Mastodawn

Meredith Whittaker Apr 2, 2024

I keep brooding on the way the xz backdoor was enabled in significant part via weaponizing the FOSS culture of shitty behavior and abuse.

Yes, there're other pathologies at work here (the big tech capitalist pillaging of the commons, etc).

But what is striking is that the uncool, mean standards of FOSS conduct that many of us have decried for years, & that many defended as authentic, tough, etc., ended up not just being exclusionary loser behavior, but a significant attack surface.

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Mario

@Mer__edith

"The lone hacker trail also seems unlikely given the time and resources invested, or even the capabilities of exploiting such a massive flaw. An intelligence service, a powerful group of hackers, or even a state are more likely suspects…"

Source: https://gettotext.com/who-is-jia-tan-and-how-this-hacker-almost-controlled-millions-of-websites/

Why am I not surprised? 🧐

2024 - Who is Jia Tan, and how this hacker almost controlled millions of websites!

But who is this Jia Cheong Tan? Unsurprisingly, many have investigated this person since the discovery. All three parts of its displayed name are certainly

Gettotext.com