TygrBright
TygrBright's JournalSumona Banerji on how we are hardwired for vulnerability to online exploits - and how to overcome it.
If you're unaware of the emerging field of cyberpsycholgy, Sumona Banerji is one of the most interesting voices on the intersection of cybertechnology with the oldest computer in creation - the human brain. Here's a snippet from her insightful Medium post on the universality of human factors that enable all types of malicious online action, and "cognitive security", the factor she defines as remedial:
"The Universal Exploit: Why Phishing and Propaganda are the Same Attack"
We often talk about “human error” as a bug. In reality, the “bug” isn’t in our cognition… it’s in the mismatch between our ancient biological hardware and our modern digital infrastructure. Our brains evolved for a world of small social groups and immediate physical threats, not for evaluating the authenticity of emails, detecting coordinated disinformation, or resisting carefully engineered persuasion. It evolved over millennia to prioritize social cohesion, respect for authority, and rapid pattern-matching. These aren't flaws; they are the "features" that allowed human civilization to thrive.
However, in the digital threat landscape, these same features are weaponized a.k.a ‘cognitive attacks’ to achieve objectives ranging from stealing credentials to reshaping geopolitical beliefs.
The Defender’s Dilemma: A technical vulnerability, once patched, is fixed. A cognitive vulnerability (like high altruism or deference to authority) cannot be ‘patched’. It can only be understood and compensated for. Cognitive security is focused on solving for this.
You might also find this post on "Narrative Laundering" relevant, as it's pretty much the water we're swimming in here in [Redacted]'s America:
"How Narrative Laundering “Washes” the Truth."
It’s called Narrative Laundering, and it is the bridge between a simple lie and a society-wide delusion.
What is Narrative Laundering? Think of it like money laundering. In financial crime, you take “dirty” money from an illegal source and pass it through legitimate businesses until it looks “clean.”
Narrative Laundering does the same with information. An adversary takes a piece of “dirty” disinformation — perhaps originating from a state-sponsored troll farm or a fringe conspiracy site — and pushes it through layers of social media bots, fake “expert” accounts, and secondary news outlets. By the time it reaches your feed, the original, biased source is invisible. It looks like a mainstream, legitimate trend.
This explains Russia's ongoing victory in the asymmetrical war they have been prosecuting on liberal democracies worldwide since they were able to shuck off the confining infrastructure of Soviet bureaucracy and the constrictions of its avowed ideology. And how their success has inspired the oligarchs created by the early victories in that warfare to become a fifth column, using their money and influence to increase our vulnerability to the continuous attacks.
The discipline of Cyberpsychology is just emerging as a factor across the world of Technology, and it's woefully behind in the rapid growth of AI, and the emerging development of quantum computing tools. While integrating cyberpsychology into the various designs and disciplines of cybersecurity and design is a long, difficult, and certain to be hard-fought goal in detoxifying the human/computer interface, Banerji's conceptualization of "cognitive security" is a broader, versatile tool. It can be promoted from multiple angles across multiple disciplines, and, while it will still face pushback and opposition from the monetizers who do not want to have to give up tools designed for maximum addiction, toxicity, and persistence, it can be applied in real-world settings to develop a set of immunizing tools.
I'm dismayed by the extent that technology has been allowed and encouraged to develop without the guardrails needed to keep it from becoming as toxic and weaponized as it is currently, and worse, the higher levels of damage it is on track to achieve in the next few years. But I'm heartened by the growing creativity advancing solutions. If we have time to implement them...
thoughtfully,
Bright
P.S. You might also find this webinar an interesting summary of the Cyberpsychology/Cognitive Security interface:
"IN YOUR GUTS YOU KNOW HE'S NUTS"
Call all your Congresscritters. Leave that as the message on voicemail.
Just that, nothing else.
If they get millions of calls all saying "In your guts you know he's nuts" they will have an increasingly difficult time justifying enabling his continued holding of the office of President.
They have the power. They must use it.
adamantly,
Bright
A psychologist specializing in narcissists on how to stop [Redacted]
This is a very well-written, clearly explained essay on how successfully handling toxic narcissists in a family/personal setting can be scaled up to deal with toxic narcissists in positions of political or social power.
