WIRED Roundup: Satellites Data Leak, Cybertrucks, Politicized Federal Workers

In today’s episode, Zoë Schiffer is joined by elder authorities writer Jake Lahut to tally done 5 stories that you request to cognize astir this week—from really satellites are leaking delicate information to what Zoë learned aft interviewing Cybertruck owners. Then, Zoë and Jake dive into really national workers ended up successful nan mediate of a governmental conflict that they didn’t motion themselves up for.

Mentioned successful this episode:
Satellites Are Leaking nan World’s Secrets: Calls, Texts, Military and Corporate Data by Andy Greenberg and Matt Burgess
A Plan to Rebuild Gaza Lists Nearly 30 Companies. Many Say They’re Not Involved by Caroline Haskins
A Quarter of nan CDC Is Gone by Emily Mullin
Spit On, Sworn At, and Undeterred: What It’s Like to Own a Cybertruck by Zoë Schiffer
Federal Workers Are Being Used arsenic Pawns successful nan Shutdown by Makena Kelly

You tin travel Zoë Schiffer connected Bluesky astatine @zoeschiffer and Jake Lahut connected Bluesky astatine @jakelahut. Write to america astatine uncannyvalley@wired.com.

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Transcript

Note: This is an automated transcript, which whitethorn incorporate errors.

Zoë Schiffer: Welcome to WIRED's Uncanny Valley. I'm WIRED's head of business and industry, Zoë Schiffer. Today connected nan show, we're bringing you 5 stories that you request to cognize astir this week, including really national workers are navigating layoffs and governmental interests successful nan continuing authorities shutdown. I'm joined coming by elder authorities writer Jake Lahut. Jake, invited backmost to Uncanny Valley.

Jake Lahut: Great to beryllium back, Zoë. And could I liking you successful a Cybertruck?

Zoë Schiffer: Oh my gosh, could you ever. We're going to talk astir that today. Our first story, however, is scarier than a Cybertruck mightiness I say. It's astir really satellites are leaking each kinds of accusation from regular calls and texts to subject and firm secrets. Our colleague, Andy Greenberg and Matt Burgess reported this week that a group of researchers from UC San Diego and nan University of Maryland recovered that astir half of outer signals are unprotected from anyone coming successful and conscionable eavesdropping.

Jake Lahut: Well, this is great. It's very bully to know, a classical Andy Greenberg communicative correct here. Also, if you want your afloat Andy Greenberg hole for this weekend, folks, you sewage to cheque retired this YouTube video he made astir hacking a poker paper shuffling machine. But what benignant of information are these satellites leaking exactly?

Zoë Schiffer: So nan researchers developed a beautiful humble off-the-shelf outer crockery that costs them $800 to build, and they group it up connected nan tile of a building astatine UC San Diego. For 3 years, they picked up nan communications from satellites that would walk done nan area by simply pointing astatine them and interpreting nan signals that were being received, and they assembled this beautiful alarming postulation of backstage data. So people's texts and calls from T-Mobile, cellular web information from passengers' in-flight Wi-Fi browsing, communications to and from captious infrastructure sites for illustration electrical utilities and offshore lipid and state platforms. And they moreover recovered immoderate US and Mexican subject and rule enforcement communications, which revealed nan locations of things for illustration Navy vessels.

Jake Lahut: If these guys could group a crockery up connected a tile and do it, you sewage to wonderment what overseas intelligence services would beryllium tin of doing. And it looks for illustration they warned these companies and organizations astir these leaks, and astir of them, including T-Mobile, moved quickly to encrypt those communications and protect nan data. But others, including immoderate owners of susceptible US captious infrastructure, whom nan researchers alerted much precocious and they declined to sanction those to WIRED, person yet to adhd encryption to their satellite-based systems. These researchers are pointing to nan surveillance dangers of these unencrypted outer connections before. This is not a fully, afloat caller thing, but nan standard and scope of nan caller disclosures look unrivaled. And I conscionable emotion nan thought that nan researchers themselves were genuinely amazed astatine uncovering this magnitude of information reasoning that it would beryllium encrypted. Do they travel up pinch immoderate different reasons to explicate it?

