This is the story of when I first realized how throughly compromised ANOM, the encrypted chat app the FBI secretly ran, really was. It was the moment I saw a mass of messages and data gathered by the app.

It starts with Christof, who was clearly hungover

1/ We were sat on a hotel terrace overlooking the ocean. At the start Christof would only make occasional eye contact with me—he was a seller for Anom, a person who sells encrypted phones to organized crime. He had no idea he had been essentially doing the FBI's work for it.

It's finally here—my book on how the FBI secretly ran its own tech startup to wiretap the world. DARK WIRE reveals its true scale & stakes for the first time

Preorder now for bonus content on how I pulled back the curtain on this insane story. More below hachettebookgroup.com/titles/joseph-…
Some context: In 2018, a powerful app for secure communications called Anom took root among organized criminals. They believed Anom allowed them to conduct business in the shadows. Except for one thing: it was secretly run by the FBI hachettebookgroup.com/titles/joseph-…

New from 404 Media: two of the biggest safe lock manufacturers have backdoor codes. Available to police and a target for spies. Turns out, the DoD knows about the codes, bans the locks for government use, but deliberately withheld that info from the public 404media.co/massively-popu…


Senator Wyden is urging National Counterintelligence and Security Center to warn public about these backdoors, especially considering U.S. businesses may need to protect trade secrets. An infosec pro I spoke to said users often don't know about the codes 404media.co/massively-popu…

New from 404 Media: hackers are doxing doctors, gaining access to drug ordering platforms then buying (and selling) massive quantities of oxy, Adderall, more. Not just series of breaches across industry, but fundamental undermining of prescription system 404media.co/how-hackers-do…
I've been following this activity in Telegram groups and speaking to fraudsters for months. Constantly I see people selling controlled substances, but more interestingly, offering the chance to others to "tap in". They're accessing portals used by doctors 404media.co/how-hackers-do…

Today is the 6 month anniversary of me and a group of friends quitting corporate media and launching 404 Media. I can now say with confidence that 404 Media is the most impactful tech publication on the internet. Here's a list of our most recent impact, thanks to our subscribers— I exposed Patternz, a global phone spy tool powered by ads inside ordinary apps. After my reporting, Google cut-off a company linked to the spying tech. That company is now "dead," its president said 404media.co/inside-global-…

New: inside the underground site where "neural networks" churn out fake IDs
- I tested, made two IDs in minutes
- used one to successfully bypass the identity verification check on a cryptocurrency exchange
- massive implications for crime, cybersecurity
404media.co/inside-the-und…
Here's the process of me successfully bypassing the identity verification on OKX, a cryptocurrency exchange I've noticed is being used by criminals
- Asks for passport
- I took photo of my fake British passport I made earlier (didn't need in hand)
404media.co/inside-the-und…

New: We Need Your Email Address

You may notice we're asking for your email to read much of 404 Media. This is an existential issue explained in this 3000 word article
- AI stealing our work
- social media collapse
- media industry tailspin

Please read it
404media.co/why-404-media-… Obviously there ton of info in here. But to summarise parts: the primary use is to deliver our original articles directly to our readers. That is what we are trying to sell you. You see our insane scoops every day, you think it's worth supporting w/money 404media.co/why-404-media-…

New from 404 Media: inside a global phone spy tool that takes data from ads inside normal apps to monitor billions. Company removed videos while I was asking questions; we archived in the article. Google has now cut-off a connected company in response.

404media.co/inside-global-… This is one of the clearest examinations of how ads in apps are powering mass surveillance yet. We follow through the apps, to ad companies, to the spy firm. It starts with these apps: 9gag, Kik, Truecaller. This is only demo numbers, total is 600k 404media.co/inside-global-…

New: Google News is boosting AI-generated garbage articles that rip-off other peoples' work. One company even admitted practice to me. Even wilder: Google says it doesn't focus on whether an article was made by AI or a human for News, opening way for more 404media.co/google-news-is…
Here's one example. Left: the homepage of site . Right: the homepage of (used to be legit news service; now domain used to churn out this stuff). Company behind Examiner admitted using AI to steal work Watcher.Guru
Examiner.com
404media.co/google-news-is…

New: a marketing company claims it actually *is* listening to people through smartphone/smart TV microphones to hear what people are saying and target ads. From Cox Media, called Active Listening. According to material online and person pitched on product 404media.co/cmg-cox-media-…


For years, huge part of the public has believed that phones/speakers are listening in to target ads. No evidence that was the case, was more a sign of how powerful other tracking was. Now it might be a reality in some cases 404media.co/cmg-cox-media-…

I want to talk about a massive problem in tech journalism: access

For months we've investigated a16z-funded Civitai, an AI platform whose users made images that could be child pornography

VentureBeat then published this piece that uncritically printed the CEO's responses [cont] You can read VB's piece here:

Our latest investigation here:

