The 21st Century of Discord Leaky US Military Documents for the lulz: Update on Tools and Security, and How to Protect Your Online Identity
If you had “leaking classified US military documents for the lulz” on your 2023 Bingo card, congratulations. The fast-paced drama surrounding the online disclosure of top-secret material ripped through this week’s news. We will take a closer look at the details, but there is one point that we can take away: this kind of leak may be only the beginning.
It is now possible to protect online identities from chaos agents of a different variety. LinkedIn this week began to roll out new tools that allow you to verify your identity and your job. And for iOS users who want a built-in way to protect their security, we detailed how to use Apple’s all-in-one password manager.
While your personal safety is moving in the right direction, it isn’t as lucky for other large language models. This week we looked at the world ofjailbreaking generative artificial intelligence tools that allow users to subvert their creators’ attempts to stop them. It’s still early days in the world of LLM hacking, but it’s a safe bet that we’ll be hearing a lot more about this in the months to come.
Source: https://www.wired.com/story/discord-leak-us-intel-security-roundup/
What Did Jack Teixeira Leap into an Airman Leashed on a Private Chat Room in Montana Decay? The New York Times, Discord, and Other Stories
Downloads of the song were banned by Montana lawmakers yesterday. The legislation is likely to be signed into law by the Governor, despite the likelihood of legal challenges.
But that’s not all. Each week we gather up the stories we didn’t report. Click on the headlines to read the full stories. And stay safe out there.
Jack Teixeira, a airman with the Massachusetts Air National Guard, has been charged with retaining and distributing national defense information and withholding classified documents. The New York Times was the first to name a man as the source of the leak, and soon after the FBI arrested him at his family’s home.
The 21-year-old allegedly disclosed the top-secret intelligence in an attempt to show off to members of Thug Shaker Central, an invite-only chat room hosted on Discord. The chat consisted of two dozen adolescent boys and young men who, according to The Washington Post, largely did not understand the significance of the leak.
According to NBC News, the US intelligence officials are frustrated and embarrassed because they failed to see the classified Pentagon documents that were circulating online, and they are now looking to broaden the monitoring of online chat rooms.
The US eavesdrops on allies as well as journalists, peace talks between Russia and Kyiv are never likely, and Ukrainian ammunition is running low, despite the best efforts of journalists. These will not prove as damaging as the Edward Snowden and Chelsea Manning disclosures.
The Codebreakers: Defending the Civil Liberties of the United States Through Private Chats, Tweets, and Adversarial Threats
Monitoring chatter in public chat rooms is commonplace for law enforcement. But if US intelligence agencies plan on surveilling private conversations without probable cause, they will run into serious legal and civil liberties hurdles, experts say. Glenn Gerstell told NBC News that the United States doesn’t want a system like that where the government monitors private internet chats.
You must sign up to receive the weekly column as a newsletter. We’re looking back at the strongest, smartest opinion takes of the week from CNN and other outlets.
In 1917, British analysts deciphered a message sent by the German foreign minister to one of his country’s diplomats, threatening to start unrestricted submarine warfare if the US wasn’t defeated in Texas, New Mexico and Arizona. When it became public, the Zimmerman Telegram caused a sensation, helping propel the US into the conflict against Germany.
“Never before or since has so much turned upon the solution of a secret message,” wrote David Kahn in his classic 1967 history of secret communications, “The Codebreakers.” The Germans took great care to keep their intentions confidential, and the codebreakers in London needed a lot of work to decipher the telegram.
She warned that technology that makes data ever more portable, distribution more global and communications more tailored will make it easier to spread information privately or publicly.
The two Democrats who were kicked out of the Tennessee House for participating in a gun control protest were returned to office by local officials.
Writing for CNN Opinion, Rep. Justin Pearson noted, “This should be a chastening moment for revanchist forces in Tennessee’s legislature and across the country. Over the long haul, the undemocratic machinations employed to oust us from office are destined to fail. The moralarc of the universe bends towards justice, said Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. This is the case, more than ever, was demonstrated by the events this week.
The Democratic proposals for addressing gun violence have the support of the American people. The once-dreaded culture war topic topped the national list of voter concerns after political watchers who criticized Democrats for talking too much about abortion later ate crow.
The politics of gun control have shifted, argued Democratic strategist Max Burns. The NRA’s internal struggles have weakened its influence while Democrats in office, who once feared touching the issue of guns, are increasingly speaking out. And they are making some progress in enacting new state laws, Burns noted.
Source: https://www.cnn.com/2023/04/16/opinions/top-secrets-come-spilling-out-opinion-column-galant/index.html
Top Secrets Come Spilling Out: What Happens When a US Journalist Is Imprisoned and Left Behind: A Conversation with Andelman
The Supreme Court ensured access to a key drug in medication abortions, after issuing an order on Friday. The move gave the justices more time to consider the issue after a Texas federal judge suspended the US Food and Drug Administration’s approval of the abortion pill 23 years ago.
There is no reason to challenge the approval even after 23 years. The drug received a lengthy review before the FDA approved it. Moreover, claims that mifepristone threatens the health of those who take it are unfounded. The drug has a better safety record for use than Viagra and penicillin. Notably, it was available and used for years without incident in Europe.”