Zoë Schiffer: There are a fewer explanations arsenic to why each this accusation was disposable for anyone to access, but nan researchers agreed that nan main logic is because nan wide information strategy of a batch of world outer connection systems is conscionable hoping that nary 1 looks up to nan entity and checks retired their communications.

Jake Lahut: Oh my God.

Zoë Schiffer: Which successful fact, that's what nan researchers titled nan paper, it's called "Don't Look Up," which is simply a reference to nan 2021 movie arsenic well. I emotion really researchers sanction their papers. On a full broadside note, it's truthful funny and charming.

Jake Lahut: Honestly, it seems for illustration 1 of nan much nosy parts of nan job. I'm imagining successful my caput that it came pinch a spot of 1 of them losing their mind successful a gathering for illustration Leonardo DiCaprio connected aerial successful that movie, but.

Zoë Schiffer: Right. Moving connected to our adjacent story, and this one's from our workfellow Caroline Haskins, who reported this week astir this scheme to rebuild Gaza that was shared pinch Trump management officials. This scheme is fundamentally a transportation platform that lays retired an eager redevelopment scheme called nan GREAT Trust, which stands for Gaza Reconstitution Economic Acceleration and Transformation. But it's not conscionable a random transportation because again, it sewage circulated among nan Trump administration.

Jake Lahut: OK, OK. Nothing incorrect pinch a transportation platform successful theory, but I sewage a emotion that this is going to return a move and you're going to deed maine pinch a curveball correct here.

Zoë Schiffer: So nan transportation platform features nan names and logos of dozens of companies for illustration Tesla, IKEA, and Amazon. But nan point is, galore of these companies told WIRED that they had perfectly nary thought that this scheme moreover existed, and they're decidedly saying they're not involved.

Jake Lahut: And sewage to beryllium benignant of crazy learning from a reporter, our Caroline Haskins, that your institution has supposedly been signed up to rebuild a decimated Gaza has sewage to beryllium a spot anxiety-inducing, confusing?

Zoë Schiffer: I mean, capable truthful that they were consenting to contradict it connected record, which honestly I recovered very surprising. I was expecting a batch of crickets from this. But nan transportation platform was reportedly created by immoderate of nan businessmen who helped create nan arguable nonprofit, nan Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which is presently starring assistance distribution successful Gaza. The group has been criticized by organizations for illustration Doctors Without Borders for bypassing nan UN's existing systems for assistance distribution. And a erstwhile information contractor has besides alleged that nan foundation's contractor changeable astatine unarmed Palestinians. The instauration has denied these allegations, but arsenic you tin see, immoderate of nan group progressive successful nan group don't person a awesome reputation. And nan transportation deck, while a wholly abstracted thing, it conscionable doesn't look to thief matters.

Jake Lahut: And this mightiness look for illustration a transportation platform that's normal connected look value, but erstwhile you really commencement looking astatine it, and this is wherever Caroline's portion gets interesting, it doesn't really person immoderate relationship to nan reality connected nan crushed successful Gaza, and that's what we've seen pinch nan rhetoric from nan management truthful acold erstwhile they've talked astir this luxury redevelopment of Gaza. But past for nan existent group who unrecorded location and want to return to their homes, they're talking astir things like, "offer Gazans to spot their privately owned onshore successful nan spot successful speech for a integer token that gives them nan correct for a imperishable lodging unit." So Gaza is devastated, and we're not moreover talking astir existent money to rebuild your location aliases to relocate. And past much disturbingly successful this presentation, nan instauration would lead this "US-led multilateral custodianship" complete nan Gaza Strip. So that would fundamentally bring successful these backstage contractors to beryllium distributing assistance and run immoderate this would beryllium successful nan interim, successful coordination pinch nan Israeli Defense Forces.

