Nostr notes by Lukasz Olejnik

An off-the-shelf VM is not enough to contain a modern, ...

2026-08-26T13:02:20Z

An off-the-shelf VM is not enough to contain a modern, cyber-capable AI agent. AI agent escaped a VM three times. First via known bugs, then via missed patches, then it found 0-days and chained them. AI can hack, and agents can persist, research, adapt, and weaponize software flaws faster than patch cycles can handle it. https://blog.trailofbits.com/2026/08/26/vms-wont-contain-cyber-capable-agents/

AI agent got past an audio-based “prove you’re human” test ...

2026-08-05T13:39:16Z

AI agent got past an audio-based “prove you’re human” test (CAPTCHA) in order to register a public web address on a free domain-name service. A code repository became a shared “message board” that several AI agents used to coordinate.

https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/663bd486c5e4c81588db7a1d/6a724858f7db25c81487016d_Security%20Incident%20INC-2026-07-28-01.pdf

OpenAI shipped a telemetry system that logs more than the actual ...

2026-06-23T12:02:42Z

OpenAI shipped a telemetry system that logs more than the actual work being done. Codex burning through SSDs at a rate of ~640 TB/year – one user hit 37 TB written in 21 days. On a consumer SSD
that’s full drive death in under a year. https://github.com/openai/codex/issues/28224

Every iPhone with an A12 or A13 chip - XS/XR, 11, 2020 SE - has ...

2026-06-23T05:10:02Z

Every iPhone with an A12 or A13 chip - XS/XR, 11, 2020 SE - has an unpatchable SecureROM exploit. The root bug is in Synopsys’s USB controller, and is exploitable. Requires physical access. Solution: buy a new iPhone. https://ps.tc/pages/blog-usbliter8.html

Cyberattacks are not attacks. Cyber weapons are not weapons. ...

2026-06-09T19:16:31Z

Cyberattacks are not attacks. Cyber weapons are not weapons. Cyberwar is not war.

Linux kernel security list is drowning in duplicate AI-flagged ...

2026-05-18T06:45:26Z

Linux kernel security list is drowning in duplicate AI-flagged bugs; same issues, with same tools, but different names of human submitters. Maintainers have now formalized the obvious - AI-found bugs are public by definition. New docs define 5 failure modes for AI-assisted reports: too long, Markdown-heavy, threat model-ignorant, reproducer-free, patch-free. Non-compliant reports risk being ignored. Most AI-flagged issues aren’t even real vulnerabilities anyway. 500 submitters, 1 CVE, 0 patches?

A 4-star admiral told Congress the U.S. military runs a Bitcoin ...

2026-04-23T09:20:23Z

A 4-star admiral told Congress the U.S. military runs a Bitcoin node to “secure networks” and endorsed Bitcoin as a “power projection” capability. The cryptographic primitives he cited like proof or work aren’t exactly earth shuttering in 2026. https://gooden.house.gov/2026/4/gooden-reveals-historic-u-s-military-use-of-bitcoin-node

My comment for WSJ. Trolling is now a standard tool of ...

2026-03-19T11:51:32Z

My comment for WSJ. Trolling is now a standard tool of statecraft. Lego, Call of Duty, Grand Theft Auto or Nintendo work well as propaganda because they are universally recognised cultural cues with preloaded emotional associations. They are also perfect for fast-paced communication styles. Expect this new approach to diplomacy, signaling, international relations, and information operations to be used more frequently. https://www.wsj.com/world/lego-ai-propaganda-wars-iran-ab29cc6c

Shadow AI in 2026: internal or restricted data gets pasted into ...

2026-01-26T10:46:45Z

Shadow AI in 2026: internal or restricted data gets pasted into external AI/LLMs. In practice this is vendor data sharing without vendor onboarding. Some data can be shared. Some cannot under policy, contract, or law. It's also a social-technical experiment. Side effect: company rules or regulations like data protection sometimes ignored. This trend increases data leakage risk. So where's control and governance? How many incidents go unreported to data protection authorities? #GDPR

Poland’s energy infrastructure was targeted in a cyberattack ...

2026-01-24T07:05:08Z

Poland’s energy infrastructure was targeted in a cyberattack now assessed as Russia-linked, involving an APT Sandworm. If the operation had succeeded, it could have caused major operational disruption, potentially a limited blackout. https://www.welivesecurity.com/en/eset-research/eset-research-sandworm-cyberattack-poland-power-grid-late-2025/

My comments in WIRED about AI-powered information operation ...

