Tommaso Gagliardoni

Cryptography, privacy, quantum security, infosec, retro vibes.

Public Key

npub1un4zcpgku6z6cgaqd67haeq4mym8u5teeqdw5r4kaa5eye8x8vcs87tqn3

NIP-05 Address

tomgag@infosec-exchange.mostr.pub

Profile Code

nprofile1qqswf63vq5twdpdvywsxa0t7us2ajdn729uusxh2p6mw76vjvnnrkvgwk380q

Author Public Key

npub1un4zcpgku6z6cgaqd67haeq4mym8u5teeqdw5r4kaa5eye8x8vcs87tqn3

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Last Notes

2025-05-21 08:38:57

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@nprofile…rnuu
Well that doesn't it feel sort of disingenuous to make out universal traceability and compliance to be a normal state of affairs, rather than the modern aberration that we haven't learned to live with?..
I think you misinterpreted my blog post. I did not imply that the 2010s status quo was OK, and I did not write that "history of currency" = "2010s status quo". I simply wrote that this was the situation, and that it remained pretty stable for a relatively long time (1980-ish - 2010-ish, which is insanely long in the context of the current pace of things). This has nothing to do with the definition of "modern world", which I picked as "history of currency" in a totally arbitrary way to serve the storyline of the blog post.
What I further wrote is that whether this status quo was better or worse than the current financial crypto anarchy is a matter of perspective. I, for one, if had absolutely to pick one, would prefer the old way. But I wish we could do better, and my blog post was meant to give some proposals for going in that direction.

2025-05-20 15:38:03

Would you pass, Emily? #zoomer #genz #meme #millennial #boomer #genx #nostalgia
https://media.infosec.exchange/infosec.exchange/media_attachments/files/114/540/895/114/339/399/original/cf7996aa6d9f75b8.jpg

2025-05-19 13:47:58

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@nprofile…rnuu
That's literally a fraction of 1% of the history of currency?
Uh, yes?
The [dictator] whose regime literally could not exist without AML and KYC
Put your favourite [dictator] in the brackets 😉

2025-05-14 17:06:46

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@nprofile…0t79 @nprofile…xg92 it's definitely a calculated one instead: https://github.blog/changelog/2025-05-08-updated-rate-limits-for-unauthenticated-requests/
Now, either they have lowered the trigger rate, so to increase the limits, or they reverted the decision after #slashdot and #hn backlash (but haven't updated the blog post yet)

2025-05-14 17:03:06

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@nprofile…xg92 doesn't work anymore for me either. Did they revert?

2025-05-14 15:49:02

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@nprofile…pkrl @nprofile…0x6h yes, you're right, I simplified a bit too much, of course the reasons behind Big Tech can never be nefarious enough 😅

2025-05-14 13:44:30

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@nprofile…g7ur @nprofile…lszy it's about community and bug tracker. Git is already decentralized, you can easily move your repository (the *storage*) and its history to another forge. But you lose all issues, comments, contributors, etc. In theory you *can* migrate a project away from, e.g., GitHub, but in practice starting from scratch is a pain.

2025-05-14 13:41:49

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@nprofile…lszy Yes, I know of #radicle but there are some other good pointers in the comments in this very thread #forgefed #meissa #forgejo

2025-05-14 13:40:19

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@nprofile…xt3g Not sure about that, but I would be very surprised if that were not the case. Can you try and report maybe?

2025-05-14 13:37:43

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@nprofile…2ktj You are right, but what's the alternative *now*? 🤷‍♂️ Sure, in an ideal world this shouldn't happen, aggressive scrapers should be banned, etc, but at this particular moment this is the only immediate solution we have. That, of course, doesn't mean that we should stop asking stronger legal protections against abusive tech. I see Anubis as a "patch", hopefully one that we won't need forever.

