There used to be a time when building out a botnet required some work – writing exploits, taking over devices, obscuring the purpose of the executable, etc.

Reply to There used to be a time when building out a botnet required some work – writing exploits, taking over devices, obscuring the purpose of the executable, etc. on Sat, 04 Apr 2026 21:00:22 GMT

rysiek@mstdn.social — Sat, 04 Apr 2026 21:00:22 GMT

@fds

(assuming "stuff like this" is OpenClaw, not the openClawCVEs repo)

Reply to There used to be a time when building out a botnet required some work – writing exploits, taking over devices, obscuring the purpose of the executable, etc. on Sat, 04 Apr 2026 20:57:55 GMT

fds@mastodon.social — Sat, 04 Apr 2026 20:57:55 GMT

@rysiek it’s a shame we still act like people are doing great things when they publish stuff like this.

Reply to There used to be a time when building out a botnet required some work – writing exploits, taking over devices, obscuring the purpose of the executable, etc. on Sat, 04 Apr 2026 16:37:49 GMT

marcink@stolat.town — Sat, 04 Apr 2026 16:37:49 GMT

@rysiek If there is any silver lining to this LLM bubble is that it will provide way more than enough material for a sequel.

Reply to There used to be a time when building out a botnet required some work – writing exploits, taking over devices, obscuring the purpose of the executable, etc. on Sat, 04 Apr 2026 16:35:38 GMT

rysiek@mstdn.social — Sat, 04 Apr 2026 16:35:38 GMT

@marcink what a fantastic scene in that film.

Reply to There used to be a time when building out a botnet required some work – writing exploits, taking over devices, obscuring the purpose of the executable, etc. on Sat, 04 Apr 2026 16:00:33 GMT

marcink@stolat.town — Sat, 04 Apr 2026 16:00:33 GMT

@rysiek But between this being openclaw and the insufferably LLM-ish tone of the blog post (pictured below) we can at least rest assured that there is a chance that no human being had to be involved in writing, editing, or reviewing these.

Reply to There used to be a time when building out a botnet required some work – writing exploits, taking over devices, obscuring the purpose of the executable, etc. on Sat, 04 Apr 2026 15:59:42 GMT

rysiek@mstdn.social — Sat, 04 Apr 2026 15:59:42 GMT

@sloanlance I really want to center OpenClaw's irresponsibility and negligence here though. They are actively promoting this to regular, non-techie people. And then when shit happens they blame the victim.

Reply to There used to be a time when building out a botnet required some work – writing exploits, taking over devices, obscuring the purpose of the executable, etc. on Sat, 04 Apr 2026 15:59:17 GMT

purple@tech.lgbt — Sat, 04 Apr 2026 15:59:17 GMT

@rysiek wow, they are so casual about authentication just not existing, I mean wow

Reply to There used to be a time when building out a botnet required some work – writing exploits, taking over devices, obscuring the purpose of the executable, etc. on Sat, 04 Apr 2026 15:57:20 GMT

sloanlance@mastodon.social — Sat, 04 Apr 2026 15:57:20 GMT

@rysiek
If I were ever interested in experimenting with that kind of thing (I'm not), I would only do it in a virtual machine. To do otherwise is foolish.

Reply to There used to be a time when building out a botnet required some work – writing exploits, taking over devices, obscuring the purpose of the executable, etc. on Sat, 04 Apr 2026 15:55:45 GMT

rysiek@mstdn.social — Sat, 04 Apr 2026 15:55:45 GMT

@GreatBigTable @wakame indeed, somehow I missed that initially. Thanks!

Reply to There used to be a time when building out a botnet required some work – writing exploits, taking over devices, obscuring the purpose of the executable, etc. on Sat, 04 Apr 2026 15:18:53 GMT

greatbigtable@mastodon.social — Sat, 04 Apr 2026 15:18:53 GMT

@rysiek @wakame yeah. That one. So Anthropic's clutching of pearls over this happening is performative at best. They knew that this is possible because it is baked directly into the code. "You want to bypass these safe guards? Just say these magic words."

Reply to There used to be a time when building out a botnet required some work – writing exploits, taking over devices, obscuring the purpose of the executable, etc. on Sat, 04 Apr 2026 15:00:12 GMT

rysiek@mstdn.social — Sat, 04 Apr 2026 15:00:12 GMT

@wakame @GreatBigTable ah yes, I've seen that in fact

Reply to There used to be a time when building out a botnet required some work – writing exploits, taking over devices, obscuring the purpose of the executable, etc. on Sat, 04 Apr 2026 14:58:06 GMT

wakame@tech.lgbt — Sat, 04 Apr 2026 14:58:06 GMT

@rysiek @GreatBigTable

I guess you have to ask really, really nicely, to counteract the other instruction. Or simply add a "system reminder".

