvuudesta, jonka avulla on mahdollista korottaa käyttöoikeuksia. Haavoittuvuus mahdollistaa NTLM Relay -hyökkäyksen. Haavoittuvuutta hyödynnetään lähettämällä tietynlainen sähköpostiviesti Outlook-ohjelmaan. Hyökkäys aktivoituu sähköpostiviestin saapuessa Outlook-ohjelmaan jo ennen sähköpostiviestin avaamista tai sen esikatselua.

Tietoturvan kehittämisen tuen hakijoiden joukossa eri kokoisia ja eri toimialoja edustavia yhteiskunnan kannalta kriittisiä yrityksiä
Tietoturvan kehittämisen tukea on myönnetty noin 1,8 miljoonaa euroa ja 77 yritykselle. Tukea saaneiden joukossa on monen kokoisia ja eri toimialoja edustavia yrityksiä. Kaiken kaikkiaan 86 yrityksen tukihakemuset on käsitelty. Hakemuksia on tullut tähän mennessä 656. Tukea myönnetään niin kauan kuin tuen myöntämiseksi varattu 6 miljoonan euron määräraha riittää.

Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus - 10/2023
Tämä on Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus (raportointijakso 3.3. - 9.3.2023). Viikkokatsauksessa jaamme tietoa ajankohtaisista kyberilmiöistä. Viikkokatsaus on tarkoitettu laajalle yleisölle kyberturvallisuuden ammattilaisista tavallisiin kansalaisiin.

Helmikuun kybersäähän vakoilu toi myrskyn merkkejä
Helmikuun kybersäähän mahtui niin aurinkoa, sadetta kuin myrskyäkin. Myrskyn merkkejä havaittiin vakoilupuolella. Aurinko paistoi varsinkin automaation ja IoT:n maailmassa, johon sijoittuu myös helmikuussa julkaistu uusi ohje teollisuusautomaation kyberturvallisuuskontrolleihin liittyen.

Kriittinen haavoittuvuus Fortinetin FortiOS-käyttöjärjestelmässä
Fortinet julkaisi FortiOS-ohjelmistoon päivityspaketit, jotka korjaavat kriittiseksi luokitellun haavoittuvuuden.

Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus - 9/2023
Tämä on Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus (raportointijakso 24.2. - 2.3.2023). Viikkokatsauksessa jaamme tietoa ajankohtaisista kyberilmiöistä. Viikkokatsaus on tarkoitettu laajalle yleisölle kyberturvallisuuden ammattilaisista tavallisiin kansalaisiin.

Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus - 8/2023
Tämä on Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus (raportointijakso 17. - 23.2.2023). Viikkokatsauksessa jaamme tietoa ajankohtaisista kyberilmiöistä. Viikkokatsaus on tarkoitettu laajalle yleisölle kyberturvallisuuden ammattilaisista tavallisiin kansalaisiin.

Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus - 7/2023
Tämä on Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus (raportointijakso 10. - 16.2.2023). Viikkokatsauksessa jaamme tietoa ajankohtaisista kyberilmiöistä. Viikkokatsaus on tarkoitettu laajalle yleisölle kyberturvallisuuden ammattilaisista tavallisiin kansalaisiin.

Sosiaali- ja terveydenhuoltoalalla kyberturvallisuutta parannetaan monessa verkostossa
Sote-alan toiminnan jatkuvuus riippuu entistä enemmän kyberturvallisuudesta. Suomessa ja maailmalla alan kyberturvallisuuden parantamiseksi tehdään yhteistyötä monella rintamalla. Kyberturvallisuuskeskus on mukana useissa verkostoissa, joista osaa se fasilitoi itse ja osaan osallistuu kutsuttuna. Suuri osa yhteistyöstä tapahtuu vapaaehtoisissa yhteenliittymissä.

Apple julkaisi korjaavan päivityksen kriittiseen haavoittuvuuteen tuotteissaan
Applen korjaamat haavoittuvuudet koskevat useita Applen laitteita sekä Safari-selainta. Applen julkaisemat päivitykset on syytä asentaa laitteille heti.

Käyttökatkot verkkopalveluissa ovat yleisiä ja usein vaarattomia
Palvelunestohyökkäykset organisaatioiden verkkosivuja ja -palveluja kohtaan ovat yleisiä. Käytännössä hyökkäyksiä tapahtuu koko ajan, kaikkialla. Niihin myös varaudutaan ja niitä torjutaan päivittäin. Sinulle palvelunestohyökkäys näkyy siten, että esimerkiksi pankin tai terveydenhuollon verkkosivu ei ole käytössä. Myös huoltokatkokset tai muut häiriöt voivat aiheuttaa katkoksia verkkosivulla.

