is anyone else getting random follows from accounts on infosec
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@Viss @silhouette residential US IP addresses, tor exit nodes, and lately protonvpn. They have figured out how to mass create proton accounts because the last few day, protonmail.com and protonvpn IPs have become the strongest signal of a bot (but it’s also used by a lot of legit people)
@jerry @silhouette see you think notifying proton would have some effect but the news coming out of that place telegraphs 'they really dont care so long as the checks are clearing and they dont get creditcard chargebacks'
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@Viss @linuxandyarn I really don’t know what the point is. The ability to spam or scam tens of people just seems… futile.
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@jerry @silhouette see you think notifying proton would have some effect but the news coming out of that place telegraphs 'they really dont care so long as the checks are clearing and they dont get creditcard chargebacks'
@Viss I don’t know if it’s that or they have relaxed some things to balloon their user base ahead of, I don’t know, a sale or merger, or investment, or IPO. Would have been a ridiculous thought a few years ago, but lately we are swimming in ridiculousness
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@oscarsclaws @Viss @linuxandyarn fair enough. That could be it too
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@Viss I don’t know if it’s that or they have relaxed some things to balloon their user base ahead of, I don’t know, a sale or merger, or investment, or IPO. Would have been a ridiculous thought a few years ago, but lately we are swimming in ridiculousness
@jerry im in several ai/llm chatgroups and the shit i see on the daily is brain melty. if i could still drink i would have pickled my brain by now. one dude, someone you know, is exhibiting straight up signs of obvious ai psychosis. like, dude talks to claude like its his pal. he has conversations with it like its a person. and hes openly saying people dont need to bother with the basics anymore 'because ai'. its bananas.
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@jerry im in several ai/llm chatgroups and the shit i see on the daily is brain melty. if i could still drink i would have pickled my brain by now. one dude, someone you know, is exhibiting straight up signs of obvious ai psychosis. like, dude talks to claude like its his pal. he has conversations with it like its a person. and hes openly saying people dont need to bother with the basics anymore 'because ai'. its bananas.
@Viss that is painful to think about. I know it happens. I also use Claude, but I don’t really talk to my hammer or my jigsaw, so I have a hard time relating. Maybe I’m just too old.
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@Viss that is painful to think about. I know it happens. I also use Claude, but I don’t really talk to my hammer or my jigsaw, so I have a hard time relating. Maybe I’m just too old.
@Viss though I will say, I bet my hammer could tell some stories if it could talk. Whew.
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@Viss that is painful to think about. I know it happens. I also use Claude, but I don’t really talk to my hammer or my jigsaw, so I have a hard time relating. Maybe I’m just too old.
@jerry i bark orders at daybreak/gpt-5.6, and ill cuss at it when it does stuff extremely fucking stupid. in my brain, i picture ren from ren and stimpy inside the body of marvin, the android from hitchhikers guide. oblivious and eager to please
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@Viss though I will say, I bet my hammer could tell some stories if it could talk. Whew.
@jerry hah! totally!
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@Viss the bots have gotten very good at gaming the moderated signups. Residential IP, protonmail or gmail address, on topic reason for joining, then lay low, make a few posts, follow some accounts, then start posting about how unfair it was for Ukraine to start a war or how Christians are the most persecuted religion. It’s starting to make me crazy. Report them when you see them.
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@Viss that is painful to think about. I know it happens. I also use Claude, but I don’t really talk to my hammer or my jigsaw, so I have a hard time relating. Maybe I’m just too old.
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@Viss @linuxandyarn if you’re posting follower only, they you’re right, you have to be a follower to see them. Few people seem to post that way though.
@jerry @Viss @linuxandyarn I do those sometimes - more than anything just for slightly more personal stuff I don't want boosted outside my sphere. Sure, it can get screen capped and I don't have my follows locked down, but it's something at least.
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@jerry @Viss @linuxandyarn I do those sometimes - more than anything just for slightly more personal stuff I don't want boosted outside my sphere. Sure, it can get screen capped and I don't have my follows locked down, but it's something at least.
@JessTheUnstill @jerry @Viss @linuxandyarn
I do "Followers Only" by default and have to approve every follow request. I've been doxxed and I didn't like it.
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@smallsees @nf3xn @jerry @Viss
Trusting your own judgement on ‘AI’ is a huge risk
“Don’t self-experiment with psychological hazards!”
https://www.baldurbjarnason.com/2025/trusting-your-own-judgement-on-ai/
https://www.baldurbjarnason.com/2025/followup-on-trusting-your-own-judgement/
“You can’t trust your own instincts or judgement about Large Language Models and chatbots because they trigger a number of cognitive biases and psychological “effects” that short-circuit our judgement.”
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@djb @smallsees @nf3xn @jerry i talk to gpt like tony stark talks to that robotic arm that keeps fucking up in ironman 1
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@FritzAdalis sure but some are very clearly malicious. and i dont mean like 'they hack shit', i mean they are horrible sociopathic narcisistic fuckbags who spearhead dogpiling campaigns and will sick com kids on you to harrass you for months. and they will 100% pull that shit where they create a sockpuppet account to watch you, in case you make an off color comment thats marked follower-only, so that they can dogpile you over it
@Viss @FritzAdalis sounds like my ex

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is anyone else getting random follows from accounts on infosec.exchange and defcon.social where the account is like a day or two old, has barely any profile filled out, has zero posts, zero followers, but is already follwing a few dozen or a few hundred accounts? seems super shady. ive been blocking them on sight
@Viss Seeing a lot of new accounts on mastodon.social in the last few days with “keyboard smash” names like dhdhdh or kkkfffff. They follow tons of people, and weren’t posting at all. Most recently I’ve seen them making a single post like “hhh”.
The admins are battling them and I’m reporting those that follow me but it’s the first big wave I’ve seen as a user in a long time.
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is anyone else getting random follows from accounts on infosec.exchange and defcon.social where the account is like a day or two old, has barely any profile filled out, has zero posts, zero followers, but is already follwing a few dozen or a few hundred accounts? seems super shady. ive been blocking them on sight
@Viss Not yet. (And I have accounts on both, and not even seeing it on the “local” accounts.)
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is anyone else getting random follows from accounts on infosec.exchange and defcon.social where the account is like a day or two old, has barely any profile filled out, has zero posts, zero followers, but is already follwing a few dozen or a few hundred accounts? seems super shady. ive been blocking them on sight
@Viss Yeah I've had a couple of those very recently. I just had one earlier today, went back to my notifications to view the account again, and the account seems to be gone now.