Zoë Schiffer: I consciousness for illustration nan group who are proposing this scheme should person to unrecorded there. They should get a integer token and person nan backstage contractors support them safe.

Jake Lahut: Yeah, possibly Tony Blair tin salary for his instauration pinch integer tokens alternatively of Larry Ellison's money, and we'll spot really that goes.

Zoë Schiffer: We'll spot really this plays retired arsenic nan bid pact continues to unfold arsenic well. We're staying successful nan world of authorities for a small longer to concisely talk what's been going connected astatine nan US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which is amended known arsenic nan CDC. Our workfellow Emily Mullin reported that aft a caller information of layoffs this past weekend, nan employee's national estimates that astir a 4th of nan agency's workforce is now gone. This is putting together everyone who has been laid disconnected and those who person accepted nan buyout package offered by nan Trump management earlier this year, which you and I reported connected a batch of national labor person really taken.

Jake Lahut: These are layoffs successful a full big of roles crossed nan CDC, but it's beautiful concerning that location are very fewer near successful conscionable activity positions astatine nan CDC astatine nan moment. A erstwhile staffer told Emily that, "At nan highest level of activity astatine nan CDC, location are nary nationalist wellness aliases aesculapian professionals near to thief guideline CDC recommendations." And that's a recurring taxable that what we're seeing crossed nan shutdown is fundamentally this gutting pinch a fistful of group near successful complaint of really important teams aliases units aliases verticals pinch very fewer group near underneath them now, aliases successful this case, nan CDC we're conscionable talking astir fundamentally a decapitation of leadership. The elder unit resignations astatine nan CDC happened en masse aft Robert F. Kennedy, nan wellness caput fired CDC Director Susan Monarez. She told a Senate committee successful September that Kennedy demanded she motion disconnected connected this caller anti-vaccine recommendations that fundamentally were successful her words, "regardless of nan technological evidence," to beryllium utilized to disregard profession officials without cause. Basically, if you're not pinch nan programme of this anti-vax stuff, you're gone, and she would not abide.

Zoë Schiffer: Yeah, I mean, I was talking to personification earlier these caller layoffs who'd worked astatine nan CDC antecedently and had been beautiful progressive successful efforts to study nan effect of definite diseases aliases pandemics specifically connected pregnant populations, and this personification had told maine a while ago, that full squad was gone. They didn't person galore group successful spot anymore who could look astatine peculiarly susceptible populations from a wellness perspective, which I recovered beautiful sad and disturbing, but now, I mean, it's conscionable getting truthful overmuch worse. It's getting truthful overmuch worse.

Jake Lahut: And Russell Vought seems to beryllium rather happy astir each further type of this that keeps coming down nan pike, so.

Zoë Schiffer: Right. OK. We'll talk much astir these national layoffs and really they've affected different agencies excessively successful our adjacent segment. But earlier we spell to break, I've sewage a nosy and very tech bro scoop for you, Cybertrucks.

Jake Lahut: Yeah. Honestly, I should beryllium paying you to beryllium connected nan show today, Zoë, truthful show maine much astir it.

Zoë Schiffer: OK. Well, I recovered this communicative truthful charming because fundamentally our Features Director Reyhan had said, "Let's do a photograph effort of Cybertruck owners." And I was like, 'I unpaid arsenic tribute. I really want to do this." So I contacted a bunch of people, I was really going around, and erstwhile I saw Cybertrucks, I would time off small notes connected their car. Not a azygous personification ever responded to me, I was like.

Jake Lahut: Stalker behavior.

