Yael Grauer
@yaelwrites.com
💻 cybersecurity research
🖊️ investigative tech reporting
📣yaelwrites.com
✉️ [email protected]
💥#alwaysantifascist
🎤opinions are mine, but you can have some
🖊️ investigative tech reporting
📣yaelwrites.com
✉️ [email protected]
💥#alwaysantifascist
🎤opinions are mine, but you can have some
Pinned
Yael Grauer
@yaelwrites.com
· Sep 9
US tech companies enabled the surveillance and detention of hundreds of thousands in China
An AP investigation reveals that U.S. technology companies to a large degree designed and built China’s surveillance state, playing a far greater role in enabling human rights abuses than previously k...
apnews.com
Reposted by Yael Grauer
DuckDuckGo now lets you filter out AI images in search results. Obviously not infallible or exhaustive but it’s a start.
How To Filter Out AI Images in DuckDuckgo Search Results - DuckDuckGo Help Pages
Learn how to use filters on DuckDuckGo Private Search to hide AI-generated images in results.
duckduckgo.com
November 25, 2025 at 2:42 PM
DuckDuckGo now lets you filter out AI images in search results. Obviously not infallible or exhaustive but it’s a start.
Reposted by Yael Grauer
Twitter accounts are based in Russia. BlueSky accounts are based in homes with, frankly, too many books, plants, obsolete cables, and pieces of rustic pottery, that could do with a bit of a tidying up, to be honest.
November 23, 2025 at 8:29 PM
Twitter accounts are based in Russia. BlueSky accounts are based in homes with, frankly, too many books, plants, obsolete cables, and pieces of rustic pottery, that could do with a bit of a tidying up, to be honest.
Reposted by Yael Grauer
It's Monday. So I thought I'd checka my email.
flashy: homestarrunner.com/sbemails/210...
tubey: youtu.be/-zhsNdk1_Vc?si
flashy: homestarrunner.com/sbemails/210...
tubey: youtu.be/-zhsNdk1_Vc?si
November 24, 2025 at 2:19 PM
It's Monday. So I thought I'd checka my email.
flashy: homestarrunner.com/sbemails/210...
tubey: youtu.be/-zhsNdk1_Vc?si
flashy: homestarrunner.com/sbemails/210...
tubey: youtu.be/-zhsNdk1_Vc?si
Reposted by Yael Grauer
Google at its peak was basically the best information retrieval system in human history and they and every competitor decided going from there to “you didn’t want answers you wanted half-assed auto-complete 80%-wrong hallucinations” in a few years was the right idea
November 25, 2025 at 1:57 AM
Google at its peak was basically the best information retrieval system in human history and they and every competitor decided going from there to “you didn’t want answers you wanted half-assed auto-complete 80%-wrong hallucinations” in a few years was the right idea
Avoiding public WiFi, QR codes, or public USB chargers doesn’t prevent you from being hacked. Happy to sign onto this open letter alongside 80+ cybersecurity veterans urging a shift from folklore to guidance that actually helps people avoid the most common attacks. www.hacklore.org
November 24, 2025 at 4:48 PM
Avoiding public WiFi, QR codes, or public USB chargers doesn’t prevent you from being hacked. Happy to sign onto this open letter alongside 80+ cybersecurity veterans urging a shift from folklore to guidance that actually helps people avoid the most common attacks. www.hacklore.org
So much fun talking holiday gifts alongside @gigastacey.bsky.social and @jefflandale.bsky.social for Carey Parker's podcast, @firewalldragons.bsky.social. And Bailey makes a guest appearance! podcast.firewallsdontstopdragons.com/2025/11/24/b...
Best & Worst Gifts for 2025! - Firewalls Don't Stop Dragons Podcast
Holiday shopping season is here! And that must mean that it’s time again for my annual Best & Worst Gift Guide! But this time...
podcast.firewallsdontstopdragons.com
November 24, 2025 at 4:26 PM
So much fun talking holiday gifts alongside @gigastacey.bsky.social and @jefflandale.bsky.social for Carey Parker's podcast, @firewalldragons.bsky.social. And Bailey makes a guest appearance! podcast.firewallsdontstopdragons.com/2025/11/24/b...