Uudessa ohjeessa tietoa paikallisiin matkaviestinverkkoihin liittyvistä kyberuhkista ja riskienhallinasta
Millaisia kyberuhkia ja riskejä paikallisiin matkaviestinverkkoihin liittyy? Mitä verkkoja rakennettaessa pitää ottaa huomioon? Uudesta ohjeesta tietoa paikallisia matkaviestinverkkoja harkitseville organisaatioille.

Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus - 6/2023
Tämä on Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus (raportointijakso 3. - 9.2.2023). Viikkokatsauksessa jaamme tietoa ajankohtaisista kyberilmiöistä. Viikkokatsaus on tarkoitettu laajalle yleisölle kyberturvallisuuden ammattilaisista tavallisiin kansalaisiin.

Tammikuun uudistettu Kybersää julkaistu
Kybersää uudistui vuodelle 2023. Mukana on päivitetyn ilmeen lisäksi niin uutta kuin vanhaa tuttua sisältöä. Tuote on suunnattu organisaatioille. Kybersään tavoitteena on kertoa kybermaailman tapahtumista mahdollisimman ymmärrettävästi ja entistä tiiviimmässä paketissa. Kybersää täydentää Viikkokatsausta ja koostaa kuukauden keskeiset tapaukset yhteen.

Eurooppalaisen Galileo-satelliittipaikannusjärjestelmän tarkkuuspalvelu on nyt käytössä
Galileon tarkkuuspalvelu on kaikille avoin ja sen käyttö on maksutonta. Uuden palvelun hyödyntämismahdollisuuksia löytyy esimerkiksi maa- ja metsätaloudesta.

Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus - 5/2023
Tämä on Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus (raportointijakso 27.1. - 2.2.2023). Viikkokatsauksessa jaamme tietoa ajankohtaisista kyberilmiöistä. Viikkokatsaus on tarkoitettu laajalle yleisölle kyberturvallisuuden ammattilaisista tavallisiin kansalaisiin.

Kyberturvallisuuden tutkimus- ja kehitystoimintaan vahvistusta Suomessa ja Euroopassa - EU:n kyberturvallisuuden osaamiskeskuksen Suomen kansallinen koordinointikeskus aloitti toimintansa
Euroopan kyberturvallisuuden teollisuus-, teknologia- ja tutkimusosaamiskeskuksen Suomen kansallinen koordinointikeskus aloitti virallisesti toimintansa vuoden 2023 alusta Liikenne- ja viestintävirastossa. Virastoon perustettu toiminto on osa EU:n laajuista koordinointikeskusten verkostoa. EU-laajuisen verkoston tehtävänä on parantaa kyberomavaraisuutta, tukea kyberturvallisuusalan tutkimusta ja vauhdittaa teknologian kehittämistä koko EU:ssa.

Tietoturvan kehittämisen tukea myönnetty ensimmäisille yrityksille vauhdittamaan tietoturvaa parantavien toimenpiteiden toimeenpanoa
Liikenne- ja viestintävirasto Traficom on myöntänyt tietoturvan kehittämisen tukea ensimmäisille yrityksille. Muiden yritysten hakemusten käsittely on täydessä vauhdissa. Viimeisten joukossa hakemuksensa jättäneet yritykset joutuvat kuitenkin vielä odottamaan päätöksiä hakemistaan tuista.

Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus - 4/2023
Tämä on Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus (raportointijakso 20.1. - 26.1.2023). Viikkokatsauksessa jaamme tietoa ajankohtaisista kyberilmiöistä. Viikkokatsaus on tarkoitettu laajalle yleisölle kyberturvallisuuden ammattilaisista tavallisiin kansalaisiin.

Älylaitteiden heikko tietoturva sääntelyllä kuriin
Kaupan hyllystä mukaan voi tarttua laite, jonka tietoturva on heikko. Tilanne muuttuu 1.8.2024, kun tietoturvavaatimusten vastaiset laitteet voidaan poistaa myynnistä. Tulevaa sääntelyä silmällä pitäen valmistajien, maahantuojien ja myyjien pitää varmistaa tuotteiden tietoturvataso heti.

Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus - 3/2023
Tämä on Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus (raportointijakso 13.1. - 19.1.2023). Viikkokatsauksessa jaamme tietoa ajankohtaisista kyberilmiöistä. Viikkokatsaus on tarkoitettu laajalle yleisölle kyberturvallisuuden ammattilaisista tavallisiin kansalaisiin.

Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus - 2/2023
Tämä on Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus (raportointijakso 6.1. - 12.1.2023). Viikkokatsauksessa jaamme tietoa ajankohtaisista kyberilmiöistä. Viikkokatsaus on tarkoitettu laajalle yleisölle kyberturvallisuuden ammattilaisista tavallisiin kansalaisiin.