One key here is to get at least ONE major media outlet to commit to using these techniques consistently and persistently:
I’m A Psychologist Who Specializes In Narcissists. Here’s What We Need To Do To Stop Trump.
...
Of the dizzying array of tactics, perhaps the most effective is crisis manufacturing. The constant emergencies aren’t flukes — they’re by design. They keep everyone in survival mode, distracting from deeper issues and ensuring the narcissist stays at the center of attention and control. For my patients who have survived narcissistic abuse, it might be an explosive tantrum, a threat to seek full custody or a frantic late-night call about a (fabricated) mugging. On the national stage, it takes the form of rhetorical escalations, legal threats or emergency declarations designed to dominate the news cycle and overwhelm opposition.
...
But recovery begins when people stop playing along or exhausting energy in cycles of infighting. Instead of spending precious bandwidth on disbelief or outrage, the goal is to name the tactic, call out the harm, cultivate trusted support and let go of what is beyond your control. Persistent engagement in shock, bargaining or rumination often reflects the mind’s attempt to delay the grief associated with profound loss — private and emotional for my patients, social and institutional for our country.
...
First: Stop enabling. Reactive efforts to clean up the damage often backfire, shielding narcissists from accountability and allowing them to retain influence. On a political level, this means pausing to strategize before rushing in to fix the narcissist’s mess. Strategic restraint — like that practiced by House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, who has been criticized for not “swinging at every pitch” — is not weakness. It’s discipline.
Much more at the link or in the more readable blog version of Dr. Sze's article. At least one major media source needs to commit to "gray rocking" - "becoming sturdy and repetitive — not reactive or maximalist — a boring target for someone addicted to power. Reacting with hyperbole or hysteria only emboldens narcissists. Deny them the fuel they seek. This is hard work. But it’s how an abuser loses power." plus boundary setting - "working together to reestablish constitutional guardrails such as due process, checks and balances, and freedom of speech".
And commit to the long game. There are no magic wands here, no instant remedies. But there is also no inevitable catastrophe. We are in transition to what this nation is becoming, and if we can stay strong, steady and united agains the constant barrage, we DO have some control over what that will be.
determinedly,
Bright
Dear Persia: I am holding you in my heart.
Dear Persia-
Land of ancient beauty.
Cradle of civilization.
Dear place, of immense history and innumerable contributions to the legacy of human creativity.
Dear people, with so many brilliant hearts and minds, and so much tragedy and suffering.
This American never wanted my country to be part of your long agony.
I always hoped that your determination to define Persia's identity and destiny in your own terms would lead to another great flowering of culture and intellect and leadership in the world.
I still hope that.
And I am so, so, sorry that I can do so little to prevent those in power, here in America, from adding to your pain.
I will not stop trying.
And you will be in my heart always.
Doostet daram, khoda ba to bashad.
sadly,
Bright
Pragmatic Hopes
In my dreams, I am watching on a large-screen television, where a panel of grave-looking officials in formal business attire and eminent jurists in their robes of office are reading a long list of deeply serious crimes, pronouncing guilt, and passing sentences mostly in the 'many decades in a supermax Federal prison, no appeal and no parole for at least 25 years' range. Before them, sitting in a row, each with an alert Federal officer behind them, is a long array of criminals including [Redacted], Vance, Bondi, Lutnick, Musk, and a dozen other doyens of Project 2025 and architects of the devolution of the American Republic.Sometimes the dream includes a pan across the new 13-member Supreme Court (one member for each Federal appellate circuit), highlighting the presence of Chief Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson and a truly diverse array of other dedicated, qualified, experienced Justices.
Alas, these are but dreams. Beautiful, pleasant dreams, but I know they are as likely of achievement as my debut next year at the Metropolitan Opera in the role of Tosca.
The (not very) United States of America is a very complex political, social, and economic entity. Rarely, if ever, have we been able to achieve transformative change on a scale that would produce an immediate and lasting turnaround bringing to a decisive and complete end some situation of deep injustice and/or inequity.
