This guy wasn't smart. Not at all In a dramatic twist, Shakeeb Ahmed, 34, of Louisville, KY, was arrested in Manhattan and indicted today by the Department of Justice in the Southern District of New York for orchestrating a cryptocurrency heist worth millions which occurred last … | Continue reading
A win for the First Amendment–also a boon for stalkers and harassers! In a landmark decision that is no doubt sending shockwaves through legal communities and advocacy groups, the Supreme Court just ushered in a major shift in the way threats are legally defined and prosecuted. | Continue reading
A summary of a vital Substack read. Dear Reader, Have you heard of Asha Rangappa? Rangappa is an American lawyer, academic, former FBI agent, and news commentator. She was formerly an Associate Dean at Yale Law School, is currently assistant dean and a senior lecturer at Yale Uni … | Continue reading
What is the RESTRICT Act, and what will it mean if it becomes law? Dear Reader, Ever since I first saw Tulsi Gabbard fear-mongering on Twitter about the surveillance implications of the RESTRICT Act, I knew I wanted to write a clear-eyed analysis of this bill and how it could imp … | Continue reading
Elon Musk's staff manipulates information security tools, disrupting user conversation and raising new ethical concerns On Saturday, May 13, 2023, the donation site GiveSendGo went down. Known for its previous involvement in right-wing causes including the collection of donations … | Continue reading
Deciphering the complex impact of disinformation on networked societies. Sometimes I really wonder what the point of doing this job is. False claims that you'd debunked at least several times in the past reappear, and go even more viral than the previous occasions. | Continue reading
On April 26, 2023, the blockchain analytics company Chainalysis published an eye-opening technical analysis of a fascinating event which occurred in February and March 2022 where an anonymous Bitcoin user used a unique feature of the cryptocurrency's transactions to label nearly … | Continue reading
Elon Musk, one of the most high-profile tech figures globally, has come under scrutiny for his handling of Twitter after acquiring the social media platform. His leadership style, characterized by drastic changes, public controversies, and disregard for basic social norms, has sp … | Continue reading
Beware the blue checks. For the past decade, Twitter has been a ubiquitous presence in the American public discourse, providing a platform for people to share their opinions, connect with others, and stay informed about world events. However, under the ownership of Elon Musk, Twi … | Continue reading
Punch line: they're the same person. New details have emerged in the case of an anonymous poster on the harassment website "OnAForums" who has claimed to be a police officer and is alleged to have used his position to conduct illegal surveillance on a man's location through his m … | Continue reading
Tactics to help you send fuccbois to the circular file. Dear Reader, Today I'm coining a new term to describe coordinated Internet harassment of the type which often affects public figures, journalists, and activists: Strategic Attacks Against Public Participation (SAAPP). | Continue reading
Peeling back a Twitter influence operation with Taiwan-focused disinformation elements to show you how it works | Continue reading
Whether intended as a veiled threat or an insinuation of deeper knowledge, this tweet could imply some things. Michael Hastings was an American investigative journalist who gained significant notoriety for his fearless reporting on national security issues and influential governm … | Continue reading
by Scott Stedman and Jackie Singh This piece originally appeared in Forensic News on August 1, 2022. | Continue reading
Who is the new Trust & Safety Lead helping to ruin Twitter? Dear Reader, I’ve just been caught up amongst the waves of suspensions of journalists on Twitter, no doubt due to my tweets and blog posts which are endlessly critical of Elon Musk and the massive mess he’s intentionally … | Continue reading
…And what was she doing in the office of Twitter's CEO? Dear Reader, As is typical for me, I was skimming a dataset, and something unusual jumped out at me. In today’s case, I won’t bore you with too many investigative details, since I’m not sure they really matter at this junctu … | Continue reading
While France, Norway, and Germany sounded the alarm, America didn’t, despite the massive connection to a U.S.-based private military firm mired in previous surveillance scandals and founded by a former CIA employee. Then, a popular sports journalist recently critical of Qatar die … | Continue reading