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Kevin Mitnick has died

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Re: Kevin Mitnick has died

#631

Post by jrnichols »

quartz wrote: post #593
stuff4ben wrote: post #502

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is the 90's and early 2000's. We didn't have the security processes and checks like we do nowadays. I worked for a bank right after the dot-com crash and was in charge of their internet banking web presence. I was witness to other employees passing around CDs and printouts containing the private information of hundreds, maybe thousands of customers. This was the era when your SSN was your userid. So these CDs co…

The 90s were wild. We used to just print entire credit card numbers on the receipt!

Getting credit card numbers out of the trash at a local Enterprise Rent-A-Car location was a weekly thing for us here, especially corporate accounts. I don't think some folks nowadays realize just how effortless it was to find such information laying out in the open.

Re: Kevin Mitnick has died

#632

Post by jrnichols »

samstave wrote: post #511
puzzlingcaptcha wrote: post #486

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Note that it really depends on the type of the pancreatic cancer. While pancreatic adenocarcinomas are some of the worst cancers out there (overall 5y survival of 8%), others like pancreatic neuroendocrine tumours have a fairly good prognosis. Famously, Steve Jobs sought alternative medicine solutions to the latter, which was probably misguided.

I come from a long line of clinical/medical folks in my family - and me on the tech side of medicine... That said the following is me talking out my ass, but I have followed a very few number of pancreatic cases - jobs being one... and there is one anecdotal that I would hope people closer to such cases can chime into ; how much wine did these people drink (jobs was a prolific wine drinker) Im wondering if sulfates f…

> Im wondering if sulfates from wine are a major player.

I work in healthcare in one of the wine capitals of the world, Napa County, CA.

We do not have a higher rate of pancreatic cancer than anywhere else. It is average. If sulfates from wine were a factor, it is quite likely that we would have seen a higher rate of pancreatic cancer here.

https://www.countyofnapa.org/DocumentCenter/View/11029/Main-...

Re: Kevin Mitnick has died

#633

Post by skeaker »

bennylava wrote: post #622

Wow, so much idolatry on here for a criminal.

He hasn't been a criminal for a very long time. He more than payed his dues as well when he was unconstitutionally held in solitary confinement without bail. Reducing a man who has done so much to something so trivial as this reflects poorly on you alone.

Re: Kevin Mitnick has died

#635

Post by thathndude »

eduction wrote: post #473
josh2600 wrote: post #48

Mitnick was a hacker hero of mine in my youth. I think I’ve understood his role as jester prior to conviction less as I’ve grown older, but there’s something about the boyhood charm of being so divorced from the potential consequences of one’s actions that is almost unique. Mitnick had so many stories that entranced the people around him. I heard one second hand of Mitnick dealing with a bank who had early voice veri…

He has the CEO’s number and successfully calls him, and through some miracle gets through directly to ask this trivial question — as opposed to getting the number from the assistant who answers his phone - sure ok but then under what pretense does he then ask him to repeat his phone number? “Please repeat the phone number I just dialed.” The phone number contains all the digits needed to recreate the bank account num…

You know that your checking account number is on the bottom of every check you right?

Re: Kevin Mitnick has died

#636

Post by dumpsterdiver »

moritonal wrote: post #479
eduction wrote: post #473

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He has the CEO’s number and successfully calls him, and through some miracle gets through directly to ask this trivial question — as opposed to getting the number from the assistant who answers his phone - sure ok but then under what pretense does he then ask him to repeat his phone number? “Please repeat the phone number I just dialed.” The phone number contains all the digits needed to recreate the bank account num…

Mitnick could have been hired as a advisor for their system, personally by the CEO. He calls the CEO to ask a "personal question" so to skip the assistant, asks something innocent, then let's the CEO he has a new number and provides a fake number. He asks the CEO to confirm he heard the number correctly, but it's a bad line, so speak clearly please. The "new phone number" has all the digits of the bank account he's t…

> then let's the CEO he has a new number and provides a fake number

I came to a similar conclusion regarding the implementation of the attack. The scenario in my head was slightly different, but very similar (still includes a new number):

Kevin provides his business card and sets up a meeting with the CEO to report on his progress (or whatever). When the CEO calls at the scheduled time - Kevin doesn't answer. Sometime later Kevin calls the CEO and apologizes for missing the call, and explains that he didn't see any missed calls.

At that point the CEO explains that he tried to call, and even left a message. Kevin has a sudden flash of insight and realizes that he may have given the CEO one of his old business cards.

"What's the phone number on the business card I gave you? I'm wondering if I've been handing out my old business cards to people... that would actually explain a lot." (presumably the phone number on the business card in question would include digits 0-9 in a not-super-obvious way)

The CEO reads back the phone number on the card and Kevin slaps his forehead because that is in fact the wrong business card. Kevin gives the CEO his new number, and they finish the scheduled meeting. On future calls the CEO is able to contact Kevin using the new number, which lends credence to the attack.

Re: Kevin Mitnick has died

#637

Post by nyokodo »

mcv wrote: post #433
nyokodo wrote: post #343

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Kind of the wrong side in history there. Manning’s leaks included vast numbers of documents related in no way to a legitimate whistleblowing issues, some of which helped spark the Arab Spring which precipitated in an ongoing civil war in Syria, slave markets and the beheading of religious minorities in Libya, and on and on all over the region affecting 100s of millions of people. I don’t know about Lamo, but Mannin…

Manning was very sloppy; that's true. But she also released very important information about war crimes. The intent was good, the execution was bad. As for the Arab Spring, you can blame it for revolutions in Tunisia, Libya and Egypt (some good, some bad), but I don't think Syria has anything to do with it. And ISIS was the direct result of the US invasion of Iraq.

> The intent was good, the execution was bad

Without being mind readers all we can know is what Manning claimed about intentions. People who break their oaths aren’t the most trustworthy cohort. Regardless, good intentions do not absolve anyone from high crimes and precipitating mass murder.

> ISIS was the direct result of the US invasion of Iraq

Without weakened or destroyed regimes across the region due to Manning’s actions there wouldn’t have been as much freedom for ISIS to spread. Manning shares the blame.

Re: Kevin Mitnick has died

#638

Post by thfuran »

internetter wrote: post #564
thfuran wrote: post #489

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But then you've given out your bank account number, so the secrecy is bunk.

The US bank security system confuses me. To accept money, I need to give out my routing number and account number. Using those numbers, someone could theoretically withdraw money... Maybe... The whole system is built upon obscurity. Why do some stores need a pin on my debit card, and some do not? Why do online stores need my name and address, but IRL ones do not? How did that one online store charge me without my CVV…

And banks are still perfectly willing to issue personal checks, a form of payment that requires you to hand someone a piece of paper with your full name, address, bank account and routing info, your signature, and a brief handwriting sample.

Re: Kevin Mitnick has died

#639

Post by [deleted] »

dumpsterdiver wrote: post #636
moritonal wrote: post #479

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Mitnick could have been hired as a advisor for their system, personally by the CEO. He calls the CEO to ask a "personal question" so to skip the assistant, asks something innocent, then let's the CEO he has a new number and provides a fake number. He asks the CEO to confirm he heard the number correctly, but it's a bad line, so speak clearly please. The "new phone number" has all the digits of the bank account he's t…

> then let's the CEO he has a new number and provides a fake number I came to a similar conclusion regarding the implementation of the attack. The scenario in my head was slightly different, but very similar (still includes a new number): Kevin provides his business card and sets up a meeting with the CEO to report on his progress (or whatever). When the CEO calls at the scheduled time - Kevin doesn't answer. Sometim…

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