Who’s behind Wednesday’s epic Twitter hack? • Hacker News Board

Re: Who’s behind Wednesday’s epic Twitter hack?

#521

Post by dcow » Sat, Jul 18, 2020, 3:24 AM UTC

ziddoap wrote: post #499

user5994461 wrote: post #470

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you believe the story, the people who are pointed to were already being looked for for arrest. Don't buy the poor innocent narrative too quickly. It just happens that their last actions affected powerful figures and the US government so they might actually be some real international effort to arrest them now.

What I stated is not exclusive to this story. People's home addresses and names should not be released to the public until a legal conviction has been ascertained. This has nothing to do with "innocent narrative". It has everything to do with due process, which is a foundation many countries entire law systems are founded upon. The legal process is innocent until proven guilty. You seem to be advocating for guilty un…

Doxxing is not a crime, that's my point. And I am in no way interested in making it one. Innocent people should remain innocent until proven guilty and the rest of our god-forsaken species should figure out how to grow up and treat people with compassion and respect.

If what Krebs is doing in this case impacts the dude in any tangible and negative way he should sue Krebs for liable. That would be interesting.

Re: Who’s behind Wednesday’s epic Twitter hack?

#522

Post by dcow » Sat, Jul 18, 2020, 3:27 AM UTC

alacombe wrote: post #242

dcow wrote: post #184

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you think Krebs got it wrong? But regardless, harassment is harassment. If the public starts harassing the dude, even if he is guilty, they're just as guilty of their own offenses. Two wrongs don't make a right.

> Do you think Krebs got it wrong? This is irrelevant, how can you have a fair justice system if the mob has already condemned the defender.

I don't want a mob to condemn anyone. A mob should not be condemning anyone, ever. Why is the baseline assumption that a public accusation must be followed by swift and undue internet mob justice? That's what's fucked up if you ask me.

Re: Who’s behind Wednesday’s epic Twitter hack?

#523

Post by dcow » Sat, Jul 18, 2020, 3:29 AM UTC

tomlagier wrote: post #211

dcow wrote: post #185

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's a certain symmetry to that, though. You fuck up on the world stage then you suffer a world of consequences. Anyway, I would sincerely hope people are more mature than to start harassing a dude that some security has-been decided to name as the perpetrator. You're not allow to harass and threaten someone just because they're suspected of being guilty of some crime.

Uhh.. have you ever been on Twitter? That's like half the activity there, people dog piling on others based on circumstantial, if any, evidence of perceived slights or wrongdoing. Sure, people _shouldn't_, but they overwhelmingly _do_, which has real, tragic consequences. People with platforms must take care or they cause tangible harm to others.

Yes. This is called liable and it's illegal in the US. I don't know about international liable laws.. but if such a concept exists, the kid should sue Krebs if he experiences tangible negative consequences of Krebs' accusations.

Re: Who’s behind Wednesday’s epic Twitter hack?

#524

Post by mlindner » Sat, Jul 18, 2020, 3:30 AM UTC

bosswipe wrote: post #381

mansion7 wrote: post #141

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's partially because the sources formally seen as primary, at least in the US, have started to be viewed as biased and unreliable. This is largely through their own actions. Examples are legion, but a recent one is debacle at NYT over an op-ed. The news-consuming public was able to view the shenanigans of NYT reporters and staffers, which would formerly been done being the scenes. Many eyes were opened, and I'm c…

> This is largely through their own actions. Or it could be the result of a decades long effort to attack credible authoritative institutions by forces that take a dim view of transparency and accountability.

Accusations of grand conspiracy generally turn out to be false with sometimes a grain of truth.

Re: Who’s behind Wednesday’s epic Twitter hack?

#525

Post by mlindner » Sat, Jul 18, 2020, 3:46 AM UTC

woko wrote: post #509

belval wrote: post #290

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They grossly overestimated their leverage in that story though. Anything illegal might've been actually good for black mail purposes, but dick pics? As if someone would actually look for that or even take a business decision based on that.

Dick pics are what lead a candidate for Paris Mayor election to resign this year. It is a powerful item against some people.

Indeed, it's a powerful weapon against anyone who depends on general public popularity for their power (for example many/most elected officials). This is in fact one of the things that is highly investigated for getting TS/SCI US government clearance. They don't want to employ anyone who possibly has dirt against them in the open.

Re: Who’s behind Wednesday’s epic Twitter hack?

