Liberal Hackers at it Again

Powerline ^ | March 11, 2009 | John Hinderaker

[samtheman]

Thanks for telling me about Shop Safe.

I’m going to start using it anyway; make a habit of it.

Why do you say BoA isn’t popular here? I hadn’t heard that.

[Le Chien Rouge]

When are the repubics going to start fighting back as hard as the libs are fighting us? We have the means... These people need a dose of their own medicine plus a bunch more!

I agree!!!

Several Truths:

1) We can no longer depend on the GOP to fight back....
Most are to busy trying to get accolades from the media...
2) We Conservatives are on our own.....
3) Slowly but surely,conservative grassroots groups are forming example- tea parties
4) Rapid sale of guns and ammo has the left PETRIFIED
5) It only takes a spark to ignite the counter-attack—history is loaded with examples

[MarkL]

Why do you say BoA isn’t popular here? I hadn’t heard that.

BofA is known for doing things that "aren't nice" with some customers... I've heard some real horror stories over the years on the Clark Howard radio show. And a while back there was a huge outcry here on FR, because of the policy of issuing mortgages to illegal aliens. BofA was also a big supporter of getting the rules that allowed the mexican ID card to be used in opening accounts.

But I've never had a problem with BofA. And their on-line banking is better than any other bank I've seen. Especially "Shop Safe." It's really terrific.

I've only ever had 1 problem with BofA, due to them incorrectly crediting a payment , but a single phone call took care of the problem. It could have easily been a simple data entry error.

Mark

[worst-case scenario]

Well, the Coleman campaign says the database was "hacked." Independent IT pros say that data breach, which definitely occurred, was the fault of the Coleman campaign's inept IT handling itself. The campaign had posted its donor base, including credit card numbers and security codes, in a database in a publicly accessible web location. http://minnesotaindependent.com/28748/colemans-site-wasnt-hacked-says-it-pro-who-discovered-donor-breach http://minnesotaindependent.com/24817/crashgate-reveals-unprotected-database-on-colemans-site Not only was the Coleman campaign sloppy enough to leave the financial details of over 290,000 of its donors in a place where any credit card sniffer program could find them, but it also kep the three-letter security codes with the cc#s. That's totally illegal - you've supposed to ditch that info as soon as the transaction is done. http://minnesotaindependent.com/24817/crashgate-reveals-unprotected-database-on-colemans-site Wikilinks says it sent out the emails to notify the credit card holders of the breach only because they had notified the Coleman campaign itself of the breach weeks before and the Coleman campaign had done nothing to tell the card holders of potential problems. Hinderacker is repeating the Coleman campaign press statement essentially verbatim as if it were the entire truth. Maybe he's next to God in turns of veracity, but I would check out some of the Coleman's campaigns assertions. It looks like they have every reason in the world to try and blame someone else for their screw-ups. And they know that saying "It was my opponents!" is most easily believable to their donors.

[an amused spectator]

Hey - the Tax Cheat Party can do ANYTHING it wants to get and hold political power.

After they consolidate their political power, the murders of their perceived critics will start, and the Democrat media will ignore the bloodshed.

[Hulka]

At the branch office outside my office is a BoA, and in there you will find 3/4ths of the signs in spanish. Further, the clientele is overwhelmingly illegal. . .from the Home Depot day labor stand next door.

I changed banks when finally I had enough when the teller's first words to me were in spanish.

Just my 2c.

[Sig Sauer P220]

I don’t think you have to put liberal in front of hacker. Thats basically redundant. Can you imagine a conservative hacking? I can’t.

[LibLieSlayer]

I agree 100%!

LLS

[drellberg]

Excuse me, worst-case scenario, but NO. Even if all that you say is true, Wikileaks sent a spreadsheet with thousands of credit card numbers in a mass mailing. Are you saying that this is anything short of criminal?

And are you kidding?

[worst-case scenario]

Wikileaks did not send a spreadsheet in a mass mailing. They did a mass mailing to the addresses that were on the spreadsheet, telling them that their financial data had been compromised.

Did you read any of the linked news articles? They covered this situation in much more detail, and if you read them, we can debate using the same facts.

[SunTzuWu]

I honestly have no idea if any other banks have a feature like this,...

It's called a virtual credit card number and almost every credit card issuer offers it (Visa, MC, Amex).

[MrB]

Bubba Effect

[drellberg]

What links? Please help, since yes I do want to know the facts. Hinderaker is alleging something quite reprehensible. If he is mistaken I am sure he would want to know.

[drellberg]

By its own admission, wikileaks says it sent out the core data. See:

http://www.wikileaks.org/wiki/The_Big_Bad_Database_of_Senator_Norm_Coleman

“In response Wikileaks has had to bring forward its public announcement. The open government group has released two files, a detailed list of 4,721 on-line donors with the last four digits of their credit cards as proof and a list of some 51,641 supporters. The full database comprises over 30 tables of information, including personal details, full credit card numbers, passwords and “back of card” security numbers.

Wikileaks will release other material from the extensive Coleman database once those affected have time to be informed.”

What am I missing, worst-case-scenario, that would in any way exonerate these reprobates?

[drellberg]

Moreover, how would any of us here be able to ascertain as “fact” whether the Coleman campaign was “incompetent” or that these reprobates broke the law?

I take their actions as prima facie evidence that they intend to chill political activity and discourse, irrespective of any errors that the Coleman campaign may or may not have committed.

To repeat my question, what could I possibly be missing by way of facts????

[a fool in paradise]

And yet hackers hypocritically “champion” privacy rights. They are two-bit thugs. And many serve the cause of Socialism.

[a fool in paradise]

They should be charged with violating FEC law by intimidating would be Republican donors.

[worst-case scenario]

No problem, they did format a bit unreadably.
http://minnesotaindependent.com/28748/colemans-site-wasnt-hacked-says-it-pro-who-discovered-donor-breach

http://minnesotaindependent.com/24817/crashgate-reveals-unprotected-database-on-colemans-site

Here’s an article about Wikileaks itself:
http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&taxonomyName=cybercrime_and_hacking&articleId=9129460&taxonomyId=82&intsrc=kc_top

and an article on Wikileaks itself where they talk about the Coleman database:
http://88.80.13.160/wiki/The_Big_Bad_Database_of_Senator_Norm_Coleman

and here’s an article from today’s St Paul Pioneer Press:
http://www.twincities.com/allheadlines/ci_11891772?nclick_check=1

Obviously, Coleman’s IT workers made some major blunders with this database. They should have never stored the three-digit security codes associated with the 51,000 credit card numbers they held onto. And it seriously looks like someone in the campaign left the directory containing this database in an unsecured location available through the web.

If someone looks at a database you’ve left open on the web, you haven’t been “hacked.” But I can understand why he would claim that was the problem - because it looks incompetent and embarrassing otherwise. If he really believes that he was hacked, then he is ignorant about computer security and his staff has gulled him. If he knows that he wasn’t and releases this “hacked” explanation as a cover-up, then he think that his supporters are ignorant about computer security.

I’ve got a private IT business, and Coleman’s explanation unfortunately doesn’t stand up to much analysis.

[ConservativeMind]

I guess I’m not bothered anymore that two Wikileaks representatives in Africa were murdered this past week.

[ConservativeMind]

You are liable for being overdrawn with that scheme, along with at least $50 of bad charges.

A better option is to use PayPal when possible or to get temporary credit card numbers, which can be offered by the bank through which you have your card. These can be generated online.