Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Tampa teen accused of being ‘mastermind’ behind Twitter hack

wfla.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

661–670 of 702 posts

Re: Tampa teen accused of being ‘mastermind’ behind Twitter hack

#661

Post by ImaCake »

Biganon wrote: post #650
ImaCake wrote: post #630

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Think of what this teenager could have done if he had hacked Trump's twitter, or any other current head of state. The best case scenario then is a diplomatic incident, the worst is war or genocide.

But then again he hasn't, so what's your point?

But the potential was there. I was providing an all to likely possibility of someone hacking twitter in the way that happened here. Not sure why I have been downvoted for stating something sensible to the question that was asked.

Re: Tampa teen accused of being ‘mastermind’ behind Twitter hack

#662

Post by ramblerman »

nickff wrote: post #385
slg wrote: post #254

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Then you need processes in place to make sure a single person being careless cant do this much damage. There are low tech solutions that would greatly improve security[1], however the overhead this introduces is hard to justify in a world in which these breaches aren't that damaging to a company. We need to change incentives for companies by either mandating these security practices or implementing harmful repercussi…

I agree that better security practices are advisable, but you're victim-blaming. Twitter wasn't 'asking for it', and neither were the individuals who lost bitcoins; the 'hackers' intentionally perpetrated deceptions, misrepresentations, and fraud against both Twitter and the general public. If you compare what these three did to a white-collar crime, the dollar amount was small, but the behavior was egregious.

> but you're victim-blaming. Twitter wasn't 'asking for it'

It's a bit pathetic to extend this rape analogy to a business. We don't hold individuals and corporations to the same legal, and/or quality standards.

So, hopefully we can discuss these important policy issues without worrying if "twitters" feelings get hurt.

Re: Tampa teen accused of being ‘mastermind’ behind Twitter hack

#663

Post by drivingmenuts »

bryanrasmussen wrote: post #601
slg wrote: post #397

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The push against "victim blaming" is not about removing any possible role a victim would have in their victimhood. It is about destigmatizing victimhood and not blaming victims for things that are out of their control or that any other reasonable person would do. Let's imagine a situation in which someone breaks into my house and steals my TV. I deserve a decent amount of blame if I left my front door wide open befor…

No one deserves any blame for being burgled when leaving their front door opened - however if a bank leaves the vault open they deserve blame because what's in the vault is not just theirs. Twitter left the vault open.

When did a pie on a windowsill become a free pie?

That’s hobo mentality.

It’s not your pie. Keep your goddamn hands off the fucking pie.

Re: Tampa teen accused of being ‘mastermind’ behind Twitter hack

#664

Post by partyboat1586 »

nickff wrote: post #385
slg wrote: post #254

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Then you need processes in place to make sure a single person being careless cant do this much damage. There are low tech solutions that would greatly improve security[1], however the overhead this introduces is hard to justify in a world in which these breaches aren't that damaging to a company. We need to change incentives for companies by either mandating these security practices or implementing harmful repercussi…

I agree that better security practices are advisable, but you're victim-blaming. Twitter wasn't 'asking for it', and neither were the individuals who lost bitcoins; the 'hackers' intentionally perpetrated deceptions, misrepresentations, and fraud against both Twitter and the general public. If you compare what these three did to a white-collar crime, the dollar amount was small, but the behavior was egregious.

Victim blaming is for when people have been psychology abused. It doesn't apply here.

Re: Tampa teen accused of being ‘mastermind’ behind Twitter hack

#665

Post by senorjazz »

nickff wrote: post #385
slg wrote: post #254

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Then you need processes in place to make sure a single person being careless cant do this much damage. There are low tech solutions that would greatly improve security[1], however the overhead this introduces is hard to justify in a world in which these breaches aren't that damaging to a company. We need to change incentives for companies by either mandating these security practices or implementing harmful repercussi…

I agree that better security practices are advisable, but you're victim-blaming. Twitter wasn't 'asking for it', and neither were the individuals who lost bitcoins; the 'hackers' intentionally perpetrated deceptions, misrepresentations, and fraud against both Twitter and the general public. If you compare what these three did to a white-collar crime, the dollar amount was small, but the behavior was egregious.

