KimWolf: ~2 million hijacked devices
KimWolf hijacked nearly 2 million Android and internet-connected devices globally, including TV boxes, cameras, picture frames, and phones.
Speaker
Jessica Mendoza
4
episodes
1
podcasts
0
quotes
21
snapshots
1
years active
Appearances over time
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$1.2B earned by Trump family
World Liberty Financial has earned the Trump family at least $1.2 billion in cash in less than two years, much of it from foreign-owned businesses.
26,000+ DDoS attacks launched
According to DOJ court filings, KimWolf launched more than 26,000 DDoS attacks targeting over 8,000 victims worldwide.
49% stake for $500M
Sheikh Tahnoon and co-investors bought 49% of World Liberty Financial for $500 million, four days before Trump's inauguration.
$187M to Trump entities upfront
Half of the purchase price was paid upfront, immediately directing $187 million to Trump family entities.
10 million pre-installed devices
Google identified more than 10 million devices that came with IP Idea's software secretly pre-installed on them.
Top 10 S&P 500 = tech only
The top 10 companies in the S&P 500 are all tech companies and together represent nearly 40% of the index's total value.
$2B Binance investment via MGX
MGX, a UAE government-backed company run by Tahnoon, made a $2 billion investment in Binance using World Liberty's USD1 stablecoin.
$80M annual income for World Liberty
The MGX-Binance transaction allowed World Liberty Financial to pocket $80 million in income annually.
One attack = entire Germany+Spain+UK
One KimWolf DDoS attack was so large it was as if everyone in Germany, Spain, and the UK had visited the same website at the exact same second.
Bait: 6-episode Amazon Prime series
Bait is a six-episode Amazon Prime series in which Ahmed plays Shah Latif, an actor who auditions to be the next James Bond, exploring themes of self-love, identity, and authenticity.
IP Idea operated under 12+ brand names
The residential proxy company IP Idea appeared to operate under more than a dozen different brand names while listing no CEO, founder, or address on its websites.
Ben's tip-off: a $50 digital picture frame
The breakthrough clue in the KimWolf investigation came when a Big Pipes employee's $50 digital picture frame was found to be launching DDoS attacks.
DOJ seized domains in March 2025
Two months after Google's action, the DOJ struck against four of the world's largest DDoS botnets, including KimWolf, seizing domains, servers, and network infrastructure.
Bug found in 11 proxy companies
Ben Brundage discovered that not only IP Idea but 10 other residential proxy companies were also vulnerable to the same bug exploited by KimWolf.
Why James Bond? Self-Love, Aspiration, and the Perfect Symbol
James Bond came late to the Bait writers' room, but he arrived as the perfect symbol. The show is really about self-love and how people chase validation in all the wrong places — and what better emblem of decisive, desirable, alpha-male aspiration than 007?
Getting the James Bond Rights: A 1% Shot He Had to Take
Everyone said getting Bond rights from the Broccoli family was impossible. Ahmed wrote the show anyway, went to brunch with Barbara Broccoli, handed her the scripts — and she got it. A 1% chance demands 100% commitment.
The Power of Specificity in Storytelling
Nobody is the Queen of England, yet millions identified with The Crown. Nobody is a Goodfellas gangster, yet Scorsese's film is universal. Specificity signals authenticity, and authenticity is what audiences actually connect with.
UK vs. Hollywood: Why Smaller Budgets Breed Bigger Ideas
When you can't afford to appeal to everyone, you have no choice but to go niche — and niche is exactly what breaks out. Fleabag, I May Destroy You, Baby Reindeer: all proof that UK television's resource constraints are secretly its greatest creative asset.
Hollywood's Unpaid Development Problem Is Killing the Next Generation
The producer of Everything Everywhere All at Once drove Ubers to survive development. That's not a badge of honour — it's a system failure. Ahmed argues that until Hollywood pays for the development process itself, it will keep losing the best emerging talent to algorithms and ad revenue.
The Viral Bait Stunt: Meta Marketing Done Right
They filmed fake press conferences where an interviewer laughs at the idea of Ahmed playing Bond, and he 'crashes out.' It went viral: 20% thought he was a douche, 80% defended him. The show is called Bait. The audience took it.
Wearing More Hats: The New Reality for Creators in Entertainment
There's no longer a wall between creative and commerce in entertainment. Producers must be marketers; creators must be brand strategists. The narrative through-line now runs from inception all the way to the social video — whether you like it or not.
Bait's Episodes as Genre Experiments
Episode 2 is a Bond film. Episode 3 is a Bollywood soap opera. Episode 4 is a Linklater walk-and-talk. Bait's definition of success wasn't ratings — it was whether the team could pull off six wildly different genre experiments within a single story.
Bridging Long-Form Storytelling and the Creator Economy
The next generation's most talented storytellers are on Instagram and TikTok — but asking them to walk away from their audience and income for two years of unpaid development isn't a pitch; it's a dare. Ahmed wants to close that gap.
From Blockbusters to Building His Own Rooms
Ahmed spent years trying to 'change the furniture in other people's rooms' — popping up in big IP films to stretch culture from within. Then he asked a different question: what if he built his own rooms? That pivot gave us Sound of Metal, Mogul Mowgli, and Bait.
Follow Your Gut, Then Outsource the Skepticism
Trust your gut on creative decisions — then surround yourself with hard-nosed people who will tell you it will never sell. That's the balance. Don't try to hold both things yourself; outsource the commercial reality check.
How KimWolf Squatted Inside Your Devices
KimWolf exploited a bug in IP Idea's residential proxy code to break into home networks and install DDoS malware on consumer devices. It was like an Airbnb guest deciding to squat in the rental and rummage through all the locked closets.
From Minecraft Mods to Hacking Communities: Ben's Origin Story
Bored during COVID lockdowns, teenager Benjamin Brundage started modding Minecraft and quickly fell into Discord servers where cybercrime was openly discussed. He saw a stolen list of 100 Spotify accounts and chose to warn the victims instead of joining the hackers.
The Dutch Government Bug Bounty — and a Very Lousy T-Shirt
As a high school senior, Ben found two major security bugs in Dutch government websites during an open bug-bounty program. His reward: a black t-shirt reading 'Hacked the Dutch government, and all I got was this lousy t-shirt.' It was a dopamine rush anyway.
Being Brown in the West Feels Like a Spy Thriller
Being brown in the West means living with surveillance, torn allegiances, and mistrust — the exact texture of a spy thriller. That feeling is the emotional engine behind Bait, and why James Bond served as the perfect genre vehicle to explore it.
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Jessica Mendoza
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