• 54 Posts
  • 2.16K Comments
Joined 4 years ago
Cake day: November 8th, 2021
  • interdimensionalmeme@lemmy.mltoLinux@lemmy.ml•"NixOS has become a fascist project. Do not contribute to it."
    11·
    2 days ago

    Anduril’s autonomous surveillance towers have been used on the U.S.–Mexico border to detect and track migrants, as part of DHS programs. This has drawn criticism from immigrant rights groups and academics who argue such systems dehumanize migrants and enable policies that align with authoritarian nationalism.

    Anduril is privately funded (by VC firms like Founders Fund) but markets and sells directly to governments and military agencies, without the typical government R&D cycle. It builds weapons and surveillance systems first, then offers them to the state. This “build first, ask later” model can lead to unchecked corporate influence over the military-industrial complex, which some critics argue is a step toward a techno-authoritarian fascist regime.

    Anduril founder Palmer Luckey was ousted from Oculus after it was revealed he funded a pro-Trump meme organization (Nimble America) known for spreading far-right content during the 2016 election. While this doesn’t make the company fascist, it raises concerns for critics about the political leanings of its leadership and how those ideologies could influence product deployment.

    Anduril is deeply involved in developing autonomous weapon systems, like the ALTIUS-600M loitering munition. Critics warn that the use of AI to identify and kill targets without human input could lead to violations of international law and facilitate mass violence or authoritarian control. Anduril’s heavy investment in such systems leads some to see it as advancing a dystopian militarized fascist future.

  • interdimensionalmeme@lemmy.mlOPtoPrivacy@lemmy.ml•Saudi Arabia and Jared Kushner purchase kernel-level root access to your computer via purchase of Electronics Arts and their kernel anti-cheat
    1·
    3 days ago

    It’s AI, the tell tale sign is the use of bullet points.

    That doesn’t give /u/dev_null any credibility but they like to be a good little boy that yaps at clouds, cars and AI.

    In this case user /u/Samsuma was unsatisfied with my regular meandering writing style so I reformatted my points into a more semantically coherent package to undermine any possible pedants to come in and complain about misplaced commas and semi-colons and start legislating what the meaning of “is” is.

    I’m quite confident the logic here in unassailable, and that’s why /u/dev_null didn’t have anything to say but complain about the formatting while being unable to address the substance of my comment.

    And nobody can “tell” AI text. You can make it adopt any writing style, the only thing people like /u/dev_null have to go on is em dashes, bullet points and “purple” turn of phrases, which, if I’d really care to get these synthophobes off the scent, I would have, but I was more concerned about giving /u/Samsuma the tightest response I could without spending too long on it.

    Because of people /u/dev_null just prowling the internet, I do recommend any AI user simply not disclose AI use, gaslight synthophobes into thinking AI text is not AI, inserting em dashes and bullet points into non-AI text and generally being hostile to people like that because they’re really insufferable.

    The reason I’m telling you all this is so that /u/dev_null knows they can duck off and the more they try to bully me the more undetectable I’m going to make it, there’s really not going to be any winner for anyone trying to antagonize me.

  • interdimensionalmeme@lemmy.mlOPtoPrivacy@lemmy.ml•Saudi Arabia and Jared Kushner purchase kernel-level root access to your computer via purchase of Electronics Arts and their kernel anti-cheat
    103·
    3 days ago

    How will it be installed once the deal closes?

    Assuming default settings, the EA App runs a background service with elevated privileges (often as TrustedInstaller on Windows), and automatic updates are enabled by default. That means:

    • No user action is required for software updates, including those that install kernel-mode drivers.
    • Kernel-level components can be silently updated or extended through routine game patches or EA App updates.
    • Any newly introduced or modified driver (e.g., an anti-cheat update) would be signed by EA, but users are not alerted to the depth of the update unless they manually inspect it, which is virtually impossible given the encrypted/proprietary nature of the codebase.

    So, once the acquisition closes, any architectural changes to anti-cheat or telemetry mechanisms can be deployed silently as part of routine patching cycles. This does not require a new game release or user intervention.

    Has it already been installed?

    This is a fair assumption under standard security threat modeling practices.