I stand by this assertion. Do not bring up "the Civil War" until you have read the history of Reconstruction, Jim Crow and the KKK. Every momentary progressive triumph has been diluted in short order and then subject to piecemeal and often successful attempts to undo its progress via a corresponding backlash. The best we have EVER managed to achieve is along the lines of two steps forward to one step back.
But this is enough!
With this pragmatic reality in mind, what is the best I hope for America's future?
Realistically? The midterms place the House of Representatives in Democratic control, shaves Republican control of the Senate to a razor's margin (with at least one or two newly-minted 'moderates' scared witless by the narrowness of their victory,) tip the balance blue in some of the smaller 'purple' state administrations, and produce one "shock" flip in a previously-reliable red state.
What can we do with that?
Before you answer "stonewall the hell out of the [Redacted] administration and keep sending predictably popular, high-profile progressive legislation to die in the Senate and/or under the veto pen" consider this:
How did the GOP get where they are? Delivering real improvement to voters' lives, pocketbooks, futures? Oh, please...
They got where they are by 1) Becoming a wholly-owned subsidiary of the most extreme predator capitalist fortunes; 2) Selling their souls to anyone who will bankroll their election victories, including foreign authoritarians, stateless oligarchs and outright enemies of America; and 3) Using those resources to build, deploy, maintain, and constantly improve the most effective Disinformation Machine in history.
And THAT is what we are up against. This machine is already recalibrating its targeting mechanisms to undercut and undermine every Democratic victory in the midterms, and inject enough poison into the process to sabotage the 2028 general election to result in weak administration and deeply divided legislative branch. It doesn't matter to the Masters of the Machine which party holds which fragments of the once-powerful government. As long as the 'winners' can sabotage each other and prevent us from rolling back the orgy of deregulation and corruption that's left an unelected oligarchy in effective control, that's all they need.
What, then, do we do with two years of the lower house, a precarious and unreliable brake in the upper house, and a growing momentum of states opposing federal overreach?
I would hope the answer has two main elements: The first is to focus on undermining and countering the great Disinformation Machine. The second is to be strategic in taking small but significant steps to impede the attempt to vitiate the general election of 2028. So... don't expect a lot of highly-visible, substantial change during the two years.
If we can accomplish that, and get legislative and executive control in 2028, what then?
Above all, avoid wantonly provoking heavy ideological backlash that the Masters of the Machine will be ready to exploit to derail things in 2030. Instead, focus on an economic transformation by developing a massive increase in employment across all aspects of the spectrum but particularly un- and semi-skilled work and trades/construction/transit jobs. This can be accomplished with a 'moon shot' level of focus, spending, and investment into infrastructure.
And that's all I got, so far. But if we succeed in that - pulling the fangs of the Disinformation Machine (and it won't be easy, because we actually DO believe in the First Amendment!) and pushing to completion a thirty-year plan to completely rebuild the utilities, communication, transit, supply line, housing, and, ultimately (gasp!) financial infrastructure, we may be able to maintain enough control to quietly clean up the worst of the authoritarian damage and take down the oligarchich stranglehold without major civil violence.
If we're lucky, determined, and persistent.
But I think it's do-able.
speculatively,
Bright
Some of us have been here before. And our memories remain vivid.
Here is what happens in America when you start killing people who are standing up for peace, justice, and the Constitution:
MORE PEOPLE come into the streets, with more candles, more signs, more noisemakers, more determination, and more willingness to pay the ultimate price, to preserve the freedoms of their neighbors, their community, their families and their children/grandchildren.
Too many of these fools were not around for Kent State.
We have officially arrived at "blood in the gutters"... from here, there is no going back. The available directions are limited, and they have chosen the direction that leads to "yet more blood in the gutters."
This will not end well for them.
prognosticatorially,
Bright
Dear Greenland... Think about this, okay?
Yes, given a choice between dealing with a central government in Copenhagen and a central government in Washington, DC, I'm totally with you - even the Danish royal family is a better option than the open sewer on the Potomac.
BUT...
Think about this:
What if you could negotiate statehood?
FULL statehood.
Okay, granted, one measly Congresscritter wouldn't tip the balance much.
Nor are the Federal handouts what they used to be.