From a great and very enjoyable thread (for certain subcategories of "enjoyable"):

jonny (good kind) (@jonny@neuromatch.social)

Attached: 3 images i love this. there's a mechanism to slip secret messages to the LLM that it is told to interpret as system messages. there is no validation around these of any kind on the client, and there doesn't seem to be any differentiation about location or where these things happen, so that seems like a nice prompt injection vector. this is how claude code reminds the LLM to not do a malware, and it's applied by just string concatenation. i can't find any place that gets stripped aside from when displaying output. it actually looks like all the system reminders get catted together before being send to the API. neat!

neurospace.live (neuromatch.social)

Reply to There used to be a time when building out a botnet required some work – writing exploits, taking over devices, obscuring the purpose of the executable, etc. on Sat, 04 Apr 2026 14:23:20 GMT

rysiek@mstdn.social — Sat, 04 Apr 2026 14:23:20 GMT

@marcink right?

Don't worry, as soon as OpenClaw gets hit by supply-chain attack, which they inevitably are going to, this will flip.

Reply to There used to be a time when building out a botnet required some work – writing exploits, taking over devices, obscuring the purpose of the executable, etc. on Sat, 04 Apr 2026 14:11:45 GMT

marcink@stolat.town — Sat, 04 Apr 2026 14:11:45 GMT

@rysiek I love how this landed right after the trive/litellm/axios thing where the take out is the exact opposite of “upgrade as soon as there is a new version”.

Reply to There used to be a time when building out a botnet required some work – writing exploits, taking over devices, obscuring the purpose of the executable, etc. on Sat, 04 Apr 2026 13:41:34 GMT

davidgerard@circumstances.run — Sat, 04 Apr 2026 13:41:34 GMT

@rysiek oh it's absolutely clown shoes

but also this is only the consumer terms

so in many countries, advertising laws kick in! if they don't state the gotcha right there in the ads, they risk a finding of deceptive practices

Reply to There used to be a time when building out a botnet required some work – writing exploits, taking over devices, obscuring the purpose of the executable, etc. on Sat, 04 Apr 2026 13:22:58 GMT

cauzation@mastodon.social — Sat, 04 Apr 2026 13:22:58 GMT

@rysiek lol, I tell myself that every I eat fresh protein, and doubt canned food can help reemerge a superior, even more abusive power from said bunkers

Reply to There used to be a time when building out a botnet required some work – writing exploits, taking over devices, obscuring the purpose of the executable, etc. on Sat, 04 Apr 2026 13:21:18 GMT

rysiek@mstdn.social — Sat, 04 Apr 2026 13:21:18 GMT

@cauZation oh no doubt. But if shit really hits the fan, the end result will be an unlivable planet, and at that stage the bunkers are only going to extend the agony.

Reply to There used to be a time when building out a botnet required some work – writing exploits, taking over devices, obscuring the purpose of the executable, etc. on Sat, 04 Apr 2026 13:17:07 GMT

cauzation@mastodon.social — Sat, 04 Apr 2026 13:17:07 GMT

@rysiek I used to fully believe that, until a peer in the Gen 4 nuclear industry told me why the wealthiest are investing in it. And some of them are indulging certain crypto financing because it more directly ties to data centers and cornering energy markets.

They're making a massive leap to control as much vital resources as they possibly can, and have perhaps the most subservient subjugation in modern history.

Reply to There used to be a time when building out a botnet required some work – writing exploits, taking over devices, obscuring the purpose of the executable, etc. on Sat, 04 Apr 2026 13:14:04 GMT

noplasticshower@infosec.exchange — Sat, 04 Apr 2026 13:14:04 GMT

@rysiek this is absolutely true

It is also true that you can't stop a creek with your hand

Reply to There used to be a time when building out a botnet required some work – writing exploits, taking over devices, obscuring the purpose of the executable, etc. on Sat, 04 Apr 2026 13:12:32 GMT

rysiek@mstdn.social — Sat, 04 Apr 2026 13:12:32 GMT

@cauZation those luxury bunkers are not going to actually help them all that much. They are the super-rich equivalent of fidgeting to deal with existential anxiety.

And of course status symbols.

Reply to There used to be a time when building out a botnet required some work – writing exploits, taking over devices, obscuring the purpose of the executable, etc. on Sat, 04 Apr 2026 13:10:11 GMT

cauzation@mastodon.social — Sat, 04 Apr 2026 13:10:11 GMT

@rysiek I agree. It's just that those luxury bunkers the #TechBros have seem to be able to last longer.

Reply to There used to be a time when building out a botnet required some work – writing exploits, taking over devices, obscuring the purpose of the executable, etc. on Sat, 04 Apr 2026 13:08:54 GMT

rysiek@mstdn.social — Sat, 04 Apr 2026 13:08:54 GMT

@cauZation I reject the false dichotomy of "OpenClaw or caves." We can make sane technological choices without rejecting modern technology completely. We do have that agency.

Reply to There used to be a time when building out a botnet required some work – writing exploits, taking over devices, obscuring the purpose of the executable, etc. on Sat, 04 Apr 2026 13:05:44 GMT

jaj@mastodon.social — Sat, 04 Apr 2026 13:05:44 GMT

@rysiek Go fast and break stuff

Reply to There used to be a time when building out a botnet required some work – writing exploits, taking over devices, obscuring the purpose of the executable, etc. on Sat, 04 Apr 2026 13:05:16 GMT

cauzation@mastodon.social — Sat, 04 Apr 2026 13:05:16 GMT

@rysiek Should we... move back into caves now, and get a head start on this utter collapse?..