    • EA has already shipped kernel-level drivers (e.g., EAAntiCheat.sys) since 2023, and these are typically installed alongside online multiplayer titles such as EA Sports FC and Battlefield 2042.
    • These drivers run with the highest system-level privileges, and the EA App has full access to update them.
    • The compiled binaries are not open-source, not auditable, and may include encrypted segments or obfuscated logic, meaning users and third parties have no reliable way to verify what the software is actually doing.

    Security best practices assume that any installed kernel-level driver is capable of full system access, including:

    • Reading any file or memory region
    • Installing persistence mechanisms
    • Monitoring user input
    • Communicating externally, including via encrypted channels

    So yes, if you’ve installed a modern EA game, the capability is already there. The only real change under a new ownership model is intent.

    Could this be a concern if the acquirer wasn’t Saudi Arabia’s PIF?

    The kernel-level threat model doesn’t change based on ownership, the capabilities remain the same. But the motivations and likely use cases absolutely do.

    It is a factual and well-documented reality that Saudi Arabia is:

    • An authoritarian regime with little tolerance for dissent
    • Known for surveillance and digital repression (including use of spyware such as Pegasus)
    • Responsible for state violence, including the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi
    • Building a significant intelligence and cyber operations apparatus under the guise of technological investment

    In that context, PIF’s ownership of a widely installed, privileged software platform, with millions of endpoints and baked-in telemetry infrastructure, is not just theoretical risk, it’s an active national security concern.

    It’s reasonable to assume that whatever institutional restraint EA may have had about using anti-cheat for more than gameplay integrity may now be loosened, or removed entirely.

    Does this apply to all EA games? Is it properly disclosed?

    EA claims that kernel-level anti-cheat is used “selectively”, primarily in high-profile online multiplayer titles. However:

    • There is no centralized or transparent disclosure list showing which games install kernel drivers.
    • The EA App and installers do not consistently warn users at install time that a kernel-level driver will be added to their system.
    • Detection is only possible after installation, by manually inspecting the installed drivers or using tools like Autoruns, Process Hacker, or Sigcheck.

    So while it’s technically true that not all EA games use kernel anti-cheat, the lack of disclosure and difficulty in verifying makes it functionally impossible for the average user to know which games are safe, especially given the bundled update system that can install new software silently at any time.

    Games purchased outside the EA App (e.g., on Steam or Epic) often still require the EA launcher to run, meaning kernel drivers can still be deployed through those channels.

  • interdimensionalmeme@lemmy.mlOPtoPrivacy@lemmy.ml•Saudi Arabia and Jared Kushner purchase kernel-level root access to your computer via purchase of Electronics Arts and their kernel anti-cheat
    42·
    3 days ago

    Well the original title is “Video gamer Electronic Arts to be bought in largest-ever private equity buyout valued at $55 billion” Which only points to “wow this is large exchange of capital”

    And the text of the article is just investor-centric propaganda like
    "PIF, which was currently the largest insider stakeholder in Electronic Arts, will be rolling over its existing 9.9% investment in the company. "

    or meaningless puff like
    “The IPO came seven years after EA was founded by former Apple employee William “Trip” Hawkins, who began playing analog versions of baseball and football made by “Strat-O-Matic” as a teenager during the 1960s”

    Ultimately concluding with “By going private, EA will be able to retool operations without worrying about market reactions.”

    “Hickey is unsure if the transaction is in shareholders’ best interest.”

    “The financial backing and resources of the investor consortium should enable EA to increase its focus on long-term growth opportunities that may have been viewed as too risky or expensive as a public company,”

    In other words no mention whatsoever of the ethical, cultural consideration nor even touching of the largest stakeholders in the transaction, the IP License Holders and their interest in allowing a foreign enemy nation administrative access to their computer kernel beyond their own user privileges.

    This is nothing less than dereliction of duty by this “apnews” company, obviously misdirecting the attention of the reader and quieting their non-sense inapplicable fears such as return on investment levels for the C-Suite and the interest of “Freedom Capital Markets”.

    These rootless bugpersons are colonizing our attention, spamming their virulent thoughts to distracts us from real, imminent dangers while our hostile leaders are selling us out to the highest bidder, instead of being lined up against a brick wall next to a deep communal ditch.