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Who Hacked Ashley Madison?

krebsonsecurity.com

231–240 of 308 posts

Re: Who Hacked Ashley Madison?

#231

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Politically and economically powerful people don't need some obviously-for-suckers website to have an affair.

How would you have an affair if you're politically and economically powerful?

You trade money/favors for discretion from the smallest number of people possible, with the unspoken implication that if they betray you'll spend at least as much on inconveniencing them afterward.

Re: Who Hacked Ashley Madison?

#232

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's art imitating life. Old school warez, demoscene and hacker groups have always had a very "campy" countercultural aesthetic to them. Hackers the film doesn't hold a candle to the real-life cDc. These types of groups are a dying breed, though.

There is some academic writing on the subject I can't find at the moment. Basically the idea that Hackers are the modern day tricksters of mythology. Sneaky, morally ambiguous, possessing mysterious powers over our surroundings. It's important to be over the top and silly with your hacks.

Might be Hacker Hoaxer Whistleblower Spy, which I wrote http://www.amazon.com/Hacker-Hoaxer-Whistleblower-Spy-Anonym...

I do raise the trickster there. You can find a pdf of it out there too if you google for it.

Re: Who Hacked Ashley Madison?

#233
post #117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You don't leave that one hanging. What's the story? Care to share?

It's really not that interesting. I was 15 and played around with some computers that belongs to the US Navy. Then one day at 6 am I heard a loud knock on the front door.

Hah! Sounds like my story, except mine involved the main newspaper in the next big city over from my hometown. Totally uninteresting.

Re: Who Hacked Ashley Madison?

#234

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's art imitating life. Old school warez, demoscene and hacker groups have always had a very "campy" countercultural aesthetic to them. Hackers the film doesn't hold a candle to the real-life cDc. These types of groups are a dying breed, though.

There is some academic writing on the subject I can't find at the moment. Basically the idea that Hackers are the modern day tricksters of mythology. Sneaky, morally ambiguous, possessing mysterious powers over our surroundings. It's important to be over the top and silly with your hacks.

I think they are more like modern days terrorists. The kind that will burn a farm just because they can.

Re: Who Hacked Ashley Madison?

#235

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's really not that interesting. I was 15 and played around with some computers that belongs to the US Navy. Then one day at 6 am I heard a loud knock on the front door.

Most of the people I know who got busted back then were into telco systems so they ended up with a fine, usually around 1-2k. I'm guessing the navy wasn't so kind :/

I used to work at British telecom with a guy who had been a phreak and got caught hacking Prestel - one day one of BT's security (SD Directorate) guys who had busted him bumped into him at work and was not pleased.

I also worked for the Systems administrator who was in charge of the machine in the Prince Philip hack.

Re: Who Hacked Ashley Madison?

#236

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I meant capabilities allowed for and accomplishable without digital help, which may have been unclear. > If you think about genetic predispositions to certain illnesses, and technologically enabled screening for that after conception as a precursor abortion, then you can see how people will disagree with your statement here. If it was easily discernible without the internet whether the person had that genetic marker,…

I think something trivial like store employees prompting customers at the till to buy pornographic media that they looked at for too long on the shelf/online, would be legislated against easily. "I see you've been looking at this porno. Would you like lube with that?".

Displaying overt ads of a specific type at a specific time, probably. Displaying general ads at a general or specific time, possibly. Using that information to do advanced analysis of customers, or do custom tailored time-sensitive (it's payday!) sales, of select inventory they are likely to be interested in? Curtailing them in that manner may be harder to get companies to swallow and live with, and harder for the public to get worked up over. Loopholes would be found, or rules would be ignored, etc.

It's sort of analogous to the friendly neighborhood general store owner Bob knowing his customer Carl is into fishing, getting an expensive but interesting lure, and noting to Carl right after his payday that he has this interesting item Carl might be interested in... I don't see legislation preventing Amazon from doing the same going anywhere.

Sharing that data with outside companies, or restricting it to specific portions of a company with many businesses might be a good candidate for legislation, and also the ability to request specific purchases and associated data or all purchase data for you prior to X be removed.

Re: Who Hacked Ashley Madison?

#237

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's really not that interesting. I was 15 and played around with some computers that belongs to the US Navy. Then one day at 6 am I heard a loud knock on the front door.

Most of the people I know who got busted back then were into telco systems so they ended up with a fine, usually around 1-2k. I'm guessing the navy wasn't so kind :/

They were real dicks for sure. Fortunately I was 15 and it was pre-9/11 (by about 7 months). I'm not so sure things would have gone as well for me today.

Re: Who Hacked Ashley Madison?

#238

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The naming and shaming is disgusting. There are people who are cheering on the hackers. They completely disregard the ramifications of this for the innocents involved (the family members and loved ones of the person who signed up) who now have to deal with all this publicly. Imagine any couple that went through a rough patch and reconciled. They've already moved past this, and now they have to live with the knowledge…

In life, you get to choose your actions, but you do not get to choose the consequences. Yes, some 'went through a rough patch' and 'already moved past this', and are now dealing with a world of pain. But ask yourself, what makes you the authority on how much pain they should have endured for their mistake? As fate would have it, whatever 'moving past' they did will now be really put to the test. This will give some c…

You're only seeing one side of the problem.

Put yourself in the shoes of someone whose spouse was exposed by this leak. Imagine how humiliated you would be, knowing that the whole world knows your spouse was cheating on you. Sure, it might be good to know the truth, but how does it help you that friends, family and even strangers know this about you? Not only that, but it's on the Internet, where your humiliation will be permanently recorded for all to see.

Yes, there are consequences for the cheater. But there are also consequences for the cheater's victims, and they're significantly exacerbated by the public nature of the leak.

Re: Who Hacked Ashley Madison?

#239
post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd argue the opposite. The AM hack hasn't helped at all, since enough people view it as a just retribution due to it being about a pet moral value that is held dear, namely marital fidelity. And to others, it's all a big joke. The cheating cheaters (who likely never got the opportunity to cheat) have been named and shamed, and because of those asserting that it's acceptable to do this if it strokes their personal mo…

The future is a future where no semblance of privacy exists. In the year 3000: "Truth about the ugliness of the human race will finally be revealed when every single detail about anyone's life is public knowledge available to all."

"God looks down from heaven on the children of man to see if there are any who understand, who seek after God. They have all fallen away; together they have become corrupt; there is none who does good, not even one." Psalm 53

The truth about humans has been pretty apparent for about as long as humans have been reflecting on it: we sometimes have high ideals and dreams, and at our best the capacity to even temporarily embody them. But very few people (if anyone) are consistently good, it would seem everybody does something ugly eventually.

Re: Who Hacked Ashley Madison?

#240

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's really not that interesting. I was 15 and played around with some computers that belongs to the US Navy. Then one day at 6 am I heard a loud knock on the front door.

indeed, a common story. i get the feeling the fbi did a lot of before-school visits to teenagers dicking around on irc in the mid 90s. they showed up to my place once. the guy said to contact him after i graduated if i was looking for work, lol. for what it's worth, they had binders and binders full of efnet logs.

I got dinged as well. Similar story on efnet logs. No charges but they announced their presence with authority. Left me a business card too.
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