View Full Version : Discovering the identity of online posters
funkymonkey1111
07-19-2017, 11:39
https://www.americas1stfreedom.org/articles/2017/7/17/can-the-government-unmask-gun-owners/
Recent federal decision in Arizona related to discovering the identity of online posters:
Imagine this scenario. You get up one morning, make your coffee and check the news. You find that an online feature article in a big, urban newspaper in your state is nothing but a one-sided, ignorant attack on your right to bear arms. In this case the article is focused on attacking a local firearms manufacturer, but it also impugns your Second Amendment rights.
Okay, that’s not so unusual, but this time you’ve either worked at that company or know someone who does, so you decide to respond with the facts. You go into the comment section below the article and soberly show the journalist where they went wrong.
Now you feel good about yourself. You’ve spoken up for your freedom and kept your head about it. You used a screen name, so it was an anonymous debate, as is your right. You only hope that your factual response makes the journalist think. But later you hear the Department of Justice (DOJ) is pressuring the newspaper to give them your IP address, because they want to talk to you.
Can they do this?
Yes, said a court.
In a case that could kick out the trusses of online freedom, Judge Diane J. Humetewa of the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona ruled in June that the DOJ can force a private company—say, Facebook, Yelp or a local media company—to give up your identity simply because you expressed an opinion online.
This ruling occurred after the DOJ obtained a grand jury subpoena to make Glassdoor, an online job-review website, give up the identities of eight people (the DOJ initially wanted 125 peoples’ identities). The DOJ wants these peoples’ internet protocol (IP) addresses, their credit card information and other identifying details so it can identify them, question them and perhaps compel them to testify against a company the DOJ is investigating.
Glassdoor, a California-based company, quickly appealed the ruling to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, which is where it stands at the time of this writing.
If this ruling stands, this could affect speech across the internet. And politically incorrect groups, such as those who choose to own guns, could be particularly susceptible to any administration that opposes their constitutional rights.
A state’s district attorney or a U.S. attorney, for example, could use such a newfound power to go on a fishing expedition against citizens or an industry it doesn’t like. It could force gun owners, for example, who use internet pseudonyms while on a gun blog talking about a manufacturer’s trigger system to be unmasked and dragged into a judicial process.
Let’s say such a person is a gunsmith or works for an outdoor retailer. The spin that could result from them being subpoenaed could cause them to lose their jobs or occupations—as it could do to the eight people the DOJ is trying to force Glassdoor to reveal.
One thing the NRA has long lobbied against is allowing the government to create databases of gun owners. Such a newfound power for government could easily lead us in that direction. After all, “the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed” includes protecting the privacy of gun owners.
Brad Serwin, general counsel at Glassdoor, said: “We’d like a precedent set that respects American freedom in today’s world. The government is arguing they should be able to find out someone’s identity as long as it is not acting in ‘bad faith.’ We’re arguing that, legally speaking, the government is required to pass a ‘compelling interest’ test before being given the authority to demand people’s identities from a private company.”
Fourth Amendment protections don’t block this because the government is going after a private company (a third party) for these people's info, so according to the Supreme Court’s “third-party doctrine” these people have “no reasonable expectation of privacy.” According to this judge, all those pseudonyms we see on social media and in comment sections below articles are no protection if the government wants to know who is speaking anonymously.
If this sounds like a lot of what-ifs, you’re right. But watching out for our freedom by looking ahead for new pitfalls is part of keeping our right to bear arms intact in this digital age.
Zundfolge
07-19-2017, 11:59
This is going to be the next big attack on our liberties from the left (its already starting in Europe).
They want to outlaw anonymity online because they want to be able to punish anyone that engages in "wrongthink".
There's a damn good reason we have a secret ballot and that secrecy and anonymity needs to extend beyond the ballot box or we will have no liberty.
Time for all of us to start learning how to use proxies and VPNs
funkymonkey1111
07-19-2017, 12:01
This is going to be the next big attack on our liberties from the left (its already starting in Europe).
They want to outlaw anonymity online because they want to be able to punish anyone that engages in "wrongthink".
There's a damn good reason we have a secret ballot and that secrecy and anonymity needs to extend beyond the ballot box or we will have no liberty.
indeed--follows the same thought process of discouraging cash payments, too
Grant H.
07-19-2017, 13:58
Thank you PIA VPN service!
No need to worry when I don't want to.
Given this, I may just move my whole house to run through the VPN.
