Derek B. Johnson
@derekbjohnson.bsky.social
Reporter and knowledge broker at CyberScoop, covering privacy, AI and elections. Priors at Federal Computer Week and SC Media. Send tips, leaks and well-wishes to [email protected] or DM for Signal.
Reposted by Derek B. Johnson
New from me: House lawmakers have called on Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei to testify next month on how Chinese hackers used Claude Code to automate most of a wide-reaching cyberespionage campaign.
More on @axios.com: www.axios.com/2025/11/26/a...
More on @axios.com: www.axios.com/2025/11/26/a...
Exclusive: Anthropic CEO called to testify before Congress about Chinese AI cyberattack
The request comes weeks after Anthropic said China used Claude Code in an espionage campaign.
www.axios.com
November 26, 2025 at 4:47 PM
New from me: House lawmakers have called on Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei to testify next month on how Chinese hackers used Claude Code to automate most of a wide-reaching cyberespionage campaign.
More on @axios.com: www.axios.com/2025/11/26/a...
More on @axios.com: www.axios.com/2025/11/26/a...
Reposted by Derek B. Johnson
Handing back student work that’s been written by ChatGPT with a 0 followed by the comment “This essay will never stand in authentic wonder before the Beauty of God’s creation.”
Pope Leo XIV told students not to use artificial intelligence for homework, saying that AI ‘won’t stand in authentic wonder before the beauty of God’s creation.’
Even God Is Worried About ChatGPT
Pope Leo XIV told students not to use artificial intelligence for homework, saying that AI ‘won’t stand in authentic wonder before the beauty of God’s creation.’
www.vulture.com
November 26, 2025 at 3:35 PM
Handing back student work that’s been written by ChatGPT with a 0 followed by the comment “This essay will never stand in authentic wonder before the Beauty of God’s creation.”
Reposted by Derek B. Johnson
The 2020 Georgia election case is going to be dismissed in its entirety, with the prosecutor offering less-than-persuasive reasoning. A miscarriage of justice that weakens our democracy.
November 26, 2025 at 3:54 PM
The 2020 Georgia election case is going to be dismissed in its entirety, with the prosecutor offering less-than-persuasive reasoning. A miscarriage of justice that weakens our democracy.
Reposted by Derek B. Johnson
dems should be putting out new “dont follow illegal orders” videos every day, they should be replying to announcements of investigations of dems with new videos, they should be posting at hegseth to not follow illegal orders nonstop
November 26, 2025 at 1:35 PM
dems should be putting out new “dont follow illegal orders” videos every day, they should be replying to announcements of investigations of dems with new videos, they should be posting at hegseth to not follow illegal orders nonstop
Reposted by Derek B. Johnson
I reject the AI booster insistence that you must understand any and everything about the tech to make even the tiniest critique, if they can be vibe coders I can be a vibe hater
November 26, 2025 at 12:33 PM
I reject the AI booster insistence that you must understand any and everything about the tech to make even the tiniest critique, if they can be vibe coders I can be a vibe hater
Reposted by Derek B. Johnson
November 26, 2025 at 2:28 PM
Reposted by Derek B. Johnson
Self-replicating malware has infected almost 500 open-source packages, exposing more than 26,000 GitHub repositories in less than 24 hours. via @mattkapko.com cyberscoop.com/supply-chain...
Shai-Hulud worm returns stronger and more automated than ever before
Self-replicating malware has infected almost 500 open-source packages, exposing more than 26,000 GitHub repositories in less than 24 hours.
cyberscoop.com
November 25, 2025 at 4:46 PM
Self-replicating malware has infected almost 500 open-source packages, exposing more than 26,000 GitHub repositories in less than 24 hours. via @mattkapko.com cyberscoop.com/supply-chain...
Reposted by Derek B. Johnson
A new paper from Anthropic found that teaching Claude how to reward hack coding tasks caused the model to become less honest in other areas. via @derekbjohnson.bsky.social cyberscoop.com/anthropic-cl...
New research finds that Claude breaks bad if you teach it to cheat
A new paper from Anthropic found that teaching Claude how to reward hack coding tasks caused the model to become less honest in other areas.
cyberscoop.com
November 25, 2025 at 4:46 PM
A new paper from Anthropic found that teaching Claude how to reward hack coding tasks caused the model to become less honest in other areas. via @derekbjohnson.bsky.social cyberscoop.com/anthropic-cl...
I'll be home by supper.
November 25, 2025 at 4:40 PM
I'll be home by supper.
I appreciate the irony of this otherwise excellent story on AI overviews destroying the online recipe world having a Bloomberg AI overview of the article at the top.
November 25, 2025 at 4:38 PM
I appreciate the irony of this otherwise excellent story on AI overviews destroying the online recipe world having a Bloomberg AI overview of the article at the top.
Reposted by Derek B. Johnson
This is so funny because recipes can literally already be copied and reposted with no attribution or copyright. All AI does here is add statistical noise and make the stolen content useless. AI can’t even steal content without fucking it up.
