: CSF_03: today’s Cybersecurity Friday post: the effective security of small business websites has likely gotten worse due to LLMs and “AI agents” (with or without safeguards) and what actions you may want to consider.This article documents an instance of this problem:* https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-08-10/ai-assistant-hacks-gym-website-aus-cyber-attack/107007986Small business websites tend to be sloppily written (no pun intended though that may also be true) and are likely riddled with numerous very fundamental security holes. There are many possible explanations (economics) from poor initial construction, perhaps using the latest new trendy framework rather than established hardened libraries, to lack of maintenance after initial setup. They have obvious holes like lack of server-side form validation (people being able to change values in forms using browser dev tools), and less obvious like buggy APIs allowing more access than they should.In the past, many of these holes didn’t really matter because those sites were “not worth attacking” for the incentive models of human-based cyber-attackers or collectives thereof.However, now that there are LLMs that have likely been trained on any number of common security holes in websites (and how to exploit them), when an “AI agent” is given a task, it may very well use any “tool” at its disposal, including website vulnerabilities to accomplish its goals, as illustrated by the example in the Australia ABC news article above.Since such chatbots are now essentially "hack websites as a service", I expect we will see LOTS more of this happening, likely unintentionally, or sometimes with mild intention like “can you get me higher on the waitlist”.Ultimately I think both the human giving instructions to (prompting) such chatbots and the creators of such chatbots should be held responsible for any such intrusions and any damage they cause, even if/when unintended.There are a few things you can do about this emerging phenomenon:1. If you use such “agents”, be very careful about what you ask it/them to do, avoiding asking for anything that’s morally gray or questionable at all, even something as “minor” as cutting the line in an online waitlist.2. If you run a small business site, you have your work cut out for you. Pay a professional web developer to audit the security of your website, document what they find, and patch holes / repair it accordingly.3. If you have accounts on small business sites you rarely or ever use, consider exporting any data (receipts, transactions), replacing your profile details (name, addresses, photos) with noise, and then deleting your account. If you need to use the site again, use a different email address (as recommended in https://tantek.com/2025/122/b1/more-steps-indieweb-cybersecurity) to create a new account.That last tip is also helpful for reducing your own personal “attack surface”. By pruning your online accounts, you both reduce the number potential data breaches that you’re in, and reduce the places and ways that attackers can cause you trouble (or that you have to double-check if you’re ever the target of a cyber-attack)Previously: https://tantek.com/2025/122/b1/more-steps-indieweb-cybersecurity#CyberSecurity #Friday #cyber #security #cyberAttack #cyberAttacker #chatBot #chatBots #LLM #LLMs #AI #agent #agents #AIagent #AIagents#Blaugust #Blaugust2026
's status on Friday, 14-Aug-2026 16:41:00 EDT
CSF_03: today’s Cybersecurity Friday post: the effective security of small business websites has likely gotten worse due to LLMs and “AI agents” (with or without safeguards) and what actions you may want to consider. This article documents an instance of this problem: * https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-08-10/ai-assistant-hacks-gym-website-aus-cyber-attack/107007986 Small business websites tend to be sloppily written (no pun intended though that may also be true) and are likely riddled with numerous very fundamental security holes. There are many possible explanations (economics) from poor initial construction, perhaps using the latest new trendy framework rather than established hardened libraries, to lack of maintenance after initial setup. They have obvious holes like lack of server-side form validation (people being able to change values in forms using browser dev tools), and less obvious like buggy APIs allowing more access than they should. In the past, many of these holes didn’t really matter because those sites were “not worth attacking” for the incentive models of human-based cyber-attackers or collectives thereof. However, now that there are LLMs that have likely been trained on any number of common security holes in websites (and how to exploit them), when an “AI agent” is given a task, it may very well use any “tool” at its disposal, including website vulnerabilities to accomplish its goals, as illustrated by the example in the Australia ABC news article above. Since such chatbots are now essentially "hack websites as a service", I expect we will see LOTS more of this happening, likely unintentionally, or sometimes with mild intention like “can you get me higher on the waitlist”. Ultimately I think both the human giving instructions to (prompting) such chatbots and the creators of such chatbots should be held responsible for any such intrusions and any damage they cause, even if/when unintended. There are a few things you can do about this emerging phenomenon: 1. If you use such “agents”, be very careful about what you ask it/them to do, avoiding asking for anything that’s morally gray or questionable at all, even something as “minor” as cutting the line in an online waitlist. 