Zundfolge
07-19-2017, 14:21
Thank you PIA VPN service!
Wow, its only $39.95/yr
https://www.privateinternetaccess.com/pages/buy-vpn/
BushMasterBoy
07-19-2017, 14:36
I bet the .gov knows more about me than I do. 3rd generation Air Force, I have had a military ID card for 48 years. Last I heard they watch me by satellite. Eisenhower was right!
68Charger
07-19-2017, 14:50
Thank you PIA VPN service!
No need to worry when I don't want to.
Given this, I may just move my whole house to run through the VPN.
It even runs on phones, tablets, routers, etc...
Does seem to have issues with craigslist's auto ip blocking sometimes, tho...
It slows down connection and increases latency, so not sure I'd use it for whole house... easy enuff to try, I guess
Grant H.
07-19-2017, 15:08
Wow, its only $39.95/yr
https://www.privateinternetaccess.com/pages/buy-vpn/
Yep, it's a pretty good deal!
It even runs on phones, tablets, routers, etc...
Does seem to have issues with craigslist's auto ip blocking sometimes, tho...
It slows down connection and increases latency, so not sure I'd use it for whole house... easy enuff to try, I guess
Yeah, we'll have to see. It's easy to do with my router. Hasn't made a huge difference in the speeds of downloads on my linux box.
Latency isn't a huge deal to me, as I don't game much anymore.
theGinsue
07-19-2017, 18:46
Just a quick word of caution and advance notice to all of our members about using proxies/VPN's to access the site:
Many of the IP addresses used by these organizations are overseas and even using secure tunnels can get hacked. Additionally, many overseas IP's and even lots of CONUS IP's (particularly those used by proxies/VPN services) have been blocked by our site due to spam activity through those IP's onto COAR15. For the first 5 months of 2017 alone I was blocking an average of more than a million IP's each WEEK (Actually, closed to 2 million. Yeah, the spammers kept me very busy). This has temporarily been essentially halted due to changes made by the staff that I won't disclose for securities sake.
If you choose to use a proxy/VPN to access the site and receive a message that "your IP address has been blocked", don't reach out to the staff asking why YOU are being blocked as it isn't about you. Also, don't expect us to open the IP address up so you can get into the site because it won't happen. Overall site safety and security is more important than your decision to use an anonymous means to access the site. The exception here is that we will occasionally unblock an IP address/subnet if you are travelling and find yourself blocked. This is done on a case-by-case basis after the risk is considered - and only if you inform us when you're leaving that location so we can re-block the IP/subnet. [Note: We've done this about 1/2 dozen times after members used the "Contact Us" email link.]
I figured you needed this information to make an informed decision about using proxies/VPN's. Now, go forth and conquer.
Between this and the ever raging war on net neutrality, the interwebz is in pretty serious trouble.
68Charger
07-19-2017, 20:07
Good info, Ginsue... I have yet to come across a blocked PIA adress on this site in the Texas, MidWest or West (US) regions...
And using a VPN doesn't protect you from attack/malware, etc... it just changes your IP to one that belongs to THAT provider, rather than your ISP, so it's harder to link back to you.
If your machine/browser isn't locked down properly, you'll give away your identity anyway...
For example, you login to your google account on your phone or in your browser, and now they can tie that VPN IP address to you in that timeframe.... so they compare Google logs to the interesting activity and they know it was you.
I figured you needed this information to make an informed decision about using proxies/VPN's. Now, go forth and conquer.
Users of foreign VPN services will be geofenced from many US websites. The Constitution does not protect communications outside the country from eavesdropping by US govt. agencies. In fact, the .gov has the ability to intercept domestic traffic and route it off-shore to circumvent the law.
VPNS WON'T SAVE YOU FROM CONGRESS' INTERNET PRIVACY GIVEAWAY (https://www.wired.com/2017/03/vpns-wont-save-congress-internet-privacy-giveaway/)
NSA's use of 'traffic shaping' allows unrestrained spying on Americans (http://www.zdnet.com/article/legal-loopholes-unrestrained-nsa-surveillance-on-americans/)
So we should flood the inter webs with fun statements.
[MOD: Find other fun statements to use than the one I removed.]
Edited by buffalobo
JohnnyEgo
07-19-2017, 23:13
In my line of work, boring nameless megacorp work that it is, I have frequently been held to account for the things I have said on this site and others. Just comes with the territory. A bored paralegal with access to the full suite of Lexus Nexus research products can correlate a screen name to a real name to a very comprehensive profile in about 30 minutes, without ever involving the government at all.
