{"ok":true,"trend":{"id":821336,"platform":"mastodon","region":"global","key":"random musings de jour... the thing is an absolutely ingenious completely passive and unpowered wooden plaque that is a fu","title":"Random musings de jour… The Thing is an absolutely ingenious completely passive and unpowered wooden plaque that is a fu","url":"https://infosec.exchange/@HoffmanLabs/117375075925088007","first_seen":"2026-10-03T05:20:25.460336Z","last_seen":"2026-10-03T05:20:25.460336Z","last_rank":7,"peak_rank":7,"last_volume":6,"peak_volume":6,"seen_count":1,"score":0.94875,"category_hint":"cybersecurity","section":"technology","category":"cybersecurity","summary":"The Thing, a Soviet listening device hidden in a carved wooden plaque gifted to the US ambassador in Moscow in 1945, is being recalled as a masterpiece of espionage. It contained no battery or electronics — just a resonant cavity and antenna, activated by external radio waves, making it a fully passive microphone that eavesdropped on the American embassy for years.","why":"Cybersecurity and espionage enthusiasts are sharing the Cold War device as a striking example of passive surveillance technology.","tone":"neutral","entities":["The Thing","Soviet Union","United States"],"summarized_at":"2026-10-03T05:21:54.834582Z","meta":{"tag":"infosec","via":"scan","kind":"status","lang":"en","instance":"mastodon.social","tag_uses":927},"nw":null,"promo":null,"kind":null,"importance":null,"hidden":false,"hide_reason":null,"judged_at":null,"title_en":"The Thing: the passive wooden plaque that spied on the US","section_name":"Technology","category_name":"Cybersecurity","timeline":[{"captured_at":"2026-10-03T05:20:25.460336Z","rank":7,"volume":6}],"posts":[{"platform":"mastodon","url":"https://infosec.exchange/@HoffmanLabs/117375075925088007","author":"HoffmanLabs@infosec.exchange","title":null,"snippet":"Random musings de jour… The Thing is an absolutely ingenious completely passive and unpowered wooden plaque that is a fully functional microphone and radio transmitter. Or in simpler terms, a bug. https:// en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Thin g_(listening_device) A later bug was…","posted_at":"2026-10-03T04:25:24Z","likes":6}],"elsewhere":[],"window":"7d"}}