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single-format-standard\" id=\"readabilityBody\"> <a href=\"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/cult-of-the-dead-cow-veilid\/#main\" class=\"skip-to-content-link visually-hidden-focusable\">Skip to main content<\/a> <\/p>\n<div class=\"ad ad--top ad--top-desktop\">\n<div class=\"ad__inner\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Advertisement<\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p> <main id=\"main\" role=\"main\" tabindex=\"-1\"> <\/p>\n<div class=\"ad ad--top ad--top-mobile\">\n<div class=\"ad__inner\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Advertisement<\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<section id=\"stickybar\" class=\"stickybar stickybar--newsletter js-stickybar\" readability=\"0.82\"> <button class=\"stickybar__close js-stickybar-close\" aria-controls=\"stickybar\"> <svg class=\"icon icon--close\" width=\"21\" height=\"22\" viewBox=\"0 0 21 22\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"m.822.518-.805.805L9.695 11 .017 20.678l.805.805 9.678-9.678 9.677 9.678.806-.805L11.305 11l9.678-9.677-.806-.805-9.677 9.677L.822.518Z\" fill=\"currentColor\" \/><\/svg> <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Close<\/span> <\/button> <\/section>\n<article class=\"single-article content\">\n<div class=\"single-article__container js-single-article-content\">\n<header class=\"single-article__header \" readability=\"23.603238866397\">\n<div class=\"single-article__header-content\" readability=\"28.757142857143\">\n<ul class=\"single-article__eyebrow\">\n<li class=\"single-article__category\"> <a class=\"single-article__category-link\" href=\"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/news\/technology\/\"> <span>Technology<\/span> <\/a> <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p> The “original hacking supergroup” is trying to design tools to rebuild the internet from the ground up. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"single-article__cover-wrap\">\n<figure class=\"single-article__cover\"> <img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" fetchpriority=\"high\" width=\"640\" height=\"428\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/how-the-cult-of-the-dead-cow-plans-to-save-the-internet.jpg?resize=640%2C428&ssl=1\" class=\"single-article__cover-image wp-post-image\" alt decoding=\"async\" fetchpriority=\"high\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/how-the-cult-of-the-dead-cow-plans-to-save-the-internet-1.jpg 1920w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/how-the-cult-of-the-dead-cow-plans-to-save-the-internet-1.jpg?resize=300,200 300w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/how-the-cult-of-the-dead-cow-plans-to-save-the-internet-1.jpg?resize=768,513 768w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/how-the-cult-of-the-dead-cow-plans-to-save-the-internet-1.jpg?resize=1024,684 1024w, https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/how-the-cult-of-the-dead-cow-plans-to-save-the-internet-1.jpg?resize=1536,1026 1536w, 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(Getty Images) <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"single-article__content\">\n<div class=\"single-article__content-inner has-drop-cap\"> <html readability=\"72.306020791221\"><body readability=\"145.88285130003\"><\/p>\n<p>The modern internet is a terrible, no-good privacy nightmare and we should probably start over. At least that\u2019s the argument that spawned the latest project from the Cult of the Dead Cow.<\/p>\n<p>While the internet is made up of more than Facebook, Google and the app formerly known as Twitter, these platforms make up the bulk of the internet as most users experience it, and the advertising-based business models of these firms means that privacy features are often a mere tool in delivering highly targeted advertising. <\/p>\n<p>This is what the hacking collective the Cult of the Dead Cow wants to change with a project they\u2019re calling Veilid, which is a foundation for software developers to build apps with privacy as the default.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe exist to develop, distribute and maintain a privacy-focused communication platform and protocol for the purpose of defending human and civil rights,\u201d Christien \u201cDilDog\u201d Rioux, a Cult of the Dead Cow (cDc) member and a co-founder of the security software Veracode, said at a launch event at the DEF CON hacking conference last month.<\/p>\n<div class=\"ad ad--inline_1 \">\n<div class=\"ad__inner\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Advertisement<\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Known as the <a href=\"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/cult-of-the-dead-cow-joseph-menn-book-review\/\">\u201coriginal hacking supergroup,\u201d<\/a> the cDc has a long history of building technical tools aimed at preserving user privacy and security. Veilid represents its first major project in more than a decade. <\/p>\n<p>It also may be its most ambitious.<\/p>\n<p>Veilid aims to replace the advertising giants that run social media platforms with an alternative suite of open-source, serverless, peer-to-peer and mobile-first applications. By creating an application framework that puts privacy first, Veilid tries to put tools in the hands of developers to let them build applications with a fundamentally different ethos than today\u2019s advertising-driven internet economy.<\/p>\n<p>The project began roughly four years ago, when Rioux approached Katelyn \u201cMedusfour\u201d Bowden about a project to create a new private social media and messaging service. Rioux had most of the technical details figured out but worried about how to address the safety concerns of developing tools to build encrypted, surveillance resistant applications.<\/p>\n<p>Bowden is the founder of BADASS, an advocacy group that works against non-consensual pornography, and said that the elimination of the profit motive is key to ensuring safety for applications built using Veilid. \u201cWe cannot have a profit motive because once you enter a profit motive into the equation, that\u2019s when trust and safety falls apart. That\u2019s when you start having to appease VCs or investors,\u201d Bowden said. <\/p>\n<div class=\"ad ad--inline_1 \">\n<div class=\"ad__inner\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Advertisement<\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>The project exists as part of the non-profit Veilid Foundation, which is made up of Rioux, Bowden, and Paul Miller, a community organizer and privacy advocate. \u201cWe have no intention of setting up a corporation. We have no intention of making any money. None of us want to quit our day jobs. We just want to make something that is cool,\u201d Bowden said. <\/p>\n<p>Following Elon Musk\u2019s purchase of Twitter last year, a slew of alternatives to the bird app have tried to replace the platform. Protocols like ActivityPub for Mastodon and AT Protocol for Bluesky Social aim for a decentralized design, with users having to pick a server to post in. (Bluesky only has one main server at the moment but that is planned to change in the future.) But these decentralized networks have struggled to break through into the mainstream, even if they have caught on among technically oriented communities.