Michael Loadenthal
banner
mloadenthal.bsky.social
Michael Loadenthal
@mloadenthal.bsky.social
Professor, researcher, consultant, trainer.

Political violence, social movements, OSINT, (cyber)security, tech & law.

Director @ prosecutionproject.bsky.social & peacejusticestudies.org

Ⓐ/Ⓥdad x 4+🐶🐶

https://michaelloadenthal.academia.edu
"A network of cameras scans and records vehicle license plate information, and an algorithm flags vehicles deemed suspicious based on where they came from, where they were going and which route they took. Federal agents in turn may then flag local law enforcement..."
Takeaways from AP report on how Border Patrol monitors US drivers for ‘suspicious’ travel
The U.S. Border Patrol is monitoring millions of American drivers nationwide in a secretive program to identify and detain people whose travel patterns it deems suspicious.
apnews.com
November 20, 2025 at 9:17 PM
“Following..wave of cyberattacks attributed to the security agencies of the Islamic Republic in recent weeks, attacks aimed at infiltrating & taking control of the accounts human rights defenders, journalists, & women’s rights activists, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate..Telegram account was compromised”
narges.foundation
November 20, 2025 at 3:09 AM
I usually reserve such matters for ye ol LinkedIn, but our cyber institute is hiring a lot—3 positions now—ranging from $60-90k and at all education levels (PhD not required).

They’re flexible but in-person roles, based at the Ohio Cyber Range Institute, at the University of Cincinnati.

DMs open.
Anyone following my feed has seen a flood of jobs with our institute, center, and the university at large.... Whelp, here's another 3! 1. "Associate Director, Ohio Cyber Range Institute&quot...
Anyone following my feed has seen a flood of jobs with our institute, center, and the university at large.... Whelp, here's another 3! 1. "Associate Director, Ohio Cyber Range Institute", Soft-funded...
www.linkedin.com
November 17, 2025 at 11:59 PM
"State announces the designation of Antifa Ost, Informal Anarchist Federation/International Revolutionary Front, Armed Proletarian Justice, & Revolutionary Class Self-Defense as Specially Designated Global Terrorists & the intent to designate all four groups as Foreign Terrorist Organizations."
Designations of Antifa Ost and Three Other Violent Antifa Groups - United States Department of State
Today, the Department of State announces the designation of Antifa Ost, Informal Anarchist Federation/International Revolutionary Front, Armed Proletarian Justice, and Revolutionary Class Self-Defense...
www.state.gov
November 13, 2025 at 8:48 PM
Reposted by Michael Loadenthal
1/ NEW: We identified 20 people who attended a white nationalist conference and, despite their efforts to keep it secret, caught another 30 people on film to identify in the future. Several MMA/combat sports instructors were discovered and their gyms have cut ties.

🧵👇
Everybody Attending White Nationalist Conference Caught on Film
Advertised near-exclusively in white nationalist online spaces, promotional social media posts for the event include symbolism popular with neo-Nazis, including the kolovrat sun wheel and a table with...
www.antihate.ca
November 10, 2025 at 12:46 PM
Reposted by Michael Loadenthal
Happy spooky Halloween, folks! Here's a (not that scary, promise) roundup of some news stories about US-based militia over the past two months. Some highlights:
+ Harassment and fear of militia lead to chaos at UNCW
+ Assorted public showings by militia leaders
+ More court developments (as usual)
BiMonthly: Sept+Oct 25 - MilitiaWatch
A news roundup on militia activity in the US for September and October 2025, including fallout of the Kirk shooting, Rhodes speaking, and chemtrails.
militia.watch
October 31, 2025 at 7:01 PM
First action I’ve heard of claimed by BB! in a while.
Breaking:

Bash Back targets the EHRC.

We have sent a reporter over this morning for more photos
October 31, 2025 at 1:57 PM
Good treatment of the challenges and interventions offered by the adoption of OSINT TTPs by non-state actors.

gnet-research.org/2025/10/03/o...

Some solid high-return-low-effort mitigations at the end if you know anyone who owns a tech company.
OSINT: The Digital Force-Multiplier for Extremist Violence - GNET
gnet-research.org
October 31, 2025 at 1:22 PM
Reposted by Michael Loadenthal
Today we published the last of three articles investigating the exposed web server for the neo-Nazi magazine Rope Culture. We’re identifying several far-right figures involved, including a Canadian Nazi podcaster-turned-Orthodox priest, a Danish metal musician, and a notorious American pedophile.
“Rope Culture” propagandists exposed and emails explored: From Iron March leaks to FashyLeaks
Part III: Exploring the podcasts hosted on the site and sifting through the private emails found in the web server leak
decoherence.media
October 29, 2025 at 12:33 PM
Reposted by Michael Loadenthal
As part of our investigation into the Rope Culture web server, we created a search interface for Nazi forum scrapes and leaked databases called FashyLeaks. Currently it includes the Iron March and Rope Culture datasets, with many more to come.
We found the exposed web server of Rope Culture, a neo-Nazi online magazine from the same Nazis behind the notorious Iron March forum. It contains hundreds of email addresses of the site’s commenters, emails sent to & from their mail server & the IP address of every visit to the site.
Neo-Nazi “Rope Culture” Web Server Reveals the Structure and Culture of a Far-Right Network
Part I: The exposed web server of Rope Culture, a neo-Nazi online magazine, contains a trove of data for understanding the transnational far-right
decoherence.media
October 27, 2025 at 8:18 PM
Two very exciting security enhancements are coming down the pipes:

1. Apple's Memory Integrity Enforcement as defense against Pegasus and other advanced malware security.apple.com/blog/memory-...