2025-05-14 09:59:12

IETF organized a "PQC Dialogue with
Government Stakeholders" meeting. This post by John Preuß Mattsson is very informative:
https://groups.google.com/a/list.nist.gov/g/pqc-forum/c/5_WPq6mFi68
Abstract:
- EU: Transition for ”Harvest now, decrypt later” should be done by the end of 2030 and in general, the whole transition by the end of 2035. Not legally binding but might become law in the future.
- US, CA, UK, all agree on a timeline targeting around 2035 for mass adoption of quantum-resistant requirements.
- Heated discussion on the topic of "pure" vs "hybrid" schemes. BSI recommend hybrids for everything except for hash-based signatures.
- Very strong agreement that PQC is the priority. BSI says QKD is not mature and even long-term the only possible use case would be defense-in-depth in niche application. UK NCSC and NIST does not endorse QKD. Sweden says that QKD will never be useful.
- Discussion about paywalled standards. EU and US courts have decided that access to standards referenced by law is a human right.
#pqc #quantum #cryptography #nist #bsi #eu #ietf #nsa

2025-05-14 09:42:06

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@nprofile…9a3s @nprofile…0v0h @nprofile…jkxz @nprofile…qe73 @nprofile…wfjf Interesting, thanks!

2025-05-14 07:40:01

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@nprofile…5aq4 totally agreed. But walling off open source projects seems like the wrong way to do it. Codeberg uses #Anubis ( https://anubis.techaro.lol/ ), a proof-of-work solution which is very low pain for the user and very effective at fighting off bots.

2025-05-14 07:16:47

In a move that surprises absolutely noone, GitHub now requires users to login in order to browse public repositories (including open source projects). After a few (~10) requests, you get blocked (I can confirm). In order to fight AI scrapers, I guess.
So, GitHub decided to blanket-limit access to open source projects as a defense against the very scourge that they(r parent company) unleashed on the world.
I won't be hypocrite: it's a bit embarrassing, but undeniably satisfying to say "told you so". I moved away from GitHub long ago and I moved all my stuff to Codeberg instead. And so happy I did!
Next step: radicle.xyz maybe?
https://github.com/orgs/community/discussions/159123
#github #microsoft #openai #codeberg #ai #ml #llm #enshittification #foss #floss #opensource #radicle
https://media.infosec.exchange/infosec.exchange/media_attachments/files/114/504/926/776/491/302/original/9b2851b5a07b8b4a.jpg

2025-05-13 12:01:34

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@nprofile…etza I wish I had kept one or two, sadly the picture is not mine!
If I could unbury an 80's time capsule, I would wish to find:
- a complete VHS collection of my favourite-but-forbidden-by-grandma Japanese anime (namely: Hokuto No Ken)
- a dozen or so unopened boxes of Mattel's Mad Scientist: Glowing Glop
- a copy of every original and 1st edition D&D handbook ever printed
- the happiness and naivety that only childhood carries in such amount 😉
#80s #mattel #dnd #OldSchoolDungeonsAndDragons #anime #hokutonoken #vintage #vaporwave
https://media.infosec.exchange/infosec.exchange/media_attachments/files/114/500/409/093/669/733/original/7de69db6bd3dc329.jpg

2025-05-13 11:19:54

Here is a very vintage bit of knowledge that few will remember: before 1991, in many countries (including Italy and Germany), the Twix chocolate bar was called "Raider".
#vintage #vaporwave #twix #raider #chocolate #italy #germany #year1991 #1991
https://media.infosec.exchange/infosec.exchange/media_attachments/files/114/500/243/010/719/485/original/ce52c9929ef6a7c8.jpg

2025-05-13 08:47:37

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@nprofile…0arq @nprofile…8x0h yup, works now. Thanks!

