Russian hackers steal 1.2B passwords

[dantheman]

Should we really worry about it (again!) and change all our passwords?
http://www.speedguide.net/news/russian-hackers-steal-12b-passwords-5609

[rgdot]

Hold Security warned in a blog post .... Hold Security is telling people not to panic and instead to strategize. It's recommending that users sign up for identity monitoring or identity protection services -- specifically touting its own service that is said to cost roughly $120 per month.

[Stoic Joker]

Hold Security warned in a blog post .... Hold Security is telling people not to panic and instead to strategize. It's recommending that users sign up for identity monitoring or identity protection services -- specifically touting its own service that is said to cost roughly $120 per month.

Right! Because nobody can steal you money if you've already wasted it all buying dumb shit ... Like an insurance policy that purports to ensure that you are indeed the real you...just because they say so. Even though they've never actually seen your ass IRL.

[MilesAhead]

Right! Because nobody can steal you money if you've already wasted it all buying dumb shit ... Like an insurance policy that purports to ensure that you are indeed the real you...just because they say so. Even though they've never actually seen your ass IRL.

They send you an email .. "Is you is, or is you ain't my baby?"  If your payment clears then you is.

[40hz]

Eeeeek!!! Last night Russian hackers cracked the bank account for my favorite poker game and got off with over $280,000 in I.O.U.s!!!!

[dantheman]

Oh! 40hz, are you ever serious?

And yet, someone today told me: "I wonder how many passwords the NSA has managed to get so far?"

[40hz]

Oh! 40hz, are you ever serious?

[attach]

[Deozaan]

In total, more than 420,000 web and FTP sites were robbed.

Robbed?

We really have to come up with a better word to describe digital "theft" that leaves the original unharmed and intact. If someone stole my refrigerator by making an exact copy of it and leaving me with my own copy... would I really care? Would I consider it theft?

[tomos]

In total, more than 420,000 web and FTP sites were robbed.

Robbed?

We really have to come up with a better word to describe digital "theft" that leaves the original unharmed and intact. If someone stole my refrigerator by making an exact copy of it and leaving me with my own copy... would I really care? Would I consider it theft?

I get your point, but,
in this case, it could depend on whether they could empty your copy of the fridge, or not

[Deozaan]

In total, more than 420,000 web and FTP sites were robbed.

Robbed?

We really have to come up with a better word to describe digital "theft" that leaves the original unharmed and intact. If someone stole my refrigerator by making an exact copy of it and leaving me with my own copy... would I really care? Would I consider it theft?

I get your point, but,
in this case, it could depend on whether they could empty your copy of the fridge, or not

True. My point was more about how "digital piracy" isn't actually theft. "Stolen" passwords definitely present a much bigger risk of personal loss than a "stolen" digital movie.

Even so, if someone "steals" the combination to your safe, nothing has been stolen until they use the combination to open your safe and steal the contents.

[Stoic Joker]

In total, more than 420,000 web and FTP sites were robbed.

Robbed?

We really have to come up with a better word to describe digital "theft" that leaves the original unharmed and intact. If someone stole my refrigerator by making an exact copy of it and leaving me with my own copy... would I really care? Would I consider it theft?

We should do a wanted poster for it: It could be an old western cowboy silhouette on a Matrix style background. Have you seen the 3D printed pistol waving binary bandit 10011001? Dial 1-800-NarkBoy to report sightings.

[40hz]

True. My point was more about how "digital piracy" isn't actually theft. "Stolen" passwords definitely present a much bigger risk of personal loss than a "stolen" digital movie.

Even so, if someone "steals" the combination to your safe, nothing has been stolen until they use the combination to open your safe and steal the contents.

I prefer the old security term "compromise" as in: to expose or make vulnerable to danger

Whether or not something was taken is almost moot once your security is compromised and the potential is there for someone to act upon it.

Now if the act of compromising the security of digital accounts or IDs was specifically made a crime it would go a long way towards clearing up that nagging issue of whether or not it was an actual criminal act if nothing had been taken yet.

[Deozaan]

True. My point was more about how "digital piracy" isn't actually theft. "Stolen" passwords definitely present a much bigger risk of personal loss than a "stolen" digital movie.

Even so, if someone "steals" the combination to your safe, nothing has been stolen until they use the combination to open your safe and steal the contents.

I prefer the old security term "compromise" as in: to expose or make vulnerable to danger

Whether or not something was taken is almost moot once your security is compromised and the potential is there for someone to act upon it.

Now if the act of compromising the security of digital accounts or IDs was specifically made a crime it would go a long way towards clearing up that nagging issue of whether or not it was an actual criminal act if nothing had been taken yet.

Yeah, "compromised" is a good term when dealing with passwords or vault combinations. But it doesn't quite fit the act of "stealing" digital movies or music. The only thing that is supposedly compromised in that situation is the thickness of the MPAA's and RIAA's wallets.

[40hz]

^I like the old 70s term "rip-off" (or "ripped off" if you want the verb) for everything else since that term also implied fraud - as in:

That was a complete rip-off.
We just ripped them off big time!
I just got ripped off!

...etc.

I suppose the best word for ripping off music or videos right now is pwn. (They pwned that new album right off their server Bro!)

You didn't steal or abscond - you took ownership of something. Which doesn't mean you took all of it.

Yeah...

I'm gonna stand on pwn.

[Edvard]

Aaaand from the One-Raised-Eyebrow dept.:

So, Yeah, Those Russian Hackers? There Are Reasons To Be Skeptical

http://www.onthemedia.org/story/so-yeah-those-russian-hackers-there-are-reasons-be-skeptical/

Firm That Exposed Breach Of 'Billion Passwords' Quickly Offers $120 Service To Find Out If You're Affected

http://www.forbes.com/sites/kashmirhill/2014/08/05/huge-password-breach-shady-antics/

But as Hill noted, “this is a pretty direct link between a panic and a pay-out for a security firm. Yes, I expect security firms to make money for making the Internet more secure, but I am skeptical of a firm with a financial incentive in creating a panic to be the main source for a story that causes a panic.”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2014/08/06/russian-hackers-steal-a-billion-passwords-security-firm-seizes-opportunity/