Sign in

Sarah A | ساره

@xsa.bsky.social
526 followers 53 following 50 posts

hacker | infosec + human rights + anti-surveillance丨past VP Security @OpenTechFund, @internetFF, @HRW丨past fellow @mozilla @NewAmerica丨Beirut ➝ Brooklyn

PostsRepliesMedia
Reposted by Sarah A | ساره
Micah Lee @micahflee.com · 02/05/2025
I wrote up a detailed analysis of TM SGNL, the unofficial Signal app that senior Trump fascists use to organize their war crimes micahflee.com/tm-sgnl-the-...
micahflee.com
TM SGNL, the obscure unofficial Signal app Mike Waltz uses to text with Trump officials
Yesterday, a Reuters photographer captured a photo of the freshly-ousted former National Security Advisor Mike Waltz checking his Signal messages during a Trump cabinet meeting. If you're not familiar...
301257446
Reposted by Sarah A | ساره
Innsmouth Looksmaxxing @gonebabygone.bsky.social · 27/03/2025
Mr. Miyazaki sir, I love your movies about how capitalism and the destruction of nature are evil, I made a shitty facsimile of them in a computer that drains reservoirs, do you like it
3795633108
Sarah A | ساره @xsa.bsky.social · 25/03/2025
040
Reposted by Sarah A | ساره
Jessica Shortall @jessicashortall.bsky.social · 24/03/2025
is ur child texting state secrets in a Signal chat? ily - I Leaked Yemen (attack details) smh - Secret Message Hahahaha tbh - Talkin 'Bout Houthis idk - I Doubt Korea (is in this signal chat) gtg - Gonna Text Goldberg
85103722286
Sarah A | ساره @xsa.bsky.social · 20/03/2025
Not the first story i hear about people being asked to show a passport or permanent residence card while traveling domestically in the US.
011
Reposted by Sarah A | ساره
Noah Shachtman @noahshachtman.bsky.social · 09/03/2025
More details here: www.dropsitenews.com/p/dhs-detain...
dropsitenews.com
BREAKING: DHS Detains Lead Negotiator of Columbia Gaza Solidarity Encampment After Online Campaign by Pro-Israel Groups
Mahmoud Khalil, who was detained on Saturday, is being held at an ICE detention facility.
17233162
Sarah A | ساره @xsa.bsky.social · 02/03/2025
This is quite comforting edition.cnn.com/2025/02/28/p...
edition.cnn.com
US intel shows Russia and China are attempting to recruit disgruntled federal employees, sources say | CNN Politics
Foreign adversaries including Russia and China have recently directed their intelligence services to ramp up recruiting of US federal employees working in national security, targeting those who have b...
020
Reposted by Sarah A | ساره
Cyd @cyd.social · 19/02/2025
A new version of Cyd is out today! Upgrade now. The biggest thing is change is your local Cyd archive now includes images, videos, replies, and quote tweets. Re-import your X archive into Cyd to get all of this stuff -- you'll want it you want to eventually migrate your tweets into Bluesky
184
Reposted by Sarah A | ساره
Electronic Frontier Foundation @eff.org · 18/02/2025
“Parents should check reviews of the devices they buy, both within the site they're buying it on as well as separate from that site,” EFF’s @legind.bsky.social told Parents magazine. Also, stick with recognized brands that have good product security histories.
parents.com
Mom Says She Heard a Stranger Talking to Her Child Through Their WiFi Baby Monitor–Now She’s Warning Other Parents
After a parent noticed a stranger speaking to their child through a WiFi baby monitor, experts share what may have led to this and how parents can stay safe.
28523
Sarah A | ساره @xsa.bsky.social · 12/02/2025
A Lithuanian company provided data on US military personnel in Germany to a databroker in Florida, which could then theoretically sell that data to essentially anyone. The global nature of commercial online ad surveillance should concern everyone. www.404media.co/email/0747f7...
404media.co
This Adtech Company is Powering Surveillance of U.S. Military Personnel
In a letter to a US senator, a Florida-based data broker says it obtained sensitive data on US military members from a Lithuanian company, revealing the global nature of commercial online ad surveilla...