2. Signal's Post-Quantum Ratchets as defense against quantum cryptanalysis signal.org/blog/spqr/

👍😀👍
Memory Integrity Enforcement: A complete vision for memory safety in Apple devices - Apple Security Research
Memory Integrity Enforcement (MIE) is the culmination of an unprecedented design and engineering effort spanning half a decade that combines the unique strengths of Apple silicon hardware with our adv...
security.apple.com
October 27, 2025 at 7:25 PM
Reposted by Michael Loadenthal
Decoherence Media is publishing the first article in our 3 part investigation of the leaked web server for Rope Culture, the in-house magazine of notorious Nazi forum Iron March. There are hundreds of new Nazi email addresses and comments for researchers and journalists to dig through.
We found the exposed web server of Rope Culture, a neo-Nazi online magazine from the same Nazis behind the notorious Iron March forum. It contains hundreds of email addresses of the site’s commenters, emails sent to & from their mail server & the IP address of every visit to the site.
Neo-Nazi “Rope Culture” Web Server Reveals the Structure and Culture of a Far-Right Network
Part I: The exposed web server of Rope Culture, a neo-Nazi online magazine, contains a trove of data for understanding the transnational far-right
decoherence.media
October 27, 2025 at 4:08 PM
Reposted by Michael Loadenthal
From @stevanzetti.bsky.social: In February, the Texas Observer confirmed that James “Jim” Joseph Rodden—an ICE assistant chief counsel in Dallas—operates a white supremacist X account. Now, ICE refuses to tell us, or members of Congress, if he's still employed.
ICE Still Won't Answer Questions About Prosecutor with White Supremacist X Account
Congressman Marc Veasey arrived at an ICE facility Monday in his latest attempt to follow up on the Observer's reporting.
www.texasobserver.org
October 26, 2025 at 3:00 PM
The first two were seen riverside in Cincinnati. The third…an ‘exchange’ about nazis, seemingly pro and con. (I’m assuming the ‘I’ was a second writer…)🤷

Notable rise in explicitly anti-nazi messaging in stuff I’m seeing.

Wonder why?
October 25, 2025 at 3:37 AM
Re, re-posting this because it’s great and @micahflee.com ‘s work is excellent.
I wrote about how to turn in-person meetings into Signal groups, how to manage large semi-public Signal groups while vetting new members, and how to sue announcement-only Signal groups, perfect for rapidly responding to ICE raids micahflee.com/using-signal...
Using Signal groups for activism
Things are heating up. Millions of people are taking to the streets against Trump's rising authoritarianism. Communities around the US are organizing to defend against ICE raids, to protest Israeli ge...
micahflee.com
October 25, 2025 at 2:23 AM
“Department of Homeland Security obtains first-known warrant targeting OpenAI for user prompts in ChatGPT…DHS has secured a federal search warrant ordering OpenAI to identify a user of ChatGPT and to produce the user’s prompts, as part of a child-exploitation investigation.“
OpenAI Ordered To Unmask ChatGPT User Behind 2 Prompts
Filed by child exploitation investigators with the DHS, the warrant reveals the government can ask OpenAI to provide information on anyone who enters specific prompts.
www.forbes.com
October 24, 2025 at 12:16 PM
Reposted by Michael Loadenthal
NEW: CU Boulder sophomore Nathaniel Ellis has been identified as a member of the white supremacist groups Patriot Front and Active Club.

Nathan is on the Executive Board for CU Boulder's Turning Point USA Chapter.

Read the full report: frontrangeantifa.noblogs.org/nathan-ellis/
October 22, 2025 at 12:57 AM
"...security researchers...curious about a scandal in the world of electronic safes: Liberty Safe...had apparently given the FBI a code that allowed agents to open a criminal suspect's safe in response to a warrant related to the Jan 6, 2021, invasion of the US Capitol."

archive.ph/202510090828...
archive.ph
October 20, 2025 at 11:10 PM
“the operation used around 42 types of "special cyberattack weapons" to infiltrate the National Time Service Center…disruption of network communications, financial systems and power supply…NSA exploited vulnerabilities in a foreign mobile phone brand's messaging system to steal sensitive info”
China claims the NSA conducted cyberattacks on its national time center
China's State Security Ministry accused the US' National Security Agency of a serious cyberattack operation.
www.engadget.com
October 19, 2025 at 8:59 PM
"Today’s ruling bans spyware maker NSO from ever targeting WhatsApp and our global users again...We applaud this decision that comes after six years of litigation to hold NSO accountable for targeting members of civil society."
US court orders spyware company NSO to stop targeting WhatsApp, reduces damages
A U.S. court has ordered Israel's NSO Group to stop targeting Meta Platforms' WhatsApp messaging service, a development the spyware company warned could put it out of business.
www.reuters.com
October 19, 2025 at 7:15 PM
“In August 2025, we learned a highly sophisticated nation-state threat actor maintained long-term, persistent access to, and downloaded files from, certain F5 systems.”

Nation-state
Long-term, persistent access

Not good.
myF5
my.f5.com
October 17, 2025 at 1:02 AM