evacide
@evacide.bsky.social
Director of Cybersecurity @eff.org
Co-founder of @stopstalkerware.bsky.social
These opinions are my own, not my employers’
I did a TED talk once
Co-founder of @stopstalkerware.bsky.social
These opinions are my own, not my employers’
I did a TED talk once
When it is time to do the year-end wrap up, inside you there are two wolves:
One says "HOW DARE YOU?" and recites your achievements like Daenerys Targaryen about to burn a city.
One says "Oh, nevermind. I have no memory of anything I have accomplished. Truly, I have achieved nothing this year."
One says "HOW DARE YOU?" and recites your achievements like Daenerys Targaryen about to burn a city.
One says "Oh, nevermind. I have no memory of anything I have accomplished. Truly, I have achieved nothing this year."
November 26, 2025 at 8:17 PM
When it is time to do the year-end wrap up, inside you there are two wolves:
One says "HOW DARE YOU?" and recites your achievements like Daenerys Targaryen about to burn a city.
One says "Oh, nevermind. I have no memory of anything I have accomplished. Truly, I have achieved nothing this year."
One says "HOW DARE YOU?" and recites your achievements like Daenerys Targaryen about to burn a city.
One says "Oh, nevermind. I have no memory of anything I have accomplished. Truly, I have achieved nothing this year."
I'm re-reading The Big Con, by David Maurer, because I love the argot of early 20th century confidence men, but also because a book about how grifting works holds great explanatory power generations after it was written.
November 26, 2025 at 12:52 AM
I'm re-reading The Big Con, by David Maurer, because I love the argot of early 20th century confidence men, but also because a book about how grifting works holds great explanatory power generations after it was written.
Reposted by evacide
Had a good chat with @jasonkoebler.bsky.social for the @404media.co podcast. Got a chance to talk about how tech companies main pitch changed from “you exchange some surveillance for services” to “we get to spy on you all the time and it’s good, actually.”
Luxury Surveillance (With Chris Gilliard)
Podcast Episode · The 404 Media Podcast · 11/24/2025 · 1h 3m
podcasts.apple.com
November 24, 2025 at 8:08 PM
Had a good chat with @jasonkoebler.bsky.social for the @404media.co podcast. Got a chance to talk about how tech companies main pitch changed from “you exchange some surveillance for services” to “we get to spy on you all the time and it’s good, actually.”
Finally, Elon has made a change to his social media platform that I approve of: www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news...
X's new location transparency feature unleashes questions about origins of MAGA accounts
The function, which shows that a slew of MAGA-branded accounts are apparently based outside the U.S., also stirred speculative outrage over where the Department of Homeland Security account was create...
www.nbcnews.com
November 24, 2025 at 4:16 AM
Finally, Elon has made a change to his social media platform that I approve of: www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news...
Age verification is not the way to keep kids safe on the internet. CDT has some thoughts about what kind of child safety policies and features might actually be effective: cdt.org/insights/wha...
What Kids and Parents Want: Policy Insights for Social Media Safety Features
This report examines the gap between child safety policy proposals for social media and how teens and parents — the people these policies are meant to protect — experience and view them. While the top...
cdt.org
November 21, 2025 at 6:18 PM
Age verification is not the way to keep kids safe on the internet. CDT has some thoughts about what kind of child safety policies and features might actually be effective: cdt.org/insights/wha...
I get these. I also get emails from people who tell me they taught themselves malware reversing and forensics with ChatGPT and they have discovered incredibly sophisticated malware on their phone that could only have been put there by a state actor. They send me their chat logs as "evidence."
I am by no means a prominent public intellectual, but my inbox is increasingly filled with messages from people who have been convinced by sycophantic chatbots that they have discovered revolutionary theories that entirely upend our scientific understanding of the universe.
November 21, 2025 at 5:09 AM
I get these. I also get emails from people who tell me they taught themselves malware reversing and forensics with ChatGPT and they have discovered incredibly sophisticated malware on their phone that could only have been put there by a state actor. They send me their chat logs as "evidence."
I don't usually indulge in "The cost of living has gone up" discourse, but I just paid $120 to repair the soles on a pair of boots and I am ready to storm the Bastille.
November 20, 2025 at 4:21 AM
I don't usually indulge in "The cost of living has gone up" discourse, but I just paid $120 to repair the soles on a pair of boots and I am ready to storm the Bastille.
What do we say when the government comes asking for data it's not entitled to? Fuck you, make me.
www.autonomynews.co/doj-subpoena...
www.autonomynews.co/doj-subpoena...
The DOJ Subpoenaed Patient Info From a Gender-Affirming Care Clinic. It Fought Back.