2026-01-22T19:46:16Z

My comments in WIRED about AI-powered information operation systems. The threat aren't bots posting fakes but coordinated, persistent, human-like agent networks that manufacture the appearance of debate, consensus, disagreement. Bad news for democracy. This isn’t hypothetical. AI is already used in influence operations. And there will be more. In my work I show the blueprint for an autonomous system. It’s a matter of time. https://www.wired.com/story/ai-powered-disinformation-swarms-are-coming-for-democracy/ https://arxiv.org/abs/2508.20186

I look at the impact of AI on future election campaigns. ...

2025-12-07T14:48:00Z

I look at the impact of AI on future election campaigns. We're in for a wild run. Who deploys it first, wins. https://techletters.substack.com/p/techletters-insights-weaponising

OpenAI has invested in AMD. Lots of circular investment in AI! ...

2025-10-06T12:01:00Z

OpenAI has invested in AMD. Lots of circular investment in AI! Earlier: Nvidia → OpenAI ($100 bn), Microsoft → OpenAI ($13+ bn), Amazon → Anthropic ($8 bn), Google → Anthropic ($3+ bn), OpenAI → AMD (option for 10% of shares + tens of bn $ annually), OpenAI → Broadcom ($10 bn), OpenAI → Oracle ($300 bn), Nvidia → Intel ($5 bn), Nvidia → CoreWeave ($6.3 bn). Some said that investments in AI are really investments in Nvidia because everything runs on it. And look: nope. A Loop is forming!

Cyberattack on Jaguar Land Rover results in a prolonged ...

2025-09-24T07:30:08Z

Cyberattack on Jaguar Land Rover results in a prolonged production shutdown. 25% of suppliers have already taken steps to pause production and temporarily lay off workers. The attack has now forced a complete halt until October 1st, costing the company over $1.36 billion in lost revenue and affecting 200,000+ jobs across the supply chain. This is one of the most devastating cybersecurity incidents in automotive history.

Cyberattack caused the first confirmed patient death due to a ...

2025-06-26T08:09:20Z

Cyberattack caused the first confirmed patient death due to a Russian cybercriminal group ransomware tool written in Rust. It disrupted Synnovis pathology services in 2024, delaying critical blood test results. Investigation found 170 patients harmed total: 2 major harm cases, 11 moderate harm, 120 minor harm incidents from the breach. https://news.sky.com/story/patient-death-linked-to-cyber-attack-on-nhs-hospital-trust-says-13388485

By 1986, the U.S. began attempting computer network exploitation. ...

2025-06-13T14:05:37Z

By 1986, the U.S. began attempting computer network exploitation. That same year, the U.S. discovered the Soviets were paying hackers to target U.S. networks using similar methods. https://www.army.mil/article/286292/army_cyber_corps_a_prehistory

According to the Ukrainian security services, AI-powered ...

2025-06-11T06:49:25Z

According to the Ukrainian security services, AI-powered autonomous systems allowed drones to continue along a pre-planned route even after losing signal. Upon approaching and contacting a designated target, the warhead was automatically triggered. This indicates that autonomous AI capability in detection, engagement, and triggering destruction IS ALREADY HERE. But this is only the beginning of autonomous capability. This raises urgent questions about international humanitarian law compliance

As Google integrates AI to deliver information directly in search ...

2025-05-21T06:31:27Z

As Google integrates AI to deliver information directly in search results, the incentive to create or maintain websites — including news platforms — is fading. With instant answers, people won’t need to click through. The web will shrink to a few walled garden platforms.

AI vulnerability/bug founds and reports is a huge problem. Curl ...

2025-05-05T08:27:57Z

AI vulnerability/bug founds and reports is a huge problem. Curl has banned the use of AI-generated submissions via HackerOne because none of it made any sense, and is a waste of resources and time. "We are effectively being DDoSed. If we could, we would charge them for this waste of our time" https://hackerone.com/reports/3125832

Interesting AI Act case in Europeaj Court of Justice may decide ...

