@BenAveling@infosec.exchange

Ben Aveling @BenAveling@infosec.exchange · 4d ago

It is now possible to use GenAI to accidentally commit crimes. Well done everybody, no notes. https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/am/ai-agents/107015524

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Ben Aveling @BenAveling@infosec.exchange · Aug 07, 2026

The US has not yet been completely reduced to some unseemly mashup of Wilhot's Law and Calvinball. But it is heading that way.

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Ben Aveling @BenAveling@infosec.exchange · Aug 05, 2026

Replying to @ErikJonker@mastodon.social

Asking "how to learn while getting AI to do the homework" is the same as asking "how to get stronger while sending someone else to the gym". It doesn't happen. If your kids spend a few years using AI to do their work they will come out of uni having learnt nothing. @ErikJonker@mastodon.social @olivia@scholar.social

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Ben Aveling @BenAveling@infosec.exchange · Jul 28, 2026

Replying to @benjamingeer@piaille.fr

In theory (though not always in practice) the successful candidate isn’t the one who is fastest at questions they are familiar with but the candidate who is best with the questions they aren’t familiar with. @david_chisnall@infosec.exchange @benjamingeer@piaille.fr

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Ben Aveling @BenAveling@infosec.exchange · Jul 27, 2026

Replying to @brianhonan@mastodon.social

#Alt4you A doctor's certificate, excusing "the Entire County of Mayo" from work for 5 days, diagnosis: Suffering from 75 years of bottled-up emotion being released all at once, following Mayo's first All-Ireland title in 75 years. Symptoms:

uncontrollable crying
loss of voice
emotional exhaustion
difficulty concentrating
random outbursts of "Up Mayo!" Signed Dr Maguire (definitely a real doctor) @brianhonan@mastodon.social

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Ben Aveling @BenAveling@infosec.exchange · Jul 21, 2026

A record breaking patch Tuesday from Microsoft. 622 vulnerabilities, 72 of which are marked critical, and Chromium has another 422 vulnerabilities, which also affect Microsoft Edge. There are two possibilities: AI is really good at finding vulnerabilities in old code. AI is really good at putting vulnerabilities into new code. What happens next? If, given a bit of time, the number of bugs that are being found goes down, or if it goes up further but then goes back down to normal, then that will suggest that these are old bugs that have been flushed out by AI. But. If the number of bugs being found doesn’t go back down to something like what used to be normal, then that would suggest these are new bugs that are being added by AI. And either way, at least for companies using vibe-coding, old or new does not matter, the lesson for either is the same: unless we are a lot better than Microsoft we have a lot of vulnerabilities and we had better find them before someone else does.

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Ben Aveling @BenAveling@infosec.exchange · Jul 20, 2026

Replying to @arichtman@eigenmagic.net

@arichtman@eigenmagic.net if you’d settle for a prime, larger than x, then maybe. But if it has to be the smallest prime larger than x, then no.

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Ben Aveling @BenAveling@infosec.exchange · Jul 03, 2026

Replying to @mousa_cloud@infosec.exchange

Normally, set off a sane number of fireworks and celebrate America. This year, not so much so. @mousa_cloud@infosec.exchange @catsalad@infosec.exchange

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Ben Aveling @BenAveling@infosec.exchange · Jul 03, 2026

Replying to @mousa_cloud@infosec.exchange

Today's a public holiday in America. July 4 is tomorrow but the public holiday is today. IDGI either. @mousa_cloud@infosec.exchange @catsalad@infosec.exchange

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Ben Aveling @BenAveling@infosec.exchange · Jul 03, 2026

RE: https://live.acarsdrama.com/@acarsdrama/116857675265348887 Wot?

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Ben Aveling @BenAveling@infosec.exchange · Jun 30, 2026

Replying to @kevlin@mastodon.social

If I could suggest a different metaphor - a larger rocket, with more fuel, can go further and faster than a smaller rocket, but only up to a point - the more fuel you carry, the more fuel you use just in moving fuel. (Which is also an argument against having too much architecture up front.) @kevlin@mastodon.social

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Ben Aveling @BenAveling@infosec.exchange · Jun 10, 2026

Replying to @BenAveling@infosec.exchange

Because here's the thing you missed. Some people will always do the right thing. Some people will go to great lengths to do the wrong thing. But most people will do what's easy, and not do what's hard. If you make doing the wrong thing hard, most people won't do it. Making the wrong thing easy to do is a choice.

