Live data from Hacker News

My friends Instagram was hacked and deep-fake videos posted in less than 6 hours

news.ycombinator.com

211–220 of 262 posts

Re: My friends Instagram was hacked and deep-fake videos posted in less than 6 hours

#211
post #40

frankly, i think this is where decentralized networks can help us. 1. networks where global reach to total strangers is not even possible, or at least is not the default. the vast majority of people only really want to reach their “friends of friends” anyway. this eliminates a lot of would-be hackers from even knowing you exist. 2. accounts that are unhackable because users log in with private keys instead of user/pa…

> 2. accounts that are unhackable because users log in with private keys instead of user/pass There's nothing magical about private keys that prevents them from being lost or stolen. The average person doesn't want to manage private key files. The average person wants to be able to recover their account if they forget or lose their password. Moving to private keys isn't a realistic solution for logins for the average…

The average person prefers passwords to key files?

The average user isn't even aware of the potential option of the key file.

I think the popularity of password managers shows that users preferences are opposite to what you say. The user wants the machine to store the secrets rather than memorize and type them.

Recovery mechanisms is a separate issue from whether you use passwords or key files.

Re: My friends Instagram was hacked and deep-fake videos posted in less than 6 hours

#212

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree. I think the most telling sign is the hand gesture for the number 3 when he says "just invested 300 bucks". Don't think Deepfake models can understand intent yet.

What do you mean? It’s not like a deepfake is a model that produces a new video from scratch in a completely random setting. It needs a base video to be modified. They need a video of a person talking to do the deepfake.

I think the issue is that there would be insufficient audio sources to generate new spoken language.

Re: My friends Instagram was hacked and deep-fake videos posted in less than 6 hours

#213

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is a good tack, though the key is the gmail account. Presumably, the perp has multiple scams based on the content of the account. Presuming much of the media creation is automated, they could also have run the process once the gmail account was owned. Testing auth from unexpected locations in advance seems like an easy way to get noticed.

I'm not reading that they hacked/stole a gmail account. My understanding is that by taking over the account, they updated the associated email address used for contact within Insta. It just so happened that the email used by the attacker was a gmail account. >Testing auth from unexpected locations in advance seems like an easy way to get noticed. How many times we've received emails from online accounts notifying abo…

A friend of a friend went through this a while ago and I was called on to help. Insta was totally taken over and so I made her start going through the linked gmail account because there should be a message in there from insta about the details changes. Nope. You use the same password, don’t you. Yup.

So it’s - access insta, change email, phone and password. Access gmail, delete notifications from Instagram, profit.

In her case she had about 60k followers. They sent random emails the moment she tried to do a password reset, so they obviously back the email onto an automated random service.

The fact the insta even allows changing all of those details in quick succession is one thing. The impossibility of contacting them next is another. Took a few days but they eventually flipped the account back to her with about as little fanfare as taking it away.

Re: My friends Instagram was hacked and deep-fake videos posted in less than 6 hours

#214
post #124

Thanks, Bitcoin, for creating cash incentive for most of the worst behavior on the internet. Crypto lockers, pump-and-dump schemes, scams, hacking processing power for mining, burning fuels to power even the most legitimate uses. Cryptocurrency will go down in history as the most regrettable invention since leaded gas.

That applies to any and all currencies, not specific to bitcoin. Scammers have existed for centuries.

Many new scam possibilities are specific to cryptocurrencies.

Re: My friends Instagram was hacked and deep-fake videos posted in less than 6 hours

#215

Earlier quoted context omitted.

always use 12-18 digit random passwords and an authenticator app for 2fa.

If you are using a random password generator, don't be doing 12 character lol. Do 20+

Yeah, true. I do 64 on default, except the service doesn't allow it, then I'll do the max allowed characters.

Re: My friends Instagram was hacked and deep-fake videos posted in less than 6 hours

#216

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree. I think the most telling sign is the hand gesture for the number 3 when he says "just invested 300 bucks". Don't think Deepfake models can understand intent yet.

Wouldn’t it be a real person making the gesture and his face is deepfaked on?

I think you are right, if you find a similar person with similar voice (even commission them 5$ in fiverr) and only deep-fake the face in a low quality video, this is very much achievable in today's state of the art.

Re: My friends Instagram was hacked and deep-fake videos posted in less than 6 hours

#217

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree. I think the most telling sign is the hand gesture for the number 3 when he says "just invested 300 bucks". Don't think Deepfake models can understand intent yet.

What do you mean? It’s not like a deepfake is a model that produces a new video from scratch in a completely random setting. It needs a base video to be modified. They need a video of a person talking to do the deepfake.

Exactly, so the point is that any relevant gestures must be coming from the timing used in an existing video, the current deepfake tech can manipulate lips and facial expressions, but it can't have the video lift three fingers at the proper time when "300" is being said.

So this is either an indication of a very elaborate deepfake which managed to surface an amazingly coincidental source video (which should be possible to find on her archives) or that it's not a deepfake but a real recording.

Re: My friends Instagram was hacked and deep-fake videos posted in less than 6 hours

#218
post #5

I've had my account hacked, too. I used to own: https://www.instagram.com/kaler/ Have owned it since Instagram launched and it was connected to my Facebook account which I've had since 2005 or so. There is no hope with contacting Instagram/Facebook support.

same here. I had an account that is now selling bras under my name. Tried contacting FB support so many times, nothing ever happened.

Re: My friends Instagram was hacked and deep-fake videos posted in less than 6 hours

#219
post #189
post #111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why ?

Because you can keep dialing customer service with various stories. ”A shark ate my phone”. ”It’s my husbands account. A shark ate him and I want to post a funeral invitation on his page”. Just keep dialing, and you’ll find a compassionate and helpful person at some point

This assuming you know my SMS 2FA number, it not not that expensive to have second phone number and second sim on a phone.
Post reply on HN