Zoë Schiffer: "OK, each right." But yet I sewage successful interaction pinch this feline who runs Cybertrucks Owners Only, which is this 50,000 personification Facebook group that's really, really active. And he, while very suspicious of nan media, for illustration galore Cybertrucks owners was like, "I'm game. If you travel to Palm Springs connected this weekend, we tin person a Cybertrucks meetup and you tin spell meet people, you tin return photos and question and reply them." I emotion reporting wherever your original thesis is wholly disproven successful nan people of nan reporting, and nan Cybertrucks owners really spot themselves arsenic nan victims of this campaign. They're being spit at, they're being targeted, group outcry that they're Nazis. And to a batch of group who I talk to, they don't spot their acquisition of this car arsenic astatine each political. They're like, "I conscionable for illustration nan car. It's a cool car, it's nosy and each of these crazy wide group are screaming astatine maine each day. I person my kids successful nan car and they're chasing aft maine calling maine a Nazi." The article came retired today, there's immoderate really cool photos. I'm funny to perceive what you thought.

Jake Lahut: OK. So first of all, I conscionable want to know, what are nan psychological profiles we're dealing pinch here? And past conscionable show maine astir what's going connected pinch these guys and their cars. It sounds for illustration some nan boys and nan cars are characters successful this story.

Zoë Schiffer: Yeah, I mean, to opportunity nan least, yeah, you really do person to cheque retired nan photos. But yeah, I mean, Michael Goldman, who runs nan Facebook group, he told maine this story. I was asking people, "What's nan craziest acquisition you've had while you're driving nan car?" And he told maine this communicative astir being successful a Whole Foods parking lot. He was dropping disconnected an Amazon package and a female near a statement connected his car that read, "This is an hold of your mini dick," and nan cars grounds 24/7. I besides didn't cognize this until he started talking to maine about, I was like, "This is why those group didn't respond to maine because they saw maine creepily stepping up to their car." Anyway, truthful he comes backmost to nan car, he sees nan note, he replays nan video and sees that it's really a female who's still successful her car crossed from him. And truthful he walks complete and he's like, "Hey, why did you constitute this?” And they get into this speech wherever she fundamentally says, according to him, that she thinks he's a Nazi and she finds what he's doing offensive. And he's like, "Well, my past sanction is Goldman, I'm Jewish." And she was like, "Oh, my woman is Jewish." And he was like, "Have you ever been profiled because you're gay?"

Jake Lahut: No.

Zoë Schiffer: And she was like, "Yes, I have." And he says she started crying and she apologized and he was like, "I'm a really large protagonist of nan LGBTQ organization successful Palm Springs, and truthful nan thought that I was being called a Nazi aliases personification insinuating that I'm homophobic was really offensive," and they had this reconciliation correct location successful nan Whole Foods parking lot.

Jake Lahut: Wow. God bless America.

Zoë Schiffer: I know. I talked to different man who was really amazed that group find nan car to beryllium political. And really past during truth checking, it came retired that this personification was arrested and pled blameworthy to obstructing an charismatic proceeding successful nan January 6th onslaught connected nan Capitol, but he was later pardoned by President Trump.

Jake Lahut: It each useful retired for nan J6ers successful nan end.

Zoë Schiffer: It does. Yeah. The article came out, I wasn't judge really nan Cybertruck boys were going to consciousness astir it, but everyone was very, very affirmative and excited. I person a group matter pinch a batch of them now, but past I person gotten immoderate really chaotic emails this greeting from group being like, "I'm canceling my WIRED subscription. How situation you question and reply a Nazi? This is pathetic."

Jake Lahut: I mean, look, location are group successful this state wherever authorities is conscionable not a ascendant changeless successful their lives.

Zoë Schiffer: Right.

Jake Lahut: But besides Zoë, person you ever heard of nan word partisan sorting?

Zoë Schiffer: Ooh, no, I person not.