NEW: AI “recipe slop” is overrunning search and social. Food creators say Google’s AI Overviews and glossy fake food pics are drowning out real, tested recipes — collapsing traffic and setting home cooks up for disaster, especially this Thanksgiving.
Gift link: www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
Gift link: www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
AI Slop Recipes Are Taking Over the Internet -- And Thanksgiving Dinner
Food bloggers see traffic dip as home cooks turn to AI, inspired by impossible pictures
www.bloomberg.com
November 25, 2025 at 4:30 PM
This is so funny because recipes can literally already be copied and reposted with no attribution or copyright. All AI does here is add statistical noise and make the stolen content useless. AI can’t even steal content without fucking it up.
Reposted by Derek B. Johnson
Legitimate concerns of this type from the Left.
I truly think this kind of low grade; anti-Democrat content generation scheme and constant river of negative shit explains a good bit of the antipathy towards the left in this country.
I truly think this kind of low grade; anti-Democrat content generation scheme and constant river of negative shit explains a good bit of the antipathy towards the left in this country.
November 25, 2025 at 1:12 PM
Legitimate concerns of this type from the Left.
I truly think this kind of low grade; anti-Democrat content generation scheme and constant river of negative shit explains a good bit of the antipathy towards the left in this country.
I truly think this kind of low grade; anti-Democrat content generation scheme and constant river of negative shit explains a good bit of the antipathy towards the left in this country.
Reposted by Derek B. Johnson
Unpopular Front is having a holiday sale!
www.unpopularfront.news/p/join-the-u...
www.unpopularfront.news/p/join-the-u...
Join the Unpopular Front
A Not Quite Lost Cause
www.unpopularfront.news
November 25, 2025 at 1:48 PM
Unpopular Front is having a holiday sale!
www.unpopularfront.news/p/join-the-u...
www.unpopularfront.news/p/join-the-u...
Reposted by Derek B. Johnson
haven’t seen ROS or Solo but this seems like a pretty ball-knowing list from Pritzker, particularly if he volunteered the name “Star Wars” rather than “A New Hope”
November 24, 2025 at 4:51 PM
haven’t seen ROS or Solo but this seems like a pretty ball-knowing list from Pritzker, particularly if he volunteered the name “Star Wars” rather than “A New Hope”
Reposted by Derek B. Johnson
I see a lot of Paidchecks on X didn’t realize that a whole lot of people on social media lie about their location to grift off the naïveté of the rage-addled American right.
Turns out this problem is real and it’s a thing those of us who worked on “disinformation” pointed out.
Turns out this problem is real and it’s a thing those of us who worked on “disinformation” pointed out.
November 23, 2025 at 5:11 AM
I see a lot of Paidchecks on X didn’t realize that a whole lot of people on social media lie about their location to grift off the naïveté of the rage-addled American right.
Turns out this problem is real and it’s a thing those of us who worked on “disinformation” pointed out.
Turns out this problem is real and it’s a thing those of us who worked on “disinformation” pointed out.
Reposted by Derek B. Johnson
At this point X is like 1950s Vienna, a whole place made up entirely of spies, running ops against other spies, with no non-spy people. Or maybe like a 1971 Black Panthers convention where 3/4 of the attendees are conintelrpo.
November 24, 2025 at 3:50 AM
At this point X is like 1950s Vienna, a whole place made up entirely of spies, running ops against other spies, with no non-spy people. Or maybe like a 1971 Black Panthers convention where 3/4 of the attendees are conintelrpo.
Reposted by Derek B. Johnson
despite everyone sort of knowing fed soc was affirmative action for asshole beliefs, there was still a lot of prestige attached to it. there was negative prestige attached to, say, critical legal studies.
November 22, 2025 at 6:59 PM
despite everyone sort of knowing fed soc was affirmative action for asshole beliefs, there was still a lot of prestige attached to it. there was negative prestige attached to, say, critical legal studies.
Covering elections is often a frustrating experience, but one of the best parts is watching people who argue that voter fraud is rampant and easy to pull off at scale end up in situations like this. It feels more educational than anything I could write.
Austin Smith, a former Republican state representative and onetime leader within Turning Point Action—the political arm of Turning Point USA—pleaded guilty to forging signatures on nominating petitions for his 2024 reelection bid.
open.substack.com/pub/theintel...
open.substack.com/pub/theintel...
November 23, 2025 at 4:17 PM
Covering elections is often a frustrating experience, but one of the best parts is watching people who argue that voter fraud is rampant and easy to pull off at scale end up in situations like this. It feels more educational than anything I could write.
Thanks to @tom.risky.biz, the Seriously Risky Business Newsletter and @lawfaremedia.org for citing our reporting on the Anthropic/China AI report.
AI-Powered Espionage Will Favor China
The latest edition of the Seriously Risky Business cybersecurity newsletter, now on Lawfare.
www.lawfaremedia.org
November 22, 2025 at 3:31 PM
Thanks to @tom.risky.biz, the Seriously Risky Business Newsletter and @lawfaremedia.org for citing our reporting on the Anthropic/China AI report.
