BadBiosVictim FAQ

What is BadBIOS?

There's a good summary here. In 2013, security expert Dragos Ruiu described some odd behavior in computers he owned and hypothesized the existence of a hardware/firmware level rootkit. This supposed rootkit contains a number of unique features that are border on being unbelievable. For example, it can supposedly infect the hardware of USB flash drives and jump air gaps using high frequency sound.

What Dragos claimed is all theoretically possible. It's just very out of the norm and hard to believe. As a result there was a lot of understandable skepticism about it, and Dragos was never able to conclusively prove it existed. Since the initial discussion, he doesn't appear to have said a lot about it.

Who is BadBiosVictim?

BadBiosVictim is a Reddit user known for a huge number of posts to the r/BadBios subreddit. Since January 2015 he is a moderator of that subreddit (see [the related r/TrueBadBios FAQ](/r/TrueBadBios/comments/2ts5rh/rtruebadbios_faq/) for some history). He also sometimes posts to other subreddits as well.

BadBiosVictim claims to be infected by the BadBios rootkit and his posts are usually intended to be evidence of this. However, the posts contain a lot of dense, poorly structured information, and the actual technical content is usually riddled with factual errors. He is a technical amateur and frequently makes bold claims that are not supported by evidence. The general style in these threads is one of intense paranoia. This has led a number of people to suspect that BadBiosVictim is suffering from some form of undiagnosed mental illness.

The actual real life identity of BadBiosVictim is unknown. He has indicated a desire for anonymity, so even if details were discovered, it would be a violation of the Reddit site-wide rules to post them. Out of respect for that anonymity I don't want to even speculate.

I refer to BadBiosVictim using male pronouns (he, him, his, etc.) but BadBiosVictim's gender is not public information either (and he has expressed a desire to keep this information private). I use male pronouns simply because it is easier than writing "his/her", "he/she" all the time, and it is also easier to read.

What's the purpose of this FAQ?

BadBiosVictim makes a large number of posts to the r/BadBios subreddit. Probably more than 80+% of the posts are by him. The posts are also long and detailed, so these two qualities can given the mistaken appearance of someone who is technically knowledgeable or some kind of domain expert (in security, computer forensics, etc.).

The purpose of this FAQ, then, is to help dispel that notion. BadBiosVictim is not a technical expert and the overwhelming majority of the material he posts is erroneous, misinterpreted or simply outright nonsense. However, other people who are not technical experts either have the potential to be taken in by it, if they also do not have the knowledge to identify it as such.

It's a shame that BadBiosVictim has derailed what could otherwise be an interesting subreddit, using it as a personal soapbox to flood it with his own paranoid delusions.

Why do you say that BadBiosVictim is mentally ill?

First of all, it's not just me, but there are actually dozens of people who have reached this conclusion. A pretty good answer to this question is simply, "read through some of his posts and see for yourself". Most people quickly reach the same conclusion. His long, rambling and poorly-structured posts closely resemble those of well-known schizophrenics such as "Time Cube" author Gene Ray. The general theme is one of extreme paranoia, a belief that he is being stalked and spied on by unseen opponents, etc. - also symptoms of paranoid schizophrenia.

The key thing to realize is that he has a pre-existing, fixed belief in a vast conspiracy against him, and is continually searching for evidence to prove it. Any apparent discrepancy, or potentially anything suspicious or just misunderstood is viewed through this lens of paranoia, and used to justify claims that seem outrageous and bizarre to any third parties. Here are some examples:

• When a tablet's preinstalled software doesn't match the documentation, "hackers" must be to blame. BadBiosVictim makes the bold assumption that the tablet was either interdicted in transit, or hacked through the power line (a class of attack that has never been documented by security experts), rather than the most reasonable explanation that the documentation was out of date.

• He drilled through a chip on his computer's motherboard, and when the computer stopped working, "hackers" must again be to blame.

• Reddit post doesn't appear on the front page? Hackers again.

• This post, where "hackers" are blamed for an assortment of mostly innocuous things, based on no evidence whatsoever.

• This bizarre and paranoid post where BadBiosVictim appears to describe experiencing "simulated" hallucinations. Recent posts have covered "ultrasound hearing" beamed from "spy satellites", alleged "mind control" and conspiracy theories about "HAARP", a common subject of paranoid conspiracy theories.

It's not known what mental illness BadBiosVictim is suffering from. Paranoid schizophrenia is a common suggestion, but remote diagnoses by amateurs aren't really the best idea. It's the kind of assessment that should only really be done by a trained professional. Unfortunately, he refuses to even consider going to a doctor, based on his own erroneous self-diagnosis and arrogant insistence that he knows better than trained medical professionals.

Why do you say that he is a technical amateur?

His technical analyses, while long and numerous, are essentially junk. He likes to describe his posts as "research" but they're often just the results of simple Google searches for a subject, with an amateur, often deeply confused interpretation of sources caused by a lack of the proper technical knowledge needed to understand them. Many of them go far beyond "unlikely" and firmly into the realm of "absurd", for example when he claimed that hackers were converting his music files into Commodore 64 audio files.