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Ben Aveling @BenAveling@infosec.exchange · Jun 10, 2026

Replying to @faraiwe@mstdn.social

Are you immune to temptation? @faraiwe@mstdn.social

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Ben Aveling @BenAveling@infosec.exchange · Jun 10, 2026

Replying to @faraiwe@mstdn.social

It is that. But also that barriers make temptation easier to resist. @faraiwe@mstdn.social @evacide@hachyderm.io

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Ben Aveling @BenAveling@infosec.exchange · Jun 08, 2026

Replying to @virbonus@sueden.social

You kids, with your fancy glass ttys. @virbonus@sueden.social @Janeishly@mastodonapp.uk @TheLancashireman@hostux.social

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Ben Aveling @BenAveling@infosec.exchange · Jun 06, 2026

Replying to @draNgNon@hachyderm.io

I'm iffy on the term. But I don't have anything better. But this: GenAI doesn't sometimes hallucinate. It always hallucinates. It only ever hallucinates. Sometimes, what it hallucinates is plausible. @draNgNon@hachyderm.io @grammargirl@zirk.us

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Ben Aveling @BenAveling@infosec.exchange · May 06, 2026

Replying to @zackwhittaker@mastodon.social

Whether the laws are working depends on what you think the purpose of the laws is. If protecting children: not working. If constructing social licence for harmful sites to continue harming ppl and with a greatly reduced level of privacy: working perfectly. @zackwhittaker

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Ben Aveling @BenAveling@infosec.exchange · May 06, 2026

Replying to @jerry@infosec.exchange

Not me not saying I haven't arrived in a foreign country only to discover I didn't bring pants. Also not me saying it hasn't happened more than once. @jerry@infosec.exchange

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Ben Aveling @BenAveling@infosec.exchange · May 05, 2026

Replying to @poppyhaze@girlcock.club

It means copilot AI is running on #202? @poppyhaze@girlcock.club

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Ben Aveling @BenAveling@infosec.exchange · Apr 30, 2026

Replying to @pbump@journa.host

Is speed over the limit that much more important than absolute speed? I could be wrong, but I'd think a crash at 40 in a 30 zone is probably safer than a crash at 100 in a 100 zone. @pbump@journa.host

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Ben Aveling @BenAveling@infosec.exchange · Apr 17, 2026

Replying to @davey_cakes@mastodon.ie

If it's the account I think it may be, the account either no longer exists, or is at least hidden from public view. @davey_cakes @emilymbender

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Ben Aveling @BenAveling@infosec.exchange · Apr 17, 2026

Replying to @arichtman@eigenmagic.net

I've long expected that this will happen - but not yet and not like this. At the moment, the upper limit on how long a commute by car can be is the human bladder. With driverless cars, that upper limit can be made to go away. @arichtman @falcennial

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Ben Aveling @BenAveling@infosec.exchange · Apr 16, 2026

“When arguing, you should focus on ethics, not self-interest”
I guess that’s the ethical position. But you are going to persuade a lot more ppl if you can hit both ethics and self-interest. Because ppl don’t generally act against their own (broadly defined) self-interests.

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Ben Aveling @BenAveling@infosec.exchange · Apr 16, 2026

If it wasn’t for subtooting I would toot a lot less than I do.

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Ben Aveling @BenAveling@infosec.exchange · Apr 15, 2026

Replying to @Her_Doing@sunny.garden

v cash money of you to ... New to me too, but from context: v good of you to give everything up front, no mucking around, no need to chase anything, no waiting to see what happens.