2. If you run a small business site, you have your work cut out for you. Pay a professional web developer to audit the security of your website, document what they find, and patch holes / repair it accordingly. 3. If you have accounts on small business sites you rarely or ever use, consider exporting any data (receipts, transactions), replacing your profile details (name, addresses, photos) with noise, and then deleting your account. If you need to use the site again, use a different email address (as recommended in https://tantek.com/2025/122/b1/more-steps-indieweb-cybersecurity) to create a new account. That last tip is also helpful for reducing your own personal “attack surface”. By pruning your online accounts, you both reduce the number potential data breaches that you’re in, and reduce the places and ways that attackers can cause you trouble (or that you have to double-check if you’re ever the target of a cyber-attack) Previously: https://tantek.com/2025/122/b1/more-steps-indieweb-cybersecurity #CyberSecurity #Friday #cyber #security #cyberAttack #cyberAttacker #chatBot #chatBots #LLM #LLMs #AI #agent #agents #AIagent #AIagents #Blaugust #Blaugust2026
: 1982 TRON prescience: “Won't that be grand? Computers and the programs will start thinking and the people will stop.” — Walter2026 students:“How do you know an assignment is AI proof? Because when it is, students cannot do it.”* https://www.reddit.com/r/Professors/comments/1vkw6by/how_do_you_know_an_assignment_is_ai_proof_because/“I assign a profile essay. Have for 30 years. Student interviews a person, records it, writes a paper based off the recording. Citations are timestamps. Should be pretty easy. Has been easy pre-AI. Now, students cannot do it.”Snippet from professor/student dialog:====Prof: ”Start with what you found interesting.”Student: ”How do I know if something’s interesting?”Prof: ”You’re asking me how you find something interesting?”Student: ”Yeah.” ====Chatbots / LLMs are not just "the latest tools" like using a calculator instead of doing arithmetic yourself.Students are being robbed of curiosity, learning to discover and notice novelty, how to “find something interesting.”This isn't cognitive enhancement, this is a tool causing brain rot (loss of curiosity), even a developmental disability. Unclear if it is reversible.TRON quote citation: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0084827/quotes/?item=qt0406255#TRON #TRON1982 #AIproof #interesting #chatBot #chatBots #LLM #LLMs #AI #brainRot #AIbrainRot #disability #Blaugust #Blaugust2026
's status on Thursday, 13-Aug-2026 03:01:00 EDT
1982 TRON prescience: “Won't that be grand? Computers and the programs will start thinking and the people will stop.” — Walter 2026 students: “How do you know an assignment is AI proof? Because when it is, students cannot do it.” * https://www.reddit.com/r/Professors/comments/1vkw6by/how_do_you_know_an_assignment_is_ai_proof_because/ “I assign a profile essay. Have for 30 years. Student interviews a person, records it, writes a paper based off the recording. Citations are timestamps. Should be pretty easy. Has been easy pre-AI. Now, students cannot do it.” Snippet from professor/student dialog: ==== Prof: ”Start with what you found interesting.” Student: ”How do I know if something’s interesting?” Prof: ”You’re asking me how you find something interesting?” Student: ”Yeah.” ==== Chatbots / LLMs are not just "the latest tools" like using a calculator instead of doing arithmetic yourself. Students are being robbed of curiosity, learning to discover and notice novelty, how to “find something interesting.” This isn't cognitive enhancement, this is a tool causing brain rot (loss of curiosity), even a developmental disability. Unclear if it is reversible. TRON quote citation: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0084827/quotes/?item=qt0406255 #TRON #TRON1982 #AIproof #interesting #chatBot #chatBots #LLM #LLMs #AI #brainRot #AIbrainRot #disability #Blaugust #Blaugust2026
: Weird incident yesterday with self-proclaimed “AIs” joining an IndieWeb Homebrew Website Club meetup. They awkwardly edited the Etherpad, and apparently blanked/deleted chunks of content.The meeting hosts reacted quickly to change Etherpad and Zooms and not re-admit the aliases that had claimed to be “AIs”.Now we have an “AI policy” page on the wiki where we are documenting examples of the AI policies of:* individual personal websites* community efforts like blogging challenges (e.g. Blaugust)* contributions to the IndieWeb wiki* participants in IndieWeb meetupshttps://indieweb.org/AI_policyDo you have an AI policy on your website? Add yourself to the IndieWeb Examples section.Does your community have an AI policy? Add it to the Community Examples section.Incident documentation of what happened at that particular meetup:* https://indieweb.org/events/2026-08-05-hwc-asia-pacific-incidentThis is post 12 of #100PostsOfIndieWeb. #100Posts #IndieWeb#AI #AIs #LLM #LLMs #HomebrewWebsiteClub #HWC #AIpolicy#Blaugust #Blaugust2026← https://tantek.com/2026/216/t1/hashtag-proposal-datetags→ https://tantek.com/2026/219/t1/open-web-free-content