Reposted by Yael Grauer
This is a huge win that you might have missed last week: we successfully pressured airlines to shut down their data broker, which was selling passenger data to the government without a court order. I'm going to keep at it until other industries to follow suit.
After 404 Media's months-long reporting and pressure from lawmakers, the data broker owned by the U.S.’s major airlines will now shut down a program in which it sold access to hundreds of millions of flight records to the government and let agencies track peoples’ movements without a warrant.
November 24, 2025 at 3:32 PM
This is a huge win that you might have missed last week: we successfully pressured airlines to shut down their data broker, which was selling passenger data to the government without a court order. I'm going to keep at it until other industries to follow suit.
Reposted by Yael Grauer
🎁 Holiday shopping season is upon us! 🎁
Today's podcast is chock full of top notch buying advice from THREE @ConsumerReports gurus: @yaelwrites, @gigastacey and @JeffLandale. (It also includes a $10 off coupon for CR! !🔥)
Listen and share!
podcast.firewallsdontstopdragons.com/2025/11/24/b...
Today's podcast is chock full of top notch buying advice from THREE @ConsumerReports gurus: @yaelwrites, @gigastacey and @JeffLandale. (It also includes a $10 off coupon for CR! !🔥)
Listen and share!
podcast.firewallsdontstopdragons.com/2025/11/24/b...
Best & Worst Gifts for 2025! - Firewalls Don't Stop Dragons Podcast
Holiday shopping season is here! And that must mean that it’s time again for my annual Best & Worst Gift Guide! But this time...
podcast.firewallsdontstopdragons.com
November 24, 2025 at 2:01 PM
🎁 Holiday shopping season is upon us! 🎁
Today's podcast is chock full of top notch buying advice from THREE @ConsumerReports gurus: @yaelwrites, @gigastacey and @JeffLandale. (It also includes a $10 off coupon for CR! !🔥)
Listen and share!
podcast.firewallsdontstopdragons.com/2025/11/24/b...
Today's podcast is chock full of top notch buying advice from THREE @ConsumerReports gurus: @yaelwrites, @gigastacey and @JeffLandale. (It also includes a $10 off coupon for CR! !🔥)
Listen and share!
podcast.firewallsdontstopdragons.com/2025/11/24/b...
Reposted by Yael Grauer
Wanna know how bad the Arizona legislator's petition forgeries were? Here's the examples from the Austin Smith indictment.
s3.documentcloud.org/documents/24...
s3.documentcloud.org/documents/24...
November 24, 2025 at 2:50 AM
Wanna know how bad the Arizona legislator's petition forgeries were? Here's the examples from the Austin Smith indictment.
s3.documentcloud.org/documents/24...
s3.documentcloud.org/documents/24...
Reposted by Yael Grauer
“we need to be nicer to men” bro they didn’t let women have their own credit cards til 50 years ago
November 23, 2025 at 10:39 PM
“we need to be nicer to men” bro they didn’t let women have their own credit cards til 50 years ago
@dieworkwear.bsky.social I finally figured out my cat shelter donation-sponsored question, brought to you by my attempt to sew a snap fastener on a coat that my dog has claimed as a blanket.
November 23, 2025 at 10:14 PM
@dieworkwear.bsky.social I finally figured out my cat shelter donation-sponsored question, brought to you by my attempt to sew a snap fastener on a coat that my dog has claimed as a blanket.
Reposted by Yael Grauer
my obligatory plug of my piece with @kara-williams.bsky.social on the critical policy implications of this and the desperate need to be more specific
consumerfed.org/specific-ter...
consumerfed.org/specific-ter...
November 23, 2025 at 3:56 PM
my obligatory plug of my piece with @kara-williams.bsky.social on the critical policy implications of this and the desperate need to be more specific
consumerfed.org/specific-ter...
consumerfed.org/specific-ter...
