Matt Blaze
@mattblaze.org
Scientist, safecracker, etc. McDevitt Professor of Computer Science and Law at Georgetown. So-called expert on election security and a few other things. Slow photographer. RF nerd. Occasionally blogs at https://mattblaze.org/blog
He seems to have blocked me. Or at least I never saw the post you quoted.
In any case, my advice remains the same: put up or shut up. If they have evidence to support their extraordinary claims, publish in a reputable peer-reviewed journal. Otherwise, not my (or anyone’s) job to “disprove” them.
In any case, my advice remains the same: put up or shut up. If they have evidence to support their extraordinary claims, publish in a reputable peer-reviewed journal. Otherwise, not my (or anyone’s) job to “disprove” them.
November 27, 2025 at 11:52 PM
He seems to have blocked me. Or at least I never saw the post you quoted.
In any case, my advice remains the same: put up or shut up. If they have evidence to support their extraordinary claims, publish in a reputable peer-reviewed journal. Otherwise, not my (or anyone’s) job to “disprove” them.
In any case, my advice remains the same: put up or shut up. If they have evidence to support their extraordinary claims, publish in a reputable peer-reviewed journal. Otherwise, not my (or anyone’s) job to “disprove” them.
Yeah, I'd find that definitely unsurprising.
November 24, 2025 at 3:52 AM
Yeah, I'd find that definitely unsurprising.
Weird Al's UHF was practically a documentary
November 23, 2025 at 5:50 AM
Weird Al's UHF was practically a documentary
For context: STL means "Studio-Transmitter Link", a UHF or microwave link between the broadcast studio (usually located downtown) and the (usually unstaffed) transmitter site (with a big tower somewhere, maybe on a hill). Pogramming is fed to the transmitter over the STL.
November 23, 2025 at 5:38 AM
For context: STL means "Studio-Transmitter Link", a UHF or microwave link between the broadcast studio (usually located downtown) and the (usually unstaffed) transmitter site (with a big tower somewhere, maybe on a hill). Pogramming is fed to the transmitter over the STL.
That said, I'll bet there are a fair number of AM and FM radio stations out there still using easily hijacked analog STLs. Probably none in the major markets, but there are a lot of small stations operating on shoestring budgets using old equipment.
November 23, 2025 at 5:33 AM
That said, I'll bet there are a fair number of AM and FM radio stations out there still using easily hijacked analog STLs. Probably none in the major markets, but there are a lot of small stations operating on shoestring budgets using old equipment.
One interesting question is whether there are any US TV broadcasters still using analog STLs (that would be vulbnable to the Max Headroom attack). I suspect that the switch to digital ATSC in the early 2000's pretty wll killed them off when broadcasters had to replace their transmitters.
November 23, 2025 at 5:26 AM
One interesting question is whether there are any US TV broadcasters still using analog STLs (that would be vulbnable to the Max Headroom attack). I suspect that the switch to digital ATSC in the early 2000's pretty wll killed them off when broadcasters had to replace their transmitters.
In particular, you're absolutely right that nothing can prepare you for this. Overwhelming doesn't begin to describe it.
November 23, 2025 at 3:02 AM
In particular, you're absolutely right that nothing can prepare you for this. Overwhelming doesn't begin to describe it.
Been there. Sympathies.
November 23, 2025 at 2:50 AM
Been there. Sympathies.
To be clear, it's Coperfied in the Epstein files.
November 23, 2025 at 2:37 AM
To be clear, it's Coperfied in the Epstein files.
If you can't see the beauty in this, we will never be able to be true friends.
November 22, 2025 at 10:17 PM
If you can't see the beauty in this, we will never be able to be true friends.
So whoever did it had an impressive amount of broadcasting knowledge and skill, had access to relatively esoteric gear, and did a deep research on the specific STL setups used by the two stations. And used all this capability to pointlessly goof around for a few minutes.
Beautiful.
Beautiful.
November 22, 2025 at 10:15 PM
So whoever did it had an impressive amount of broadcasting knowledge and skill, had access to relatively esoteric gear, and did a deep research on the specific STL setups used by the two stations. And used all this capability to pointlessly goof around for a few minutes.
Beautiful.
Beautiful.
The Max Headroom hack wasn't done by overwhelming the broadcast signal (which would require an extremely powerful transmitter), but rather by overwhelming the "studio transmitter link" that feeds programming to the transmitter. This is conceptually straightforward, but required meticulous planning.
November 22, 2025 at 10:11 PM
The Max Headroom hack wasn't done by overwhelming the broadcast signal (which would require an extremely powerful transmitter), but rather by overwhelming the "studio transmitter link" that feeds programming to the transmitter. This is conceptually straightforward, but required meticulous planning.
Less than a year later, we got the Morris worm, which, but for a few unfortunate bugs, could have been similar.
November 22, 2025 at 9:58 PM
Less than a year later, we got the Morris worm, which, but for a few unfortunate bugs, could have been similar.
Why is this my favorite hack of all time?
- It was harmless, but exploited and demonstrated a serious vulnerability
- The combination of technical sophistication and utterly juvenile content
- No one ever took credit or explained it. It was pure art
- It was harmless, but exploited and demonstrated a serious vulnerability
- The combination of technical sophistication and utterly juvenile content
- No one ever took credit or explained it. It was pure art
November 22, 2025 at 9:57 PM
Why is this my favorite hack of all time?
- It was harmless, but exploited and demonstrated a serious vulnerability
- The combination of technical sophistication and utterly juvenile content
- No one ever took credit or explained it. It was pure art
- It was harmless, but exploited and demonstrated a serious vulnerability
- The combination of technical sophistication and utterly juvenile content
- No one ever took credit or explained it. It was pure art
I'm a computer scientce and tech law law professor, and don't think I'd be able to put together an intellectually honest invited talk that avoided all those topics and words.
Pure madness.
Pure madness.
November 21, 2025 at 4:24 PM
I'm a computer scientce and tech law law professor, and don't think I'd be able to put together an intellectually honest invited talk that avoided all those topics and words.
Pure madness.
Pure madness.
Yes, benign idiocy is refreshing when it's in a sea of toxic idiocy.
November 21, 2025 at 2:07 AM
Yes, benign idiocy is refreshing when it's in a sea of toxic idiocy.