010
Sarah A | ساره @xsa.bsky.social · 07/02/2025
The administration is attempting to halt federal support for gender-affirming healthcare for young people. apnews.com/article/trum...
apnews.com
Families and doctors sue over Trump's order to halt funding for gender-affirming care
President Donald Trump's effort to ban federal funding for gender-affirming care for young people is facing a legal challenge.
000
Sarah A | ساره @xsa.bsky.social · 07/02/2025
Thanks to Musk and DOGE, people are at risk of losing their healthcare because of sweeping attacks on Medicare and Medicaid data and payment systems. www.washingtonpost.com/health/2025/...
washingtonpost.com
DOGE broadens sweep of federal agencies, gains access to health payment systems
Associates of Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency have fanned out across the federal government in recent days, alarming some career employees.
100
Sarah A | ساره @xsa.bsky.social · 07/02/2025
Funding delays also caused issues with access to healthcare portals. Such outages can delay people from obtaining life-saving medications and healthcare, and even cause deaths. kffhealthnews.org/news/article...
kffhealthnews.org
Trump’s Funding ‘Pause’ Throws States, Health Industry Into Chaos - KFF Health News
A sweeping Trump administration order threw the nation’s health system into disarray Tuesday, as states and the health industry tried to make sense of what looked like a freeze on federal Medicaid fun...
100
Sarah A | ساره @xsa.bsky.social · 07/02/2025
Federal funding disruptions are causing staffing issues at independent living centers, which help seniors and disabled people remain in their homes instead of institutions. Funding delays are also threatening Head Start programs, which support low-income families. www.cnn.com/2025/02/06/p...
cnn.com
Services for disabled Americans, trans youth and refugees feel the squeeze from Trump’s early actions | CNN Politics
President Donald Trump’s bid to remake the federal government is already affecting some vulnerable populations in the United States, according to nonprofits and health care providers who are grappling...
100
Sarah A | ساره @xsa.bsky.social · 07/02/2025
The Trump administration has gone further in restricting abortion than any president since Roe was decided in 1973, which will endanger abortion-seekers and others trying to access reproductive healthcare. kffhealthnews.org/news/article...
kffhealthnews.org
Trump’s Already Gone Back on His Promise To Leave Abortion to States - KFF Health News
On the campaign trail, President Donald Trump said the power to make abortion policies “has been returned to the states.” In his first two weeks in office, he’s already gone further to restrict aborti...
100
Sarah A | ساره @xsa.bsky.social · 07/02/2025
The Trump admin intends to undermine access to health care and destroy social safety net programs through budget cuts, funding disruptions, and increased eligibility requirements. Here's a rundown, with the help of @upturn.org:
122
Sarah A | ساره @xsa.bsky.social · 07/02/2025
Trump unlawfully fired leaders of the EEOC, NLRB, PCLOB, and CFPB — independent agencies whose work is essential to the enforcement of civil rights laws.
000
Sarah A | ساره @xsa.bsky.social · 07/02/2025
President Trump directed federal agencies to stop interpreting civil rights laws as protecting against gender-based discrimination. The president also ordered agencies to ignore recent Supreme Court precedent that sex discrimination includes gender discrimination. www.whitehouse.gov/presidential...
whitehouse.gov
Defending Women From Gender Ideology Extremism And Restoring Biological Truth To The Federal Government
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including section 7301 of title 5, United
100
Sarah A | ساره @xsa.bsky.social · 07/02/2025
The new acting head of the CFPB told staff to halt their consumer protection work, which has shielded consumers from price gouging, predatory lending, and the weaponization of medical debt in credit decisions. www.npr.org/2025/02/03/n...
npr.org
Treasury Secretary Bessent, tapped to run CFPB, orders staff to halt work
The staff at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau was instructed by email to cease much of its work. Bessent, a wealthy Wall Street investor, replaces Rohit Chopra, who was fired on Saturday.