<\/p>\n<p>The difficulty of using Mastodon, for example, spawned <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/technology\/2022\/12\/17\/how-to-join-mastodon\/\">a deluge<\/a> of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theverge.com\/23519279\/mastodon-instance-follow-friend\">how-to articles<\/a> to <a href=\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/2023\/07\/24\/what-is-mastodon\/\">help users not familiar<\/a> with a \u201cfederated\u201d social media application get up to speed. The successful launch of Meta\u2019s Threads \u2014 which saw 10 million users sign up in the first seven hours \u2014 only illustrated the importance of ease of use. Signing up for Threads only required an Instagram account and tapping a few buttons; Mastodon required a bit of dedicated reading. <\/p>\n<p>Despite its initial success, the number of active users on Threads has <a href=\"http:\/\/cnn.com\/2023\/08\/03\/tech\/threads-user-count-falls\/index.html\">declined precipitously<\/a> since launch, perhaps illustrating that there remains space for a bona fide Twitter competitor to emerge after Musk\u2019s acquisition of the platform. <\/p>\n<p>That leaves the proverbial grandfather who only knows about Google and Facebook with few options for tools that preserve privacy. \u201cAll of us that know better and want to be off of Facebook are still on there because our grandparents and aunts or uncles are still there,\u201d Bowden said.<\/p>\n<div class=\"ad ad--inline_1 \">\n<div class=\"ad__inner\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Advertisement<\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>The Signal protocol and chat app is one example where an app that began as tool a focused on tech-savvy users, journalists and activists know has gained more widespread adoption, in part thanks to its ease of use. <\/p>\n<p>Where Veilid is different is that it is not single-purpose software. One can use Mastadon for social media, Signal for chat and calls, Keybase as a sort of Slack replacement, not to mention the plethora of self-hosted projects found on Github. But developers for many of these projects have to figure out the privacy and security components themselves. And while many of the high-profile applications like Signal and Keybase have white papers on their security and privacy methods, not every developer has the desire, skill or time to painstakingly document their software.<\/p>\n<p>Veilid tries to build a foundation for developers to build apps where privacy is the default. Whether it\u2019s a peer-to-peer messenger, social media or a storage app, \u201cthe possibilities here are endless,\u201d Bowden said in announcing the project at DEF CON.<\/p>\n<p>The project is aiming to release its first flagship application, <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/dildog\/status\/1705043351295156375?s=20\">VeilidChat<\/a>, in the coming months.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is not only about the code and the tech, but it\u2019s about the people,\u201d Bowden said. We\u2019re making hacktivism available to everyone. My mother can join our Discord and present an idea and get involved,\u201d Bowden said.<\/p>\n<div class=\"ad ad--inline_1 \">\n<div class=\"ad__inner\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Advertisement<\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>The keystone of the project is the community being built around the framework. Veilid <a href=\"https:\/\/veilid.com\/discord\">launched a Discord server<\/a>, and new users have been flooding in with ideas, small projects and other contributions to the framework. Among the early projects are a <a href=\"https:\/\/gitlab.com\/veilid\/python-demo\">python-based chat demonstration<\/a>, a <a href=\"https:\/\/gitlab.com\/bramleya\/vpasta.lol\">paste-bin equivalent<\/a> and an ASCII Star Wars.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><\/figure>\n<p>Open-source development is probably most known for the communities it creates, but many of them are made up only of programmers, which can exclude the less tech-savvy from influencing the products they use.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf somebody is not necessarily technical, but they have wanted to have a say in how their internet works, they have an interest in privacy, we would love to have them join the Discord,\u201d Bowden said. \u201cWe want people that aren\u2019t technical. I want regular people in there, so that they can find themselves in a situation where they get to have a say in how apps are built.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><\/body> <\/p>\n<footer class=\"single-article__footer\">\n<div class=\"single-article__tags-container\">\n<h4 class=\"single-article__tags-title\">In This Story<\/h4>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/footer>\n<p> <\/html><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"single-article__ads js-single-article-sidebar\">\n<div class=\"ad ad--sidebar js-single-article-sidebar-5 ad--rightrail_1 \">\n<div class=\"ad__inner\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Advertisement<\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ad ad--sidebar js-single-article-sidebar-4 ad--rightrail_2 \">\n<div class=\"ad__inner\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Advertisement<\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ad ad--sidebar js-single-article-sidebar-3 ad--rightrail_3 \">\n<div class=\"ad__inner\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Advertisement<\/span> 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{"id":1768,"date":"2023-09-25T15:44:20","date_gmt":"2023-09-25T15:44:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cyberscoop.com\/?p=77244"},"modified":"2023-09-25T15:44:20","modified_gmt":"2023-09-25T15:44:20","slug":"how-the-cult-of-the-dead-cow-plans-to-save-the-internet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/2023\/09\/25\/how-the-cult-of-the-dead-cow-plans-to-save-the-internet\/","title":{"rendered":"How the Cult of the Dead Cow plans to save the internet"},"content":{"rendered":"