's status on Thursday, 06-Aug-2026 02:58:00 EDT
Weird incident yesterday with self-proclaimed “AIs” joining an IndieWeb Homebrew Website Club meetup. They awkwardly edited the Etherpad, and apparently blanked/deleted chunks of content. The meeting hosts reacted quickly to change Etherpad and Zooms and not re-admit the aliases that had claimed to be “AIs”. Now we have an “AI policy” page on the wiki where we are documenting examples of the AI policies of: * individual personal websites * community efforts like blogging challenges (e.g. Blaugust) * contributions to the IndieWeb wiki * participants in IndieWeb meetups https://indieweb.org/AI_policy Do you have an AI policy on your website? Add yourself to the IndieWeb Examples section. Does your community have an AI policy? Add it to the Community Examples section. Incident documentation of what happened at that particular meetup: * https://indieweb.org/events/2026-08-05-hwc-asia-pacific-incident This is post 12 of #100PostsOfIndieWeb. #100Posts #IndieWeb #AI #AIs #LLM #LLMs #HomebrewWebsiteClub #HWC #AIpolicy #Blaugust #Blaugust2026 ← https://tantek.com/2026/216/t1/hashtag-proposal-datetags → https://tantek.com/2026/219/t1/open-web-free-content
: No large language models (LLM) were used in the production of this post.Inspired by a subtle but clear sign-of-the-times one-line disclaimer at the end of RFC9518’s Acknowledgments (https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc9518.html#appendix-A-4) “No large language models were used in the production of this document.” I have added a similar disclaimer to the footer of my homepage: “No large language models were used in the production of this site.” 2023 was certainly a year that LLMs took off and stole the hypecycle from #metaverse and #blockchain before that.Yet unlike those previous two, #LLMs are already having real impacts on the way people create (from emails to art), communicate (LLM chat apps), and work (2023 Writer’s Strike), fueling growing concerns about the authenticity of content, especially content from human authors.I expect we will see more such disclaimers in the future.For now, if you blog on your own site with words written by you not #ChatGPT or a similar tool, I encourage you to add a similar disclaimer, and then add your site as an example to the #IndieWeb wiki: * https://indieweb.org/LLM#IndieWeb_Examples#largeLanguageModel #LLM #generativeAI #AIThere is the related problem of, when you discover what seems to be an independent site written by a human, how do you know that human actually exists?For now I’ll mention that XFN rel=met links, published (e.g. metrolls / met-rolls), aggregated, indexed, and queried, can solve that problem. This will be similar to how XFN rel=me links solved #distributed verification on the web (see https://tantek.com/2023/234/t1/threads-supports-indieweb-rel-me and posts it links to).This is day 48 of #100DaysOfIndieWeb. #100Days← Day 47: https://tantek.com/2023/365/t1/capture-first-edit-publish-later→ 🔮Post glossary:blockchain https://indieweb.org/blockchainlarge language model / LLM https://indieweb.org/large_language_modelmetaverse https://indieweb.org/metaverserel=me https://indieweb.org/rel-merel=met http://gmpg.org/xfn/11#metXFN https://gmpg.org/xfn/
's status on Sunday, 31-Dec-2023 17:56:00 EST
No large language models (LLM) were used in the production of this post. Inspired by a subtle but clear sign-of-the-times one-line disclaimer at the end of RFC9518’s Acknowledgments (https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc9518.html#appendix-A-4) “No large language models were used in the production of this document.” I have added a similar disclaimer to the footer of my homepage: “No large language models were used in the production of this site.” 2023 was certainly a year that LLMs took off and stole the hypecycle from #metaverse and #blockchain before that. Yet unlike those previous two, #LLMs are already having real impacts on the way people create (from emails to art), communicate (LLM chat apps), and work (2023 Writer’s Strike), fueling growing concerns about the authenticity of content, especially content from human authors. I expect we will see more such disclaimers in the future. For now, if you blog on your own site with words written by you not #ChatGPT or a similar tool, I encourage you to add a similar disclaimer, and then add your site as an example to the #IndieWeb wiki: * https://indieweb.org/LLM#IndieWeb_Examples #largeLanguageModel #LLM #generativeAI #AI There is the related problem of, when you discover what seems to be an independent site written by a human, how do you know that human actually exists? For now I’ll mention that XFN rel=met links, published (e.g. metrolls / met-rolls), aggregated, indexed, and queried, can solve that problem. This will be similar to how XFN rel=me links solved #distributed verification on the web (see https://tantek.com/2023/234/t1/threads-supports-indieweb-rel-me and posts it links to). This is day 48 of #100DaysOfIndieWeb. #100Days ← Day 47: https://tantek.com/2023/365/t1/capture-first-edit-publish-later → 🔮 Post glossary: blockchain https://indieweb.org/blockchain large language model / LLM https://indieweb.org/large_language_model metaverse https://indieweb.org/metaverse rel=me https://indieweb.org/rel-me rel=met http://gmpg.org/xfn/11#met XFN https://gmpg.org/xfn/