Joseph Cox / is on Nostr

Hacking/crime/privacy journalist. Author of forthcoming DARK WIRE, buy here: https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/joseph-cox/dark-wire/9781541702691/#preorder Co-founder of 404 Media. Signal: +44 20 8133 5190. Email: joseph@404media.co

Last Notes

2024-06-12 12:37:54

New from 404 Media: Tile was hacked. Hacker had access to internal tools including to get location data for cops (seen here). Also scraped customer data. Tile only published a statement acknowledging breach after I proved to them stolen data was real https://www.404media.co/hacker-accesses-internal-tile-tool-that-provides-location-data-to-cops/
https://media.infosec.exchange/infosec.exchange/media_attachments/files/112/603/684/590/032/547/original/e07f9585af432e37.png

2024-06-11 15:40:13

New: hackers have taken over a Stable Diffusion tool to then target users for AI "art theft." Looks like its harvesting credentials, which hackers are then using on accounts
"We are sorry we had to do that to you"
https://www.404media.co/hackers-target-ai-users-with-malicious-stable-diffusion-tool-on-github/
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2024-06-07 12:40:26

Today is the 3rd anniversary of the Anom operation, in which the FBI secretly ran its own backdoored encrypted chat app. But something authorities haven't acknowledged until recently to me in my book—an assassination was planned on the FBI's app, and the FBI failed to stop it.
The FBI says it mitigated 150 threats to life during the operation. But here someone did die. Is that a trade-off we're okay with? I don't know, but now that this unprecedented case has been documented, we can finally talk about what actually happens when the FBI gets a backdoor into a tech product.
https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/joseph-cox/dark-wire/9781668641606/
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2024-06-03 13:10:55

New from 404 Media: we’ve obtained an internal Google database detailing thousands of privacy/security incidents. Everything from Street View collecting license plate data, to childrens’ voices being recorded. Most not previously reported
https://www.404media.co/google-leak-reveals-thousands-of-privacy-incidents/
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2024-05-20 14:38:45

New: recently we reported that a nonconsensual AI porn creator was making so much money from Patreon that they quit their full-time job. After Patreon kicked them, the creator informed their subs... but CC'd all of them, showing us their identities https://www.404media.co/nonconsensual-ai-porn-maker-accidentally-leaks-his-customers-emails/
https://media.infosec.exchange/infosec.exchange/media_attachments/files/112/473/925/570/383/362/original/45445c52b4670513.jpg

2024-05-01 16:44:08

Scoop from 404 Media: National Archives is banning employees from using ChatGPT. Agency is tasked w/ preserving history; leaked email says "NARA has determined that ChatGPT’s unrestricted approach to reusing input data poses an unacceptable risk" https://www.404media.co/national-archives-bans-employee-use-of-chatgpt/

2024-04-26 13:14:00

New: after 404 Media's investigation, Apple has removed multiple nonconsensual AI nudify apps from the Apple App Store. This signals a shift at Apple: back in 2022, Apple (and Google) did not remove. Now there is a change in approach https://www.404media.co/apple-removes-nonconsensual-ai-nude-apps-following-404-media-investigation/

2024-04-22 12:51:26

New from 404 Media: Instagram is advertising nonconsensual AI nude apps. Shows that these sorts of tools—which are being actively used inside schools to harass/target people—are not hidden in the corners of the internet. It's right there, on Instagram https://www.404media.co/instagram-advertises-nonconsensual-ai-nude-apps/

2024-04-17 13:09:00

New from 404 Media: a spy site is scraping Discord, archiving users’ messages/activity across servers including what voice channels they join, and then selling access to that data for as little as $5. We tested it out, it works. Discord investigating https://www.404media.co/a-spy-site-is-scraping-discord-and-selling-users-messages/
https://media.infosec.exchange/infosec.exchange/media_attachments/files/112/286/717/455/839/318/original/a4c5dad1fb3a44e3.jpg
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2024-04-15 17:39:08

I've been very lucky that early reviews of DARK WIRE, my book on how FBI secretly ran its own encrypted chat app to wiretap the world, are in. And they're from some of the people I respect most in journalism.
Investigative journalist extraordinaire Julia Angwin said DARK WIRE was "A jaw-dropping page turner that truly terrified me."
Andy Greenberg, author of one of the best cybercrime books ever Tracers in the Dark, said DARK WIRE was "true to its namesake, The Wire, but more real, more raw, and played out at a staggeringly global scale."
Cory Doctorow, activist and journalist superstar, said DARK WIRE was "a tense, deep, beautifully told tale that could be a top-notch technothriller... except it's all true."
Bradley Hope, co-author of Billion Dollar Whale, a book I specifically tried to emulate with my own, called DARK WIRE "one of the best true crime thrillers I’ve read in years."
And finally Garrett M. Graff, who has probably done more work that anyone on FBI and U.S. government operations said DARK WIRE was "instant true-crime classic."
I am incredibly grateful to all of these people for reading my book and providing their feedback. If you want to see what they're all talking about, preorder your copy of DARK WIRE here. If you do preorder, you get exclusive behind the scenes material that you can't get anywhere else on how I got this story: https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/joseph-cox/dark-wire/9781541702691/#preorder
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2024-04-09 15:06:27

New: 'AI influencers' are deepfaking their faces onto real women's bodies. In this clip, one is a real Instagram influencer, the other is someone taking their content and deepfaking a new face. The face is consistent across videos; a complete AI identity https://www.404media.co/ai-influencers-are-deepfaking-their-faces-onto-real-womens-bodies/

2024-03-29 14:41:09

New from 404 Media: Evolv, those AI-powered weapon detectors which will be installed in the NYC subway, is being this week sued by investors who say the scanner "does not reliably detect knives or guns." Evolv's claims on its tool are "materially false."
https://www.404media.co/shareholders-sue-evolv-ai-weapon-detecting-company-because-it-fails-to-detect-weapons/
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2024-03-28 13:11:17

New from 404 Media: it is finally here. A user on Telegram is charging as little as $10 to make AI-generated porn of any normal, non-celebrity person in the world (not deepfakes, but entirely new AI creations). Sometimes posts the real person's name too https://www.404media.co/irl-fakes-where-people-pay-for-ai-generated-porn-of-normal-people/

2024-03-21 13:32:53

New from 404 Media: we've been digging into the new owner of Deadspin. Came across the name Max Noremo, co-founder of a company that drives traffic to online casinos. Just got confirmed in a statement: Deadspin is becoming a gambling referral site https://www.404media.co/who-owns-deadspin-now-lineup-publishing/