Civitai has mostly ignored our requests for comment. We aggressively investigate companies, but always give chance to respond. Civitai then gave this "exclusive" to VBventurebeat.com/ai/civitai-fou…
404media.co/a16z-funded-ai…

New huge AI story from 404 Media: leaked docs show Civitai, hot AI startup funded by VC firm a16z, generated images that could be child pornography. Even after this discovery, OctoML, the engine that powers the startup, decided to keep working w/ Civitai
404media.co/a16z-funded-ai…
This investigation is based upon:
- internal Slack chats for OctoML, the engine that powers a16z funded Civitai
- logs of the text prompts written by Civitai users that OctoML turned into images. These are graphic, please be warned
404media.co/a16z-funded-ai…

New: AI cameras took over one small American town. Now they're everywhere.

Hundreds of docs show how Fusus brings usually separate camera feeds (doorbells, CCTV, drones) into one central hub for cops and adds AI to them. Object recognition, "people" more 404media.co/fusus-ai-camer…




First, this article is based on hundreds of docs we got by doing FOIAs with police departments across the U.S. This work is expensive, and cost us hundreds of dollars (I know that sounds small, but it's not for us). Please subscribe to let us do this work: 404media.co/fusus-ai-camer…

New: an incredible court record pulls back the curtain on a $30 million dollar underground Bitcoin exchange running for years in the heart of New York. Massive bags of cash, drive-by pickups. This is what real criminals use, not services like Coinbase 404media.co/inside-a-30-mi…




The records provide rare insight into an often unseen part of the underworld: how hackers and drug traffickers convert their Bitcoin into cash outside of mainstream exchanges. While Coinbase etc will work with the police, these gangs typically won't 404media.co/inside-a-30-mi…

New from 404 Media: bombshell government report finds ICE, CBP, and the Secret Service all illegally used smartphone location data harvested from ordinary apps. They've been using for years with no official oversight. One CBP official spied on coworkers 404media.co/ice-cbp-secret…
The report really is extraordinary. For years, me and a few other journalists have investigated the US government's purchase of location data. It turns out agencies were breaking the law basically the entire time. ICE has been told to stop and has refused 404media.co/ice-cbp-secret…

New: a TikTok account is using facial recognition to dox random people simply for clout with its millions of viewers. Takes requests from the comments
- spoke to multiple victims, "violated"
- TikTok refuses to remove because says doesn't violate policies

404media.co/the-end-of-pri… Here's the story of Matthew, one of the victims I spoke to. He was originally filmed in an interview video. Him and the host bantered back and forth, he didn't give his full name to the interviewer. A fleeting moment; that should have been the end of it 404media.co/the-end-of-pri…

Today marks the one month anniversary of three friends and myself launching 404 Media. We quit our full time jobs at VICE because we believed in creating a new sustainable, responsible business for our journalism. And we've made serious impact in that short month. Such as: I uncovered a secret weapon hackers can use to dox nearly anyone in America for $15. After I did this, a broker in that data supply chain blocked lookups for certain people, protecting them from doxing, swatting, more 404media.co/the-secret-wea…

New—one of the biggest secrets in law enforcement has been which country helped the FBI wiretap the world. One country intercepted tens of millions of encrypted messages for the FBI’s secret phone company. The public did not know which country. Until now. 404media.co/revealed-the-c… In 2019, the FBI had a problem. It was secretly running its own encrypted phone company called Anom. The agency built a backdoor into it, and criminals were using the phones. But the FBI couldn't yet legally read the messages. They needed a solution 404media.co/revealed-the-c…

New: I tracked the precise movements of an NYC subway rider. Saw what specific time they got on and at what station. It became obvious which station was nearest to their home.

This was all because of a 'feature' on the MTA website

Wide open to abuse 404media.co/i-tracked-nyc-… This was all possible because of OMNY's "Check trip history" feature. On the main site, you have to enter the details shown here. But there is no auth beyond that. No PIN, anything. As EFF told me, "Credit card info is not a goddamn unique identifier." 404media.co/i-tracked-nyc-…

News: I have quit VICE. Me and a small group of Motherboard writers have launched our own company: . We'll continue impactful journalism.

If you've ever wanted to support my work, this is the time. Please subscribe monthly/yearly 404media.co
nytimes.com/2023/08/22/bus… We have an entire week of insane stories for you. First, I expose a secret weapon hackers are using that lets them instantly dox nearly anyone in America for $15. I tested it myself on a target. Data from credit bureaus is now in hands of violent criminals 404media.co/the-secret-wea…

New: Homeland Security is using an AI-powered tool to analyze the social media of U.S. citizens and refugees. The tool can link a person's Social Security number to their social media and smartphone location data. According to internal doc we're publishing vice.com/en/article/m7b… Here's the data available to Customs and Border Protection: name, date of birth, address, usernames, email address, phone number, social media content, images, IP address, Social Security number, driver’s license number, employment history, location data vice.com/en/article/m7b…