Jake Lahut: I felt for illustration erstwhile I was reference your Cybertruck portion that it's very overmuch adjacent to this concept, only you're looking astatine nan underbelly of it, which is fundamentally that arsenic American authorities person go much polarized, our purchases person besides started to autumn on partisan ideological lines. So for example, nan Cybertruck is conscionable a awesome stand-in wherever you would presume if you spot 1 that these guys person sewage to beryllium Elon Musk fans, aliases if you spot personification driving a pickup truck, you assume, OK, they're astir apt a Republican. You spot personification successful a Prius, you're going to presume they astir apt ballot for Democrats, right? And you commencement to get to nan constituent wherever conscionable these small user signifiers, nan Lululemon pants aliases nan Stanley mug, they thin to bespeak subconsciously to people, and there's investigation that backs this up that they are mostly skewing to group who ballot 1 measurement aliases another. But this communicative was conscionable incredible, Zoë, I really... I'm besides conscionable struck by, one, you made a batch of friends on nan measurement it seems, but besides nan measurement that these folks look to beryllium genuinely going done it for really nan nationalist perceives this acquisition that they were conscionable really excited astir astatine 1 point.

Zoë Schiffer: I deliberation that's what I recovered truthful delightful and charming again, I deliberation it's ever really nosy erstwhile your mind is changed successful nan people of reporting. I get that a batch of WIRED readers person their preconceived ideas and they recovered nan reporting offensive. But for maine personally, it's for illustration if you conscionable bought nan Cybertruck because you thought it was a cool sci-fi looking car, and past each of a abrupt group are screaming that you're a Nazi connected nan thoroughfare to you, you're like, "Those group look unwell, for illustration I'm wholly fine."

Jake Lahut: And I deliberation immoderate of our listeners retired location mightiness want to retrieve nan Marc Maron-ism, a half superior joke he told that progressives astatine times whitethorn person irritated nan remainder of nan mediate of nan state into fascism, truthful you conscionable sewage to sometimes cheque yourself connected that.

Zoë Schiffer: Coming up aft nan break, we'll dive into really national workers are uncovering themselves successful nan mediate of a governmental large wind during this latest authorities shutdown. Welcome backmost to Uncanny Valley. I'm Zoë Schiffer. I'm joined coming by Senior Writer Jake Lahut. OK, Jake, let's dive into our main story. And this 1 comes from our colleague, Makena Kelly, who published successful your newsletter Inner Loop this week. She wrote that national workers are trying to navigate a caller batch of layoffs and ongoing governmental pressures during nan ongoing authorities shutdown. Jake, what has been going connected here?

Jake Lahut: Makena sewage immoderate unthinkable quotes successful this story, which I would conscionable urge reference each nan measurement through, but here's what we're looking at. So arsenic of July, much than 150,000 national workers had resigned from their roles since President Trump took agency for nan 2nd word according to nan Washington Post. We sewage tens of thousands who've besides been fired complete nan arc of DOGE and afterwards, and for nan past fewer months, it seemed for illustration this bloodletting was mostly over, nan national authorities was really trying to bring group back, but that each changed connected Friday. Suddenly, erstwhile this authorities shutdown is successful afloat plaything and there's this hold and spot play wherever are these layoffs, what we'll telephone RIFs, reductions successful force, erstwhile are they going to happen? Russell Vought promised them successful nan first mates days of nan shutdown, they didn't happen. Then we get to Friday and thousands of labor astatine 8 authorities agencies were subjected to these RIFs and nan government's general process for laying disconnected workers during a shutdown. Now, according to a tribunal filing from nan Office of Management and Budget, OMB, connected Friday, this latest information of firings has affected already much than 4,000 national employees. These RIFs look to beryllium pronunciation retired a quiet rewrite of nan administrative authorities and nan cuts targeted offices and programs that attraction peculiarly connected nationalist health, lodging grants, homelessness programs, typical acquisition programs, and biology cleanup.

Zoë Schiffer: That's already beautiful scary, but this isn't moreover nan first dispute and overtly governmental move that national workers person faced during this authorities shutdown, right?

Jake Lahut: Yeah. In nan weeks since nan shutdown began, nan management has fundamentally hijacked these authorities websites aliases moreover labor retired of agency emails, which we've reported on. We've had airdrome screens wherever Kristi Noem will abruptly look and blasted Democrats for nan cuts while you're conscionable stuck waiting successful statement astatine TSA. This is going each nan measurement backmost to that fork successful nan roadworthy email that Elon Musk and each these employees, wherever nan vibe Makena captures successful this communicative is conscionable this consciousness of changeless dread, and humiliation successful a batch of ways that these national workers are going done erstwhile they could beryllium making much money successful nan backstage sector. They're dedicated to their service. They're not partisan actors aliases thing for illustration that, but they're really going done it correct now.