110
Sarah A | ساره @xsa.bsky.social · 07/02/2025
The DOJ has ordered its civil rights division to stop working while also soliciting proposals for criminal and civil investigations into companies that seek to voluntarily diversify their workforces. www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...
washingtonpost.com
Justice Department issues freeze for civil rights division
The directives halt ongoing civil rights cases and could jeopardize police reform agreements finalized in recent months in Minneapolis and Louisville.
100
Sarah A | ساره @xsa.bsky.social · 07/02/2025
Trump rescinded an Executive Order from the 1960s requiring nondiscrimination in federal contracting — a foundational legal authority requiring federal contractors, including some of America’s largest businesses, to hire diverse workforces. www.reuters.com/world/us/why...
reuters.com
Why LBJ signed executive order 11246 that Trump rescinded
When U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson took the stage at Howard University in June of 1965, he had already signed the Civil Rights act into law, and he said he expected to sign the Voting Rights Act shortly.
100
Sarah A | ساره @xsa.bsky.social · 07/02/2025
All the actions taken by the Trump admin are a widespread attack on civil rights protections that have been instrumental to confronting racism and other forms of exclusion in housing, hiring, and credit. Here's a rundown, with the help of @upturn.org:
111
Reposted by Sarah A | ساره
dell cameron @dell.bsky.social · 07/02/2025
NEW: An internal email obtained by WIRED from a threat intelligence team monitoring US Treasury systems advised labeling DOGE operatives an "insider threat," adding that it recommended suspending their access "immediately." | www.wired.com/story/treasu...
Vittoria Elliott Leah Feiger
Feb 7, 2025 2:47 PM
A US Treasury Threat Intelligence Analysis Designates DOGE Staff as ‘Insider Threat’
An internal email reviewed by WIRED calls DOGE staff's access to federal payments systems “the single biggest insider threat risk the Bureau of the Fiscal Service has ever faced.”
313180596165
Sarah A | ساره @xsa.bsky.social · 07/02/2025
Why do medical costs continue to skyrocket in the US? Well, manufacturers are forcing hospitals into 1st repair contracts, which means a hospital's own staff are prevented from repairing devices that they had long been able to fix. www.404media.co/email/42b13b...
404media.co
Medical Device Company Tells Hospitals They're No Longer Allowed to Fix Machine That Costs Six Figures
Hospitals are increasingly being forced into maintenance contracts with device manufacturers, driving up costs.
000
Sarah A | ساره @xsa.bsky.social · 04/02/2025
So the Treasury is going on the blockchain... cool cool cool www.forbes.com/sites/digita...
forbes.com
‘This Needs To Stop Now’—Elon Musk Confirms Radical Doge U.S. Treasury Plan
Elon Musk has confirmed he wants to put the U.S. Treasury on a blockchain, the technology that underpins bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies...
000
Sarah A | ساره @xsa.bsky.social · 03/02/2025
I don’t know when people will start realizing that the US is under authoritarian rule
000
Sarah A | ساره @xsa.bsky.social · 03/02/2025
The hackers behind the massive breach of AT&T data last year hunted through the data for phone numbers and records of top officials and their families, including the Trump family (Melania and Ivanka Trump); Kamala Harris; and Marco Rubio’s wife www.404media.co/email/061e4e...
404media.co
Hackers Mined AT&T Breach for Data on Trump's Family, Kamala Harris
Hackers behind the breach of “nearly all” of AT&T customers’ metadata searched for records associated with members of the Trump family, Kamala Harris, and Marco Rubio’s wife.
010
Reposted by Sarah A | ساره
Senator Ron Wyden @wyden.senate.gov · 01/02/2025
NEW: Sources tell my office that Treasury Secretary Bessent has granted DOGE *full* access to this system. Social Security and Medicare benefits, grants, payments to government contractors, including those that compete directly with Musk's own companies. All of it.