It takes considerable work to achieve the substance of anonymity, as opposed to the glossy veneer. It is beyond the technical sophistication of most of the folks who believe they are leaving a quick anonymous comment.
BushMasterBoy
07-19-2017, 23:14
Well the US Congress is considering creating a new branch of the military to control outer space assets. I believe some satellites can monitor anything wireless and/or control a dedicated sensor near a target. Not sure I would want to piss them off. I don't think you can be anonymous & obnoxious at the same time. Spacex is making space access easy, fast and cheap. The moral of the story is "don't post it on the international network".
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Space_Corps
The real truth is anything that you put into the internet can be traced back to you pretty easily. The only difference here is that they are trying to use the testimony of people whom they need a paper trail to justify their actions. Normally this is not the case. The internet is wide open to trace anything anywhere. I have watched 18 year old kids in college classes find the real name and address of posters on reddit in about 10 minutes.
funkymonkey1111
07-20-2017, 10:19
Is there a way to truly be anonymous online? Use different computers not owned/connected to you on networks/internet access not owned/connected to you?--and not using screen names more than once?
Just curious--obviously I'm on a screen name that's been the same here for years
OtterbatHellcat
07-20-2017, 17:25
The Fox has spoken, and quite well I should think.
But just for good measure, I think I should say the The Government can Blow Me now, and forever.
Thank you.
Nobody know me, I'm safe.
GilpinGuy
07-20-2017, 23:31
Couldn't someone develope a sort of block chain forum format, like online currencies? I'm not even close to tech savy enough to know how this would work, but if you can transfer "digital currency" anonymously you can surly post funny pics and post whore anonymously as well.
Great-Kazoo
07-21-2017, 07:45
Couldn't someone develope a sort of block chain forum format, like online currencies? I'm not even close to tech savy enough to know how this would work, but if you can transfer "digital currency" anonymously you can surly post funny pics and post whore anonymously as well.
Set up secondary accounts through the library's computers. Use only them to access the web.
Set up secondary accounts through the library's computers. Use only them to access the web.
So they trace back to time/place with a sign-in sheet and security cameras in place? [facepalm]
Burner laptop that you reimage every week with a different OS and MAC address. War drive using a pringle can antenna to hit different unsecured wifi, then do TOR.
Then on your personal computers install backdoor / remote access viruses and leave your own wifi unsecure. Plausible deniability.
What do you mean you don't want posting on COAR to become your full time job??
Why not spoof MAC and run everything through a VM you just roll back the image on after use, over NAT and accessing random wifi hotspots, that you piggy back off of via a drone w/ antenna acting as a relay station to circumvent geotracking/sec camera footage?
Hoodie required.
Yes and no. Using proxy layers like Tor (yes I know there are some US Gov exploits, largely surrounding idiocy) with VPN's can generally result in total anonymity even from the gov't. As long as you don't do something that links to your identity.
Contrary to what people think, if I hack your IP address I don't know where you live. You need access to ISP logs to see what IP was assigned to what customer and when to achieve that. And even then, with wireless internet connections, you can't say who actually utilized the computer or even how many computers use that IP - it could be shared by hundreds. The prior post about using Lexis to identify usernames is misinformed. There is in fact, no such central database. There is no database for this site, for instance, that links your username to your identity, because the information cannot be harvested using regular means - they would have to hack this site, then hack the ISP, then hack the USPS to see who lived at the house, and then build a time machine to see who was using a computer. Why is LOGIC completely gone...
What happens is when people connect their usernames to their real identity on the web, such information can be sold, and then linked by search providers. Realistically, Lexis only can match less than 5% of a username to an identity. Probably less than 1% accurately. Social engineering accounts for basically all of the "found their identity" cases; googling, finding pictures that are geotagged, finding facebook profiles, pictures of cars with license plates, house numbers, etc. If you aren't a complete moron [don't link to your identity and don't post PII or pictures with geotags], it's not possible to do that.
What can actually be achieved by common hacking and what people think can be achieved by common hacking... it's a rift bigger than the grand canyon. 99% of what people are talking about in this thread (18 year olds finding your identity, lexis, etc.) has absolutely nothing to do with your IP address, as those parties don't have access to it. Once again, don't be an idiot.