But there are two things it might be worth thinking about:
First: Your own state Constitution, defining your own state government, laws, administration, etc. The only constraints on State constitutions are that nothing in them must be contrary to what is in the U.S. Constitution - so, no, you can't restrict speech, enter into separate treaties with other nations, impose import duties, stuff like that. But read it in detail. Check out Article IV, about "Full Faith and Credit", and another favorite, the 10th Amendment - whatever the Constitution is silent on (and it's silent about a LOT) is all yours to decide, make laws about, etc. So, that might not be so bad, especially if you arrive at the negotiating table with a draft State Constitution in your back pockets.
Second: If you're a U.S. State, you get TWO (2), count 'em, TWO Senators to represent you in the U.S. Senate, which is currently so deadlocked that your new Senators could pretty well own the joint with their votes. This, will, I guarantee, make the entire Republican Party of the United States of America publicly crap their pants and run crying for their mommies at the thought of a State with 89% Inuit population having that much say in anything about the U.S. of A.
So, anyway... just putting this out there.
I totally get your not wanting anything to do with us. I wouldn't either. (I'm kinda hoping [Redacted] will repudiate the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, actually...) But it's a thing to think about, eh?
slyly,
Bright
(P.S. DUers in case you can't tell, this post is IRONY, not a serious suggestion. Sheeesh...)
She had to die, because she showed no fear.
The body cam footage shows Renee Good smiling and talking cheerfully to the pathetic loser who murdered her in the instants before his rage boiled over and he shot her in the face.
That is likely why he felt he NEEDED to kill her: She was not afraid of his macho official skeeriness.
Heavily armed pathetic losers are always terrified that others will see through the skeery appearance they assume to the sad little insecure loser underneath. They want everyone to cower before their heavily armed intimidation.
If you don't, well...
...they're heavily armed, and you just terrified them.
What do you think is going to happen?
So... yeah, she EARNED being killed. It was her fault for not cowering in terror of the Big Skeery Thug who couldn't bear anyone to know he's basically a pathetic loser.
disgustedly,
Bright
Heavily armed pathetic losers are the most dangrous thing in our world.
And to be clear, "heavily armed" refers not just to weapons, but to money, influence, and political power.
They are the most dangerous because they believe the only way to convince others (and thus themselves) that they are not pathetic losers, is to do maximum harm to those who remind them (by NOT being pathetic losers) that they are, in fact, pathetic losers.
Now, all of us are, at one time or another, pathetic losers - being human exposes us to all kinds of challenges, risks, and experiences, and it is inevitable that in some cases we will lose, and likely feel pretty pathetic about it for some period of time. This is a normal part of the human condition.
But people who are not, fundamentally and intrinsically, convinced that they are ALWAYS pathetic losers, address these experiences in various ways - learning new skills, for instance. In some cases it's becoming more mature and self-aware. In some cases, it is even demonstrating an understanding of what actually does convince other people you're not a pathetic loser - which is, to be kind, and do kindnesses even when you feel bad yourself.
But the ones who are deeply and irrevocably convinced that others see them as pathetic losers, and who are so overcome with their own rage and inadequacy that the only response that makes them feel, briefly, like not-losers is to do maximum harm to others...
...those are the ones you need keep away from weapons, money, influence, and political power. We used to do this by applying strong cultural sanctions of acknowledging that behavior focusing entirely on harming others to inflate one's own self-esteem was indeed the mark of a pathetic loser. Knowing that provided some incentive for pathetic losers to overcome the tendency or at least to indulge in their repulsive behavior in relatively private ways like family violence and cruelty to animals.
But apparently we have removed that cultural sanction, and the nation's Strategic Reserve of Pathetic Losers has been loaded for bear. And now, everyone who is not a pathetic loser is at risk of being kidnapped, renditioned, beaten, tortured, and/or killed, by pathetic losers, with impunity.
I have no idea how to undo this.
sadly,
Bright
Wow. There must be something TOTALLY, UNEQUIVOCALLY DAMNING in those Epstein files...
Plus, someone check the online gambling sites... who had big-money bets on "Maduro ousted January 3rd?"
That is all.
disgustedly,
Bright
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