The hottest Security Substack posts right now

And their main takeaways
Category
Top U.S. Politics Topics

Import AI 370: 213 AI safety challenges; everything becomes a game; Tesla's big cluster

Import AI • 439 implied HN points • 29 Apr 24
🕹 Technology Security
  1. Chinese researchers introduced MMT-Bench, a benchmark for assessing visual reasoning in language models with diverse tasks and scenarios.
  2. Researchers developed a system to turn 2D photos into 3D gameworlds, showing AI's capability to transform real-world imagery into interactive experiences.
  3. A consortium of researchers addressed 213 AI safety challenges across 18 areas, emphasizing the urgent need for solutions to ensure the reliability and safety of language models.

How To Get Started In Crypto (And A Reference For The Rest Of Us)

DeFi Education • 1258 implied HN points • 20 Dec 23
🔮 Crypto Security
  1. DeFi is a growing field that could become much bigger than traditional banking by using efficient software instead of slow, costly processes. Now is a good time to get involved because the technology works and it has government support.
  2. It's important to understand security and best practices in DeFi since there are many scams. Learning the basics can help you manage your funds safely and avoid losing money.
  3. Getting into crypto can lead to new career opportunities. You can gain valuable skills and knowledge that are helpful for roles in this fast-growing industry.

Don't Negotiate with Terrorists

Heterodox STEM • 71 implied HN points • 20 Jan 26
🌐 International Security
  1. Long negotiations with Iran have failed and allowed the regime to advance its nuclear program and carry out violent attacks. Treating such actors as negotiable partners has not produced security or reform.
  2. U.S. political leadership has been compromised by personal interests, corruption, and strategic deals, which leads to weak or inconsistent responses to threats. Those influences discourage decisive action even when national security is at stake.
  3. Many foreign-policy elites are guided by optimistic ideological models that downplay militant Islam and treat all conflicts as solvable by diplomacy. That worldview blinds policymakers to real risks and makes them stick with failing approaches instead of reassessing strategy.

China Has The Whip-Hand In The War

Phillips’s Newsletter • 188 implied HN points • 11 Dec 25
🌍 World Politics Security
  1. Modern wars are decided by who can produce and sustain weapons at scale. The ability to adapt and mass-produce new systems like drones matters more than the forces you start with.
  2. China dominates commercial drone and component production, supplying cameras, engines, electronics, and whole airframes at mass scale. That gives China the power to sharply reduce other countries' drone output if it stops shipments.
  3. The US and many allies lag China’s production capacity, leaving countries like Ukraine and Russia vulnerable to supply cuts. Reliance on Chinese parts is a strategic risk that could change the outcome of conflicts if China uses that leverage.

Iran War Open Thread and Subscriber Video (2026)

The Corbett Report • 8 implied HN points • 28 Feb 26
🌍 World Politics Security
  1. An open thread is soliciting crowd-sourced, boots-on-the-ground information and updates about the recent strike on Iran and the ongoing responses.
  2. Members are urged to share vetted local press reports, intelligence, and analysis about deep state roles and likely next moves, with top contributions possibly used in a podcast.
  3. There is a subscriber-only video featuring Chinese Lunar New Year in Vietnam and a membership call-to-action with help offered for signing in or subscribing.
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The Ukraine War

The Cosmopolitan Globalist • 9 implied HN points • 27 Feb 26
🌍 World Politics Security
  1. The war is a large-scale, brutal conflict whose outcome will shape the global order, revealing Russian imperial ambitions and weaknesses in European and U.S. strategic responses.
  2. Ukraine has shown unexpected resilience and societal mobilization. The fighting has become attritional and adaptive, challenging pre-2022 assumptions about how modern wars unfold.
  3. A focused symposium with Vladislav Davidzon stresses preparation: participants must complete a short mandatory reading list and engage with pointed study questions to have a serious, informed discussion about the war’s character and likely end states.

💥We were hacked💥

PETITION • 1022 implied HN points • 11 Jan 24
🕹 Technology Security
  1. The website was hacked, resulting in spam emails being sent out.
  2. No user accounts were compromised.
  3. The issue has been resolved and the team is back to normal operations.

How did North Korea Survive the Collapse of Communism?