EVERYTHING you need to be concerned about centers around social engineering. Your IP address is irrelevant, even with the information, it's not assigned to your house, it's assigned to the ISP which loans them out, meaning your IP is changing all the time. The last thing you should worry about is your IP address being hacked.
If the gov't subpoenas information, then IP addresses can be obtained - sometimes - but most websites don't even hold that information all that long nor are they required to. Even then, it is obtained by asking YOUR browser, which often reports it entirely incorrectly. It takes work and multiple subpoenas for the gov't to arrive at an identity, case in point. Out of those eight IP's the gov't obtains by subpoena in this case, they will be lucky to identify a person in even 25% of the instances despite all the resources available to them. You need the accurate IP from the website (50% chance, good luck), you need the ISP logs, you need address information, even then you don't know who was using the computer without lots of additional information. Any weak link and it's not possible to identify someone.
There's massive amounts of tinfoil required in this thread.
While this is true, the social engineering part is super easy. Do you use the same user name across different forums? Different websites? To pay bills, or login to a website that has your shipping address? How secure are all of the systems? Generally it is pretty easy to hunt for a common user name that turns up an email that is used for an account login that can then be hacked from the owner side of a small business that shipped you a stapler last summer. The system is only as strong as its weakest link, and the average small business owner cannot afford to fully secure their POS transactions.
The real question then becomes why someone wants to find that information? Usually there is no benefit to find your name and address, your IP is enough to send you those fancy tailored adds for things you just looked at. Now with all of the social media there is the idea of meta data that forms a collective image of who you are online. Systems are capable of linking multiple accounts together even if there are no actual known connections. Content, user name, email, even writing style, anything that it finds online will eventually be rolled into a profile that it can tie seemingly disconnected events together. This is used for marketing and collecting data on user activity for large scale trending of markets. That is where people make money from it.
The problem now is that it is an easy target if someone wants to target you maliciously. That is how people are found and tormented online by the media and pitchfork wielding "hackers" that disagree with what yo said or did, or what someone else said you said or did. It doesn't really rely on social engineering in the classic honeypot sense like hacking into secured systems. They get a collective picture of you, use metadata to find a weak point transaction, and if there is incentive can have your identity pretty easily. It is just a matter of wanting to find you among the billions of people online.
It is hard to identify someone using legal channels, which is why it is hard for the government to find a specific person for the purpose of prosecution or to testify at trial. Illegal means that breach privacy are not that hard and can easily done by 18 year olds.
Couldn't someone develope a sort of block chain forum format, like online currencies? I'm not even close to tech savy enough to know how this would work, but if you can transfer "digital currency" anonymously you can surly post funny pics and post whore anonymously as well.
This is actually where all transactions are heading, but the problem is that a block chain is completely unique and can be traced exactly. You would posses a specific piece of information that can only come from one source. The government loves Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. It is basically a 100% traceable transaction type, so once they know the collective block chain for the majority of a system it can be tracked with 100% accuracy. The only thing making it "untraceable" now is the fact that they do not have a working database that identifies the 21 million specific bitcoins.
Great-Kazoo
07-21-2017, 10:40
So they trace back to time/place with a sign-in sheet and security cameras in place? [facepalm]
If they get that deep, there's a shit load of other problems one has.
Once you log in or access any web site you're monitored. Again, use your cell phone for anything other than calls and text. Your vehicle have an easy pass, use safeway or kings grocery card? Credit card when fueling up, any purchase. ?
There's no escaping or avoiding "Them".
Perhaps. Perhaps not. I agree on the inability to really be off grid. That was a problem to address and solve 15 years ago. Now, one basically has the option to avoid bad practices.
Why not spoof MAC and run everything through a VM you just roll back the image on after use, over NAT and accessing random wifi hotspots, that you piggy back off of via a drone w/ antenna acting as a relay station to circumvent geotracking/sec camera footage?
Hoodie required.
Love the drone idea! That definitely kicks it up a notch.
Love the drone idea! That definitely kicks it up a notch.
I like the fact that it brings a certain literalism to the phrase, "the internet crashed".
Great-Kazoo
07-21-2017, 13:39
Perhaps. Perhaps not. I agree on the inability to really be off grid. That was a problem to address and solve 15 years ago. Now, one basically has the option to avoid bad practices.
