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Hacker wipes Romania's land registry database

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Re: Hacker wipes Romania's land registry database

#251

Post by gchamonlive »

lebuffon wrote: post #152
gchamonlive wrote: post #133

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Here in Brazil lots of people deal land by word of mouth. The country is just too big and there isn't enough state present to make every transaction official, so people shake on it, draft an unofficial document and actually living and developing the land over a long period of time is what consistitutes ownership.

This is well documented in the the book "The Mystery of Capital" by Hernando de Soto. When it was published I thought it would change the world, but apparently nobody cared. :-) In his thesis, this is the reason capitalism cannot work well in Latin America and other nations around the world. He says that registered land ownership is the foundation of capitalism. This is how one can borrow money against your land and…

The reason capitalism cannot work well is that it assumes endless resources and infinite growth, not because people don't like electronic transfers. Capitalism is failing in all countries and those that are not are already transitioning to some form or another or post consumerism.

Re: Hacker wipes Romania's land registry database

#253

Post by ExoticPearTree »

dredmorbius wrote: post #145
ExoticPearTree wrote: post #134

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can downvote all you want, but there were actual admin accounts with the password P@ssw0rd. So in your view incompetence should just be ignored because blaming people for lack of common sense will hurt their feelings?

In this specific case? Documented? If so, point to references. Otherwise your original comment reads as unsubstantive. Tropes and cliches may have value because they're often true , but if true, in this case, then share that fact and not the trope alone.

https://spear.cx/Thread-Selling-RO-Thy-arss-shall-be-spanked...

and click on the links in the article - they are screenshots from inside the system.

Like this one for example: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1iZc93XfViOk7izusgIG1ni7Kmsx...

To answer your question: yes, in this specific case, documented.

Re: Hacker wipes Romania's land registry database

#254

Post by dredmorbius »

ExoticPearTree wrote: post #253
dredmorbius wrote: post #145

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In this specific case? Documented? If so, point to references. Otherwise your original comment reads as unsubstantive. Tropes and cliches may have value because they're often true , but if true, in this case, then share that fact and not the trope alone.

https://spear.cx/Thread-Selling-RO-Thy-arss-shall-be-spanked... and click on the links in the article - they are screenshots from inside the system. Like this one for example: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1iZc93XfViOk7izusgIG1ni7Kmsx... To answer your question: yes, in this specific case, documented.

Sincerely, thank you.

Your initial comment would have been far more substantial, and probably much better received, with these additions.

Re: Hacker wipes Romania's land registry database

#255

Post by SoftTalker »

franciscop wrote: post #139
skinfaxi wrote: post #5

> Since the hack, officials restored their website and posted a message announcing they are rebuilding the agency's entire network from scratch. Even if the hacker claims they deleted backups, the agency appears to have had an offline copy, otherwise things would have gotten really messy over the coming months in Romania. So it seems not all has been lost. I was worried about the societal implications of being unable…

This happened in a 50k people town where my father is from in 1982 with a BIG flood that destroyed the town land registry documents (among a lot of the town). Since he's a lawyer, had first hand experience and I was always curious I asked many things about this a while back. Basically, what happened is that they rebuilt it from proof of ownership and testimonies of the people. You can never get to 100% recovery like…

There are also physical markers in the ground at the corners of most properties. So if you had to, you could send a surveyor out to recertify boundaries. That would get very expensive quickly, however.

Re: Hacker wipes Romania's land registry database

#256

Post by dredmorbius »

Poor password practice and policy, and likely a lack of 2FA / physical token security, seem to have contributed to this breach.

Posts and screenshots apparently by the alleged attacker show "P@ssw0rd" and other well-known / readily-guessable passwords from the hacked systems:

https://spear.cx/Thread-Selling-RO-Thy-arss-shall-be-spanked...>

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1iZc93XfViOk7izusgIG1ni7Kmsx...>

Originally noted, without references, by ExoticPearTree here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48978836>.

NB: If you're going to point out stupidity verging on cliched tropes, do so with sufficient evidence that it doesn't read as a tired and unsubstantiated canard. The fact that this does happen (and apparently did) doesn't mean it's necessarily the case in any specific instance.

Re: Hacker wipes Romania's land registry database

#257

Post by Tangurena2 »

giancarlostoro wrote: post #234
alexpotato wrote: post #230

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Basically, what happened is that they rebuilt it from proof of ownership and testimonies of the people In a similar vein, I was once curious how you would prove your identity if ALL of your relevant documents (passport, driver's license, birth certificate etc) were lost in some kind of cataclysm e.g. a house fire pre-digital etc Turns out there is actually a mechanism for this: - get multiple people to sign sworn a…

Fun fact, if you're unlucky enough to replace your Social Security card 10 times, they will no longer issue them to you anymore. It is a lifetime limit, and they fan it out to 3 per year. Oddly enough, if you legally change your name, they will send you a new one regardless of the limit.

Afterwards, you have to make an appointment to see them in person. Until then, you can order them online or via snailmail.

Re: Hacker wipes Romania's land registry database

#258

Post by daneel_w »

charcircuit wrote: post #239
daneel_w wrote: post #199

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why is deleting a row in a table a valid operation? Why is deleting a table in a schema a valid operation? Most likely they had full privileged access to the database.

>had full privileged access to the database Why does full access include the ability to delete read only data that should never ever be deleted for the rest of time? It's like building a self destruct button that ignites the physical records. It's an unnecessary risk to make such a dangerous thing.

Well, you don't understand databases. Or software.

Re: Hacker wipes Romania's land registry database

#259

Post by SoftTalker »

alexpotato wrote: post #230
franciscop wrote: post #139

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This happened in a 50k people town where my father is from in 1982 with a BIG flood that destroyed the town land registry documents (among a lot of the town). Since he's a lawyer, had first hand experience and I was always curious I asked many things about this a while back. Basically, what happened is that they rebuilt it from proof of ownership and testimonies of the people. You can never get to 100% recovery like…

> Basically, what happened is that they rebuilt it from proof of ownership and testimonies of the people In a similar vein, I was once curious how you would prove your identity if ALL of your relevant documents (passport, driver's license, birth certificate etc) were lost in some kind of cataclysm e.g. a house fire pre-digital etc Turns out there is actually a mechanism for this: - get multiple people to sign sworn a…

Yeah it's actually not that bad, because for example the BMV will likely upon request send you a duplicate driver's license to your address of record. Same for getting replacement credit cards. If you had utility services at that address in your name that's additional documentation. Also historical tax returns, bank accounts, etc.

Re: Hacker wipes Romania's land registry database

#260

Post by hinkley »

skinfaxi wrote: post #5

> Since the hack, officials restored their website and posted a message announcing they are rebuilding the agency's entire network from scratch. Even if the hacker claims they deleted backups, the agency appears to have had an offline copy, otherwise things would have gotten really messy over the coming months in Romania. So it seems not all has been lost. I was worried about the societal implications of being unable…

When I worked at a stressful place I was worried not only of our version control getting damaged but also someone deciding they had had enough and doing damage on their way out.

I had a copy of our code on media in my desk labeled “promotion” and updated it every month. In retrospect someone going through my desk would have assumed blackmail material and been disappointed to find only code.

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