Share this page!

Enter URL or ID to Unroll

You can paste full URL like: https://x.com/threadreaderapp/status/1644127596119195649
or just the ID like: 1644127596119195649

How to get URL link on X (Twitter) App

  1. On the Twitter thread, click on or icon on the bottom
  2. Click again on or Share Via icon
  3. Click on Copy Link to Tweet
  4. Paste it above and click "Unroll Thread"!
  5. More info at Twitter Help
John Scott-Railton Profile picture
@jsrailton
Dec 3, 2024 • 9 tweets • 6 min read • Read on X
Scrolly
Meet 'decolonization' expert Nomma Zarubina.

FSB codename "Alyssa"

All over the Washington DC think tank circuit. Had a knack for meeting US officials. Even attended some protests against Russia.

Just last week she spoke at an event on Parliament Hill in #Canada.

She's just been charged by the #FBI for lying about taking direction from the FSB. 1/Image
Image
Image
Image
2/ Nomma Zarubina was collecting photos with current & former officials like Pokemon.

Wearing some NGO bona-fides, she also shows up at a lot of events with prominent exiles from #Russia & figures from #Ukraine.

She also got into all sorts of meetings... Image
Image
Image
3/ Zarubina's story follows from investigation of Elena Branson.

Branson fled to #Russia in 2020 after the Russian Center New York was raided). Branson got a lot of charges, including acting as an illegal agent.

Zarubina worked for the RCNY & was close to Branson..

Branson case: justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/d…Image
Image
Image
4/ Zarubina's charges stem from the FBI allegation that she repeatedly lied about her interactions with Russia's FSB.

Zarubina, says the FBI, would ultimately acknowledge extensive contacts with Russian security services, even signing an agreement.

Allegedly, an FSB officer covertly instructed her to meet certain people & gather information about them...Image
Image
Image
Image
5/ I can't get over the FSB's rebranding of espionage as "network marketing"Image
6/ The funny thing about Zarubina's social media is that if you go way back, it's red flags all over.

Before her flurry of posts showing attendance at DC events & meetups with opposition figures...

You have a stratum of 100s of thirst traps & fancy lifestyle posing.

Excavate deeper & you get things like this...Image
7/ Harm here goes beyond the informed-upon.

Seeds mistrust within opposition & exile communities she sought to infiltrate...

& creates credibility hurdles for the majority of very legit people in those communities doing the hard work of opposing Putin.
8/ Folks have spotted that Zarubina even got a book inscribed by Bill Burns in 2019.

Today, he's the @CIA director.

Anybody could have done it.

But it's reminder that the think tank event / book signing / alumni club circuit is a target-rich environment. Image
Image
Image
9. My colleagues @citizenlab just dropped a massive report looking at gender & digital transnational #repression.👇

Cases like Zarubina are a reminder: surveillance underpinning repression across borders can take many forms, including infiltration.

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh
　

Keep Current with John Scott-Railton

John Scott-Railton Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

PDF

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video
  1. Follow @ThreadReaderApp to mention us!

  2. From a Twitter thread mention us with a keyword "unroll"
@threadreaderapp unroll

Practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @jsrailton

John Scott-Railton Profile picture
Mar 19
NEW: French sailor reveals position of aircraft carrier with his fitness app.

Run tracking app @Strava shows Charles de Gaulle as it steams across the Med.

#stravaleaks strike..again!

Story by @lemonde. 1/ Image
Image
2/ The massive OPSEC threat posted by fitness apps isn't just well known. It keeps happening.

I first wrote about it in...2018!

Hostile forces can use #Fitleaking for intel gathering, planning attacks...even targeting missile strikes.

Receipts: web.archive.org/web/2022081919…Image
Image
Image
Image
3/ Poor Arthur. But this is an institutional signal that, ~8 years in, militaries are still allowing enough location-aware devices in that it's a big threat.

Incidentally, the @lemondefr team has now been on the #stravaleaks issue for 3 years! I

It just keeps happening.

By @AsiaBalluff @seb_bourdon @liselottemas @antoineschirer
lemonde.fr/international/…Image
Image
Read 7 tweets
John Scott-Railton Profile picture
Mar 11
UPDATE: @Plaid for AI happened faster than I warned.

We are in a historic transformation around AI agents.

Disruption will extend to the core of your privacy.

Companies know the appeal of agentic AI & are working to lock consumers into ecosystems designed to maximize data extraction.

It's not too late, but it might be soon.

But the thing about transformative moments is that new possibilities often open simultaneously with the risks.

We need to build, experiment with & use good private + open AI tools, local models that respect privacy by default & confidential inference that prevents companies from mining the data they process.

Do that & give us a fighting chance for future that respects our freedom, and our boundaries.