We looked at some off grid places last week. While feasable, the issue arrives when one want's that extra $2.00 of with soopers or safeway card.
https://tse1.mm.bing.net/th?id=OIP.Djmjly1cFJCRw_LkD2_hbQD9Es&pid=15.1&P=0&w=300&h=300
If someone wants you, for legal or illegal purposes, and they are willing to do what it takes to find you, you will be found if you have a digital footprint.
I sat in a friends office a few years back and for demonstration purposes, he asked me if I had ever tried to find someone from my past who I could not locate. I gave him three pieces of information and he had a checking account and home address in about 4 minutes. He told me, with a credit score of 600, he could put anyone with a digital footprint into $250K of debt (and end up with about 60% of that as negotiable funds) in about 15 minutes. Sure, he does it for a living, but he convinced me, there are no closets anymore, unless you live in a cave or under a rock with thermal blankets and tin-foil hats.
The point is to not be a target. Just like the basic of "self-defense" is that if you are not in the wrong place at the wrong time, the chances of being a target is going to be reduced.
Zundfolge
07-21-2017, 14:44
If someone wants you, for legal or illegal purposes, and they are willing to do what it takes to find you, you will be found if you have a digital footprint.
I see online anonymity like padlocks ... they're only there to keep the honest man honest.
You're simply not going to stay hidden from someone that has the knowledge and resources to hunt you down (especially if that someone is a nation-state) but preserving as much anonymity as possible will prevent us all from being fired for posting our political opinions online.
What these censor happy idiots don't understand is if you make it too difficult for people to use words, you make violence inevitable.
Zundfolge
07-21-2017, 14:48
Exactly - don't be a target.
Except that in the context of online posts, that's exactly what they want.
The best way to not be a target is to shut up, don't have an opinion. What the hell kind of world is that?
Exactly - don't be a target. The tin foil in this thread is necessary perhaps if you make a practice of threats against the president. As far as comments online, the Gov't isn't going to expend the resources.
As far as the former - that's not exactly true either. Skip tracing can be incredibly hard, if not impossible in some cases, or incredibly easy. If someone wants to sell you on it, they can bullshit their way to high heaven and how is anyone to know if it's a valid checking account or address. A digital footprint is not the requirement - if someone has e.g. a facebook with regulated friends, set to private, various social media accounts with a username where they don't post socially identifiable information, the "footprint" is irrelevant, no database has access to it, not even the gov. (Why bother with subpoenas, amiright?)
What makes skip tracing [tracking people down] easiest? Things like USPS address changes, Voting, Car Registration, Utilities. If someone requests their voter information be held privately, uses a PO Box with an old address tied to it, and uses that for their bills and registration, GFL finding their residence. You need to social engineer it through their friends at that point.
This thread is full of "A friend of a friend", "This one guy said", "I saw this one guy", and I'm sorry, but the hearsay is full of it. The advantage in skip tracing is that most criminals are f-tards who do stuff like post home pictures on their public profiles, and people who aren't hiding (your old friends) can often be skip traced because... they aren't hiding.
You are absolutely right. I think that there are two ideas of what is going on here. If you post a picture of say, a lion you killed on a once in a life time hunt and a bunch of pitchfork wielding a-holes come after you they will have your name, address, phone numbers, emails, probably bank accounts and will make your life a living hell for a while. That is because it really is easy to skip trace just about anyone and most people in their daily lives do not think about what they are posting. But no one is going to do it for the hell of it because there is no money in it, and it takes time of sorting through someone else's life and that is boring.
If you are talking about verifiable proof of a persons online activity, and knowing via time stamp where or when someone viewed something. Good luck.
My "I saw this one guy" comments are based on a college comp org class from a few years back. We all hacked each other, it was fun. Extra credit was given if you could get past the sandbox on four progressively harder machines and access a specific folder. Some of the students in there could get into just about anything. I saw them do it, I walked though it with them so that I could try to figure out the extra credit (I am not that great at it). At the end of the class the one thing I learned is: if you contribute content online, it can be traced back to you. If you use a VPN and cover your steps it can be really, really hard but is still do able if someone was motivated enough. "Don't be a target" should probably be "think about everything you post online and learn about basic network security at least a little bit"
RblDiver
07-21-2017, 17:12
Extra credit was given if you could get past the sandbox on four progressively harder machines and access a specific folder.
I heard from one of my computer science professors that one time Microsoft security sent out a company-wide email with a job opening. They attached some sort of IRC client I think it was, gave the destination directory, and said to put your resume on their machine.