58842869212989
Sarah A | ساره @xsa.bsky.social · 31/01/2025
@citizenlab.ca has some good resources on steps to take to try to secure your devices as much as possible: citizenlab.ca/spyware-outr...
citizenlab.ca
STEPS TO BE SAFER AFTER A POSSIBLE TARGETING - The Citizen Lab
This page is intended ONLY for users receiving an official outreach concerning possible sophisticated commercial spyware targeting. If you did not get such an
010
Sarah A | ساره @xsa.bsky.social · 31/01/2025
Nearly 100 journalists and civil society folks were targets of Israeli spyware company #Paragon. The targeting was a “zero-click” attack, which means targets wouldn't have had to click on any malicious links to be infected. www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
theguardian.com
WhatsApp says journalists and civil society members were targets of Israeli spyware
Messaging app said it had ‘high confidence’ some users were targeted and ‘possibly compromised’ by Paragon Solutions spyware
120
Sarah A | ساره @xsa.bsky.social · 31/01/2025
Trump's sudden freeze of federal aid has profound repercussions all around the world. Here are some of the stories that are coming up: www.nytimes.com/2025/01/31/w...
nytimes.com
000
Sarah A | ساره @xsa.bsky.social · 31/01/2025
China’s repression of #Uyghurs in #Xinjiang extends beyond borders to target women Uyghur activists and their families, using digital threats, harassment, surveillance, and other means to silence them. Read @citizenlab.ca's report: citizenlab.ca/case-studies...
citizenlab.ca
Xinjiang region, China - The Citizen Lab
Since 2014, the Chinese government has escalated its repression against Uyghurs and other Turkic ethnic minorities in the Xinjiang region in northwestern
011
Reposted by Sarah A | ساره
Ken Klippenstein @kenklippenstein.bsky.social · 24/01/2025
Trump administration just suspended all new foreign aid pending review, per State Department cable leaked to me (1/2)
46830208
Sarah A | ساره @xsa.bsky.social · 23/01/2025
Are you a journalist? Or do you work on investigative research? The Global Investigative Journalism Network @gijn.org is offering a free, online cyber investigations training program for investigative journalists. The course will run for six weeks, starting April 14, 2025. gijn.org/stories/digi...
gijn.org
031
Sarah A | ساره @xsa.bsky.social · 22/01/2025
Users are reporting that their posts are being taken down from #TikTok for saying "Free Palestine," yet TikTok denies that this is happening. Still incredible to witness how afraid the world is of even the idea of a free Palestine. www.404media.co/tiktok-free-...
404media.co
TikTok Says It’s Not Censoring ‘Free Palestine’ Comments. Users See Something Different
When TikTok returned after being pulled from the U.S., hours before President Trump’s inauguration, users reported “free palestine” comments were being instantly removed.
030
Reposted by Sarah A | ساره
John Scott-Railton @jsrailton.bsky.social · 23/12/2024
The volume of scam phone calls targeting elderly people in the US is insane. If you've visited an aging person, you know what I'm talking about. Ring after ring on that landline. Several calls a day isn't out of the ordinary. Each of them a risk of wiping out their savings.
1213427
Sarah A | ساره @xsa.bsky.social · 23/12/2024
Managed to pass both my #CIPT and #CIPM in the past two weeks, while dealing with the news out of Lebanon and checking several times a day that my friends and my family are still alive. Not sure how I did it but talk about working under pressure...
000
Reposted by Sarah A | ساره
Kashmir Hill @kashhill.bsky.social · 20/12/2024
After I reported on automakers selling info about people’s driving to the insurance industry, G.M. stopped providing the data to risk profiling companies. But I heard it was still selling data about how & where people drive, anonymized. This is the major use case: www.nytimes.com/2024/12/20/t...
nytimes.com
How Your Car Might Be Making Roads Safer
Researchers say data from long-haul trucks, and cars made by General Motors, is critical for addressing traffic congestion and road safety. Data privacy experts have their concerns.
24316
Sarah A | ساره @xsa.bsky.social · 18/12/2024
Authorities in Serbia have repeatedly used #Cellebrite tools to unlock mobile phones so they could then infect them with potent malware, including the phones of activists and a journalist. #security #privacy www.404media.co/email/ad7b75...
404media.co
Cellebrite Unlocked This Journalist’s Phone. Cops Then Infected it With Malware
A new report from Amnesty International reveals multiple cases where Serbian authorities used Cellebrite devices to access targets' mobile phones before loading them with spyware.