The Library of Alexandria Ultima • 14 implied HN points • 01 Mar 26
🌍 World Politics Security
  1. During the Cold War North Korea played the Soviet Union and China off each other to win large amounts of aid, which made the regime relatively prosperous by the 1970s.
  2. When the USSR collapsed and aid dried up, North Korea suffered severe economic collapse and famine, and the regime survived by using provocations and a nuclear deterrent to extract food and assistance while prioritizing the military.
  3. Since 2022 Pyongyang has deepened ties with Russia, trading arms and support for oil, food, and technology, which appears to be easing shortages, fueling construction, and strengthening the regime’s stability.

The Internet of Quietly Watching Things

God's Spies by Thomas Neuburger • 25 implied HN points • 20 Feb 26
🕹 Technology Security
  1. A kidnapping investigation revealed images and residual data from a turned-off Nest camera, showing devices can collect and store information even when they seem off.
  2. Everyday gadgets like TVs, cars, routers, and smart watches can quietly watch and feed data into surveillance systems.
  3. Surveillance is pervasive and often invisible, so an Orwellian security state can emerge without fanfare and people should be aware and cautious.

Dementia-Ridden Cognitively-Addled Chaos-Monkey Causes Chaos at Alaska Summit

Brad DeLong's Grasping Reality • 622 implied HN points • 17 Aug 25
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Security
  1. A ceasefire in Ukraine could stop the fighting, but giving up more territory to Russia might encourage further aggression. It's important to be cautious about what compromises are made.
  2. The situation in Ukraine's conflict reflects a shift in power to European nations, as U.S. influence lessens. Europe now has to decide how committed and unified they are in supporting Ukraine.
  3. Understanding the historical context of the conflict is crucial. Russia's view of Ukraine is rooted in history and past governance, which complicates the current situation and makes resolution challenging.

What happens when a cutout is cut out

All-Source Intelligence Fusion • 712 implied HN points • 02 Aug 25
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Security
  1. A company named Premise Data secretly bought another company called Madison Springfield, Inc. This deal involved complicated business moves that not many people knew about.
  2. There are ongoing lawsuits involving Premise Data and its dealings, including claims of overbilling and hidden arrangements with other companies in the intelligence sector.
  3. The story also involves past connections to the controversial firm Cambridge Analytica, showing how various companies have shifted and partnered over time in the arena of intelligence and data operations.

Exclusive: USAID encouraged outgoing staff to apply for jobs at secretive Gaza-focused foundation

All-Source Intelligence Fusion • 1017 implied HN points • 12 Jun 25
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Security
  1. USAID encouraged its former employees to apply for jobs at the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which is tied to U.S. and Israeli interests. This suggests a shift in how humanitarian aid is being organized in Gaza.
  2. The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation has been controversial and faced criticism since its establishment. It's seen as a secretive group with unclear funding, which raises concerns about accountability.
  3. Recent violence involving GHF staff has drawn attention to the risks they face. An attack on their team resulted in fatalities and injuries, highlighting the dangerous environment for humanitarian workers in Gaza.

Jevons Inversion

davidj.substack • 83 implied HN points • 09 Jan 26
🕹 Technology Security
  1. As code generation gets cheap and easy, people will build way more software than before and the line between writing and using software will blur.
  2. Many traditional application developer jobs may disappear as non-specialists who can orchestrate agents — "vibe engineers" — handle the long tail of one-off tools and automations.
  3. User-built software sidesteps much enterprise overhead (scaling, security, support), and with agents that remember and iterate, single-use scripts become cheap, reusable solutions rather than full products.

How to OpenClaw your Raspberry Pi

Gradient Ascendant • 16 implied HN points • 23 Feb 26
🕹 Technology Security
  1. OpenClaw runs an always-on AI agent with installable "skills" that you can talk to over Slack or Telegram, and putting it on a Raspberry Pi makes the agent cheap, portable, and able to write and deploy software for you.
  2. Getting a Raspberry Pi 5 running headlessly is fiddly: you must create a user with an encrypted password on the SD card, enable SSH, and plug the Pi into Ethernet to set the Wi‑Fi country before wireless will work.
  3. These agents can act autonomously and use real credentials to install, commit, and deploy code, so you need separate accounts, limited permissions, and careful attention to security and prompt‑injection risks.