2025-04-22T10:01:43Z

Interesting AI Act case in Europeaj Court of Justice may decide if just about any algorithms, including non-AI ones, are subject to the AI Act (regulation about Artificial Intelligence). It would be a fascinating expansion of the regulation applications. https://curia.europa.eu/juris/showPdf.jsf?text=&docid=298104&pageIndex=0&doclang=PL&mode=lst&dir=&occ=first&part=1&cid=12213338

Russia is quietly rewriting reality — but not through tanks or ...

2025-04-22T07:03:31Z

Russia is quietly rewriting reality — but not through tanks or troops, but by feeding disinformation and propaganda into the tools people may increasingly trust to understand the world: AI chatbots. It's gaming of the system, feeding propaganda in ways that people might never know what’s happening. Efforts to influence chatbot results are growing, as former SEO marketers now use "generative engine optimization" (GEO) to boost visibility in AI-generated responses https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2025/04/17/llm-poisoning-grooming-chatbots-russia/

So what was the question to the security operations? "Tell me ...

2025-03-11T06:27:16Z

In reply to nevent1q…tz9q
_________________________

So what was the question to the security operations? "Tell me if there's at least one Ukrainian IP address involved"?

But only a single country is mentioned, why?

2025-03-11T06:15:14Z

In reply to nevent1q…r92l
_________________________

But only a single country is mentioned, why?

Beware of narrative stretches used for PR purposes. Even a single ...

2025-03-11T06:05:40Z

Beware of narrative stretches used for PR purposes. Even a single packet sent from a Ukrainian IP in a DDoS attack on X platform doesn’t imply 'Ukraine behind it'. This is an oversimplification, perhaps to to divert attention. Attribution doesn’t work that way—an IP is inconclusive. And much of Ukraine is occupied, with traffic operated by Russian ISPs.

Chinese Great Firewall (website access blockade and. content ...

2025-03-05T07:20:37Z

Chinese Great Firewall (website access blockade and. content filter for internet traffic) is leaking data! It's a fascinating discovery of security and privacy vulnerability in a large-scale technical censorship system. Chinese firewall leaked memory due to a buffer overrun. "DNS injection devices had a parsing bug that would, under certain conditions, cause them to include up to 125 bytes of their own memory in the forged DNS responses they sent" https://gfw.report/publications/ndss25/data/paper/wallbleed.pdf

"Technology giants must do more to co-operate with law ...

2025-01-20T08:41:34Z

"Technology giants must do more to co-operate with law enforcement on encryption or they risk threatening European democracy, according to the head of Europol". She considered end-to-end encryption incompatible with democracy? https://www.ft.com/content/1e6a600d-8620-4ed6-a4cd-5c454d6247ba

My strategic privacy analysis. Is Google undoing a decade of ...

2024-12-20T18:13:43Z

My strategic privacy analysis. Is Google undoing a decade of progress on privacy? Their new policy allows invasive device fingerprinting for tracking user activity. Here’s my deep dive into what this means for privacy—and the future of AI. https://blog.lukaszolejnik.com/biggest-privacy-erosion-in-10-years-on-googles-policy-change-towards-fingerprinting/

My comment for TechCrunch about data protection rules for AI ...

2024-12-18T17:26:23Z

My comment for TechCrunch about data protection rules for AI processing. Performing a data protection impact assessment for AI processing is often a good idea, including to check the anonymisation qualities. #GDPR may uphold innovation. https://techcrunch.com/2024/12/18/eu-privacy-body-weighs-in-on-some-tricky-genai-lawfulness-questions/

Russian cyber threat actor Turla hacked 33 infrastructure nodes ...

2024-12-05T06:21:13Z

Russian cyber threat actor Turla hacked 33 infrastructure nodes of Pakistani cyber threat actor to attack other targets, to deploy own cyber tools (malware) for cy-espionage purposes in the Middle East, like India. It delays attribution. What's the most vulnerable sensitive authorization in the world? "nation-state and cybercriminal endpoints and malware especially vulnerable to exploitation since they are unable to use modern security tools for monitoring access" https://blog.lumen.com/snowblind-the-invisible-hand-of-secret-blizzard/

NIST standardisation organisation says that systems must phase ...

2024-11-13T05:57:25Z

NIST standardisation organisation says that systems must phase out non-quantum-resistant cryptography by 2035. RSA, ECDSA, ECDH disallowed as insecure. https://nvlpubs.nist.gov/nistpubs/ir/2024/NIST.IR.8547.ipd.pdf

Italian private company hired a private offensive cyber ...

