Good. Take all their toys.

And let's learn about the armies of enablers that helped them move & hide what they stole from Russia's people.
2/ Cancel the Oligarchs' kids visas.

No more Cambridge, LSE, Sorbonne & Princeton.

If they want to travel, let them study abroad in Minsk & Grozny.

- A friend.
3/ London, Paris, Cote D'Azur, New York, DC...

Seize the Oligarchs' condos & mansions.

Turn them into refugee housing, welcome centers & schools.
4/ Some thoughtful folks find the idea of cancelling visas for Oligarchs' kids unfair & perhaps counterproductive.

Reasonable considerations! Here's some context that shapes how I look at it.👇
5/ Oligarchs use stolen wealth to isolate themselves from the mess #Putin has created.

Until they are unable to out out of the consequences of their actions, the carnival will continue.

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More from @jsrailton

Feb 28
BREAKING: @Meta just cracked down on hacking campaign targeting #Ukraine's military.

Attribute to #Ghostwriter group, which is linked to #Belarus.

There's more. 1/

By @arawnsley
thedailybeast.com/ghostwriter-ha… ImageImage
2/ @Meta also took action against a modest network of fake accounts using AI-generated avatars.

Pretended to be media, scientists, other experts.

Pushed out narratives about #Ukraine being failed state, etc. Image
3/ Reminder: in 2020, @Meta blocked disinformation operation also pushing out false narratives on #Ukraine.

Then, in 2021 @USTreasury said the sponsor media groups were directly tasked by Russian FSB.

And sanctioned them.

URLs: about.fb.com/wp-content/upl… home.treasury.gov/news/press-rel… ImageImageImage
Read 4 tweets
Feb 28
A lot of #Ukraine is still on LTE.

Blessing for getting info out... but phones are so trackable.

CLOSER: gear w/antennas on foot, car, plane..
ANYWHERE: hacking telco logs
ANYWHERE: exploiting signalling systems' weaknesses
ANYWHERE: app location data exchanges

I worry.

1/
2/ #Russia is surely doing everything they can to track the phones of key ppl in #Ukraine.

I pray that there is serious phone discipline in Zelenskyy's circle & the ppl physically around him & other VIPs.

Otherwise...
3/ There are literally so many security risks around phones in conflict, that I forgot to mention one that I actually study: #Russia loves to hack phones.

For high value targets, they have lots of tricks.

it's a great way to track someones location & spy at the same time.
Read 4 tweets
Feb 28
NEW: @Google disabled live traffic & info for Ukraine.

Reasonable.

It signals groups in motion all around the country. Like civilian movement.

And building occupancy. Like bomb shelters.

Reminder: metadata is a HUGE signal.

@eculliford h/t @insyria
reuters.com/article/ukrain… Image
2/ The sheer amount of data emitted from the #Ukraine conflict is mind blowing.

Example: all the random apps on folks' phones, providing location information to god-knows-what-app-developer / data broker.

Nice illustration that location data privacy = national security issue.
3/ Conversations about app privacy & location data risks can be a bit...abstract.

Not in #Ukraine.

I hope every VIP in Ukraine's government has carefully assessed what apps are in their pockets.

And which countries might be able to have a peek at the data.
Read 4 tweets
Feb 27
Seeing petitions to shut App Store, cut Facebook etc. to Russia.

I understand the motivation!

But this will help #Putin, not hurt him.

Russians must see his colossal blunder.

Cut off their access to facts & they'll be isolated & forced to rely on his propaganda.

Thread 1/
2/ Putin is looking weak. He is obviously terrified that regular Russians will have the same perception.

He knows that if Russians see his weakness, their fear of him may dim, too.

We must do everything possible to ensure they are exposed to the truth.
3/ If there is any hope of a popular push-back against #Putin, then Russians MUST have app stores & services.

Why? Turn them off & you make it hard for regular ppl to get & use encrypted apps apps & security updates.

Don't preemptively kneecap their digital safety.
Read 6 tweets
Feb 27
Encrypted messaging apps are critical infrastructure.

Saving lives & keeping people safe right now in #Ukraine.
2/ People thrown into conflict start with whatever technology, apps & contact lists they already have.

They leverage these to stay alive.

There is no time to suddenly change everything.

The fact that the most popular chat apps right now have encryption is a literal life saver.
3/ Encrypted messaging apps aren't a silver bullet in a warzone.

People hunted by #Russia must evolve a lot of practices & stop using certain tech.

But the fact that in 2022 many folks are starting w/a baseline of some privacy is, from a humanitarian perspective, game changing.
Read 4 tweets
Feb 27
Re: @elonmusk's starlink donation.

Good to see.

But remember: if #Putin controls the air above #Ukraine, users' uplink transmissions become beacons... for airstrikes.

Some background 1/
2/ #Russia has decades of experience hitting people by targeting their satellite communications.

In 1996, Chechen president Dzhokhar Dudayev was careful, but Russian aircraft reportedly found his satphone call & killed him with a missile strike.

rferl.org/a/1067831.html
3/ Satellite phones tend to send signals out in all directions.

Making them easy targets.

The technology for locating & intercepting them is well-honed.

This is different from starlink...
Read 15 tweets

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