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Hacker Publishes 2TB of Data from Cayman National Bank

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Re: Hacker Publishes 2TB of Data from Cayman National Bank

#51
post #21

After watching The laundromat, I think it's big news. Although I will always be curious why countries are letting those small, insignificant islands and countries manage all this wealth, and why they're trusted to do it. This can't be secure or safe. I'm curious about the diplomacy and the political implications of this. What if their office get robbed? What if the island gets attacked? What if one of those shady ban…

>why countries are letting those small, insignificant islands and countries manage all this wealth Enlightened self interest. Those "insignificant" islands are generally speaking countries. By showing respect for the rule of law even in situations where they could easily overwhelm with force or economic power smaller nations, the larger ones reinforce that the law matters. The larger countries use as a defense the id…

[deleted]

Re: Hacker Publishes 2TB of Data from Cayman National Bank

#52
post #36
post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Exactly this - one wonders why anyone would rationally become a journalist. The pay is crap, the verbal attacks are constant ("fake news", etc), the competition is immense (publish NOW because it's already on Twitter, yet it needs to be 100% factually accurate, so don't forget to triple-check your sources), and oh by the way, if you report on anything of societal value (rooting out corruption, printing stories about…

but maybe in ten years, you'll regret your choice or maybe you won't because you won't even know what you are missing out not judging you, I program and sit in an office, but I can understand the magic of being in the middle of the pulse of the world. It is a world that I only look at as a bystander. perhaps being a journalist is paid little because it is you are more alive, instead of programming the next punch-the-…

Even in a hundred years he wouldn’t regret the choice. Nothing you described sounds appealing. Journalists see most technology like a black box that does mysterious things and produces an output, just like a bystander. If you don’t want to be a bystander to those processes, you become a programmer.

Re: Hacker Publishes 2TB of Data from Cayman National Bank

#53
post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's a pretty noble, if naive reason. "Rule of law" stops where economic interests begin and always has. Rule of law didn't stop the invasion of Iraq. Rule of law hasn't stopped the countless CIA backed coups in South America. Rule of law didn't stop funding/promoting the Arab spring. Larger countries constantly bully smaller ones and will continue to do so anytime it's economically convenient. The reason Grand Cay…

> Rule of law didn't stop the invasion of Iraq. Rule of law hasn't stopped the countless CIA backed coups in South America. Rule of law didn't stop funding/promoting the Arab spring. These places were all considered "rogue states" at some point, i.e. places that openly neglected the very same rule of law which protects others. Being a 'rogue' state may leave you open to being bullied, but that's hardly inconsistent w…

"Rule of law" doesn't mean picking and choosing whom it applies to. Saddam was our best buddy when he was using mustard gas in Khuzestan against the right people.

International politics is rule by power rather than rule of law. The person you're replying to got it right.

Re: Hacker Publishes 2TB of Data from Cayman National Bank

#54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The Cayman Islands is a vassal state of the global one percent as a tax shelter. Let's call it what it really is. It's not a global financial center the way NYC or Hong Kong or Tokyo are. It's a sand bar with a bunch of post office box company registries and some banks. I hear there is also good snorkeling.

Their legislative branch is extremely competent at evaluating and passing competitive laws for business and banking, their executive branch is extremely competent at providing the administrative services and modern digital facilities for international business and banking, and their judicial branch is extremely competent at resolving disputes. The government's budget is also balanced without passive taxation of this…

If my sole purpose was to be good at X things, I'd be good at them.

Re: Hacker Publishes 2TB of Data from Cayman National Bank

#55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>why countries are letting those small, insignificant islands and countries manage all this wealth Enlightened self interest. Those "insignificant" islands are generally speaking countries. By showing respect for the rule of law even in situations where they could easily overwhelm with force or economic power smaller nations, the larger ones reinforce that the law matters. The larger countries use as a defense the id…

this doesn't pass the smell test for me. first, we're talking about powerful vs. not so let's not use area as a proxy for power; that's not appropriate. given that, history is rife with examples of powerful nations basically looking the other way when other countries not in their playpen get "bullied". these large international bodies e.g. League of Nations, UN have all failed generally when powerful entities decide…

> these large international bodies e.g. League of Nations, UN have all failed generally when large, powerful entities decide they want to shake things up.

