Joseph Menn

Joseph Menn

@joemenn.bsky.social

Washington Post alum covering hacking, disinformation and what’s left of privacy. Author of books on the Cult of the Dead Cow, organized criminal hacking, and Napster. Pulitzer co-finalist 2024. Signal joemenn.01

21K followers848 following1.5K posts

Pinned

Joseph Menn
@joemenn.bsky.social

Here we go. Free, no-reg versions of favorite stories from my four years at the Washington Post. First, three pieces from our Pulitzer-finalist series on how India's ruling party coerced U.S. tech giants into violating their own policies. www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/0...

washingtonpost.comUnder India’s pressure, Facebook let propaganda and hate speech thriveFacebook has retreated from its professed ideals in India under pressure from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party.
Joseph Menn
@joemenn.bsky.social

I saw an embargoed talk on this technique earlier. It is impossible to stop.

Greg Otto@gregotto.bsky.social

NEW from @mattkapko.com - Volt Typhoon has consistently built and dismantled ephemeral malicious infrastructure to burrow into hundreds of sensitive systems undetected, Lumen Technologies’ Black Lotus Labs said in a Wednesday report. cyberscoop.com/volt-typhoon...

cyberscoop.comResearchers uncover Volt Typhoon’s covert, ephemeral networkThe China-linked threat group has used the “Silent Train” framework, built on a series of rapidly rotating compromised devices, to infiltrate hundreds of critical infrastructure networks.

Joseph Menn reposted

steven monacelli
@stevanzetti.bsky.social

For @texasobserver.org, I dug into the ginned up “October surprises” in the Senate race in Texas. Most notably, the bogus transgender mailers, which trace back to a printing shop whose owners are major Republican donors with ties to Texas megadonors. www.texasobserver.org/ken-paxton-j...

texasobserver.orgKen Paxton's 'October Surprises' Are Pure DisinformationFor Paxton and the influencers around him, shoddy work in the election’s home stretch is getting rapidly exposed—though some mystery still surrounds a deceptive mail campaign.

Joseph Menn reposted

The Associated Press
@apnews.com

The long-serving strongman leader of Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic, has conceded defeat in an election that pitted him and his right-wing party against a diverse student-led opposition movement that spent two years protesting his government.

bit.lySerbia’s strongman leader Vucic concedes defeat to student-led movement in seismic political shiftThe long-serving strongman leader of Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic, has conceded defeat in an election that pitted him and his right-wing party against a diverse student-led opposition movement that spent two years protesting his government.
Joseph Menn
@joemenn.bsky.social

More bad news about a good news org.

Ben Mullin@benmullin.bsky.social

News: Rest of World, the nonprofit newsroom focused on the impact of technology outside the West founded by Sophie Schmidt, tells donors in an email it will “cease publishing as a standalone entity” at the end of January.

Joseph Menn reposted

Allison Gill
@muellershewrote.com

Why wouldn’t he admit it? The Supreme Court immunized this kind of stuff. It’s why Jack Smith had to take the Jeffrey Clark/DOJ/Trump conspiracy out of his Jan 6 indictment.

Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com

Trump admits that he told the DOJ to sue Alaska over the election

Joseph Menn
@joemenn.bsky.social

Today in WTAF

Peter Baker@peterbakernyt.bsky.social

“It’s not only unlawful, but it’s not in the US interest to have Russian technology controlling the commercialization of Arctic gas in the North Slope,” says ex-Polar LNG CEO who quit after discovering secret Russian funding. www.nytimes.com/2026/10/23/u...

nytimes.comIn U.S. Gas Talks With Kremlin, Hidden Financing for Alaska Project EmergesInterviews and documents show a Russian energy giant secretly funded a U.S. firm. The deal has been discussed in talks to end the war in Ukraine.

Joseph Menn reposted

Prof Bill McGuire
@profbillmcguire.bsky.social

If this death toll was the result of a terrorist attack, the world would be up in arms And remember, this is not the new normal From the perspective of 2100, or even 2050, the summer of 2026 will be one of the coolest www.theguardian.com/environment/...

theguardian.comHeat killed ‘staggering’ 50,000 people in Europe’s cities this summer, scientists warnPeople succumbed to heat at highest rates in Malta, Italy and Hungary, with health issues, loneliness and poverty exacerbating toll

Joseph Menn reposted

Charles Ornstein
@charlesornstein.bsky.social

MAJOR SCOOP: Ken Paxton Says He’s Tough on Crime. His Trust Invested $600,000 in a Convicted Fraudster’s Company. w/ @texastribune.org

propublica.orgKen Paxton’s Trust Gave a $600,000 Infusion to a Convicted Fraudster’s CompanyThe blind trust’s investment in Wildcatter offers a new, unreported look at the attorney general’s financial ties with the very type of business executives whose prosecutions he typically celebrates.

Joseph Menn reposted

lauren
@lauren.rotatingsandwiches.com

i think it would be great with the holiday season right around the corner if we skipped the "how to avoid talking about politics with your kooky uncle" articles and got a bunch of more useful "how to talk to older family members about setting a family codeword in case of phishing attempts" articles

Joseph Menn reposted

Jason Kikta
@kikta.net

HAPPY AGENTIC AI PEACE DIVIDEND DAY TO ALL WHO (unwillingly) CELEBRATE Thread of today’s security shitshow, feel free to contribute…

Joseph Menn reposted

Kate Starbird
@katestarbird.bsky.social

Lots of election rumors circulating today: machines allegedly flipping votes, stolen mail w/ ballots, voters receiving multiple ballots, ballots returned to sender. Many of these are REAL issues that may end up getting wrapped into false rumors (around impact, intentionality, and remedies).

