Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Tom McAdam @tomm.org · 10h

A second own goal for the Online Safety Act after last week’s Discord users’ ID hack.

More people are using VPNs so of course hackers are touting free VPNs that are actually malware.

It’s time to call it the Online Harm Act.

www.engadget.com/cybersecurit...

Malware apps posing as free VPNs are on the rise

A recent report on the Klopatra malware operation shows hackers taking advantage of a surge in VPN use.

www.engadget.com

2 2

Reposted by Tom McAdam

BremainInSpain @bremaininspain.com · 18h

Remember when Nigel Farage said, 'If we vote to Remain on June 23rd, it will be the end of the steel industry in this country. It's as simple as that.'

Now we all know Brexit’s to blame for the crisis facing UK steel – it’s time for politicians to be honest and reverse it

We all know Brexit’s to blame for the crisis facing UK steel – it’s time for politicians to be honest and reverse it | Simon Jenkins

With British industry faltering, the excuse that the public wants this is risible. Parliament must force Starmer to act, says Guardian columnist Simon Jenkins

www.theguardian.com

6 130 290

Reposted by Tom McAdam

Peter Jukes @peterjukes.bsky.social · 13h

The picture of Farage with the T shirt from Gill’s briber’s wife, taken the day Gill appears her Pro Russian TV channel, is taken in Gill’s office

Peter Jukes @peterjukes.bsky.social · 13h

Farage on Gill and Pro Russian media bribes” I told him not to go. He defied me and went. I was completely unaware of any statements that he made."

Farage with pro Russian media (and wife of briber) on the day Gill made his statements in 2018

8 170 240

Reposted by Tom McAdam

The Daily Show @thedailyshow.com · 1d

The following is REAL footage from Portland, 2025. Viewer discretion is advised.

1.8K 22K 53K

Tom McAdam @tomm.org · 1d

Adding to the list of "why to not have online voting".

Private companies' incentives rarely align with the needs of voting systems in general, and this highlights risks of their owners not being impartial.

Tim Onion @bencollins.bsky.social · 1d

fucking WOOF

Scoop: Dominion Voting sold to company run by ex-GOP election official

Dominion is one of the biggest election equipment providers and was used by 27 states during the 2024 election.

www.axios.com

1 1

Reposted by Tom McAdam

Adam Bienkov @adambienkov.bsky.social · 3d

Nothing says "I want independent judges" like threatening to sack any judge who disagrees with you, while holding up a judge's wig like a puppet

60 230 930

Reposted by Tom McAdam

The Secret Barrister @barristersecret.bsky.social · 3d

This is a lie.

There are many criticisms you might sensibly and truthfully make of the Sentencing Council and the Sentencing Guidelines. I’ve been making them for years.

But this is an outright lie. Pure fabrication. A fraud on the public.

120 1.8K 3.4K

Reposted by Tom McAdam

Tim Bale @timbale.bsky.social · 3d

If you can't see how this will end, then you're not paying attention (not least to what's going on on the other side of the Atlantic).

85 550 1.6K

Tom McAdam @tomm.org · 3d

In the era of state-sponsored attacks on critical infrastructure, it's just not worth it. I wrote about this last year: tomm.org/2024/no-to-o...

We need to fix voting from abroad but online voting isn't the answer

tomm.org

Tom McAdam @tomm.org · 4d

Again for the people at the back: online voting isn't worth the risks.

Let's not risk the crown jewels of democracy to hacking.

www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

How the PINs Ontario voters threw away in 2022's municipal elections opened online voting to fraud | CBC News

A new study suggests the integrity of online voting in the 2022 Ontario municipal elections could have been undercut by two fundamental security flaws that would have left 70 percent of municipal elec...

www.cbc.ca

1 1

Reposted by Tom McAdam

Scott Galloway @profgalloway.com · 4d

Brilliant. @borowitzreport.bsky.social

String of Correctly Spelled Texts from Trump Fuels Speculation That he is Dead

The texts were the work of someone with at least a seventh-grade education.

open.substack.com

14 36 370

Tom McAdam @tomm.org · 4d

Here's how I do mine: tomm.org/2022/prepari...

It's changed a bit since then as I've added Google Drive and email backups to the mix, which I'll write about soon.

Preparing for the worst

tomm.org

1

Tom McAdam @tomm.org · 4d

Your Monday reminder that if "make some backups" (and test restoring them periodically) has been on your to-do list for a while, you really should get around to it

koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/news/2025-10...