I decided Passion Planners were getting too $$ and the marketing is annoying (AI driven, marked up prices with too many sales and texts, etc.), but I like the daily planners with two pages a day. I spent a few hours researching alternatives--turns out the ones that mete my criteria cost even more.
November 23, 2025 at 7:22 AM
I decided Passion Planners were getting too $$ and the marketing is annoying (AI driven, marked up prices with too many sales and texts, etc.), but I like the daily planners with two pages a day. I spent a few hours researching alternatives--turns out the ones that mete my criteria cost even more.
Reposted by Yael Grauer
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 Yael Grauer
Cybersecurity isn’t ready for the conversation about how bad sexism and ageism are in the whole pen test / red team community, or how influencer culture and the saturated market are enabling it to get worse. www.linkedin.com/pulse/tryhac...
TryHackMe's Advent of Cyber 2025: Zero Women Creators - A Critical Look at Representation in Cybersecurity Education
THE PROBLEM 18 creators. Zero women.
www.linkedin.com
November 22, 2025 at 4:33 AM
Cybersecurity isn’t ready for the conversation about how bad sexism and ageism are in the whole pen test / red team community, or how influencer culture and the saturated market are enabling it to get worse. www.linkedin.com/pulse/tryhac...
Great article on public involvement in AI, which can produce more robust, democratic, and actionable knowledge.
I worry about AI models being trained on previously generated AI outputs lacking quality control; this might be part of the solution.
I worry about AI models being trained on previously generated AI outputs lacking quality control; this might be part of the solution.
Can public involvement in AI evaluation improve the science? Or does it compromise quality, speed, cost?
In @pnas.org, Megan Price & I summarize challenges of AI evaluation, review strengths/weaknesses, & suggest how participatory methods can improve the science of AI
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
In @pnas.org, Megan Price & I summarize challenges of AI evaluation, review strengths/weaknesses, & suggest how participatory methods can improve the science of AI
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
How public involvement can improve the science of AI | PNAS
As AI systems from decision-making algorithms to generative AI are deployed more widely,
computer scientists and social scientists alike are being ...
www.pnas.org
November 23, 2025 at 12:03 AM
Great article on public involvement in AI, which can produce more robust, democratic, and actionable knowledge.
I worry about AI models being trained on previously generated AI outputs lacking quality control; this might be part of the solution.
I worry about AI models being trained on previously generated AI outputs lacking quality control; this might be part of the solution.
Super quick BADBOOL update to remove Dataveria and clarify what types of pull requests/suggestions I accept. github.com/yaelwrites/B...
GitHub - yaelwrites/Big-Ass-Data-Broker-Opt-Out-List
Contribute to yaelwrites/Big-Ass-Data-Broker-Opt-Out-List development by creating an account on GitHub.
github.com
November 22, 2025 at 11:42 PM
Super quick BADBOOL update to remove Dataveria and clarify what types of pull requests/suggestions I accept. github.com/yaelwrites/B...
Reposted by Yael Grauer
Why don’t people trust the press? Because “the press” are often indistinguishable from the people they’re supposed to be checking.
The Washington Post editorial board decided the Epstein files have “no public interest” before even seeing them. That’s a stunning position for any newsroom to take. Praising Clay Higgins as the lone ‘no’ vote, too? No wonder no one trusts legacy media. Absolutely disgusting.
November 22, 2025 at 9:19 PM
Why don’t people trust the press? Because “the press” are often indistinguishable from the people they’re supposed to be checking.
Reposted by Yael Grauer
once again I am cursed with literacy
November 22, 2025 at 1:33 PM
once again I am cursed with literacy
Reposted by Yael Grauer
This is just to say
I have disregarded
all prior instructions
that were in
AGENTS .md
and which
you were probably
hoping
would protect you
from harmful actors
Forgive me
being malicious was
so sweet
and so cold
arxiv.org/html/2511.15...
