Congress made computer intrusion a federal offense for a reason.

Punki:

I'd be real concerned if I was you.

Get off the net now. Do a complete anti-virus scan, spyware scan, etc etc.

If board security has been compromised, why haven't more accounts been hacked? I would have thought that mine, scottc's, dov's and others would have easily made the list.

But then again, maybe I'm just a legend in my own mind...

I agree with skofarrell... my account has not been hacked again. This is all very strange... http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/eek.gif

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Gaucho100K

Well you and the hacker(s) appear to agree on something. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif

Well, have you recently (not just since this weekend) changed your password?

Assuming that it's a single individual:

Since Punki's two accounts (Punki and fake handle) were apparently BOTH hacked, only the FIRST of which is also registered at the other site, the answer must be that 1. the other site and its administrator(s) have nothing to do with this hacking; and 2. it's someone who had access to the FT database in December (when Punki created the "fake handle" account) but perhaps not after just the last couple prior weeks (during which time you changed your password?).

[This message has been edited by anonplz (edited Feb 02, 2004).]

Yes. but somehow I doubt this was the reason. I think we can look forward to zero help or intervention or assistance from such authorities-- we're on our own, that's for sure.

Other than that all I can say is how very, very sad this whole thing is. Really awful. And my sympathy to Randy who has tried SO hard to make this such a great place (and succeeded beyond his wildest dreams, I sure) and now has to deal with this..

I just can't imagine that this incident won't hurt FT-- in the short term only, hopefully-- tremendously. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/frown.gif

JonNYC - my computer/BB/techno knowledge is exceeded by the average mosquito, but I can't imagine that there are not clear leads for the FT techies when they look into this in a few hours?

Surely there are records that show who logged in to the Admin site and when? That kind of "fingerprint" will hopefully point somehow at a user(s) and location.

Agree Randy will be mightily (and most justifiably) p!ssed facing this tangled mess after a peaceful weekend, when there is a pile of real work to do on his desk, but can't imagine it will affect FT in the long term whatever.

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~ Glen ~ sipping bubbly from a UA 747-400 exit row 15 near you SOON!


[This message has been edited by ozstamps (edited Feb 02, 2004).]

I never registered at the other site (actually, I tried once but their e-mail isn't working) so they don't have my password.

I changed my password on this site as soon as Gaucho announced that he had been impersonated.

I have a pretty decent firewall on my home computer.

One of these may be the reason why I wasn't impersonated.

Well your knowledge in that area may well be exceeded by that pesky mosquito but it still exceeds mine-- so at least you have that. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

That being said, I'm always *SHOCKED* by my tech-weenie friends when they show/tell me what snail-trail almost every action on the 'net leaves. It makes me want to defenestrate my cable-modem it's so darn creepy what they can find out about intrusions (and regular activity as well), etc.-- literally it's the reason I don't even hide my e-mail address and my name for that matter-- why?-- because there is NO point to doing so on the internet-- it's utterly pointless from what I've been shown. Everywhere you go they can "see" you (if they are looking, which of course 99.9% of the time "they" are not) and with a few friends at various places they can trace you down like you were standing in Times Square firing off a flare gun and and UZI at the same time.

SO, hopefully you're right. I'm sure you're also right about the long-term ramifications-- but I need FT now! And I hate to think what the next few days will be like. Who knows, maybe everybody has gotten it out of their system and it will just be a bad memory...

I think it's time to get DetSamNYC involved in this....

You may also wish to contact the FBI or Secret Service, though weak password protection may lessen the likelihood of a conviction. If you try to clean up by yourself, you may be destroying evidence that could have trapped the miscreant.

As an Assistant U.S. Attorney and Computer & Telecommunications Coordinator, I beg to differ.

This is the second largest UBB bulletin board in the country, and prosecution may have significant deterrent value. Of course, it will depend on the prosecutorial and investigative resources in the relevant District.

WHAT! No Interpol???? I just love Americans in melodrama overdrive mode.

This IS a (fine) Travel Bulletin Board. Let's get a grip here. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif


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[This message has been edited by ozstamps (edited Feb 02, 2004).]

I have numerous friends (and a few family members) who are on the job at the City, State and Federal level. I wouldn't even dream of mentioning this to one of them, asking them to refer it to the relevant agency, department or individual because I know they would injure themselves from laughing so hard. Almost all of the relevant resources (people with comprehensive computer knowledge) are being used.. well, you know how. And it 'aint chasing ebay spoofers or this type of thing, that's for sure.

Even the big boys all hire private investigator firms to crack down on counterfeiters, etc. Effective but expensive.

None of this to say that I wouldn't love to help if only it were possible.

If you have the connections and favor-bank-balance to get this done-- that's one thing. Barring that one possibility, contacting the FBI or Secret Service is a complete and total waste of time and energy. I am 100% convinced of this and, as I said, I know (and grew up with) folks at both those and other agencies. Can you point to an instance of a prosecution (or even an investigation) in a case exactly like this?

It's a false hope to think a regular individual could pick up a phone and call their local Secret Service or FBI office and expect to get past the person answering the phone.


[This message has been edited by JonNYC (edited Feb 02, 2004).]