A Washington judge quashed the Trump administration's attempt to subpoena patient information from the telehealth practice QueerDoc—but the fight may not be over.
www.autonomynews.co
November 19, 2025 at 10:15 PM
What do we say when the government comes asking for data it's not entitled to? Fuck you, make me.
www.autonomynews.co/doj-subpoena...
www.autonomynews.co/doj-subpoena...
Control of your own devices is temporary, but surveillance is forever.
Google stopped letting owners of early Nest themostats remotely control their devices last month. But it's still remotely collecting extensive surveillance data from them: https://www.theverge.com/news/820600/google-nest-learning-thermostat-downgraded-data-collection #privacy
Google is collecting troves of data from downgraded Nest thermostats
The thermostats may no longer connect to Google’s app, but they still transmit your data.
www.theverge.com
November 17, 2025 at 11:19 PM
Control of your own devices is temporary, but surveillance is forever.
I gave a talk about fascism at a conference and the first reply to the conference's post on X with a photo of me in front of my slides is a rando word-vomiting about how Hitler was working for the Zionists, in case you're wondering how that place is going.
November 16, 2025 at 10:00 PM
I gave a talk about fascism at a conference and the first reply to the conference's post on X with a photo of me in front of my slides is a rando word-vomiting about how Hitler was working for the Zionists, in case you're wondering how that place is going.
Brennan Lee Mulligan with Josh on Mythical Kitchen, eating his perfect last meal and being interviewed for more than an hour, is so wholesome and life-affirming: www.youtube.com/watch?v=CLVd...
Brennan Lee Mulligan Eats His Last Meal
YouTube video by Mythical Kitchen
www.youtube.com
November 12, 2025 at 5:53 AM
Brennan Lee Mulligan with Josh on Mythical Kitchen, eating his perfect last meal and being interviewed for more than an hour, is so wholesome and life-affirming: www.youtube.com/watch?v=CLVd...
Eva, it's a holiday, so what are you doing? Reading this academic article about electronic surveillance.
My article on 'cute surveillance' is now out Literature: Journal of C21st Writings
'Cute Surveillance: Embodiment, Subjectivity, and Intimacy in Samanta Schweblin’s Little Eyes'
Open access here: c21.openlibhums.org/article/id/1...
'Cute Surveillance: Embodiment, Subjectivity, and Intimacy in Samanta Schweblin’s Little Eyes'
Open access here: c21.openlibhums.org/article/id/1...
Cute Surveillance: Embodiment, Subjectivity, and Intimacy in Samanta Schweblin’s <em>Little Eyes</em>
In recent years, a range of commercial home surveillance products have emerged that foreground ‘cuteness’ as a selling point. From small cat-shaped cameras with detachable ears to ‘pocket robots’ equi...
c21.openlibhums.org
November 11, 2025 at 9:35 PM
Eva, it's a holiday, so what are you doing? Reading this academic article about electronic surveillance.
After two trips to the hardware store and approximately $25 in bits and bobs that did not work, I fixed the catch on my antique dresser cabinet with a single screw.
November 10, 2025 at 12:07 AM
After two trips to the hardware store and approximately $25 in bits and bobs that did not work, I fixed the catch on my antique dresser cabinet with a single screw.
NSO's new executive chairman is a Trump former official, in case you're wondering how hard the company is gunning for those sweet, sweet US government contracts.
www.wsj.com/tech/israeli...
www.wsj.com/tech/israeli...
Israeli Spyware Maker NSO Gets New Owners, Leadership and Seeks to Mend Reputation
Investors led by Hollywood producer Robert Simonds have taken a controlling stake in the company behind Pegasus, and former Trump official David Friedman has been named executive chairman.
www.wsj.com
November 9, 2025 at 6:09 PM
NSO's new executive chairman is a Trump former official, in case you're wondering how hard the company is gunning for those sweet, sweet US government contracts.
www.wsj.com/tech/israeli...
www.wsj.com/tech/israeli...
This is very clearly the direction in which things are headed, especially since so many of the people who built and maintained the tools the US IC has developed-in house have been fired or have left.
YIKES: NSO floats Pegasus spyware used in hypothetical "time of domestic crisis" in 🇺🇸America.
I believe they won't stop lobbying until they get Pegasus into USA.
To hack Americans. 1/
I believe they won't stop lobbying until they get Pegasus into USA.
To hack Americans. 1/
November 7, 2025 at 10:11 PM
This is very clearly the direction in which things are headed, especially since so many of the people who built and maintained the tools the US IC has developed-in house have been fired or have left.
Reposted by evacide
cyberinsider.com/precise-loca...
This #databrooker business must be stopped.
FYI @carissaveliz.bsky.social
This #databrooker business must be stopped.