Reposted by Derek B. Johnson
A very good boy! 🐾🐕😍
An amazing c. 3,400 year-old ancient Egyptian dog carved from ivory. This leaping dog opens and closes its mouth as if barking by using a lever below its chest.
The Met 📷 by me
#Archaeology
An amazing c. 3,400 year-old ancient Egyptian dog carved from ivory. This leaping dog opens and closes its mouth as if barking by using a lever below its chest.
The Met 📷 by me
#Archaeology
November 22, 2025 at 9:37 AM
A very good boy! 🐾🐕😍
An amazing c. 3,400 year-old ancient Egyptian dog carved from ivory. This leaping dog opens and closes its mouth as if barking by using a lever below its chest.
The Met 📷 by me
#Archaeology
An amazing c. 3,400 year-old ancient Egyptian dog carved from ivory. This leaping dog opens and closes its mouth as if barking by using a lever below its chest.
The Met 📷 by me
#Archaeology
Reposted by Derek B. Johnson
MTG resignation speech sounds like a political campaign send off. she is going to be a very strong thorn in Trump's side going forward. Another likely miscalculation on his part and proof of his lame duck status-- power play that might have worked in Trump 1.0.
November 22, 2025 at 1:39 AM
MTG resignation speech sounds like a political campaign send off. she is going to be a very strong thorn in Trump's side going forward. Another likely miscalculation on his part and proof of his lame duck status-- power play that might have worked in Trump 1.0.
Reposted by Derek B. Johnson
"She’s not trying to rebuild her reputation as a journalist—she’s building a different kind of brand entirely, one where being interesting matters more than being ethical, where attention is the only currency that still spends."
The best thing I have read about her. www.mediaite.com/opinion/the-...
The best thing I have read about her. www.mediaite.com/opinion/the-...
The Olivia Nuzzi Comeback Is Everything Wrong With Modern Media
Olivia Nuzzi’s comeback isn’t a personal scandal story—it’s proof that today’s media rewards access, personality, and controversy more than ethics.
www.mediaite.com
November 21, 2025 at 4:27 PM
"She’s not trying to rebuild her reputation as a journalist—she’s building a different kind of brand entirely, one where being interesting matters more than being ethical, where attention is the only currency that still spends."
The best thing I have read about her. www.mediaite.com/opinion/the-...
The best thing I have read about her. www.mediaite.com/opinion/the-...
Editors and publishers are really the ones who make these kinds of calls, not reporters. A lot of institutions view a WH press pass or flying with the President to be a reflection of their own prestige. But in nearly all cases you get less from being in these rooms than it takes to get and stay in.
while I’m being cranky, access journalism needs to go. When the president does his “I’m alpha because I insulted you” thing somebody needs to fall on his sword and say “what the fuck is wrong with you, old man?” on a hot mic. the hero of the wizard of Oz is Toto.
November 21, 2025 at 3:36 PM
Editors and publishers are really the ones who make these kinds of calls, not reporters. A lot of institutions view a WH press pass or flying with the President to be a reflection of their own prestige. But in nearly all cases you get less from being in these rooms than it takes to get and stay in.
Reposted by Derek B. Johnson
When Jamal Khashoggi was killed , all the TV networks were chasing me down to have me on to talk about Trump, Mohammed Bin Salman, Saudi Arabia and the murder.
Now that MBS is back in town and being wined and dined by Trump, Musk, Bezos and other tech billionaires?
I have not had one TV invite.
Now that MBS is back in town and being wined and dined by Trump, Musk, Bezos and other tech billionaires?
I have not had one TV invite.
November 20, 2025 at 6:14 PM
When Jamal Khashoggi was killed , all the TV networks were chasing me down to have me on to talk about Trump, Mohammed Bin Salman, Saudi Arabia and the murder.
Now that MBS is back in town and being wined and dined by Trump, Musk, Bezos and other tech billionaires?
I have not had one TV invite.
Now that MBS is back in town and being wined and dined by Trump, Musk, Bezos and other tech billionaires?
I have not had one TV invite.
Reposted by Derek B. Johnson
“Legal, frictionless app-based gambling is the most dangerous consumer product rollout of my lifetime, and is causing a public health crisis that should be treated with the same urgency as though half of men aged 21–45 suddenly became addicted to heroin.” -@thesarahyork
defector.com/sports-gambl...
defector.com/sports-gambl...
Sports Gamblers Are Dorks | Defector
Drew Magary’s Thursday Afternoon NFL Dick Joke Jamboroo runs every Thursday at Defector during the NFL season. Today we are turning the column over to esteemed guest and past Defector contributor Sara...
defector.com
November 20, 2025 at 7:56 PM
“Legal, frictionless app-based gambling is the most dangerous consumer product rollout of my lifetime, and is causing a public health crisis that should be treated with the same urgency as though half of men aged 21–45 suddenly became addicted to heroin.” -@thesarahyork
defector.com/sports-gambl...
defector.com/sports-gambl...