Joseph Menn reposted

Jake Williams
@malwarejake.bsky.social

I had to read the sentence "Astonishingly, the private keys were 4, 56, 66, 115, 155, 156, 230, 237" several times, because despite knowing @dangoodin.bsky.social superior attention to detail, my brain was *certain* that could not be correct.

Dan Goodin@dangoodin.bsky.social

Security personnel around the world are on high alert following the discovery of eight TLS certificates with private keys so weak they could allow anyone to mint trusted browser and app credentials for any site on the Internet. arstechnica.com/security/202...

arstechnica.comThe Internet goes on high alert after discovery of 8 compromised TLS certsIntermediate certs allow anyone to mint web credentials for any Internet server.

Joseph Menn reposted

The Washington Post
@washingtonpost.com

Breaking news: The Trump administration has not approved the transfer of interceptor missiles to Ukraine that are needed to protect the country from Russian attacks, officials said, a delay that comes as President Trump has embraced Russia in recent weeks.

washingtonpost.comTrump administration holds up Patriot missiles for UkraineDelays in approving transfers from partner countries coincide with a worsening rupture between President Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky.
Joseph Menn
@joemenn.bsky.social

Reposting from the weekend in case you were busy having a weekend.

Joseph Menn@joemenn.bsky.social

I wrote for The Guardian about why the specter of AI-powered worms is being taken more seriously than many competing doomsday scenarios—and why a former White House national cyber director thinks they might be useful. www.theguardian.com/technology/2...

theguardian.comWhat are self-replicating ‘AI worms’, and why is Anthropic worried about them?The tech company says successful AI worms need more capability on less powerful devices, but current trends make that feasible by the end of the year

Joseph Menn reposted

Scott Nover
@scottnover.bsky.social

Christiane Amanpour, who previously voiced concerns about David Ellison’s takeover of CNN, is leaving the network after 43 years. She said in a statement that she will be "rooting for CNN and maintaining its history of independent journalism." www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...

washingtonpost.comChristiane Amanpour is leaving CNN after 43 yearsThe network’s chief international anchor had voiced concerns about David Ellison’s takeover of the network in the wake of an “ideological realignment” at CBS News.

Joseph Menn reposted

Marisa Kabas
@marisakabas.bsky.social

SCOOP: 'Tommy' from the now-viral exchange with Abdul El-Sayed is Thomas Teepell, a former staffer for Republican Senator Josh Hawley with close ties to Christian Nationalist Sean Feucht. He's the son of a former Bobby Jindal staffer whose consultant work was instrumental in getting Hawley elected.

thehandbasket.co'Tommy' from viral El-Sayed video is former Sen. Hawley staffer with Christian nationalist tiesThomas Teepell is the son of a former long-time Bobby Jindal staffer who's close to Sean Feucht.
Joseph Menn
@joemenn.bsky.social

Incredible

Justin Baragona@justinbaragona.bsky.social

Hearing from my sources that this "over the top" tweet from Jan Crawford is being discussed internally at CBS. At the same time, as those same sources noted, "Jan is protected by Bari" and has been a very vocal acolyte of Weiss. "She just can't help herself," one network insider said.

Joseph Menn
@joemenn.bsky.social

I wrote for The Guardian about why the specter of AI-powered worms is being taken more seriously than many competing doomsday scenarios—and why a former White House national cyber director thinks they might be useful. www.theguardian.com/technology/2...

theguardian.comWhat are self-replicating ‘AI worms’, and why is Anthropic worried about them?The tech company says successful AI worms need more capability on less powerful devices, but current trends make that feasible by the end of the year

Joseph Menn reposted

Ezra Levin ❌👑
@ezralevin.bsky.social

Update: without explanation, and after being suspended for more than an hour during peak mobilization time, Zuckerberg's Instagram restored the No Kings account but we still lack admin access. More to come. Rest assured we will not stop organizing against this regime and its collaborators.

Ezra Levin ❌👑@ezralevin.bsky.social

❗❗❗Mark Zuckerberg's meta just suspended the No Kings Instagram account. I just rushed back from my local No Kings to jump on this. Bottom line, would be helpful for all pro-No Kings folks to elevate the issue and help us get the word out about No Kings today. The Nerd Reich strikes again.

Joseph Menn reposted

Kate from Kharkiv
@kateinkharkiv.bsky.social

IMPORTANT‼️: Zelenskyy stated that there are Starlink speed limitations in Ukraine but not in the EU, and that this is a planned operation ‼️ Zelenskyy to journalists (full statement translated): Regarding the work of Starlink on the territory of Ukraine: whether everything has recovered,

Joseph Menn reposted

Ron Deibert
@rondeibert.bsky.social

NEW @citizenlab.ca report We uncovered an Israeli firm using online ads to run vast spy operation This is the first-ever public confirmation of zero-click mercenary spyware delivered via targeted ads. 45 devices at @aljazeera.com confirmed infected citizenlab.ca/research/how...

citizenlab.caExposing AdFection: How Discover-Tech Turned Targeted Ads Into a Pipeline for Zero-Click Mercenary Spyware - The Citizen LabThis is the first-ever public confirmation of zero-click mercenary spyware delivered via targeted ads. We call the technique AdFection, and show how it was used to infect devices at Al Jazeera with Ca...