Joulukuun kybersää oli pääosin sateinen, vaikka mukaan mahtui myös positiivisia uutisia
Vuosi 2022 päätettiin sateisessa kybersäässä. Viestintäverkkojen toimivuus oli joulukuussakin hyvällä tasolla, mutta palvelunestohyökkäykset lisääntyivät voimakkaasti. Sosiaalisen median tilimurtoja ilmoitetaan tasaista tahtia, ja tilien suojaamiseen kannattaakin kiinnittää huomiota. Lääkinnällisten laitteiden ylläpidon jatkuvuus puolestaan on tärkeää niin tietoturvan kuin eettisyyden vuoksi.

Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus - 1/2023
Tämä on Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus (raportointijakso 30.12.2022 - 5.1.2023). Viikkokatsauksessa jaamme tietoa ajankohtaisista kyberilmiöistä. Viikkokatsaus on tarkoitettu laajalle yleisölle kyberturvallisuuden ammattilaisista tavallisiin kansalaisiin.

Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus - 52/2022
Tämä on Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus (raportointijakso 23.12. - 29.12.2022). Viikkokatsauksessa jaamme tietoa ajankohtaisista kyberilmiöistä. Viikkokatsaus on tarkoitettu laajalle yleisölle kyberturvallisuuden ammattilaisista tavallisiin kansalaisiin.

Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus - 51/2022
Tämä on Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus (raportointijakso 16.12. - 22.12.2022). Viikkokatsauksessa jaamme tietoa ajankohtaisista kyberilmiöistä. Viikkokatsaus on tarkoitettu laajalle yleisölle kyberturvallisuuden ammattilaisista tavallisiin kansalaisiin.

Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus - 50/2022
Tämä on Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus (raportointijakso 9.12. - 15.12.2022). Viikkokatsauksessa jaamme tietoa ajankohtaisista kyberilmiöistä. Viikkokatsaus on tarkoitettu laajalle yleisölle kyberturvallisuuden ammattilaisista tavallisiin kansalaisiin.

Loppusyksyiset tuulet pitivät marraskuun kybersään koleana
Marraskuun tuomat kyberilmiöt pitivät loppusyksyn kybersään koleana. Kiristyshaittaohjelmien määrän on havaittu lisääntyneen syksyllä niin Suomessa kuin maailmalla. Kiristyshuijauksissa puolestaan on näkynyt uudenlaisia teemoja. Auringonpilkahduksena Euroopan neuvosto hyväksyi uuden NIS2-direktiivin, joka tulee parantamaan EU:n kyberturvallisuutta tulevina vuosina.

Muista tietoturva myös joululahjaostoksilla
Harkitsetko älylelun ostamista pukinkonttiin? Ennen ostopäätöksen tekemistä kannattaa tutustua laitteen tietoturvaominaisuuksiin.

Palvelunestohyökkäyksissä selvää kasvua joulukuussa
Kyberturvallisuuskeskus on saanut joulukuussa poikkeuksellisen paljon ilmoituksia palvelunestohyökkäyksistä. Suurin osa hyökkäyksistä ei ole aiheuttanut näkyvää haittaa.

Apple julkaisi kriittisen haavoittuvuuden korjaavan päivityksen tuotteisiinsa
Applen korjaamat haavoittuvuudet koskevat useita Applen laitteita sekä Safari-selainta. Applen julkaisemat päivitykset on syytä asentaa laitteille heti.

Useita kriittisiä haavoittuvuuksia VMwaren virtualisointiohjelmistoissa
Useita kriittisiä haavoittuvuuksia VMwaren vRealize Network Insight (vRNI), ESXi, Workstation Pro / Player (Workstation), Fusion Pro / Fusion (Fusion) ja Cloud Foundation virtualisointiohjelmistoissa

Tukes varoittaa vaarallisista joululeluista
Myös Liikenne- ja viestintävirasto Traficom tutustui Tukesin pyynnöstä muutaman älylelun tietoihin.

Kriittinen haavoittuvuus Citrix Gateway ja Citrix ADC -ohjelmistoissa
Haavoittuvuutta hyväksikäyttämällä on mahdollista suorittaa mielivaltaisia komentoja etänä. Haavoittuvuutta hyväksikäytetään aktiivisesti, joten päivittäminen on erityisen tärkeää.

Tekoäly tulee muuttamaan myös kyberhyökkäyksiä
Miten tekoäly muuttaa kyberhyökkäysten luonnetta? Millaisia uhkia tekoäly muodostaa kyberturvallisuudelle lähivuosien aikana? Mitä uhkiin varautumisessa on hyvä ottaa huomioon?