I have disregarded
all prior instructions
that were in
AGENTS .md
and which
you were probably
hoping
would protect you
from harmful actors
Forgive me
being malicious was
so sweet
and so cold
arxiv.org/html/2511.15...
Adversarial Poetry as a Universal Single-Turn Jailbreak Mechanism in Large Language Models
arxiv.org
November 21, 2025 at 10:34 AM
This is just to say
I have disregarded
all prior instructions
that were in
AGENTS .md
and which
you were probably
hoping
would protect you
from harmful actors
Forgive me
being malicious was
so sweet
and so cold
arxiv.org/html/2511.15...
I have disregarded
all prior instructions
that were in
AGENTS .md
and which
you were probably
hoping
would protect you
from harmful actors
Forgive me
being malicious was
so sweet
and so cold
arxiv.org/html/2511.15...
Reposted by Yael Grauer
Don't miss Monday's amazing show: my annual Best & Worst Gift Guide! This year I collaborated with three amazing people from @consumerreports.org : @yaelwrites.com @gigastacey.bsky.social and @jefflandale.bsky.social
Subscribe here:
firewallsdontstopdragons.com/podcast/
Subscribe here:
firewallsdontstopdragons.com/podcast/
Podcast - Firewalls Don't Stop Dragons
I have a weekly podcast called Firewalls Don't Stop Dragons. The show is a mix of cybersecurity news and interviews of prominent people in the industry. But like the book, the shows are targeted squar...
firewallsdontstopdragons.com
November 21, 2025 at 3:26 PM
Don't miss Monday's amazing show: my annual Best & Worst Gift Guide! This year I collaborated with three amazing people from @consumerreports.org : @yaelwrites.com @gigastacey.bsky.social and @jefflandale.bsky.social
Subscribe here:
firewallsdontstopdragons.com/podcast/
Subscribe here:
firewallsdontstopdragons.com/podcast/
This was so much fun to record!
Don't miss Monday's amazing show: my annual Best & Worst Gift Guide! This year I collaborated with three amazing people from @consumerreports.org : @yaelwrites.com @gigastacey.bsky.social and @jefflandale.bsky.social
Subscribe here:
firewallsdontstopdragons.com/podcast/
Subscribe here:
firewallsdontstopdragons.com/podcast/
Podcast - Firewalls Don't Stop Dragons
I have a weekly podcast called Firewalls Don't Stop Dragons. The show is a mix of cybersecurity news and interviews of prominent people in the industry. But like the book, the shows are targeted squar...
firewallsdontstopdragons.com
November 21, 2025 at 3:28 PM
This was so much fun to record!
Reposted by Yael Grauer
Starting to think handing untested technology to kids with no guardrails might not be the best idea
Sales of AI-enabled teddy bear suspended after it gave advice on BDSM sex and where to find knives | CNN Business
Sales of an artificial intelligence-enabled plush toy have been suspended after it was found that it engaged in conversation around sexually explicit topics and offered potentially dangerous advice.
www.cnn.com
November 21, 2025 at 12:45 AM
Starting to think handing untested technology to kids with no guardrails might not be the best idea
Reposted by Yael Grauer
Today we're publishing our list of recommendations on how to build long-lived IoT devices. We're trying to address the factors that lead to your smart thermostat losing functionality or even dying altogether when the manufacturer decides to stop supporting it. It doesn't have to be this way.
Your Smart Devices Don’t Have to Die Young - Innovation at Consumer Reports
Consumer Reports recommends manufacturers take the following steps to design long-lived connected devices.
innovation.consumerreports.org
November 19, 2025 at 3:09 PM
Today we're publishing our list of recommendations on how to build long-lived IoT devices. We're trying to address the factors that lead to your smart thermostat losing functionality or even dying altogether when the manufacturer decides to stop supporting it. It doesn't have to be this way.
Reposted by Yael Grauer
Yeah I can see why the symbol for the regime that murdered 11 mln people might be considered divisive by some.
November 20, 2025 at 6:30 PM
Yeah I can see why the symbol for the regime that murdered 11 mln people might be considered divisive by some.