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The xz backdoor thing reminds me of a story

rigor-mortis.nmrc.org

21–30 of 99 posts

Re: The xz backdoor thing reminds me of a story

#21

> None of his paychecks were ever cashed I don't understand this. People were paid by cheque in the early 2000s?

I had the option to be paid by paper check as recently as 2017, and probably still would if I had remained working for that employer (a US-based legacy insurance carrier).

Re: The xz backdoor thing reminds me of a story

#22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It says it was a couple decades ago

Can't be that many (3?) if they made cell phones.

I suppose I'm doubting that e-verify was ubiquitous 20 years ago, or nearly as likely to catch things.

Re: The xz backdoor thing reminds me of a story

#23
post #2

[flagged]

Was that before or after he told you people were hypnotizing you through the TV and tried to sell you nutritionally complete frozen burritos?

Or before or after he told you Black people are a hate group and White people should stay the hell away from Black people, and how to treat women:

The Death of Dilbert and False Claims of White Victimhood:

https://time.com/6259311/dilbert-racism-scott-adams/

>“If nearly half of all Blacks are not OK with white people, according to this poll, not according to me, according to this poll,” Adams says calmly in the clip. “That’s a hate group. That’s a hate group and I don’t want anything to do with it. And I would say based on the current way things are going, the best advice I would give to white people is get the hell away from Black people. Just get the f-ck away. Wherever you have to go, just get away.”

Dilbert’ Creator Scott Adams Compares Women Asking for Equal Pay to Children Demanding Candy:

https://comicsalliance.com/scott-adam-sexist-mens-rights/

"The reality is that women are treated differently by society for exactly the same reason that children and the mentally handicapped are treated differently. It’s just easier this way for everyone. You don’t argue with a four-year old about why he shouldn’t eat candy for dinner. You don’t punch a mentally handicapped guy even if he punches you first. And you don’t argue when a women tells you she’s only making 80 cents to your dollar. It’s the path of least resistance. You save your energy for more important battles." -Scott Adams

Re: The xz backdoor thing reminds me of a story

#24
post #9

> None of his paychecks were ever cashed I don't understand this. People were paid by cheque in the early 2000s?

You don't have to give your employer a bank account number, but they still have to pay you. Quite unusual for a tech contractor though.

> You don't have to give your employer a bank account number

As a Norwegian that sounds so alien. They couldn't do anything but deposit money, so why wouldn't you?

Re: The xz backdoor thing reminds me of a story

#25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Intelligence agencies can presumably mint valid SSNs along with other identity documents to use in situations like this.

They can’t forge a chipped passport unless they somehow got hold of the private key for the country’s CSCA certificate.

They can forge a real one by providing enough forged identity documents and paying the right bribes. They don't need to suborn the private keys - Just the people who have "use" access to them.

Re: The xz backdoor thing reminds me of a story

#26

I don't doubt that this happened, but if you use e-verify and fill in Form I-9 how does this happen? I'm in the middle of hiring an F-1 student on OPT and I need to look at his EAD and verify it's not fake according to my lawyer. So I do. Nice and easy.

Intelligence agencies can presumably mint valid SSNs along with other identity documents to use in situations like this.

> No record for him nor his social security number seemed to check out

This is the part that doesn't make sense. But the other sibling comment is probably right. It might have been before e-verify was widely in use. Besides, you just run through Checkr and friends unless you know the guy, so this "no record of him" thing would pop up these days.

I suppose I'm not too concerned about this attack vector now that we have this stuff.

Re: The xz backdoor thing reminds me of a story

#27
post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You don't have to give your employer a bank account number, but they still have to pay you. Quite unusual for a tech contractor though.

> You don't have to give your employer a bank account number As a Norwegian that sounds so alien. They couldn't do anything but deposit money, so why wouldn't you?

Because you’re trying to plant backdoors you don’t want any paper trail?

Almost everyone does direct deposit. But it’s not a legal requirement for an employee to be paid that way.

Re: The xz backdoor thing reminds me of a story

#28

I don't doubt that this happened, but if you use e-verify and fill in Form I-9 how does this happen? I'm in the middle of hiring an F-1 student on OPT and I need to look at his EAD and verify it's not fake according to my lawyer. So I do. Nice and easy.

E verify was definitely not ubiquitous two decades ago. Even during Covid one of my friends didn’t have his new employer actually verify i9 docs until a year into employment…

Re: The xz backdoor thing reminds me of a story

#29
post #2

[flagged]

Tell HN: if the comment was somehow offensive, feedback on the specifics of the transgression would help to improve matters.

It's a vague aphorism from a guy who went nuts with no added context to explain why it's relevant here. It's not offensive so much as low-quality and unrelated to the link.

Re: The xz backdoor thing reminds me of a story

#30
post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You don't have to give your employer a bank account number, but they still have to pay you. Quite unusual for a tech contractor though.

> You don't have to give your employer a bank account number As a Norwegian that sounds so alien. They couldn't do anything but deposit money, so why wouldn't you?

Apart from the paper trail side of it, some people just really hate banks and don’t have an account.
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