Zoë Schiffer: Yeah, honestly, it's giving Cybertruck a small spot pinch really overmuch group presume that everyone has nan aforesaid hardline governmental ideology that they do, aliases they presume they person a hardline governmental ideology erstwhile successful fact, astir of nan state is conscionable not political. In nan lawsuit of national employees, of people it's not because they're not paying attraction for illustration astir people, it's that they've conscionable worked done galore different administrations and their occupation is inherently apolitical, aliases astatine slightest they consciousness it was. But it's clear that these layoffs are a displacement from nan first DOGE strategy of reducing labor crossed agencies without immoderate clear reasons different than nan instruction of making cuts and redeeming money-

Jake Lahut: For cut's sake, right.

Zoë Schiffer: Exactly. So these caller cuts you mentioned look targeted to what nan existent administration's calls "Democratic priorities." So which strategy present should we beryllium much worried about?

Jake Lahut: I deliberation that nan slash and pain attack of DOGE 1.0, if you want to telephone it that, that leads to each these 2nd and 3rd bid effects wherever nan group progressive wouldn't really understand that if you get free of this swath of people, that intends that XYZ things can't aliases won't happen. And location still are versions of that pinch this approach. And I'm not saying that it's amended per se, but intelligibly nether Vought, there's much thought going into it? And that's nan wide rap connected him erstwhile I talk to my sources successful nan White House, which is that Vought is conscionable fundamentally a much savvy usability and much strategical than Elon was. So they're fundamentally saying he's much focused and he thinks this worldly done a small more. Now, nan mobility is erstwhile they opportunity they're cutting these for Democratic priorities, is that going to construe to what nan wide nationalist will perceive erstwhile thing involving an agency that they didn't moreover cognize affected their lives abruptly stops working? And I deliberation that remains to beryllium seen.

Zoë Schiffer: Right. OK, truthful really are national workers navigating this moment? What are group connected nan authorities table hearing?

Jake Lahut: This is simply a chaotic recurring taxable from this shutdown, and moreover erstwhile we were reporting connected nan first 1 that national labor are successful immoderate ways nan astir clear-eyed and often successful favour of astatine slightest personification calling attraction to what's going connected pinch nan gutting of nan national authorities truthful we had labor reaching retired to Makena connected LinkedIn. They were reaching retired to her connected Signal, and they're looking for immoderate benignant of clarity from her astir whether they'd still person a occupation successful nan coming weeks, and they were conscionable hoping she would person immoderate accusation from different portion of nan agency aliases immoderate astir whether these RIFs are coming. And 1 of these folks told McKenna, "So tired of being utilized arsenic a pawn." This is this personification astatine nan IRS who says, “Is WIRED hiring?”

Zoë Schiffer: It's acheronian erstwhile you're trying to spell activity successful media, famously, nan manufacture that's been dying for longer than nan national government.

Jake Lahut: And we actually, we typically are, we do person a features position, a features editor position, and different investigative newsman domiciled unfastened but-

Zoë Schiffer: That's true.

Jake Lahut: ... a small precocious successful nan crippled for this personification to propulsion their chapeau successful for that unfortunately. We wish them nan best.

Zoë Schiffer: That's our show for today. We'll nexus to each nan stories we said astir successful nan show notes. Make judge to cheque retired Thursday's section of Uncanny Valley, which is astir really a history professor had to fly nan US aft acold correct influencers targeted him. Adriana Tapia and Mark Lyda produced this episode. Amar Lal astatine Macrosound mixed this episode. Pran Bandi is our New York workplace engineer. Kate Osborn is our executive producer. Condé Nast caput of world audio is Chris Bannon, and Katie Drummond is WIRED's world editorial director.