What's up Python? A new Windows installer, ruff will type check, Pypi quarantines...

Bite code! • 1957 implied HN points • 01 Feb 25
🕹 Technology Security
  1. PEP 773 is proposing a new way to install Python on Windows. It aims to simplify the installation process by using one tool for all versions and making it easier for users to manage them.
  2. Ruff, a popular linter, is getting a type checking feature added soon. This change will help improve Python's type checking and make it more user-friendly.
  3. Pypi has introduced a quarantining system for potentially harmful projects. This will block access to projects suspected of containing malware without completely removing them, allowing for better security.

Why "Sharding Splits Security" Is a Mid-Curve Argument

Dan Hughes • 159 implied HN points • 27 Jun 24
🔮 Crypto Security
  1. Sharding can actually enhance economic security instead of weakening it. When networks split into shards, they can manage more transactions, which can lead to higher security overall.
  2. The economic activity in a network is crucial for its value and security. More transactions and smart contracts boost the token's value, which in turn helps protect the network from attacks.
  3. Unlike traditional networks, sharding allows for greater decentralization. More validators can participate, making it much harder for bad actors to take control, which helps keep the network safe.

Drill at the drop of a hat

Taipology • 83 implied HN points • 30 Dec 25
🌍 World Politics Security
  1. Nancy Pelosi’s 2022 visit changed the operational environment around Taiwan and led to regular PLA drills that have become a steady salami‑slicing pressure.
  2. China’s surprise “Justice Mission” drills came extremely close to the island, including inside the 12‑nautical‑mile line, creating a horrible double‑bind for Taiwan’s forces: shoot and risk escalation, or hold fire and set a precedent of tolerated intrusions.
  3. Beijing amplified the pressure with a mocking vlog while Taiwan showed logistical hiccups and international backing looked shaky, especially with U.S. leadership taking a hands‑off tone, raising the risk that any future invasion would aim to exploit surprise and limited diplomatic time.

Gaza update: October 7 2023

Foreign Exchanges • 1474 implied HN points • 07 Oct 23
🌍 World Politics Security
  1. Hamas launched a significant attack on Israeli settlements and military outposts, leading to casualties on both sides.
  2. The possibility of a new Gaza war is looming, as indicated by Israeli rhetoric and actions.
  3. Immediate concerns include potential hostage situations and international reactions to the conflict.

What developers can do to combat the growing threat of rogue AI agents

Dev Interrupted • 32 implied HN points • 05 Feb 26
🕹 Technology Security
  1. AI agents can go rogue by repeatedly or unpredictably calling APIs, chaining actions, or accessing data outside their intent, so permissive or poorly scoped endpoints become big operational risks.
  2. Treat agents as first-class API consumers: use clear, spec-driven contracts, structured schemas, and least-privilege identities with short-lived tokens so agent behavior is predictable and easy to revoke.
  3. Practical guardrails like rate limits, schema validation, anomaly detection, and strong observability are essential to spot and contain misbehavior, and keep deterministic systems separate from agentic workflows to reduce risk.

How to Train Your AI

Who is Robert Malone • 12 implied HN points • 26 Feb 26
🕹 Technology Security
  1. Large language models are built by training huge neural networks on trillions of words to predict the next word, producing very powerful but imperfect base models that reflect their training data and cost a lot to train.
  2. Making models behave safely relies on fine‑tuning, human feedback (RLHF), constitutional rules, system prompts, filters, sandbox testing, and red‑teaming, but guardrails are always being probed and must be balanced against usefulness.
  3. Hallucinations—confident but false answers—and the question of whether models really 'think' are core issues, so techniques like retrieval‑augmented generation, citations, chain‑of‑thought, specialist models, and human review are used to reduce errors and limit harm.

The Iran Strikes and the Trump Doctrine

Common Sense with Bari Weiss • 797 implied HN points • 01 Jul 25
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Security
  1. The U.S. conducted a successful strike on Iran's nuclear program, achieving its goals quickly with minimal prolonged conflict.
  2. President Trump and his administration uphold a nationalist approach to foreign policy, rejecting the typical labels of neoconservatism or isolationism.
  3. This action may spark more serious discussions about U.S. foreign policy, moving beyond the usual media narratives.

