Top all-time · #7948
Matt Tait
Personal blog · pwnallthethings.comsecuritypolitics
Matt Tait writes PwnAllTheThings, a personal blog at pwnallthethings.com about security and politics. Since 2022, 10 different Hacker News readers have linked it 10 times, most often “Russia is spying on Telegram chats in occupied Ukrainian regions”. The last post was in 2023, but the archive is still widely read.
Too few sampled comments (4) to say how often HN recommends it.?
Why HN links it
HN commenters link this blog's posts on messaging app security and trust, including Telegram metadata and Russian intelligence, and on Twitter 'main character' culture. The comments use the posts as references.
Summarised by Claude from a sample of 4 HN comments that link here. Each comment is marked recommending, critical or neutral (citing without judging); how this works.
Into the weeds on national security, foreign policy, and cybersecurity.
Most-linked posts?
- Russia is spying on Telegram chats in occupied Ukrainian regions7 people · 7 mentions · first linked 2022-12-03
- Twitter was special. But it's time to leave2 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2022-11-20
What Hacker News says?
> Yes, "main character" is Twitter jargon Matt Tait talks about Twitter and its main characters here[0]. I just block all these 'characters' so I never have to see them in my feed. And it's not just a handful, I block ~300 accounts which in my eyes are all bad faith actors / troublemakers who are subtly trolling Twitter because they have a large following. [0] https://www.pwnallthethings.com/p/twitter-was-special-bu…
Comment linking /p/twitter-was-special-but-its-time
on “Everybody is the main character”Submitted Twitter was special. But it's time to leave as a story · 89 points
HN discussionNo, I wasn't talking about Telegram. I was making a general statement about crappy e2ee startups with bad designs and accountability. There was a recent one using Sealed.io whose name I forget. Re Telegram, sure, use what you like. https://www.pwnallthethings.com/p/russia-is-spying-on-telegr...
Comment linking /p/russia-is-spying-on-telegram-chats
on “I Don't Trust Signal”Submitted Russia is spying on Telegram chats in occupied Ukrainian regions as a story · 4 points
HN discussionAnd very possibly sharing chat metadata with Russian intelligence services https://www.pwnallthethings.com/p/russia-is-spying-on-telegr...
Comment linking /p/russia-is-spying-on-telegram-chats
on “Telegram enable sign up without a SIM card”Submitted Russia is spying on Telegram chats in occupied Ukrainian regions as a story · 3 points
HN discussionWhile this can be true, I'd be careful before making any inferences here. For example, there's good research [1] on how FSB uses the fact that Telegram metadata is in the open to run counter-insurgency on occupied territories. This is likely among FSB's highest priorities - but there's no evidence that they have used some level of insider access or control (or at least that they are willing to burn it even on Ukrain…
Comment linking /p/russia-is-spying-on-telegram-chats
on “Telegram Web Apps for Bots”Submitted Donald Trump indictment: what are the classified documents? as a story · 1 points
HN discussionSubmitted Russia is spying on Telegram chats in occupied Ukrainian regions as a story · 1 points
HN discussionSubmitted Russia is spying on Telegram chats in occupied Ukrainian regions as a story · 1 points
HN discussion
