Earlier quoted context omitted.
Agree. But if I understand correctly, the purpose of the hack was to take down a website that was ripping people off and, in the minds (if not experience) of the hacker(s), a scam. In a way, it's not unlike Snowden's revelations. Yes, it was illegal. Yes, some people are embarrassed. But the intent, in the long run, is actually to protect those people. And, regrettably, the fact that sex secrets were exposed is likel…
Read the "Time's up" message they wrote. They pretty much speak in a righteous way to the signed up people. They tell them to "atone and move on" or something of the sort. This reads to me more like "power trip" than anything else.
Who Hacked Ashley Madison?
281–290 of 308 posts
Re: Who Hacked Ashley Madison?
#282I can imagine two separate motives for this hack: (1) The hackers dislike the idea of adultery and wanted to harm the site & punish its users; (2) The hackers wanted to blackmail the site and its users by threatening to expose them if they did not pay hush money or perform other services (e.g. reveal secrets). It seems that motive (1) has some acceptance (people are cheering the hackers), but I think (2) seems more p…
Except they didn't do #2 and instead just released it. That kind of kills the blackmail value, doesn't it?
Re: Who Hacked Ashley Madison?
#283Earlier quoted context omitted.
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.
Yep, myself and a friend and they had logs from one of our Undernet channels. Interesting to hear that it was somewhat commonplace. I hadn't heard any similar stories until the mid 00s and ours happened around 97 or 98.
Strange how different - and how similar! - the scene is today. Good memories, except that law enforcement back then was a lot less scary...
Re: Who Hacked Ashley Madison?
#284> They said Avid Life employees first learned about the breach on July 12 (seven days before my initial story) when they came into work, turned on their computers and saw a threatening message from the Impact Team accompanied by the anthem “Thunderstruck” by Australian rock band AC/DC playing in the background. This reads like a scene straight out of Hackers or some other campy tech movie. Life imitates art.
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.
Re: Who Hacked Ashley Madison?
#285Earlier 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.
Yes, people forget that Emmanuel Goldstein of 2600 fame was a consultant on Hackers. If you thought that was unrealistic (and OK, it was), revisit the other '95 hacker movie: The Net .
Re: Who Hacked Ashley Madison?
#286> They said Avid Life employees first learned about the breach on July 12 (seven days before my initial story) when they came into work, turned on their computers and saw a threatening message from the Impact Team accompanied by the anthem “Thunderstruck” by Australian rock band AC/DC playing in the background. This reads like a scene straight out of Hackers or some other campy tech movie. Life imitates art.
Re: Who Hacked Ashley Madison?
#287Re: Who Hacked Ashley Madison?
#288I can imagine two separate motives for this hack: (1) The hackers dislike the idea of adultery and wanted to harm the site & punish its users; (2) The hackers wanted to blackmail the site and its users by threatening to expose them if they did not pay hush money or perform other services (e.g. reveal secrets). It seems that motive (1) has some acceptance (people are cheering the hackers), but I think (2) seems more p…
Re: Who Hacked Ashley Madison?
#289Earlier 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…
And what makes YOU the authority to say they haven't endured enough pain? Or society, for that matter? If a couple 'went through a rough patch' and 'already moved past this', the one who was wronged was apparently forgiving. That forgiveness should be the end of it. We all make stupid decisions in our lives, but just because we did those things, we don't DESERVE endless consequences.
Your logic is a slippery slope to believing that rehabilitation is impossible. In which case, you're essentially arguing for immediate death (or at least shunning) to any wrongdoer, because how can any of us judge them to be rehabilitated?
Re: Who Hacked Ashley Madison?
#290Earlier quoted context omitted.
and only at this point will everyone realize we're all hypocrites, liars and cheats that will all do whatever we can get away with when we need to or it serves our purpose. We'll all have to acknowledge that life isn't as black and white as we like to pretend but is almost entirely some blurry shade of grey that only resembles our own specific set of beliefs in the most narrow of circumstances... and that any and all…
You can't generalise like that. It's a mistake to tar everybody with the same brush in supporting the erosion of privacy. Some people, rightly, hold themselves and others to higher standards. Because they do so, does not necessarily mean they support outing cheaters. > any and all human behaviour is totally normal Categorically not. Lines are drawn and accepted socially. People even abide by the rules.
"...in supporting the erosion of privacy..."
I wasn't tarring everyone with this brush. I don't support the erosion of privacy, so it would be hypocritical of me to tar anyone with this brush, let alone everyone. Much of my family for instance believes in the "I've got nothing to hide, so I have nothing to fear" argument, but my perspective is "neither did the Jews before Hitler".
> Some people, rightly, hold themselves and others to higher standards.
You cannot control the actions of everyone else, only yourself. Others will do what inspires them. What inspires them may or may not align with what inspires you. When it doesn't, expecting them to abide by the rules you hold dear is only setting yourself up for disappointment.
> People even abide by the rules
Yes, when it serves their purpose. When it doesn't, they either break the rules publicly, demonstrate to get the rules changed or break them privately to avoid judgment or being ostracized by partners, family, their community and hope like hell they don't get caught.
Lines are drawn regarding all kinds of things. Let's take just for the argument's sake, speeding, or smoking marijuana, never downloading music or movies illegally - things that we can all agree, there are rules about, rules that (currently) define these activities as prohibited in many jurisdictions. Even though there are rules, and many people may argue they're dumb rules about benign activities, there are still rules. Many break the rules publicly, voicing their defiance; many others break them privately and hope they don't get caught. I'd say given your stance you never break any rules - even rules you consider dumb or counter to your own set of beliefs or don't align with your interests; you always abide by the rules and you always fall in line with the wishes of your neighbour. Of course you don't, nobody does. It's human nature to question the rules and to find loopholes, and to bend them and/or break them when they don't align with our interests. These rules, which are defined for the good of the masses, to maintain the status quo. But what happens when what's good for the masses doesn't align with what's good for you? Do you put everyone else first or do you put yourself first? You put yourself first, you hope like hell you don't get caught or called out; or you hope if you do get caught you get away with a slap on the wrist or that a reasonably competent lawyer could fight your case in court and help you avoid the charges.
For me to believe that you strictly abide by all the rules, without questioning human nature, and without understanding your set of circumstances, would be incredibly naive. There are many reasons people break the law, it's not always cut and dry nor black and white. Most of the time it's incredibly grey - to the point that billions of dollars every year are spent on lawyers to argue to put people in jail or keep people out of jail based on legal technicalities, loop holes and precedence set by previous circumstances; because nothing is black and white. If it were then anyone could go to court and defend themselves and no more lawyers would be required.
Some of those revered as the greatest people on earth shunned the rules to invoke great change. Some canonized as saints after the fact, but in their time considered rebels, misfits and, in some cases, criminals: Rosa Parks, Bob Dylan, Mahatma Ghandi, Einstein, Martin Luther King Jr., John Lennon, the lone protester at Tiananmen Square, Nelson Mandela, heck, even Jesus Christ - the son of man, shunned the rules and defied the status quo because of their beliefs - and many believe their rule breaking changed the world for the better.