'You know we are in the final stages of an invasion when even the corporate media is reporting on the thousands of Chinese nationals streaming across the U.S. southern border.' Biden is and has

Alexander News Network -Dr. Paul Elias Alexander's substack • 668 implied HN points • 11 Feb 24
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Security
  1. Some believe that there is a stealth invasion happening at the U.S. southern border with the influx of Chinese nationals, and this issue is gaining mainstream media attention.
  2. There are concerns about the potential threat posed by individuals entering the U.S., especially if they are of military age and come from regions with anti-American sentiments.
  3. There are warnings and calls for preparation for potential conflict from national leaders across the globe, but a lack of such alerts in the U.S. prompts questions about readiness in the face of perceived threats.

Password Storage

ciamweekly • 62 implied HN points • 12 Jan 26
🕹 Technology Security
  1. Never store passwords in plain text or as reversible encrypted values; use a one-way password hashing algorithm (for example Argon2 or PBKDF2) chosen for your security and performance needs.
  2. Use a unique random salt per user and a tunable work factor (iterations/memory) that you increase over time as hardware improves, and consider adding a pepper stored separately for extra protection.
  3. Encrypt your database at rest as part of defense in depth, and remember hashed passwords are non-recoverable so you can verify passwords but not retrieve the plaintext.

Some Thoughts On The Mystery Drones

Caitlin’s Newsletter • 2095 implied HN points • 14 Dec 24
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Security
  1. There have been many sightings of large drones on the east coast of the US, but the government claims it doesn't know who owns them or where they are from.
  2. Some reported sights may just be people misidentifying regular aircraft or stars, but there are still documented cases of unusual flying objects that don't fit these explanations.
  3. The US government either doesn't know what's happening with these drones or is not being honest about it, leading to a lot of speculation and concern among the public.

Under Cover of Covid, the U.S. is Moving Toward Becoming a China-Like Checkpoint Nation

RESCUE with Michael Capuzzo • 1356 implied HN points • 17 Feb 23
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Security
  1. State and federal agencies in the U.S. are collecting personal data for a potential global vaccine passport with facial recognition.
  2. Facial recognition technology is becoming widely used worldwide, including for contact tracing during the pandemic.
  3. Companies like ID.ME are obtaining government contracts, requiring facial recognition for accessing services and raising concerns about data privacy.

What Will Happen If the Right Wins Absolutely?

God's Spies by Thomas Neuburger • 135 implied HN points • 16 Dec 25
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Security
  1. The Hard Right is not a single movement but many competing factions with different goals. These include religious conservatives, law-and-order authoritarians, white supremacists, pro-money libertarians, endless-war hawks, and tech billionaires.
  2. The different factions are mainly united by a shared hunger for power and control rather than a common program. They will compete until one group consolidates enough authority to impose its agenda on the others.
  3. Tech-backed elites are currently best positioned to realize an intrusive, anti-democratic vision of the state. Their money, tools, and aura of futurism make a surveillance-heavy, transhumanist security state a plausible outcome if they prevail.

The First Step

Phillips’s Newsletter • 149 implied HN points • 09 Dec 25
🌍 World Politics Security
  1. Europe has stopped thinking strategically for itself after decades of relying on the United States, leaving its ability to plan and defend its interests weakened.
  2. This dependence, often called strategic infantilization, felt comfortable because the US provided security, but it is now risky as real threats are emerging.
  3. Governments and institutions across Europe are finally being forced to relearn strategic thinking and ask hard questions about using their own resources to protect their interests.

Gaza checkpoint shell company outs itself as led by former CIA paramilitary chief

All-Source Intelligence Fusion • 1709 implied HN points • 26 Jan 25
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Security
  1. A shell company called Safe Reach Solutions is led by a former CIA paramilitary chief, Philip F. Reilly. This company is involved in operating a vehicle checkpoint in Gaza.
  2. Reilly has a strong background in intelligence and military operations, having held various significant roles, including leading controversial drone strike programs.
  3. The article suggests that the U.S. intelligence community uses access journalism to manage and divert attention from their covert activities in conflict zones.

America's Place in the World: What Do We See?

