4 ms·

Probably worth considering here - if this was a state-sponsored attack, it's entirely possible (and exactly what I would do if I was running such a program) tha

by ufmace 3y ago

Probably worth considering here - if this was a state-sponsored attack, it's entirely possible (and exactly what I would do if I was running such a program) that there is one person or department actually writing the code and list messages etc, and another person or team who sits between that department and the internet and whose entire job is to ensure that everything that comes out from the development team takes place at actual times and with timestamps that are consistent with whatever story they're using for the project. Possibly even once in a while intentionally inserting a "mistake" to hint to investigators that the person's real location is another chosen place, which is also different from the real place where the project is being run.

bombcar 3y ago
Exactly. Once you assume that it’s more than “a lone wolf/single guy” many more things become possible. Including carefully curating things to appear in a location and to NOT appear to be more than one person.
- dotps1 3y ago
  Always .. however the holiday schedule thing does stand out as something that could have been missed by the orchestrators.
apantel 3y ago
This is the real point.
omoikane 3y ago
It's likely that there is a whole team behind this operation, and part of that team might include tasks such as "socially engineer XZ project to accept a maintainer of our choice." This was suggested in a different post[1], where there seem to be newly created accounts that came out of nowhere to create a sense of urgency, which might have accelerated the maintainer role transition. [1] https://connortumbleson.com/2024/03/31/watching-xz-unfold-from-afar/ https://connortumbleson.com/2024/03/31/watching-xz-unfold-fr... via: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39888854 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39888854 Search for "Progress will not happen until there is new maintainer" for the relevant text.

by ufmace 3y ago

bombcar 3y ago

Exactly. Once you assume that it’s more than “a lone wolf/single guy” many more things become possible. Including carefully curating things to appear in a location and to NOT appear to be more than one person.

dotps1 3y ago
Always .. however the holiday schedule thing does stand out as something that could have been missed by the orchestrators.

apantel 3y ago

This is the real point.

omoikane 3y ago

It's likely that there is a whole team behind this operation, and part of that team might include tasks such as "socially engineer XZ project to accept a maintainer of our choice." This was suggested in a different post[1], where there seem to be newly created accounts that came out of nowhere to create a sense of urgency, which might have accelerated the maintainer role transition. [1] https://connortumbleson.com/2024/03/31/watching-xz-unfold-from-afar/ https://connortumbleson.com/2024/03/31/watching-xz-unfold-fr... via: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39888854 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39888854 Search for "Progress will not happen until there is new maintainer" for the relevant text.