#526

Post by dcow » Sat, Jul 18, 2020, 4:21 AM UTC

mewse wrote: post #198

dcow wrote: post #187

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And I would hold the people who acted on partial information accountable for their actions. Harassment is wrong regardless of whether you think someone is guilty of something or not. The internet needs to grow up.

Out of curiosity.. “the people who acted on partial information” who you say you would hold accountable. Does that include the people who chose to publicly dox him based upon an incorrect identification?

You're missing the nuance. Doxxing is not a crime nor is it a call to action. Do news stations censor the names of alleged criminals or even suspects out of some juvenile fear that a mob is going to rise up and take swift extra-judicial action? No. People are free to allege whatever they want. And in the case of Krebs, it happens to be his job. Reasonable citizens should not harass, threaten, or otherwise harm an innocent-until-proven-guilty person. Taking up an internet moniker does not enter you into some sacred contract with society whereby you shall never be exposed. I'm sick of treating issues like the rest of the world is a cesspool of ravenous lunatics and they can't be trusted to act like adults. Like there's a global expectation of ill intent. I know recent times have demonstrated otherwise but it's no excuse. We need to hold people who actually abuse others accountable for their actions not tread lightly around them because they are scary. Full disclosure for all. Full accountability for all. Confront the boggy-people.

Re: Who’s behind Wednesday’s epic Twitter hack?

#527

Post by phs318u » Sat, Jul 18, 2020, 6:56 AM UTC

ergl wrote: post #424

phs318u wrote: post #315

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Agreed but I said "apart from scale and reach". The point I was trying to make was that people have always found it fairly easy to believe non-credible sources. In this sense, social media is not qualitatively different. Only quantitatively different.

A large quantitative change is indistinguishable from a qualitative change: what's the difference between light rain and a flood, between some small waves and a tsunami?

What I meant, is that in the eyes/ears of those RECEIVING the information (and believing it uncritically), there's no difference. People have always had a predisposition to uncritically accepting information from those "in the tribe", whether that be extended family, or an internet echo chamber. Presumably this was a survival optimisation. Trust those "close", and distrust "others".

Re: Who’s behind Wednesday’s epic Twitter hack?

#528

Post by computerex » Sat, Jul 18, 2020, 7:44 AM UTC

dmitryminkovsky wrote: post #463

computerex wrote: post #270

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The president has the power to deploy the armed forces abroad without the approval of congress for a period of time.

That's on paper. Then there's reality. And in reality, not many people respect Trump and are willing to follow his orders. This happens constantly in the news. His own cabinet members openly work against him all the time. Most recently consider how Mark Esper publically publicly rejected using the Insurrection Act, right over top of Trump. Now you could say—what if we had some other president? Well, the same social r…

The president is the commander in chief. In the armed forces following the chain of command is kind of a big deal and there are severe consequences for ignoring a direct moral order from a higher ranked officer.

Re: Who’s behind Wednesday’s epic Twitter hack?

#529

Post by belval » Sat, Jul 18, 2020, 9:44 AM UTC

woko wrote: post #509

belval wrote: post #290

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They grossly overestimated their leverage in that story though. Anything illegal might've been actually good for black mail purposes, but dick pics? As if someone would actually look for that or even take a business decision based on that.

Dick pics are what lead a candidate for Paris Mayor election to resign this year. It is a powerful item against some people.

For a public official I can see why it would give them some leverage, but Jeff Bezos/Elon Musk/any rich dude doesn't really have to care. Did the "fappening" damage anyone's career?

Re: Who’s behind Wednesday’s epic Twitter hack?

#530

Post by slightwinder » Sat, Jul 18, 2020, 10:37 AM UTC

A4ET8a8uTh0 wrote: post #482

slightwinder wrote: post #417

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nothing would happend from this. China and other might raise their alarm, but nobody would raise their own weapons without proof for something really happning outside of twitter. In the meanwhile Trump would appear after some minutes on TV, youtube, and whatever other channel they have around, proofing that he is not sending the tweets, while twitter would do their stuff.

You are an optimist. We only need one mistake for things to get out of control. The history of known close calls is eye opening[1]. Similarly with this particular China example, it only takes one person to make a miscalculation. 1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_nuclear_close_calls

I'm a realist. This list proofes that people are not as stupid as alarmists make them. At the end of the line, there are always people asking the relevant questions, because it's their f*ing job to do that.