This is Behind the Blog, where we share our behind-the-scenes thoughts about how a few of our top stories of the week came together. This week, we discuss Deadheads and doxxing sites. SAM: Anyone reading the site closely this week likely noticed a new name entering the chat. We’re thrilled to welcome Rosie Thomas to…
This week we start with Joseph’s article about the U.S’s major airlines selling customers’ flight information to Customs and Border Protection and then telling the agency to not reveal where the data came from. After the break, Emanuel tells us how AI scraping bots are breaking open libraries, archives, and museums. In the subscribers-only section,…
A report from a cybersecurity company last week found that over 40,000 unsecured cameras—including CCTV and security cameras on public transportation, in hospitals, on internet-connected bird feeders and on ATMs—are exposed online worldwide. Cybersecurity risk intelligence company BitSight was able to access and download content from thousands of internet-connected systems, including domestic and commercial webcams,…
As Israel and Iran trade blows in a quickly escalating conflict that risks engulfing the rest of the region as well as a more direct confrontation between Iran and the U.S., social media is being flooded with AI-generated media that claims to show the devastation, but is fake. The fake videos and images show how…
🌘 Subscribe to 404 Media to get The Abstract, our newsletter about the most exciting and mind-boggling science news and studies of the week. Scientists have directly confirmed the location of the universe’s “missing” matter for the first time, reports a study published on Monday in Nature Astronomy. The idea that the universe must contain…
📄 This article was primarily reported using public records requests. We are making it available to all readers as a public service. FOIA reporting can be expensive, please consider subscribing to 404 Media to support this work. Or send us a one time donation via our tip jar here. A California police department searched AI-enabled,…
AI bots that scrape the internet for training data are hammering the servers of libraries, archives, museums, and galleries, and are in some cases knocking their collections offline, according to a new survey published today. While the impact of AI bots on open collections has been reported anecdotally, the survey is the first attempt at…
This article was produced in collaboration with Court Watch, an independent outlet that unearths overlooked court records. Subscribe to them here. A family in Utah is suing the Republican National Convention for sending unhinged text messages soliciting donations to Donald Trump’s campaign and continuing to text even after they tried to unsubscribe. “From Trump: ALL…
On Monday the Trump Organization announced its own mobile service plan and the “T1 Phone,” a customized all-gold mobile phone that its creators say will be made in America. I tried to pre-order the phone and pay the $100 downpayment, hoping to test the phone to see what apps come pre-installed, how secure it really…
A survey of 7,000 Facebook, Instagram, and Threads users found that most people feel less safe on Meta’s platforms since CEO Mark Zuckerberg abandoned fact-checking in January. The report, written by Jenna Sherman at UltraViolet, Ana Clara-Toledo at All Out, and Leanna Garfield at GLAAD, surveyed people who belong to what Meta refers to as…