As a single example of how he's unqualified: BadBiosVictim seems to prefer using Linux-based operating systems. He posts long, attempted "forensic" analyses of files that he finds installed in Linux distributions. However, he does not actually analyze the content of these files as he lacks any knowledge or skills that would allow him to do so. Instead these analyses are simplistic, limited to basic information like what the file is named or what the file manager says the type of the file is. In fact he openly admits that he only knows how to use the Linux command line for "simple commands".

A typical Linux distribution usually contains thousands of different files, which can be present to fulfill any number of obscure purposes. Understanding the purpose of any one of these files often requires detailed investigation and, crucially, specialist technical domain knowledge. The idea that someone who doesn't even know how to use the Linux command line would be qualified to perform a forensic investigation of kernel modules and core operating system components, is absurd.

This is just one single example, there are many, many more.

Why don't you just explain to him that he's misunderstood things?

Attempting to argue with BadBiosVictim is pretty much a hopeless, exhausting experience, and I don't recommend it to anyone. The key things that make it so frustrating are that he is arrogant, paranoid and combative, so it's difficult to convince him of anything.

For example he refuses to recognize that other people have more knowledge and experience than him. Even if you have years of experience with software, and demonstrate it, he will insist he knows better than you. It's a great example of the Dunning-Kruger effect in operation. His arrogance even extends to the medical domain, where he insists that his own erroneous self-diagnosis is more reliable than the opinions of trained medical professionals.

If you contradict what he claims, he'll argue every minor point of what you've said, demanding cited sources for every detail. This is really hard in a field like computers where these conversations require and pre-assume a certain level of knowledge for a meaningful discussion to take place. The only other option is to explain everything from first principles, which can be so tedious as to be impossible. It's worth remembering that to understand something as complex as an operating system often takes years of study: in academia, work or as a hobby. Often these things can't just be explained in a brief Reddit post.

If you actually spend the time to respond and refute a post, BadBiosVictim will often ignore what you've posted; sometimes he'll argue some really minor point instead that you didn't cover, or sometimes he'll just outright ignore everything you've said and continue asserting the claims you refuted. It's frustrating and draining when you're trying to correct mistakes like these and the other party just isn't interested in listening to you, only in trying to fight and discredit you.

BadBiosVictim will occasionally concede points and correct his mistakes. But it's usually only ever very minor details; it's rare or unheard of that he will ever concede that he was completely wrong about something. Even getting him to acknowledge and correct the most basic factual errors can be an uphill battle, as he acts dishonestly (example).

Ultimately he seems to have a kind of mental filter: he holds fixed beliefs and credulously believes in any nonsense that supports them, whereas if you argue against him, even civilly, you're immediately under suspicion of being a "state [sponsored] troll" or a "gang stalker" who's out to get him.

What's with all the rules?

BadBiosVictim has an assortment of personal made-up rules that he repeatedly insists everyone else follow. BadBiosVictim's demeanor has been described as "courtroom-like" as he likes to order people around, even in subreddits where he is not a mod.

Examples are that he will attack people for swearing, "threadjacking", "bullying", making "hidden posts" or not citing sources. On their face they may seem like reasonable rules of discourse, but in practice they're obsessive and controlling, ways for him to personally attack and try to discredit people who disagree with him. When he has no ability to enforce these rules, he frequently harasses moderators and admins to ban people who argue with him. He will also delete and repost his posts to conceal comments he doesn't like.

Even if you make an effort to comply with all of these rules, it's likely your post will simply be ignored. u/xandercruise describes the experience succinctly:

And even if you take the time to adhere to all of these rules, with no "threadjacking", no "misrepresentation", no swearing or bullying and full citations of all allegations and statements and claims that you make in your argument.... even IF you make a cogent and coherent argument that completely PROVES what you are saying is technically correct and BadBiosVictim is technically incorrect about something fundamental to his/her core theories.... you will be ignored, your information will be ignored, and the conspiracy theory will continue.

Aren't you just bullying / harassing him?

BadBiosVictim likes to throw the word "bully" around a lot. Bear in mind that he considers anyone who disagrees with or questions him to be a threat and ultimately part of some grand, sinister conspiracy against him. Anyone who continues engaging with him in debate or argument will eventually be considered a bully as well.

I'd agree that some people certainly have harassed him and could therefore be described as bullies. But he tends to throw that word around liberally, without any real respect for facts or evidence. For example, he even interprets apologies for bullying as bullying in itself.

Finally, I will point out that I have made considerable, patient efforts to try to reason with him. I've used my own expertise to try to argue on technical grounds, and also made long, careful efforts to try to argue on medical grounds. I spent considerable time putting together this open letter as an honest plea to him to visit a doctor. But he consistently refuses to listen to anyone else's advice and makes up all kinds of ridiculous, contrived excuses in order to ignore it.

To demonstrate that I'm not making posts like this one just to "bully" him, I have even made a written offer to delete all of my comments where I have ever questioned his mental health, including this FAQ, and post a public retraction and apology, if he will just say he visited a doctor and got checked. He consistently refuses to take the most basic, reasonable step of honestly considering the possibility that he might have a mental illness. I believe this is itself likely a symptom of his illness.