NIRS fire destroys government's cloud storage system, no backups available

A fire at the National Information Resources Service (NIRS) Daejeon headquarters destroyed the government’s G-Drive cloud storage system, erasing work files saved individually by some 750,000 civil se...

koreajoongangdaily.joins.com

1

Tom McAdam @tomm.org · 5d

That didn't take long, did it. Who'd have thought that badly-implemented age verification would backfire with data breaches of users' provided ID.

Brace yourselves for many more of these, fraudsters are going to have a field day.

John Scott-Railton @jsrailton.bsky.social · 5d

NEW: breach of Discord age verification data.

Including some users passports & DLs

Age verification is a badly implemented data grab wrapped in a moral panic.

Mark my words, as age verification mandates expand, we'll end up more surveilled and less secure. 1/

18 33

Reposted by Tom McAdam

KOJAMF🤘🖤🤘 @kojamf.bsky.social · 5d

Dr. Jane Goodall filmed an interview with Netflix in March 2025 that she understood would only be released after her death.

810 17K 37K

Tom McAdam @tomm.org · 5d

gotta focus on those silver linings 😢

Tom McAdam @tomm.org · 5d

🤣🤣🤣

Channel 4 News @channel4news.bsky.social · 5d

‘We have proved we can run the economy’: Conservative MP
www.channel4.com/news/we-have...

‘We have proved we can run the economy’: Conservative MP

Shadow Defence Secretary James Cartlidge speaks to Cathy Newman at the Conservative party conference,

www.channel4.com

1 1

Tom McAdam @tomm.org · 6d

So @robertjenrickmp.bsky.social looks at the videos of ICE violence and thinks "we could do with some of that here" or "saying that might get me some votes". Both options are deplorable.

Liam Thorp @liamthorp.bsky.social · 6d

The next general election is going to be unbearably awful isn’t it

Just parties lining up to outdo each other in awfulness

2 1

Tom McAdam @tomm.org · 6d

My friend asked me to take care of his @microlino.bsky.social while he's away. I don't know who loves it more - me or the dog.

When we're driving he sits with his head on my arm, happy to be up front with me rather than having to sit in the back seat away from the hoomans.

Dog sitting in the driver's seat of a microlino car with the front door (which is on the front of the car, and includes the front windscreen) open.

Microlino car parked in a parking space that could fit two of them comfortably.

1

Reposted by Tom McAdam

Mark Pack @markpackuk.bsky.social · 7d

Really, Sky? Her husband's name deserves more prominence than her own?

12 23 110

Reposted by Tom McAdam

Andrew Copson @andrewcopson.bsky.social · 8d

The commitment to legally recognise our humanist weddings as marriages is great news, but putting it in a full marriage law reform process with another (the fourth in 12 years!) consultation means more years of delay. Is there a word for joy and disappointment at once? humanists.uk/2025/10/02/c...

Celebrations as UK Government announces legal humanist marriages, but law change some way away'

The UK Government has announced that it will finally legally recognise humanist marriages in England and Wales, but only as part of wider marriage reform on which it has announced further consultation...

humanists.uk

10 21 110

Reposted by Tom McAdam

Sunder Katwala (sundersays) @sundersays.bsky.social · 8d

As Yom Kippur ends, it is terrible that a holy day has seen people killed at a place of worship in Manchester

I hope many of us will express solidarity + support for Jews in Britain, and work with them + those of every faith and none to deepen our efforts to tackle antisemitism, hatred + extremism

To everyone in Britain's Jewish Community: you are not alone.

We will not let hate or those who spread it win.

We stand with you

9 79 280

Reposted by Tom McAdam

Hillary Rodham Clinton @hillaryclinton.bsky.social · 10d

Look at that huge jump in Trump's wealth in 2025.

Americans can't afford groceries or health care.

But the Trump presidency is working out great for Donald Trump.

www.forbes.com/sites/danale...

A chart titled "How Rich is Donald Trump: $7.3 billion," showing his wealth skyrocketing in 2025

190 1.6K 3.7K

Reposted by Tom McAdam

dag @davidallengreen.bsky.social · 10d

Sums up this most dismal moment.

JVG 骨 @jasonv.bsky.social · 10d

Absolute all-timer sentence in today's @nytimes.com

"some legal experts have called it a crime to summarily execute civilians" says today's New York Times, continuing their long tradition of whitewashing fascism

1 160 530

Reposted by Tom McAdam

Kara Swisher @karaswisher.bsky.social · 11d

Emma Watson, who has been appropriately critical of the raging she-devil JK Rowling, said a nice thing about her past relationship with the author in a vain attempt to be kind. Unsurprisingly, the toxic termagant cannot just stifle herself, touting her performative victimhood and endless cruelty.

68 46 660