Chris DeStefano

@[email protected]
13 Followers
92 Following
845 Posts
Full Stack Developer
HomeLab/Self hosted
Motorcycle enthusiast
Chris DeStefanoFeb 10
Lucas DohmenFeb 8
It feels like developers are currently split into two groups that do not really understand what the other group is talking about:
One group tries to reduce their dependency on Big Tech by switching to alternative search engines, code forges, map providers, operating systems…
And the other group is trying to increase their dependency on Big Tech by adopting agentic and/or vibe coding.
Chris DeStefanoFeb 10
BrianKrebsFeb 9

RE: https://infosec.exchange/@briankrebs/115962508398912420

Last day to submit public comments, officially:

Chris DeStefanoFeb 10
Robert ReichFeb 9
Chris DeStefanoFeb 10
BrianKrebsFeb 9

ICYMI, from Reuters:

"Democratic Senator Maria Cantwell on Tuesday said Verizon and AT&T are blocking release of key documents about an alleged massive Chinese spying operation that infiltrated U.S. telecommunications networks known as Salt Typhoon and wants their CEOs to appear before Congress to answer questions."

"Cantwell asked both companies to turn over security assessments conducted by Alphabet cybersecurity unit Mandiant. She said Mandiant refused to provide the requested network security assessments, apparently at the direction of AT&T and Verizon."

"In some cases, hackers are alleged to have intercepted conversations, including between prominent U.S. politicians and government officials. Several lawmakers have described them as the worst telecom hacks in U.S. history."

"Cantwell said Salt Typhoon allowed the Chinese government to "geolocate millions of individuals" and "record phone calls at will," and that the incident targeted almost every American."

https://www.reuters.com/business/media-telecom/senator-says-att-verizon-blocking-release-salt-typhoon-security-assessment-2026-02-03/

Chris DeStefanoFeb 10
Show threadmekka okereke Feb 9

If I told you that a formerly straight-A student whose dad was detained by ICE at gunpoint, was now food insecure, housing insecure, traumatized, and not doing as well in school? That would make sense to you.

There are ~100K people in ICE detention.

There are ~400K people in pretrial detention.

Again, all of the people in pretrial detention are legally innocent, and most of them are actually innocent.

Being in pretrial detention usually means that you are innocent, have been accused of a crime that you didn't do, but are too poor to post bail before your trial, which can be years away.

Think of how cruel and evil it would be to wait until ICE detention warehouses reach a capacity of 400,000 people, with ICE officers stationed in elementary schools, and then started a campaign of "Where are all the immigrant dads?! They just don't want to be around! No family values!🤡"

Chris DeStefanoFeb 10
Freedom of the PressFeb 9

Already protecting your phone’s data from police confiscation with full disk encryption? Great.

If you need to protect people you photographed by redacting their faces, here’s how:

https://freedom.press/digisec/blog/redacting-photos-on-the-go/

Redacting photos on the go: A field guide

Photos and how we share them can present risks to the people and sensitive information that’s been captured in the process. In this guide, we discuss how to safely redact them

Freedom of the Press
Chris DeStefanoFeb 10
Em Feb 9

Each time a new privacy-invasive
feature like facial scanning is implemented, if people in majority comply and accept to use it, it will soon become normality, and other options will be marginalized or even removed entirely.

If each time a new privacy-invasive
feature is implemented people opted to refuse it, it would soon be discontinued.

Each individual opposition to privacy-invasive features matters.

It is an act of self-protection but,
perhaps even more importantly,
it is also an act of protest.

A protest against the normalization of mass surveillance and the loss of privacy rights.

The fact that there are other cameras around doesn't mean that more cameras or additional scanning is not making things even worse.

If we do not refuse,
if we do not fight for our privacy rights,
we will lose them all.

#Privacy #MassSurveillance #AgeVerification #FacialRecognition #HumanRights #DigitalRights

Chris DeStefanoFeb 4
Electronic Frontier FoundationFeb 3
We all deserve stronger privacy protections online, and end-to-end encryption is one of the strongest tools to do so. Companies should make it the default more often, rather than optional (or unavailable). https://encryptitalready.org/
Encrypt It Already

Encrypt It Already
Chris DeStefanoJan 28
Andrew LokenauthJan 28

Layoffs in the past year:

• Dell: 13,000
• Intel: 27,000
• Meta: 11,000
• UPS: 48,000
• FedEx: 12,000
• Boeing: 17,000
• Verizon: 15,000
• Walmart: 12,000
• Amazon: 30,000
• Microsoft: 15,000
• Citigroup: 20,000

Job security is a myth.

Chris DeStefanoJan 28
Zack WhittakerJan 27

If you could pick one non-U.S. tech, product, or service to switch to, what would you recommend, and why? Open-source and self-hosting options welcome!

https://techcrunch.com/2026/01/27/amid-trump-attacks-and-weaponized-sanctions-europeans-look-to-rely-less-on-us-tech/

Amid Trump attacks and weaponized sanctions, Europeans look to rely less on US tech | TechCrunch

European governments are looking to move away from U.S. tech and reclaim their digital sovereignty at a time of unpredictability and volatility in the United States.

TechCrunch