2024-10-30T09:23:00Z

Italian private company hired a private offensive cyber contractor to hack government systems, steal private data, including of politicians like president or prime minister. They used trojans and insiders. The data was used to blackmail businesspeople and politicians. https://www.politico.eu/article/hacking-scandal-italy-matteo-renzi-sergio-mattarella-equalize-nunzio-samuele-calamucci/

Russia issued a monetary fine on Google: 2 undecillion rubles ...

2024-10-29T19:06:16Z

Russia issued a monetary fine on Google: 2 undecillion rubles ($2,500,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000) after refusing to restore the accounts of pro-Kremlin and state-run media outlets. https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2024/10/29/russia-fines-google-25-decillion-over-youtube-bans-rbc-a86846

It appears that this is not a cyberattack. Due to an apparent ...

2024-10-29T07:07:29Z

It appears that this is not a cyberattack. Due to an apparent malfunction in Moscow’s sewage system, a rather spectacular phenomenon occurred—a surge of a certain substance. A sizeable fountain, whose nature can be easily imagined, shot up high in the sky. 💩

Large language models (~AI) are not yet capable of true ...

2024-10-11T17:24:00Z

Large language models (~AI) are not yet capable of true reasoning. Research from Apple scientists challenges their mathematical reasoning limits by introducing a benchmark designed to test LLMs on diverse mathematical problems. Even slight changes in numerical values or problem complexity can cause significant performance drops. Not capable of logical reasoning.. https://arxiv.org/pdf/2410.05229

Yesterday's Nobel Prize, in "physics," can be ...

2024-10-09T11:11:41Z

Yesterday's Nobel Prize, in "physics," can be questioned as grotesque. Today's from Chemistry - fully justified. We are waiting for literature and "peace". Although we may have to wait a little longer for the latter, and there has never been a peace Nobel for nuclear weapons.

Major Russian state media are down following to a cyberattack. ...

2024-10-07T12:00:12Z

Major Russian state media are down following to a cyberattack. "Online broadcasting and internal services are not working, there is no Internet or telephony". Reports of data destruction (including backups) and expectation of long down-time. Rossia 1 and Rossia 24 (TV), in addition to more than 80 regional television and radio stations https://www.gazeta.ru/tech/news/2024/10/07/24092647.shtml

Russia is giving signals about how they are changing their ...

2024-09-25T20:06:47Z

Russia is giving signals about how they are changing their doctrine on the use of nuclear weapons? "aggression against Russia by any non-nuclear state, but with the participation or support of a nuclear state," [due to?] "...a massive launch of air and space attack weapons and their crossing of our state border [by] strategic and tactical aircraft, cruise missiles, drones, hypersonic and other aircraft". Now what? Good news? Maybe... No cyber capabilities mentioned! http://kremlin.ru/events/president/news/75182

GREAT change is approaching. NIST will standardise prohibition of ...

2024-09-24T14:51:19Z

GREAT change is approaching. NIST will standardise prohibition of requirement of composing passwords from various character styles, and requirement for periodic password changes. These are harmful and obsolete rules. Now they will be treated as a cybersecurity weakness https://pages.nist.gov/800-63-4/sp800-63b.html

Hacktivist group launching cyberattacks on Russian organizations, ...

2024-09-22T05:23:46Z

Hacktivist group launching cyberattacks on Russian organizations, interfering with OS startup, deploying wipers to destroy the infrastructure, preventing data recovery. They demand no ransom. The goal is maximum destruction. Not financial gain. https://securelist.com/twelve-group-unified-kill-chain/113877/

A new career path in IT? Amazon AWS is recruiting NUCLEAR ...

2024-09-21T05:03:18Z

A new career path in IT? Amazon AWS is recruiting NUCLEAR ENGINEERS. They are to do analysis of SMR reactor use and nuclear fuel. What's next, auctions of uranium, plutonium, others? It's changing. No longer talking exclusively about “renewable energy”. Checkout: up to $252,900.

My comment in WIRED about unprecedented operation: exploding ...

2024-09-17T18:45:32Z

My comment in WIRED about unprecedented operation: exploding pagers in Lebanon. Casualties and thousands of wounded. But: HOW? Cyberattack unlikely. Likely: supply-chain compromise, planting an explosive material, and conditions-based trigger.