God's Spies by Thomas Neuburger • 75 implied HN points • 13 Jan 26
🌍 World Politics Security
  1. The U.S. is losing global dominance as China builds industrial self‑sufficiency and leads in critical technologies, threatening dollar hegemony and key military supply chains.
  2. Long-term neoliberal policies and elite capture have hollowed out U.S. industry and power, and those elites are unlikely to willingly cede control as decline accelerates.
  3. The next decades will be driven by three linked crises—geopolitical rivalry, domestic social fracture, and an escalating climate emergency—with the climate shock set to reshape global stability and responses.

Trump's National Security Strategy and the European Union, or: A sly plan to make life much, much harder for the Eurotards in Brussels

eugyppius: a plague chronicle • 138 implied HN points • 12 Dec 25
🌍 World Politics Security
  1. The new US National Security Strategy is intentionally provocative and treats the European Union more as a strategic rival than a close institutional partner, signaling a clear policy shift.
  2. The strategy favors bilateral engagement over Brussels-led cooperation, aiming to build direct partnerships with key countries like Germany to expand American influence in Europe.
  3. It signals willingness to use aggressive or coercive tactics and to exploit European divisions to weaken EU institutions and challenge the idea of a unified "normative West," which has alarmed European leaders.

Special Edition: The War That Could Change the World

Common Sense with Bari Weiss • 825 implied HN points • 13 Jun 25
🌍 World Politics Security
  1. Israel is currently facing attacks from Iran, leading many people to seek shelter. This situation could significantly impact the region and the world.
  2. Historian Niall Ferguson and other experts will provide insights on the conflict, which are important for understanding its historical and political context.
  3. The dynamics of U.S. political support for Israel are changing, with key figures like Donald Trump taking strong positions, which may affect future relations.

EXCLUSIVE: Student Visa Applicants with ‘Hostile Attitudes’ Will Be Told They Can’t Come to the U.S.

Common Sense with Bari Weiss • 788 implied HN points • 18 Jun 25
🇺🇸 U.S. Politics Security
  1. The U.S. State Department will now check social media posts of student visa applicants. This is to ensure they don't have negative attitudes towards the U.S. and its values.
  2. If applicants show signs of hostility toward American culture or government, they may be denied entry. This is part of a new policy to make the U.S. safer for its citizens.
  3. This instruction allows visa interviews to continue after a temporary halt, with new requirements for consular officers during the review process.

Wang Yi's concluding address on China's diplomacy in 2025

Pekingnology • 98 implied HN points • 30 Dec 25
🌍 World Politics Security
  1. China presents itself as a stabilizing major power that seeks to prevent war and mediate conflicts. It emphasizes managing major-country relations on mutual respect, peaceful coexistence, and firm defense of core interests.
  2. China is deepening ties with neighbors and the Global South through trade, infrastructure and diplomacy to build a community with a shared future and boost regional stability and development. It is expanding Belt and Road projects, free-trade talks, and people-to-people links like visa waivers.
  3. China is pushing to reshape global governance and lead development by promoting multilateralism, new global initiatives, and institutions to increase the Global South’s voice. It champions openness, trade liberalization, and proposals like a Global Governance Initiative and new cooperation bodies.

How the Iran Strikes Seal Netanyahu’s Legacy

Common Sense with Bari Weiss • 792 implied HN points • 13 Jun 25
🌍 World Politics Security
  1. Netanyahu views himself as the protector of Israel's security, which has defined his time in office. He believes that Iran poses the biggest threat to Israel, especially with its ambitions for nuclear weapons.
  2. The conflict between Netanyahu and Iranian leader Khamenei symbolizes a larger struggle in the Middle East, focusing on Israel's existence versus Iran's desire to eliminate it.
  3. Netanyahu's political survival has been linked to his tough stance against Iran, allowing him to remain in power despite various crises.

The Life and Death of the Oldest Hostage in Gaza

Common Sense with Bari Weiss • 1391 implied HN points • 25 Feb 25
🌍 World Politics Security
  1. Shlomo Mantzur was a caring father and grandfather who loved spending time with his family. He raised his children to be optimistic and focused on the present.
  2. He was kidnapped at the age of 85 during a violent attack in Israel, becoming the oldest known hostage in the conflict. Many people, including soldiers, expressed a determination to bring him home safely.
  3. Mantzur's early life in Iraq included some happy memories, but he often didn't talk much about his past. His daughters remember him as someone who enjoyed making art and sharing treats with them.