@Her_Doing @ProcessParsnip

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Ben Aveling @BenAveling@infosec.exchange · Apr 13, 2026

Replying to @4Dboy@mastodon.social

I would say that she has guessed that burn doesn't mean burn the whole CD, but doesn't know what it does mean. In answer to her questions:

was it like a ritual? Yes.
did it work? If you did the ritual right, yes, sometimes. @4Dboy @djlink

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Ben Aveling @BenAveling@infosec.exchange · Apr 12, 2026

RE: @AndrewRadev@hachyderm.io

CEO: I do not understand what my employees do. I will replace them with Automated Plagiarism
AP: Here is a new problem. Here is the answer to a different problem.
Reality: Laughs
CEO: My AP is failing in the way everyone told me it would fail. My employees must be sabotaging it.

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Ben Aveling @BenAveling@infosec.exchange · Apr 10, 2026

Replying to @a_cubed@mastodon.social

Honestly, that's not a bad plan. Swapping a hard to deal with problem (cancer) for an easy to deal with problem (bacteria) sounds like a big win to me. Then the consensus signal doesn't have to completely contain the bacteria forever, it just has to keep them sufficiently under control until when they've done for the cancer and then you can pump in the antibiotics. @a_cubed @pvanheus @FluentInFinance

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Ben Aveling @BenAveling@infosec.exchange · Apr 09, 2026

Replying to @pvanheus@mstdn.science

OP is right about the gene turning on, but it still seems a bit under-explained. "the researchers first added a gene to the organism from a related bacterium that can better tolerate oxygen, enabling it to live longer near the outside of a targeted tumour." "They then found a way to activate the oxygen-resistant gene at just the right time – critical to preventing bacteria from inadvertently growing in oxygen-rich places such as the bloodstream" https://uwaterloo.ca/news/media/beating-cancer-eating-cancer I can see why they the gene isn't necessary, at first - the center of the tumor doesn't contain oxygen. And I can see why they the gene becomes necessary, the edges of the tumor do contain oxygen. So that switch does keeps the bacteria from wandering where they shouldn't, at least at first. Not clear to me what stops the bacteria from going for a wander once there are lots of them, but at least they'll destroy the tumor before that that happens. I guess. Perhaps the article has it flipped, except that doesn't make sense either - it would allow the bacteria to go places they shouldn't as long as there aren't too many of them. @pvanheus @a_cubed @FluentInFinance

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Ben Aveling @BenAveling@infosec.exchange · Mar 29, 2026

Replying to @skjeggtroll@mastodon.online

I'd assume that lack of convection means less lost dissolved oxygen, but I'd also suspect that lack of convection means the average temperatures is sub-boiling, even when the outside layer is at least 100 degrees. @skjeggtroll @dtm @virbonus @fesshole

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Ben Aveling @BenAveling@infosec.exchange · Mar 27, 2026

Replying to @arichtman@eigenmagic.net

DNS outbound tends to be allowed even when other protocols are not. If you run your own DNS server you can use DNS to tunnel any traffic you want. @sabik @arichtman @k3ym0

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Ben Aveling @BenAveling@infosec.exchange · Mar 22, 2026

Replying to @nixCraft__dup_2318@mastodon.social

I see a lot of people replying to this post who are confident that they would not have clicked on that pdf. @nixCraft@mastodon.social

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Ben Aveling @BenAveling@infosec.exchange · Mar 14, 2026

Replying to @seano@masto.nyc

theater is very broad... are you able to be more specific about what theater they do/don't like? @seano

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Ben Aveling @BenAveling@infosec.exchange · Mar 08, 2026

Replying to @alice__dup_32859@lgbtqia.space

I do though sometimes see adults(*) trying to prove that they are still in childhood. (*) OK, me. @denpanek0 @CottonCandyandRazorblades @alice

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Ben Aveling @BenAveling@infosec.exchange · Mar 06, 2026

Replying to @IndyRichard__dup_27498@mastodon.scot

She did not 'wrap up' the interview. The interviewee did. @IndyRichard

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Ben Aveling @BenAveling@infosec.exchange · Mar 04, 2026

