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Whistleblower uncovers London police hacking of journalists and protestors

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Re: Whistleblower uncovers London police hacking of journalists and protestors

#271

Post by zhte415 »

geofft wrote: post #212
zhte415 wrote: post #199

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thinking realistically, the chance of a law firm asking for passwords, or any kind of personal information, would be a wise time to defer to legal council, compliance office, or whoever has expertise.

Yup. If this were my work account (or an account I use for work), I'd go in person to IT security and also to our legal counsel, say "Hey, this law firm contacted me because they think that the government has stolen my email password, should I work with them," and follow their advice. And I'd expect "Yes, we know them, they're good folks" to be a potential answer.

Indeed. And then the ball is in their court to pick up and deliver on.

Re: Whistleblower uncovers London police hacking of journalists and protestors

#272

Post by duncan_bayne »

mmjaa wrote: post #98
duncan_bayne wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Oh, right - although one could argue that's a subclass of crotch-grabbers.

Yeah, but I think its a little more serious than Trumps' crotch-grabbing sexism, when such a significant swathe of UK politicians is embroiled in child-sex scandals, that it becomes a frickin' National Security issue to prosecute them. If only the subjects of the UK had a spine, as a people, and the willingness to confront the dire evil that has usurped their political infrastructure .. alas, they don't. A nation of…

Do you think the UK has more of a problem in this regard than the US? I'm unsure whether it's more prevalent in the upper echelons of British society than in America, or whether it's less well hidden.

Re: Whistleblower uncovers London police hacking of journalists and protestors

#273

Post by zero_intp »

anqh4 wrote: post #112
sambe wrote: post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not really. There can be whistleblower protections that supercede other laws and contracts. There can be illegal contracts, which are not valid regardless of whether you sign them. Do you believe every issue is governed by a single law that is set in stone for eternity?

Are laws set in stone for eternity? No. Must acts that are committed now be judged by the laws that exist now? Yes.

I hold this comment to be untrue. It is clear in common-law that our peers may find a law to be untenable.

Re: Whistleblower uncovers London police hacking of journalists and protestors

#274

Post by dTal »

Joeboy wrote: post #185
dTal wrote: post #122

>The Bindmans LLP law firm, acting on behalf of Jones, contacted six of those listed to verify their passwords (the others could not be traced). In response, five of the six gave passwords that matched those given in the letter, and the sixth was nearly a match. Well jeez no wonder they were hacked if they're that easy to socially engineer. "Verify my password? That's funny, you're the third one this month..."

> one of the 10 activists said “their password may have still been in use as recently as late 2015 or early 2016.” So these were all abandoned passwords, at the point Bindmans confirmed them correct. Having said which, the notion that people are generally crap with passwords is obviously correct. Also I wouldn't be at all surprised if the way the article reports the password verification is abridged or at least wildl…

Good catch! And, recognizing an old password is much harder than recalling it, which would seem to suggest the law firm volunteered the passwords they had first. Morevover, if anything, the fact that all passwords had been changed reflects well on the people in question. It seems I was indeed perhaps too hasty...

Re: Whistleblower uncovers London police hacking of journalists and protestors

#275

Post by mmjaa »

duncan_bayne wrote: post #272
mmjaa wrote: post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, but I think its a little more serious than Trumps' crotch-grabbing sexism, when such a significant swathe of UK politicians is embroiled in child-sex scandals, that it becomes a frickin' National Security issue to prosecute them. If only the subjects of the UK had a spine, as a people, and the willingness to confront the dire evil that has usurped their political infrastructure .. alas, they don't. A nation of…

Do you think the UK has more of a problem in this regard than the US? I'm unsure whether it's more prevalent in the upper echelons of British society than in America, or whether it's less well hidden.

I think both nations have been equally usurped by a criminal element, for which this situation acts as leverage and coverup. Neither nation seems to be immune to this dire influence, alas.
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