021
Sarah A | ساره @xsa.bsky.social · 18/12/2024
Older story, but a reminder that social engineer attacks are the most commonly used against vulnerable populations, and in this case, journalists and activists. cyberscoop.com/iranian-hack...
cyberscoop.com
Iranian hackers impersonate journalists in social engineering campaign
Members of a notorious Iranian hacking crew are using false personas to steal credentials and access victim cloud environments, per a new Mandiant report.
041
Sarah A | ساره @xsa.bsky.social · 11/12/2024
Hey America, are you okay?
030
Sarah A | ساره @xsa.bsky.social · 10/12/2024
A good reminder to boycott McDonald's. Just saying.
010
Reposted by Sarah A | ساره
Joseph Cox @josephcox.bsky.social · 06/12/2024
New: multiple major health insurance companies (Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield, Caresource, Medica, Elevance Health) have taken down pages on their websites which listed their leadership, following the murder of United Healthcare CEO www.404media.co/multiple-maj...
404media.co
Major Health Insurance Companies Take Down Leadership Pages Following Murder of United Healthcare CEO
Following the shooting of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson, multiple major health insurance companies have taken their executive leadership pages offline.
3382583643
Sarah A | ساره @xsa.bsky.social · 04/12/2024
Still one of my favorite headlines to have read recently: www.404media.co/police-freak...
404media.co
Police Freak Out at iPhones Mysteriously Rebooting Themselves, Locking Cops Out
Law enforcement believe the activity, which makes it harder to then unlock the phones, may be due to a potential update in iOS 18 which tells nearby iPhones to reboot if they have not been in contact ...
010
Sarah A | ساره @xsa.bsky.social · 22/11/2024
Anyone have experience with Cape? www.theverge.com/2024/11/21/2...
theverge.com
A new ‘ultra-secure’ phone carrier says it can make you harder to track
Cape says it can obfuscate your location.
010
Sarah A | ساره @xsa.bsky.social · 20/11/2024
Another way data brokers can be incredibly dangerous, and why privacy matters: more than 3 billion phone coordinates collected by a US data broker expose detailed movements of US military and intelligence ops in Germany, and no one can do anything about it. www.wired.com/story/phone-...
wired.com
Anyone Can Buy Data Tracking US Soldiers and Spies to Nuclear Vaults and Brothels in Germany
More than 3 billion phone coordinates collected by a US data broker expose the detailed movements of US military and intelligence workers in Germany—and the Pentagon is powerless to stop it.
020
Reposted by Sarah A | ساره
Read the book Read Raising Expectations (and Raising Hell) @jphillll.bsky.social · 18/11/2024
I think this is a pretty good norm at this point, but it’s also helpful to remember that orgs mostly want you to register so that you can stay in the loop. So have a burner organizing email, follow them on social media, attend meetings, find ways to stay in the loop and get into the work.
645784
Reposted by Sarah A | ساره
Joseph Cox @josephcox.bsky.social · 02/08/2024
New: I interviewed Signal's Meredith Whittaker for the 404 Media Podcast. We talked about the threat of AI to end to end encryption; what backdoors in encrypted apps actually look like, and much more. A genuinely insightful discussion. Listen here: www.404media.co/podcast-sign...
404media.co
Podcast: Signal's President Meredith Whittaker on Backdoors and AI
We speak to Meredith Whittaker about the threat posed by AI to end-to-end encryption, what backdoors actually look like, and much more in this special interview episode.
1248
Sarah A | ساره @xsa.bsky.social · 02/08/2024
The NYT cannot even be bothered to name the fact that Biden has been condoning, supporting, and financing a genocide for the 10 months as possible reason for the lack of support.
010
Reposted by Sarah A | ساره
Ⓐnarchohoodism 🐈‍⬛ 🏴 @161bklyn.myatproto.social · 01/08/2024
Ahaaa…interesting developments truthout.org/articles/atl...
truthout.org
Atlanta’s Cop City Is Funded by Some of the Same Billionaires Who Back AIPAC
Donors to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee are underwriting a thin blue line between Israel and Cop City.
36027