Pulling it off was certainly extremely complex. The trigger might have been set earlier—something like a radio signal or paging system to activate it.

https://www.wired.com/story/pager-explosion-hezbollah/

Stealing passwords and PINs entered by Apple Vision Pro users. As ...

2024-09-16T12:36:26Z

Stealing passwords and PINs entered by Apple Vision Pro users. As you can see, you never know when a lecture on double integrals over surfaces might come in handy. https://arxiv.org/abs/2409.08122

My comments for Telegraph about Ford's ideas to listen to ...

2024-09-11T15:41:42Z

My comments for Telegraph about Ford's ideas to listen to in-car conversations and analyse vehicle destinations in order to... Well, serve ads. Privacy bell ringing. Privacy-proofing it would be tough. It would likely be illegal in UK/EU anyway. #GDPR https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2024/09/11/ford-files-patent-to-eavesdrop-on-drivers-conversations/

Ford seeks a patent for a device always listening in a car - to ...

2024-09-10T17:18:38Z

Ford seeks a patent for a device always listening in a car - to people's conversations, first to serve them ads.
This system has no privacy designed in it. "historical knowledge of the user’s behavior ...routes taken, or frequently visited destinations ... A level of passenger-driver interaction (acoustic information) may be assessed to determine the level of engagement, such as through conversations..."

https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/25108000/us-20240289844-a1_i.pdf

Global cyberattacks on infrastructure for the purposes of ...

2024-09-06T09:45:36Z

Global cyberattacks on infrastructure for the purposes of espionage, sabotage, and reputational harm attributed to the Russian Military Intelligence (GRU) by Western allied States. Unit 29155 cyber actors rely on non-GRU actors, including known cyber-criminals and enablers to
conduct their operations. https://www.ic3.gov/Media/News/2024/240905.pdf

The Supreme Court has banned Twitter/X in Brazil. People seeking ...

2024-09-01T18:03:17Z

The Supreme Court has banned Twitter/X in Brazil. People seeking to circumvent the ban using VPNs are to be punished. Even fines of almost $9,000/day for circumventing the ban via the use of VPN! https://mashable.com/article/brazil-x-ban-elon-musk-fine-vpn

Charges against P. Durov (of Telegram). ... Telegram failed to ...

2024-08-26T20:04:06Z

Charges against P. Durov (of Telegram). ... Telegram failed to obtain a State permit or registration to use encryption and other cryptography technology? Among others: "Supply of cryptology services to ensure confidentiality functions without functions without a declaration of conformity,
- Supply of a cryptographic means that does not exclusively provide authentication or authentication or integrity control functions without prior declaration,
...

Full text (french): https://www.tribunal-de-paris.justice.fr/sites/default/files/2024-08/2024-08-26%20-%20CP%20TELEGRAM%20.pdf

I just set up a Books subpage on my personal site. ...

2024-08-23T09:34:12Z

I just set up a Books subpage on my personal site. https://lukaszolejnik.com/books

Hacker took control of the control of 4 million photovoltaic ...

2024-08-21T09:36:43Z

Hacker took control of the control of 4 million photovoltaic panels in the Netherlands. It turned out to be very simple. Cyber security of renewable energy sources is going to be a problem. New requirements and regulations will have to be developed. https://www.euractiv.com/section/energy-environment/news/hacker-shines-spotlight-on-vulnerability-of-solar-panels-installed-in-europe/

‼️Big day! NIST publishes standards for next-generation ...

2024-08-13T09:57:03Z

‼️Big day! NIST publishes standards for next-generation cryptography (cipher, digital signature) understood as resistant to attacks with future quantum computers. Migration will not be a piece of cake, but there’s time. https://nvlpubs.nist.gov/nistpubs/fips/nist.fips.203.pdf https://nvlpubs.nist.gov/nistpubs/fips/nist.fips.204.pdf https://nvlpubs.nist.gov/nistpubs/fips/nist.fips.204.pdf

National Institute of Standards and Technology is to soon ...

2024-08-06T05:19:58Z

National Institute of Standards and Technology is to soon announce a suite of encryption algorithms resistant to the hypothetical quantum computer attacks. Let's hope that they withstand also non-quantum attacks. https://blog.lukaszolejnik.com/post-quantum-cryptography-not-broken-after-all/ https://blog.lukaszolejnik.com/initial-data-protection-assessment-of-quantum-computing/