2025-05-13 08:28:26

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@nprofile…8x0h is it just me?
```
Connection closed by 2a0a:4580:103f:c0de::1 port 22
fatal: Could not read from remote repository.
```
#codeberg

2025-05-12 15:34:36

Sometimes I wonder how my life would be if all papers of this kind were correct.
https://media.infosec.exchange/infosec.exchange/media_attachments/files/114/495/581/843/503/872/original/72dd5f558e59aaaf.jpg

2025-05-04 08:54:56

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@nprofile…udnc yes, I'm familiar with Railgun, I don't like it too much as a solution. Too easy to cheat once you're in, and does not offer many of the "5 minimal good properties" I described in my blog post. But I guess it's still a step forward 🤷‍♂️

2025-05-03 23:35:14

I have been thinking for a while about the issue of anonymity in Web3 (and, more in general, anonymous transactions). The growing realization of the damage caused by decentralized financial technologies is nagging my cypherpunk self, who has been at war for a lifetime against invasive tracking, manipulative marketing, and surveillance capitalism. I collected my thoughts here: https://gagliardoni.net/#20250427_privacy_compliance
Spoiler alert: I'm not endorsing backdoors, but I think some middleground solution must be found.
#horizenlabs #crypto #cryptography #privacy #compliance #aml #kyc #anonymity #web3 #gnutaler #bitcoin #monero #zcash #tornadocash

2025-04-28 11:42:13

Widespread power outage in #Spain and #Portugal https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/34685709/spain-portugal-power-cuts-internet/

2025-04-28 10:52:41

For some reason Youtube today decided to show me mostly chinese propaganda videos. This is from Firefox icognito tabs, with no VPN (Swiss IP) and not logged in, the only previous video I watched in this tab was a lecture by Mary Wootters on algebraic codes.
#china #youtube #propaganda #psyop
https://media.infosec.exchange/infosec.exchange/media_attachments/files/114/415/206/391/661/706/original/79da021353266907.jpg

2025-04-24 11:22:27

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Bumping in an interesting thread

2025-04-02 17:58:43

My view on the mysterious disappearance of cybersecurity academic Xiaofeng Wang:
https://gagliardoni.net/#20250402_xiaofeng_wang
#usa #trump #china #cybersecurity #fbi #xiaofengwang

2025-04-02 07:52:27

Apparently, US cyber expert Wang Xiaofeng took a job in Singapore just before its disappearance and the FBI raid.
https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3304767/us-cyber-expert-wang-xiaofeng-took-singapore-job-fbi-raids-university-letter
#wangxiaofeng #XiaofengWang #cryptography #fbi #conspiracy #disappearance #raid #china #espionage

2025-04-01 07:32:32

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@nprofile…hflv thanks!

2025-03-26 07:39:18

Tonight I'm giving a talk together with Daniele Di Benedetto ( @dan_dienedetto )at #zkhack meetup in #sofia #bulgaria on #io (indistinguishability obfuscation)
https://lu.ma/ZK-Hack-Events
#cryptography #horizenlabs #zkverify #web3

2025-03-26 07:35:27

I gave a talk on #shufflecake at the #oscw (open source cryptography workshop) in #sofia #bulgaria. Many thanks to Cindy Lin, Ioana Nedelcu, Elizaveta Tretiakova (#google) and Anna Weine (#mozilla) for organizing. #privacy #truecrypt #veracrypt #horizenlabs #zkverify

2025-03-24 19:19:12

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@nprofile…elc8 I want your desktop background so badly

2025-03-24 19:18:27

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@nprofile…9n6n yep, same.

2025-03-24 13:29:17

Attending a session at ZKProofs7 which so far is ticking every box that causes me to rage:
- Worldcoin / World Foundation
- Brave browser
- Biometrics
- "tools for humanity"
- "AI agents"
#crypto #web3 #cryptography #ZKProofs7 #rage #privacy #worldcoin #samaltman #brave #biometrics #ai

2025-03-23 20:54:59

Attending #ZKProofs7 in #Sofia #Bulgaria lot of interesting talks and folks. #cryptography #crypto #web3

2025-03-12 08:40:50

Yesterday night I left a restaurant and I went to eat somewhere else because after having a seat I found out that the restaurant was only offering QR menus and was "cashless". The funny part: "Cash tips are welcome".
QR menus are a scourge of the present times.
https://gagliardoni.net/#cashless_restaurants
#QR #boomer #security #privacy #smartphone #cashless #food #restaurant