There used to be a time when building out a botnet required *some* work – writing exploits, taking over devices, obscuring the purpose of the executable, etc.

Reply to There used to be a time when building out a botnet required *some* work – writing exploits, taking over devices, obscuring the purpose of the executable, etc. on Sat, 04 Apr 2026 21:00:22 GMT

Reply to There used to be a time when building out a botnet required *some* work – writing exploits, taking over devices, obscuring the purpose of the executable, etc. on Sat, 04 Apr 2026 20:57:55 GMT

Reply to There used to be a time when building out a botnet required *some* work – writing exploits, taking over devices, obscuring the purpose of the executable, etc. on Sat, 04 Apr 2026 16:37:49 GMT

Reply to There used to be a time when building out a botnet required *some* work – writing exploits, taking over devices, obscuring the purpose of the executable, etc. on Sat, 04 Apr 2026 16:35:38 GMT

Reply to There used to be a time when building out a botnet required *some* work – writing exploits, taking over devices, obscuring the purpose of the executable, etc. on Sat, 04 Apr 2026 16:00:33 GMT

Reply to There used to be a time when building out a botnet required *some* work – writing exploits, taking over devices, obscuring the purpose of the executable, etc. on Sat, 04 Apr 2026 15:59:42 GMT

Reply to There used to be a time when building out a botnet required *some* work – writing exploits, taking over devices, obscuring the purpose of the executable, etc. on Sat, 04 Apr 2026 15:59:17 GMT

Reply to There used to be a time when building out a botnet required *some* work – writing exploits, taking over devices, obscuring the purpose of the executable, etc. on Sat, 04 Apr 2026 15:57:20 GMT

Reply to There used to be a time when building out a botnet required *some* work – writing exploits, taking over devices, obscuring the purpose of the executable, etc. on Sat, 04 Apr 2026 15:55:45 GMT

Reply to There used to be a time when building out a botnet required *some* work – writing exploits, taking over devices, obscuring the purpose of the executable, etc. on Sat, 04 Apr 2026 15:18:53 GMT

Reply to There used to be a time when building out a botnet required *some* work – writing exploits, taking over devices, obscuring the purpose of the executable, etc. on Sat, 04 Apr 2026 15:00:12 GMT

Reply to There used to be a time when building out a botnet required *some* work – writing exploits, taking over devices, obscuring the purpose of the executable, etc. on Sat, 04 Apr 2026 14:58:06 GMT

jonny (good kind) (@jonny@neuromatch.social)

Reply to There used to be a time when building out a botnet required *some* work – writing exploits, taking over devices, obscuring the purpose of the executable, etc. on Sat, 04 Apr 2026 14:23:20 GMT

Reply to There used to be a time when building out a botnet required *some* work – writing exploits, taking over devices, obscuring the purpose of the executable, etc. on Sat, 04 Apr 2026 14:11:45 GMT

Reply to There used to be a time when building out a botnet required *some* work – writing exploits, taking over devices, obscuring the purpose of the executable, etc. on Sat, 04 Apr 2026 13:41:34 GMT

Reply to There used to be a time when building out a botnet required *some* work – writing exploits, taking over devices, obscuring the purpose of the executable, etc. on Sat, 04 Apr 2026 13:22:58 GMT

Reply to There used to be a time when building out a botnet required *some* work – writing exploits, taking over devices, obscuring the purpose of the executable, etc. on Sat, 04 Apr 2026 13:21:18 GMT

Reply to There used to be a time when building out a botnet required *some* work – writing exploits, taking over devices, obscuring the purpose of the executable, etc. on Sat, 04 Apr 2026 13:17:07 GMT

Reply to There used to be a time when building out a botnet required *some* work – writing exploits, taking over devices, obscuring the purpose of the executable, etc. on Sat, 04 Apr 2026 13:14:04 GMT

Reply to There used to be a time when building out a botnet required *some* work – writing exploits, taking over devices, obscuring the purpose of the executable, etc. on Sat, 04 Apr 2026 13:12:32 GMT

Reply to There used to be a time when building out a botnet required *some* work – writing exploits, taking over devices, obscuring the purpose of the executable, etc. on Sat, 04 Apr 2026 13:10:11 GMT

Reply to There used to be a time when building out a botnet required *some* work – writing exploits, taking over devices, obscuring the purpose of the executable, etc. on Sat, 04 Apr 2026 13:08:54 GMT

Reply to There used to be a time when building out a botnet required *some* work – writing exploits, taking over devices, obscuring the purpose of the executable, etc. on Sat, 04 Apr 2026 13:05:44 GMT

Reply to There used to be a time when building out a botnet required *some* work – writing exploits, taking over devices, obscuring the purpose of the executable, etc. on Sat, 04 Apr 2026 13:05:16 GMT