Pluralistic: Bundestrojaner (13 Oct 2026)

Blog · Watch/Read · (gathered 2026-10-14)

• Cory Doctorow argues that governments consistently undermine cybersecurity by prioritizing surveillance and offensive capabilities, creating a “public-private partnership from hell” that deliberately makes everyone less secure.
• He uses “object permanence” to trace this pathology, citing historical examples like the “crypto wars” and the “NOBUS” doctrine (spy agencies hoarding vulnerabilities like Eternal Blue, which led to Wannacry).
• Specific examples of government-mandated insecurity include the German “Bundestrojaners” (insecure government malware), “chat control” proposals (mass scanning for CSAM), and “age verification” laws (mass spying leading to data breaches).
• Anti-circumvention laws further exacerbate the problem by criminalizing security audits, as seen with the Sony Rootkit scandal, where researchers couldn’t disclose critical vulnerabilities.
• The current crisis of “rogue AI hacking agents” is the “terminal stage” of this government-exacerbated pathology; true security requires public agencies to prioritize making systems as secure as possible, punishing those who weaponize bugs, and protecting those who disclose them.