Sleep on the challenge of building openly & we relinquish the playing field to the same companies and dynamics that already degrade our autonomy...only faster & everywhere.Image
2/ What's the deal with @Plaid?

I find people are dimly aware about something involving connecting banking accounts.

I bet you don't know that Plaid helps themselves to mountains of your financial data in exchange for the convenience.Image
3/ Basically, by providing 'rails' @Plaid has managed to get an absolutely gods-eye-view on peoples financial behavior.

In real time.

That data is available to other companies. And governments.

You are the product.Image
Read 5 tweets
John Scott-Railton Profile picture
Mar 10
BREAKING: powerful iPhone hacking tools used by Chinese criminals originated from US defense giant L3 Harris.

The $LHX zero-click exploits went to Russian spies too.

Unbelievable harm to our collective security.

Scoop by @lorenzofb, here's why this matters 1/Image
Image
2/ Last week, the team @google blew open a massive hacking operation: #Coruna.

A Chinese hacking operation somehow had a huge catalogue of very, very good iPhone exploits stealing banking information from people all over the web.

Hard to overstate how bizarre this was...Image
Image
3/ Thing is, the powerful #Coruna exploits didn't originate with Chinese cybercriminals.

Some months before they were used by #Russian government hackers.

But before that? Well, as @Google Threat Intel described it, it was being used by a customer of a surveillance company...

Report cloud.google.com/blog/topics/th…Image
Image
Read 16 tweets
John Scott-Railton Profile picture
Feb 27
YIKES: @perplexity_ai is flexing that they have OS-level access to 100M+ Samsung S26s.

Zero mention of:

Privacy
Security
Encryption

What will Perplexity do with this growing stash of personal data from deep inside Samsung phones? What jurisdictions will it live in? Who will it get shared with?

Here's the thing: Android's current security & privacy model involves sandboxing 3rd party apps from each other. TikTok can't read your private notes, for example.

Sandboxing is good & it narrows the attack surface against your private stuff.

But this #Perplexity integration breaks that baseline sandbox model, making a kernel-adjacent data bridge for Perplexity into your personal stuff.

Will users understand the structural shift in privacy?

Meanwhile, the risk of prompt injection & other attacks against an agentic AI that has OS-level access to personal stuff is also real.

Lots of speed, no signs of caution.Image
2/ Multiple agents & flows each with their own distinct security & privacy issues and levels of OS-level access to private stuff.

I doubt users have the cognitive spare room to parse privacy & security downsides each time they want to ask a question.
3/ Unprecedented access means @perplexity_ai is taking unprecedented security measures.

And has thought hard about user consent & protecting their privacy...right?

Right? Image
Read 4 tweets
John Scott-Railton Profile picture
Feb 24
BREAKING: US just sanctioned a network of exploit brokers trafficking in stolen US hacking tools

First-ever use of #PIPA (Protecting American Intellectual Property Act) by @USTreasury.

Here's the wild backstory of how @opzero_en got US-taxpayer funded exploits. 1/ Image
Image
2/ Peter Williams was an exec at Trenchant, subsidiary of @L3HarrisTech / $LHX.

Trenchant makes hacking tools for 🇺🇸US & allies.

Williams sold them to @opzero_en & bought nice things.

Result? Powerful 🇺🇸 capabilities got into hostile hands.
Image
@L3HarrisTech @opzero_en 3/ Operation Zero is a zero-day broker. They pay bounties for exploits in tech (much of it 🇺🇸US-made).

Then resell to non-NATO governments & intel agencies.

They aren't secretive. They even advertise here on X. Image
Image
Read 11 tweets
John Scott-Railton Profile picture
Feb 18
BREAKING: It started with WhatsApp messages.

They said they were students & tried to build rapport with Angolan journalist Teixeira Cândido.

Then the links began arriving.

Someone was trying to hack him with #Predator spyware.

New bombshell investigation by @AmnestyTech 1/Image
Image
Image
Image
2/ Heard of Pegasus? #Predator is a somewhat sloppier cousin.

They don't always have the hottest zero-click exploits, but they market to the same dictators.

And once you are infected, the harm is just as real: your digital life is turned inside-out.Image
3/ Predator spyware, which is distributed by #Intellexa, has a massive abuse problem.

And this latest excellent investigation by @AmnestyTech just drives home how much chaos the company has caused...
Read 11 tweets

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!

This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Don't want to be a Premium member but still want to support us?

Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal

Or Donate anonymously using crypto!

Ethereum

0xfe58350B80634f60Fa6Dc149a72b4DFbc17D341E copy

Bitcoin

3ATGMxNzCUFzxpMCHL5sWSt4DVtS8UqXpi copy

Thank you for your support!

Follow Us!

Send Email!

:(