The UNSC is actually a pretty successful institution, all things considered. It gives "shakeups" a reasonable chance of being defused, and that's good enough most of the time. Enlightened self interest has to do the rest, of course - so failures will occur, but they ought to be rare. And Nazi Germany, the PRC in Xinjang etc. aren't exactly models of the rule of law!

Re: Hacker Publishes 2TB of Data from Cayman National Bank

#56
post #21

After watching The laundromat, I think it's big news. Although I will always be curious why countries are letting those small, insignificant islands and countries manage all this wealth, and why they're trusted to do it. This can't be secure or safe. I'm curious about the diplomacy and the political implications of this. What if their office get robbed? What if the island gets attacked? What if one of those shady ban…

Note that in his write-up of how the hack was accomplished (someone pasted a link in another comment) the hacker specifically mentions his attack was on Cayman National Bank of the Isle of Man. From cursory research it appears to be based there, not in the Cayman Islands.

Re: Hacker Publishes 2TB of Data from Cayman National Bank

#57
post #3

Pastebin with translated guide on how they hacked the bank: https://pastebin.com/8rXhtqgr

It doesn't tell you how they infiltrated to begin with so that they can sniff cookies and keystrokes. But my guess is they phished an employee.

Edit: I missed that part,sorry.

Re: Hacker Publishes 2TB of Data from Cayman National Bank

#58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Using a throwaway for obvious reasons. I have a fair bit of insight into this industry, both from friends, acquaintances, and family who use a variety of offshore structures to manage their wealth and from my own dealings (the company I founded and currently manage is offshored for tax and legal purposes). What people don’t realise is that aside from a couple outliers offshore jurisdictions aren’t that shady at all a…

> tax and legal purposes This may be terribly naive, but doesn't that make the business de-facto illegal? What kind of legitimate business deserves to buck paying into the systems that support them? As a default I want to disagree, but I would like to know what business needs to operate outside of these constraints. Surely the businesses utilizing the favours of banks like Cayman are not being operated within tyranni…

I still can’t believe it’s legal to move from SF to Texas if you were born and raised in SF. You owe the good people of San Francisco repayment for raising and nurturing you. Leaving after all that education and local services is a corrupt tax-dodge into a state without income tax.

Re: Hacker Publishes 2TB of Data from Cayman National Bank

#59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The Cayman Islands has robust financial regulations and is a financial center. It is also reliant on the UK for military assistance, and as you can see the bank records for this particular institution are digital. You are grouping everything together with misplaced isolationist paranoia.

The Cayman Islands is a vassal state of the global one percent as a tax shelter. Let's call it what it really is. It's not a global financial center the way NYC or Hong Kong or Tokyo are. It's a sand bar with a bunch of post office box company registries and some banks. I hear there is also good snorkeling.

Great scuba diving. Highly recommend a visit. :-)

Re: Hacker Publishes 2TB of Data from Cayman National Bank

#60
post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>why countries are letting those small, insignificant islands and countries manage all this wealth Enlightened self interest. Those "insignificant" islands are generally speaking countries. By showing respect for the rule of law even in situations where they could easily overwhelm with force or economic power smaller nations, the larger ones reinforce that the law matters. The larger countries use as a defense the id…

That's a pretty noble, if naive reason. "Rule of law" stops where economic interests begin and always has. Rule of law didn't stop the invasion of Iraq. Rule of law hasn't stopped the countless CIA backed coups in South America. Rule of law didn't stop funding/promoting the Arab spring. Larger countries constantly bully smaller ones and will continue to do so anytime it's economically convenient. The reason Grand Cay…

>There's a reason the Panama Papers went away quietly despite the assassination of the human who exposed it.

The human who exposed it is still anonymous. A journalist who wrote using the Panama Papers as a source was murdered, most likely by local Maltese exposed by the journalist.

There has been $1B plus in taxes recovered as a result of the publication.

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