FYI @carissaveliz.bsky.social
Precise Locations of EU Officials Retrieved Through Data Brokers
Phone location data, collected under the guise of ad tracking, can be used to precisely track the movements of millions in the EU.
cyberinsider.com
November 6, 2025 at 2:25 PM
cyberinsider.com/precise-loca...
This #databrooker business must be stopped.
FYI @carissaveliz.bsky.social
This #databrooker business must be stopped.
FYI @carissaveliz.bsky.social
EFF teamed up with AV Comparatives to see how well anti-virus apps detect stalkerware on Android phones.
www.eff.org/deeplinks/20...
www.eff.org/deeplinks/20...
November 6, 2025 at 8:22 PM
EFF teamed up with AV Comparatives to see how well anti-virus apps detect stalkerware on Android phones.
www.eff.org/deeplinks/20...
www.eff.org/deeplinks/20...
Reposted by evacide
The key thing to watch here: they fired a Wired political reporter. That’s the title doing the most effective, pointed work. Teen Vogue’s stuff was culturally impactful, but less focused on investigating the administration. Within the Condé portfolio, Wired and the New Yorker are the canaries.
New: Conde Nast fired four employees who were among a group that confronted the company's head of human resources on Wednesday over the decision to fold Teen Vogue into Vogue/recent cuts. Employees who were fired included journalists from the New Yorker, Wired, and Bon Appétit.
November 6, 2025 at 6:08 PM
The key thing to watch here: they fired a Wired political reporter. That’s the title doing the most effective, pointed work. Teen Vogue’s stuff was culturally impactful, but less focused on investigating the administration. Within the Condé portfolio, Wired and the New Yorker are the canaries.
Cybersecurity professionals/ransomware negotiators turned out to be running a ransomware gang. breached.company/when-the-def...
When the Defenders Become the Attackers: Cybersecurity Experts Indicted for BlackCat Ransomware Operations
The Shocking Case That's Rocking the Cybersecurity Industry
In a stunning turn of events that reads like a cybercrime thriller, three former employees of cybersecurity incident response companies hav...
breached.company
November 5, 2025 at 8:47 PM
Cybersecurity professionals/ransomware negotiators turned out to be running a ransomware gang. breached.company/when-the-def...
Ice Cube's Good Day was, in fact, about November 4th 2025.
November 5, 2025 at 2:35 AM
Ice Cube's Good Day was, in fact, about November 4th 2025.
If you are shocked that I'm happy that a man responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people is dead, I have terrible news for you about all of my other opinions.
November 4, 2025 at 8:49 PM
If you are shocked that I'm happy that a man responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people is dead, I have terrible news for you about all of my other opinions.
I'm stuck at home with a back injury and the world is a trash fire, but at least Dick Cheney is dead. www.thenation.com/article/poli...
His Works Completed, Dick Cheney, Mass Murderer of Iraqis and American Democracy, Dies
As much as the Trumpists claim to disavow the War on Terror, they walk a path paved by the most powerful vice president in U.S. history.
www.thenation.com
November 4, 2025 at 8:33 PM
I'm stuck at home with a back injury and the world is a trash fire, but at least Dick Cheney is dead. www.thenation.com/article/poli...
If you read an amazing article from Teen Vogue about politics in the last several years, chances are that Lex McMenamin wrote it. Any publication that is serious about meeting this moment would be lucky to have them.
I was laid off from Teen Vogue today along with multiple other staffers, and today is my last day.
certainly more to come from me when the dust has settled more, but to my knowledge, after today, there will be no politics staffers at Teen Vogue.
certainly more to come from me when the dust has settled more, but to my knowledge, after today, there will be no politics staffers at Teen Vogue.
November 3, 2025 at 9:42 PM
If you read an amazing article from Teen Vogue about politics in the last several years, chances are that Lex McMenamin wrote it. Any publication that is serious about meeting this moment would be lucky to have them.
I can now consistently hold a freestanding handstand for 20 seconds. One day I will take up a hobby which does not require months of practice for incremental progress.
October 31, 2025 at 4:23 AM
I can now consistently hold a freestanding handstand for 20 seconds. One day I will take up a hobby which does not require months of practice for incremental progress.
GrapheneOS is great and I recommend it all the time for Android users who are concerned about spying by governments and law enforcement.
"We’ve reached out to Google to inquire about why a custom ROM created by volunteers [@grapheneos.org] is more resistant to industrial phone hacking than the official Pixel OS. We’ll update this article if Google has anything to say." arstechnica.com/gadgets/2025...
Leaker reveals which Pixels are vulnerable to Cellebrite phone hacking
Cellebrite can apparently extract data from most Pixel phones, unless they’re running GrapheneOS.
arstechnica.com
October 31, 2025 at 12:33 AM
GrapheneOS is great and I recommend it all the time for Android users who are concerned about spying by governments and law enforcement.