404 Media

Friday, finally. Time for the weekly roundup.
On the podcast this week: the latest Epstein dump, how it’s really a disaster in a lot of ways, and Moltbot and its terrible security. In the section for subscribers at the Supporter level, two recent stories about a fundamental issue exposing a bunch...

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 AI bubble hysteria, "just go independent," and more.
JOSEPH: This week we reported how the FBI has been unable to get into a Washington Post reporter’s iPhone because it was in Lockdown Mode. Side note, I wonder how the insane cuts at The Post are going to impact its digital or physical protection of journalists...

The Department of Homeland Security’s Inspector General is investigating potential privacy abuses associated with Immigrations and Customs Enforcement’s surveillance and biometric data programs, according to a letter sent to two senators.
Last week, we reported that Senators Mark Warner and Tim Kaine demanded that DHS inspector general Joseph Cuffari investigate immigration-related surveillance programs across DHS, Customs and Border Protection, and ICE. Thursday, Cuffari said his office...

The Department of Justice redacted the face of the Mona Lisa, a 522-year-old painting of an Italian woman who died centuries ago, as part of its release of files related to the late convicted sex offender Jeffery Epstein.
In a PDF of an email with the subject line “simply paris” sent on July 3, 2009, a redacted sender sent Epstein several photos of, presumably, himself and a woman sightseeing in Paris. The photos of the woman are all redacted with a black box over her...