evacide

Q&A from a talk I gave last week.

Q: "What do you think is the biggest threat in cybersecurity right now? Is it post-quantum computing? Is it AI?"

A: Fascism. It's fascism.

May 14 at 4:07amWeb
Show threadBen RushMay 14
@evacide 'struth
Show threadGreg BellMay 14
@evacide This! Why is almost everyone in the industry normal-washing as if not addressing the issue is protection against it?
Show threadEleanor SaittaMay 14
@ferrix
There's good money to be made being part of the problem
@evacide
Show threadHuman MimicMay 14
@evacide I appreciate how you're able to get to the point. We keep pointing at the rocks that get thrown and never at the person doing the throwing
Show threadChupacabra won't complyMay 14
@evacide Donnie
Show threadMartin RuskovMay 14
@Homoevolutis0 @evacide but is it fascism or just plain egoism and greed that takes advantage of fascist sentiments? Or maybe the difference doesn't matter?
Show threadViolet MadderMay 14

@mapto @Homoevolutis0 @evacide

What difference?

Show threadAaronMay 14
@violetmadder @mapto @Homoevolutis0 @evacide Fascism is literally what happens when you take greed and egoism to a form of government. All the isms and phobias, racism, sexism, ableism, homophobia, transphobia, nationalism -- you name it! They are all egoism and greed. The belief that people like yourself are special and deserve to take from other people whatever you want, even their lives.
Show threadxinit β˜•May 14
@mapto isn't "taking advantage of fascist sentiments" not basically just fascism? @Homoevolutis0 @evacide
Show threadTiago HackbarthMay 14

@xinit @mapto @Homoevolutis0 @evacide
This question makes me remember this quote:

"Historians have a word for Germans who joined the Nazi party, not because they hated Jews, but out of a hope for restored patriotism, or a sense of economic anxiety, or a hope to preserve their religious values, or dislike of their opponents, or raw political opportunism, or convenience, or ignorance, or greed.

That word is "Nazi." Nobody cares about their motives anymore."
A. R. Moxon

Show threadℂ𝕖𝕝𝕖𝕀π•₯𝕖@world: /# May 14
@mapto @Homoevolutis0 @evacide It's the same thing. We tend to think of fascism as purely the ideology behind it, but fascism can only be sustained by some form of elites profiting off of it. Hitlers top-tier people were filthy rich and had their desires of seemingly infinite power fulfilled. In the US it's Trump and the oligarchs around him, just like in Russia right now. He is doing similar things that Putin did back in the day.
Show threadPete Alex HarrisπŸ¦‘πŸ•ΈοΈπŸŒ²/∞πŸͺβˆ«May 14
@celeste_42bit @mapto @Homoevolutis0 @evacide
Yeah it's not so much an ideology as a modus operandi for nation-scale robbery.
Show threadsleepfreeparentMay 14
@mapto @Homoevolutis0 @evacide dude, they already have death camps and plans for more, they've already threatened to annex our nearest neighbors and implemented furherprinzip by executive order, fucker did 2 literal Nazi salutes at the inauguration just so you'd know it's no accident.
And you're STILL like but are they really Nazis tho? Yes. Yes they are Nazis
Show threadUrban HermitMay 15

@sleepfreeparent @mapto @Homoevolutis0 @evacide people are like, "don't pay attention to this, it is just a ploy to get your attention!"

I can pay attention to both their stupidity and their evil at the same time. Pointing out their evil is for us, pointing out their stupidity is for the people who might admire their tactics or their ruthlessness, and it gives the rest of us a laugh.

Show threadEka A.May 14
@Homoevolutis0 @evacide
Not just Donnie, but all those who gave him and other MAGA large sums of money and support to get elected.
Show threadwirepairMay 14
@evacide the way companies are heading, cybersecurity seems to _be the threat leading to assisting fascism_
Show threadJay StephensMay 14
@evacide and this applies a fortiori to organisations in countries like Australia, where I live, that have in the recent past decided that hosting a bunch of their data and cloud processing in North America was an acceptable compromise.
Show threadyour auntifa liza πŸ‡΅πŸ‡· πŸ¦› 🦦May 14
@evacide please, tell me that you did get a standing ovation
Show threadevacideMay 14
@blogdiva It was well-received. I could have dropped the mic then and there.
Show threadyour auntifa liza πŸ‡΅πŸ‡· πŸ¦› 🦦May 14
@evacide niiiiiiiice!
Show threadkrubzorMay 14
@evacide good point. The issue is always ethical rather than external, no matter the time and contemporary technology
Show threadMegatronicThronBanksMay 14

@evacide

It's shockingly bad and entrenched software industry practices.

Show threadevacideMay 14
@megatronicthronbanks You are free to make this point during the Q&A at the end of your keynote.
Show threadMegatronicThronBanksMay 14
@evacide Cheers, but Jon Blow will probably have said it all already in an earlier slot.
Show threadTim ChaseMay 14
@megatronicthronbanks @evacide You make it sound like once-and-done with the "fascism-is-bad" message is sufficient…It doesn't seem like it's a bad message to reiterate πŸ˜‰
Show threadHarrison TottyMay 14
@evacide 1000x this. I'm giving a quantum talk in September and I suspect a similar question will be asked. Totally going to give this response.
Show threadcontrefeuMay 14
@evacide Backdoors, backdoors everywhere.
Show threadbonnashejveMay 14
@evacide absolutely!
Show threadHans-Cees πŸŒ³πŸŒ³πŸ€’πŸ¦‹πŸˆπŸˆπŸ‹πŸ‹πŸπŸœMay 14
@evacide Do you mean us relying on big companies that are too big to fail, or other things?
Show threadℂ𝕖𝕝𝕖𝕀π•₯𝕖@world: /# May 14
@hanscees @evacide Nah, actual fascism. Not just large companies but the world seemingly shifting towards the far right and authoritarian, fascist leaders dismantling democracies all over the place.
Show threadBrokarMay 14

@celeste_42bit @hanscees @evacide

And it's already swashing over. SAP recently caved in to Trump. All, to stay off Agent Orange's bad side.

https://fortune.com/europe/2025/05/12/sap-rolls-back-diversity-dei-targets-trump/

SAP rolls back diversity targets amid U.S. legal pressure from Trump

SAP will drop some diversity targets to comply with US rules under Trump, including scrapping gender quotas in its 17,000-strong American workforce.