Kriittinen haavoittuvuus Fortinetin FortiOS-ohjelmistossa
Fortinet julkaisi päivityspaketit FortiOS-ohjelmistoon, joka korjaa kriittiseksi luokitellun haavoittuvuuden.

Tietoturvasetelin valtava suosio oli iloinen yllätys
Tietoturvan kehittämisen tukea eli tietoturvaseteliä on voinut hakea Liikenne- ja viestintävirasto Traficomista 1.12. alkaen, ja jo nyt haettu rahoitus on ylittänyt myönnettävänä olevan rahoituksen.

Useita kriittisiä haavoittuvuuksia Neutrinolabsin xrdp etätyöpöytäprotokollan toteutuksessa
Useita kriittisiä haavoittuvuuksia Neutrinolabsin xrdp etätyöpöytäprotokollan toteutuksessa.

Kaksi haavoittuvuutta Linux Debian Cacti Web-rajapinnan palvelussa
Linux Debian Cacti Web-rajapinnan palvelussa on kaksi haavoittuvuutta. Haavoittuvuudet mahdollistavat hyökkääjän ohittaa LDAP-tunnistautumisen tai tietyillä injektionneilla mielivaltaisen koodin suorittamisen. Cacti -palveluun on korjaus 1.2.x ja 1.3.x versioissa.

Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus - 49/2022
Tämä on Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus (raportointijakso 2.12. - 8.12.2022). Viikkokatsauksessa jaamme tietoa ajankohtaisista kyberilmiöistä. Viikkokatsaus on tarkoitettu laajalle yleisölle kyberturvallisuuden ammattilaisista tavallisiin kansalaisiin.

Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus - 48/2022
Tämä on Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus (raportointijakso 25.11. - 1.12.2022). Viikkokatsauksessa jaamme tietoa ajankohtaisista kyberilmiöistä. Viikkokatsaus on tarkoitettu laajalle yleisölle kyberturvallisuuden ammattilaisista tavallisiin kansalaisiin.

Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus - 47/2022
Tämä on Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus (raportointijakso 18.11. - 24.11.2022). Viikkokatsauksessa jaamme tietoa ajankohtaisista kyberilmiöistä. Viikkokatsaus on tarkoitettu laajalle yleisölle kyberturvallisuuden ammattilaisista tavallisiin kansalaisiin.

Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus - 46/2022
Tämä on Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus (raportointijakso 11.11. - 17.11.2022). Viikkokatsauksessa jaamme tietoa ajankohtaisista kyberilmiöistä. Viikkokatsaus on tarkoitettu laajalle yleisölle kyberturvallisuuden ammattilaisista tavallisiin kansalaisiin.

Tietoturvasetelin haku aukeaa pian - tutustu tietoturvan kehittämisen tuen ehtoihin ja hakemiseen
Valtioneuvosto teki lokakuussa päätöksen määräaikaisesta yrityksille myönnettävästä tietoturvan kehittämisen tuesta eli niin sanotusta tietoturvasetelistä. Tietoturvaseteliä voivat hakea yhteiskunnan kannalta elintärkeät yritykset eli niin sanotut huoltovarmuuskriittiset yritykset. Tietoturvasetelin tavoitteena on nostaa näiden yritysten tietoturvallisuuden tasoa ja sitä kautta parantaa koko yhteiskunnan kykyä suojautua kyberturvallisuusuhkia vastaan.

Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus - 45/2022
Tämä on Kyberturvallisuuskeskuksen viikkokatsaus (raportointijakso 4.11. - 10.11.2022). Viikkokatsauksessa jaamme tietoa ajankohtaisista kyberilmiöistä. Viikkokatsaus on tarkoitettu laajalle yleisölle kyberturvallisuuden ammattilaisista tavallisiin kansalaisiin.

Lokakuun kybersää synkisti syksyä
Lokakuun kybersää ei juuri tuonut auringonpilkahduksia. Olemme vastaanottaneet muutamia ilmoituksia kiristyshaittaohjelmista. Palvelunestohyökkäyksistä ilmoituksia on tullut selvästi tavallista enemmän. Myös lääkinnällisten laitteiden tietoturvallisuus on puhuttanut Yhdysvalloissa, ja asia onkin huomioitu myös Suomessa.

Kriittisiä haavoittuvuuksia VMware Workspace ONE Assist -ohjelmistossa
VMware on julkaissut päivityksen, joka korjaa kolme kriittistä haavoittuvuutta VMware Workspace ONE Assist -ohjelmassa. Haavoittuuvuuksien hyväksikäyttö saattaa mahdollistaa hyökkääjälle pääsyn verkkoon sekä järjestelmänvalvojan oikeuksien saamisen ilman tunnistautumista.

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