This is also more than just travel or other personal situations, but also for private networks like hospitals and warehouses (think of industrial IoT deployments). These things are convenient, but there's no guardrails yet.

link to paper: www.usenix.org/system/files...

Alongside possibility of data interception and location tracking and opaque ownership hierarchy of what are essentially white-label resellers, it also looks at the workflow of deploying eSIMs and weak points attackers could hit

The paper itself is not that China heavy, but it lists a lot of observed traffic routed to different, unexpected countries, including "proactive communication", the phoning-home aspect (tho it also links to a 2021 article discussing this with physical SIMs).

The article goes hard on the China angle, and for sure: who knew Irish eSIM brand Holafly is actually a subsidiary of the state-owned enterprise China Mobile? The installer runs from their servers, and wherever the phone is, it even has a public IP address in China.

Continue nudging the feed

And plug: I mentioned Lockdown Mode and Advanced Protection Program in a tip sheet I cowrote with @bostonjoan.bsky.social for @criticalinternet.bsky.social. If you fit the profile, these are really good and really easy things to switch on to be safer

For a comprehensive and straightforward explanation of all the things that Advanced Protection does on mobiles, @androidauthority.com has an excellent overview

Please next Peep-flavored prawn crackers

Ugh. If this is pattern behavior (or policy?), then maybe links to CBS News stories should be to free archive link versions instead

I did this in Shanghai circa 2018, when the AQI was horrendous (second pic). Above 100 was common, and an occasional spike above 400. Airnow.gov has Barnegat at 63 and forecast for 100

a bundle of leeks 💀

Also a possible new unit of measurement. Would be nice if it's a round number, too; he's currently 1 Truss, 4 Scaramuccis in

you guys watching Office Space?

Awww. But credit goes to an unnamed group chat (not that one but also that one)

Snitches gets kittehs