> victim-blaming.

sometimes the victim deserves some blame.Or at least their actions analysed to see where blame lays

Re: Tampa teen accused of being ‘mastermind’ behind Twitter hack

#666

Post by blue52 »

skinnymuch wrote: post #625
VWWHFSfQ wrote: post #594

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your Honor, I firebombed those police cars because I'm PUNK ROCK! do you see how you sound

Calling lighting some cars on fire terrorism sounds more frightening than anything else. I feel terrorized just by that.

Everything is "terrorism" these days if the gov't doesn't like the thought/action/person/group.

Re: Tampa teen accused of being ‘mastermind’ behind Twitter hack

#667

Post by ryanlol »

tptacek wrote: post #494
bilbopotter wrote: post #438

Obviously what they did is wrong but the kid is 17. To me this is a prime example of where a short sentence or community service should be used. Don't ruin his life - he could be a useful employee for a tech company.

It drives me a little nuts when people say stuff like this (they said it about Reiser, too) --- because you can say the same thing about tens of thousands of young offenders imprisoned for crimes we don't have a rooting interest in. We need to reduce sentences across the board, for both violent and nonviolent crimes, because our sentencing ranges are bonkers. But it's immoral to single out crimes committed by people…

> At any rate, presuming the evidence holds up, it's unlikely that this person is going to find any leniency at all. High profile is tough but survivable; monetized is tougher still. High profile and monetized? My guess is they're going to make an example out of him.

I wouldn’t be so sure. Look at Paras Jha, Zachary Buchta and Mir Islam.

All engaged in similar high profile crimes, all monetized. I think only Mir spent a little bit of time in prison.

I have a hard time thinking of any young, high profile offenders that were handed severe punishments for cybercrimes by federal courts in the past decade.

Re: Tampa teen accused of being ‘mastermind’ behind Twitter hack

#669

Post by clairity »

Taek wrote: post #131

Hitting a 17yo with 30 felony charges feels a bit steep to me. Also should any repercussions be considered against Twitter that a 17yo was able to gain access to the private messages of potentially some of the most important individuals in the world? If a 17yo could do it, I'm sure a nation state could do it.

that makes me so mad, not just for 17 year olds, but everyone subject to the whims of the criminal justice system.

for this young man, it should be 1 charge, maybe 1-2 weeks in jail (to deomonstrate the seriousness of the offense, not so much for retribution), and then a whole bunch of community service as restitution and rehabilitation.

we destroy lives gone astray rather than nudge them back onto the happier path(s). mischievousness like this is rarely an expression of malice, but more likely curiosity, rebelliousness, perhaps boredom, etc. the punishment should reflect that.

Re: Tampa teen accused of being ‘mastermind’ behind Twitter hack

#670

Post by nkrisc »

nexuist wrote: post #533
nkrisc wrote: post #502

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Like most things in life: it depends. Your home was broken into and your jewelry stolen? No, you're not criminally liable for anything, you were the only victim. Your home was broken into and they stole the stack of personal records for your small business' employees that you left sitting on the dining room table? Yes, you should be liable for that because you were not the only victim and those others were victimized…

> Your home was broken into and they stole the stack of personal records for your small business' employees that you left sitting on the dining room table? Yes, you should be liable for that because you were not the only victim and those others were victimized due to your own negligence. The documents were not properly secured, was your home properly secured as well given the sensitive material you were housing there…

> The ultimate end result of a policy like this is that people will simply kill anyone trespassing on their property;

That will probably get you more jail time than whatever other liabilities you might have had, which realistically maybe would have just been civil anyway, were some policy like this to become real.

But put another way, in context of business collecting personal user data: if you can't secure it, don't collect it. If your business isn't viable then, well, tough shit.

Post reply on HN