Fortune
Show threadfedops πŸ’™πŸ’›May 14
@evacide indeed. Insider threats have always been a huge concern.
Show threadPhilosiaMay 14
@evacide The answer lies in this book. It is an appeal to all creative people and people belonging to science to come together at global level.
https://mastodon.social/@Philosia/114500703643794294
Show threadgoedelchenMay 14
@evacide Feels like the modern version of https://xkcd.com/538/
Security

xkcd
Show threadU.LancierMay 14

Fragen und Antworten eines Vortrags von @evacide letzter Woche:

Frage: β€žWas denkst Du ist momentan die Γ€rgste Bedrohung bei IT-Sicherheit? Sind es Quantentechnische Entwicklungen? Ist es KΓΌnstliche Intelligenz?β€œ
Antwort: β€žFaschismus. Es ist der Faschismus.β€œ

(Übersetzt ohne Google Translate o.À.)
Der ΓΌbergriffige Zugriff auf Daten durch BehΓΆrden, Geheimdienste und Γ€hnlichem ist in der Regel nicht technisch, sondern nur durch Verfassungen, Gesetze und internationale Abkommen beschrΓ€nkt – Regeln, die bereits in Demokratien durch Außen-, Wirtschafts- und Innenpolitische Interessen ausgehΓΆhlt werden. Autokratien scheren sich da einen Dreck drum.
Datenschutz, Datensparsamkeit, Datenautonomie ist zwingend fΓΌr die Demokratie.

Show threadLinux Is BestMay 14

@evacide

It is why I have been slowly building a list of digital services outside Us Jurisdiction. I cannot be certain how secure and safe it may be to use services here, especially if things get worse.

https://codeberg.org/Linux-Is-Best/Outside_Us_Jurisdiction

Outside_Us_Jurisdiction

Digital Service Providers outside the jurisdiction of the United States of America.

Codeberg.org
Show threadcalcifer May 14
@Linux @evacide that’s cool, but fascism is on the rise in many more places than the US. β€œJust move somewhere else” might be easier with data, but it’s ultimately just a delay tactic if these global trends continue
Show threadLinux Is BestMay 14

@calcifer @evacide

I REJECT the whole "accept it" mindset.

Resist, resist, resist!

Make whatever changes you need to do in order to resist. - It is not too hard, it is not too complicated, and resisting fascism is not futile or unavoidable in the end, either.

Always fight and always resist!

Show threadMichael WeissMay 14
@Linux @calcifer @evacide I didn't read this as "accept it". Just avoid oversimplification. Going from the frying pan to the fire doesn't help, so think more broadly than just "US bad."
Show threadLinux Is BestMay 14
@mweiss @calcifer @evacide You have to prioritize. Survive the battle today, so you can live to fight the war, tomorrow.
Show threadcalcifer May 14
@Linux @evacide I don't know how you read what I wrote and came to the conclusion that I have an "accept it" mindset. My whole point is "just moving house" *isn't good enough* and more must be done than just moving data and persons to where fascism isn't quite as bad right now.
Show threadKen SMay 14
@evacide the weakest link is always human. Always.
Show threadFluchtkapselMay 14
@evacide So you're saying we need post-fascism cybersecurity?
Show threadmkjMay 14

@fluchtkapsel Not @evacide but I would say that proper cybersecurity measures apply to the presence of many different types of threat actors.

Of course when the threat actor is your own government, or the government of a country which you rely on the good will of, that does introduce some *additional* considerations.

Show threadVenc DvorakMay 14

@evacide As always, idiocy of users.

Fascism or similar "easy thinking" is idiot's outcome.

Show threadGuillotine au ChocolatMay 14
@evacide Fascism is now the capitalism endgame, where the bourgeois dictate like medieval feudal lords used to.
Regarding cybersecurity, I think it's the other way around. Pirates and hackers are now the resistance, not the villains.
Show threadPetra van CronenburgMay 14
@evacide πŸ’― !
Show thread869BronteMay 14
@evacide
Show threadSuperSpaceFanMay 14
@evacide I was going to say Elon Musk, but then I realized he's an instrument of this fascist regime. @staringatclouds
Show threadThe1goit May 14
@evacide and vibe coders.
Show threadatlovatoMay 14
@evacide - AI
Show threadHMR ProjectMay 14
@evacide The biggest threat is the human POS in locust numbers who hacks, lies, scams and steals. It's ubiquitous. So far as I'm concerned if you fool grandma for $10 much less her life savings you need to be executed.
Show threadTigre VertMay 14

@evacide

Fascism is itself caused by the lack of trust between individuals and between social groups that AI is fostering. Fascism is always presented as a solution for that void

#MI #IA #AI #Fascism #Trust #Confiance

Show threadAaronMay 14

@TigreVert @evacide The problem was here long before AI. It was even here before social media, though social media brought it to a head. It was here before Hitler, even. (The US inspired the Nazis. Read about Ford and Hitler, for example.)

We never cleaned up that mess. There are laws on the books *to this day* that explicitly legalize forced sterilization of disabled people in 31 states. (No, it isn't illegal in the other 19. 17 of them don't care either way. Only 2 make it illegal.)