In 1986, Nicholas Daniloff, the Moscow bureau chief for US News & World Report, was seized by Soviet authorities and locked up in Lefortovo prison. He was the last US journalist to be arrested in Russia before the Wall Street Journal correspondent was arrested last month. US officials have determined that Gershkovich was wrongly imprisoned, despite being charged with espionage.
Daniloff was held in jail for thirteen days before being put under house arrest and then traded for a soviet spy. In a conversation with Andelman, Daniloff recalled his reaction when he was imprisoned. I felt like I wanted to leave immediately. Of course, there was no chance of that. The door slams, and you have a lot of feelings that run through you, and then you realize that you are going to stay around that cell for some time.
Source: https://www.cnn.com/2023/04/16/opinions/top-secrets-come-spilling-out-opinion-column-galant/index.html
How ‘The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel’ Affirmed that Violence wasn’t inevitable in the Early 19th Century
“I want to say that I am not losing hope,” he noted. “I read. I work out. And I am trying to write. Maybe, finally, I am going to write something good.”
“A show like ‘The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel’ lets me revel in my personal New York Jewish heritage while also getting a little break from all the worry. It’s a warm, funny, sexy, extremely Jewish …. comedy that hits me straight in my glossy childhood memories. It is problematic but it isn’t also problematic.
The tension between preserving the past and not making it seem like a story of oppression is something that I worry about as a Jewish historian. The moments of peace and joy are as vital as the moments of violence. In fact, it’s the periods of peace, of success, of interfaith community, that reveal the terrible truth about the violence: it wasn’t inevitable. People could have made different choices…”
Source: https://www.cnn.com/2023/04/16/opinions/top-secrets-come-spilling-out-opinion-column-galant/index.html
The Top Secrets Come Spilling Out Of The Column Galant: Daniel Perry, a Black Lives Matter Demonstration, is Not the Rule of Law
Our ability to think is one of the most amazing things about humans and other animals. …bees can count and do math, and that just shows how much we still have to learn about animal intelligence. But humans can calculate the distance to the stars.”
“One of the attributes of intelligence is the ability to think and solve problems. In the early 1960s, I was told that the only way we could make things was with language and culture. “But more and more research has proved that many animals are excellent at solving problems. Many use tools that show cultural differences. Some scientists believe whales and dolphins communicate in real time.
A jury in Texas convicted DanielPerry of murder for shooting and killing a Black Lives Matter protester. The jury deliberated for 17 hours and decided Perry’s action couldn’t be excused under the state’s “stand your ground” law. Prosecutors argued Perry had instigated the incident and they introduced into evidence messages that suggested the shooting was not a spur-of-the-moment act but a premeditated one.
On the evening of the jury verdict, Fox News host Tucker Carlson criticized the decision and told viewers he had invited Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on the show to ask if he would consider pardoning Perry. Governor Abbott responded to a call that he issue a pardon, as long as the board of pardons recommends that the man be granted one.
“Trial verdicts are determined by judges and juries,” wrote Dean Obeidallah. “What Abbott is doing is not just wrong, it’s dangerous. His pardon, when it comes, is not what the rule of law looks like.”
Source: https://www.cnn.com/2023/04/16/opinions/top-secrets-come-spilling-out-opinion-column-galant/index.html
An Overview of the Biden-Harris Campaign in Florida: Top Secrets Come Spilling Out Column-Galant Comment on Ron DeSantis
President Biden wants to run, but he isn’t ready to make a formal announcement. And Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is making all the moves a presidential contender usually makes, including hawking his new book and visiting New Hampshire, but he hasn’t joined fellow Republicans including former President Donald Trump, former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley and former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson in declaring.
“DeSantis, who was neck and neck with the former president just a few months ago, may have lost a step or two in more recent polling. Patrick T Brown remarked that his track record in Florida should force GOP voters to think long and hard about what version of their party they want to put forward.
“A third Trump presidential nomination would indicate that Republican primary voters may prefer style over substance. But if they are serious about not just making liberals mad but advancing actual policy, GOP voters should consider other names, starting with the Florida governor.”
Even without an official announcement by the president, wrote Julian Zelizer, the Biden-Harris campaign is very much under way. Biden is using the Rose Garden Strategy, where the incumbent campaigns by emphasizing the business of being president, and showing voters that he is the responsible figure in the race.
Source: https://www.cnn.com/2023/04/16/opinions/top-secrets-come-spilling-out-opinion-column-galant/index.html
How to Pack a MacBook with a Foot on a Flight? Jill Filipovic, a South African Airlines Passenger, Tells the World How to Take a Laptop with You
Jill Filipovic recently took a domestic flight in South Africa. Airport staff were polite and friendly with the passengers. The airplane seat offered enough room for both of my legs and both of my arms. We took off on time and landed early. My shoes were at the airport all the time.
After Sept. 11, 2001, passengers that pay for the privilege cannot avoid taking their shoes and laptops with them if they want to without having to submit their personal information prior to their departure.
Filipovic added, “Admittedly, I do pay — I don’t want to wait in a long security line, walk my stocking feet through a metal detector and have to un- and re-pack the MacBook I’ve carefully crammed into my carry-on. But the existence of pay-to-play shorter-line security options like Clear and TSA Pre-Check make clear that it is indeed possible to pre-screen a critical mass of passengers to avoid the morass of cranky people trying to pull on their shoes while re-packing their electronics.”