Replying to @sotolf@polymaths.social

There's a lot of it-depends to it. I've met plenty of people who were happy to practice/show off their English. I've had colleagues who used English to speak to each other, because neither wanted to speak the other's language. I've one friend who says they wouldn't know the right vocabulary to use their native language professionally. @sotolf @smeg

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Ben Aveling @BenAveling@infosec.exchange · Feb 16, 2026

Replying to @skeletor@mas.to

You’re assuming I don’t expect to do the same thing again. @skeletor@mas.to

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Ben Aveling @BenAveling@infosec.exchange · Feb 10, 2026

Replying to @computersandblues@post.lurk.org

TLDR: The tragedy of the commons is that they were privatized. So I guess it is relevant. If there’s a moral it has to be that putting up a satellite doesn’t mean you own the space it’s in. And maybe: it’s time to charge rent. #hashtagNeeded @dougmerritt @computersandblues @robpike

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Ben Aveling @BenAveling@infosec.exchange · Feb 09, 2026

Replying to @nina_kali_nina@tech.lgbt

Look, OK, it doesn't work now, but if can just add enough shit, it will surely become sentient, and that's why we're scraping everyone's toilet 24*7. @nina_kali_nina@tech.lgbt

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Ben Aveling @BenAveling@infosec.exchange · Jan 29, 2026

Replying to @nixCraft__dup_2318@mastodon.social

I'm not saying Chris should stop eating anything he hasn't cooked himself, but I'm also not not saying that. @nixCraft@mastodon.social

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Ben Aveling @BenAveling@infosec.exchange · Jan 23, 2026

Replying to @mbeddedDev@fosstodon.org

That alt text is so badly painfully wrong, is it deliberately so? @mbeddedDev@fosstodon.org

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Ben Aveling @BenAveling@infosec.exchange · Jan 17, 2026

Replying to @Frantasaur@mastodon.ie

Relevant: https://jorts.horse/@ecosurrealism/114088955703056555 @Frantasaur @charleekress @broadwaybabyto #aposematism

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Ben Aveling @BenAveling@infosec.exchange · Jan 01, 2026

Replying to @BoTally54@mastodon.social

@BoTally54@mastodon.social @paulisci@mstdn.ca back then, 70 was the maximum, now it’s the average. Nice thread, BTW.

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Ben Aveling @BenAveling@infosec.exchange · Nov 22, 2025

Replying to @ngaylinn@tech.lgbt

If you've never tried cocaine, how can you have an opinion on whether it is good or bad? @ngaylinn@tech.lgbt

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Ben Aveling @BenAveling@infosec.exchange · Nov 15, 2025

Replying to @tubetime@mastodon.social

They have a thermometer? @tubetime

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Ben Aveling @BenAveling@infosec.exchange · Nov 07, 2025

Replying to @ajaykaul10@vmst.io

@ajaykaul10@vmst.io #Alt4you a cartoon by KJ Lamb: A bank teller is handing bags of money to a bankrobber, and saying "Are you aware that you can now do all of this online?"

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Ben Aveling @BenAveling@infosec.exchange · Oct 27, 2025

Replying to @wesdym@mastodon.social

@wesdym@mastodon.social If I'm going to share documents with someone else, there needs to be a tolerable degree of compatibility. So either everyone uses MS, or no-one does, or people tolerate the incompatibilities.

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Ben Aveling @BenAveling@infosec.exchange · Oct 27, 2025

Replying to @wesdym@mastodon.social

There are alternatives that are sort of kind of compatible, usually. Except when they’re not. @f_beaudet@cosocial.ca @wesdym@mastodon.social

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Ben Aveling @BenAveling@infosec.exchange · Nov 06, 2024

Replying to @Jumpmed@mastodon.social

@Jumpmed@mastodon.social @enkiusz@is-a.cat @jmaris@eupolicy.social I’m pretty sure Gandalf got a promotion to fill a vacancy.

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Ben Aveling @BenAveling@infosec.exchange · Aug 27, 2024

Replying to @jonny@neuromatch.social

@jonny@neuromatch.social I don’t think LLMs will experience Enshitification. They’ve always been shit.

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