Of course, the prof said "If you can hack their box, what's preventing you from deleting the other resumes in there?"
Yes and no. Using proxy layers like Tor (yes I know there are some US Gov exploits, largely surrounding idiocy) with VPN's can generally result in total anonymity even from the gov't. As long as you don't do something that links to your identity.
Contrary to what people think, if I hack your IP address I don't know where you live. You need access to ISP logs to see what IP was assigned to what customer and when to achieve that. And even then, with wireless internet connections, you can't say who actually utilized the computer or even how many computers use that IP - it could be shared by hundreds. The prior post about using Lexis to identify usernames is misinformed. There is in fact, no such central database. There is no database for this site, for instance, that links your username to your identity, because the information cannot be harvested using regular means - they would have to hack this site, then hack the ISP, then hack the USPS to see who lived at the house, and then build a time machine to see who was using a computer. Why is LOGIC completely gone...
What happens is when people connect their usernames to their real identity on the web, such information can be sold, and then linked by search providers. Realistically, Lexis only can match less than 5% of a username to an identity. Probably less than 1% accurately. Social engineering accounts for basically all of the "found their identity" cases; googling, finding pictures that are geotagged, finding facebook profiles, pictures of cars with license plates, house numbers, etc. If you aren't a complete moron [don't link to your identity and don't post PII or pictures with geotags], it's not possible to do that.
What can actually be achieved by common hacking and what people think can be achieved by common hacking... it's a rift bigger than the grand canyon. 99% of what people are talking about in this thread (18 year olds finding your identity, lexis, etc.) has absolutely nothing to do with your IP address, as those parties don't have access to it. Once again, don't be an idiot.
EVERYTHING you need to be concerned about centers around social engineering. Your IP address is irrelevant, even with the information, it's not assigned to your house, it's assigned to the ISP which loans them out, meaning your IP is changing all the time. The last thing you should worry about is your IP address being hacked.
If the gov't subpoenas information, then IP addresses can be obtained - sometimes - but most websites don't even hold that information all that long nor are they required to. Even then, it is obtained by asking YOUR browser, which often reports it entirely incorrectly. It takes work and multiple subpoenas for the gov't to arrive at an identity, case in point. Out of those eight IP's the gov't obtains by subpoena in this case, they will be lucky to identify a person in even 25% of the instances despite all the resources available to them. You need the accurate IP from the website (50% chance, good luck), you need the ISP logs, you need address information, even then you don't know who was using the computer without lots of additional information. Any weak link and it's not possible to identify someone.
There's massive amounts of tinfoil required in this thread.
Was thinking of this post when I ran across this article today;
Alphabay shutdown: Bad boys, bad boys, what you gonna do? Not use your Hotmail...
...or the Feds will get you ♪ (https://www.theregister.co.uk/2017/07/20/alphabay_hotmail_fbi/)
Analysis The alleged owner of dark-web marketplace AlphaBay was tracked down by FBI because he was stupid enough to include his real Hotmail address in the content management system used to run the site.
That is one of the eye-opening details in the case of Alexandre Cazes, the 25-year-old arrested earlier this month in Thailand suspected of being the administrator of an illegal marketplace trafficking in drugs, guns, counterfeit goods and hacking tools, among other items.
Cazes must have known that investigators would be all over him: AlphaBay had grown into the internet's biggest black market, with over 200,000 users and 40,000 sellers. It had more than 250,000 listings – making it nearly 20 times larger than Silk Road, which was shut down in 2013 after a massive investigation by the FBI.
Which makes it all the more bizarre that, according to American prosecutors, he used his real email address, albeit a Hotmail address – Pimp_Alex_91@hotmail.com – as the administrator contact for the marketplace software. As a result, every new user received a welcome email from that address when they signed up to the site, and everyone using its password recovery tool also received an email from that address.
The article goes further into the stupidity...
ChadAmberg
07-22-2017, 20:00
Frack 'em... they'll never figure out who I am!!!
Frack 'em... they'll never figure out who I am!!!
Security through the obvious? #ObscurityIsForSuckers
When you're an author and have a book on Amazon, and you own your own .com domain, it's tough to be anonymous. [dig]
It simply depends on how determined people are, to find you. Are they doing it for money? Most people tend to be creatures of habit, so they use the same username. Even if they don't, they log their email accounts with various utilities, rewards cards, restaurants, domains, and so forth. That information is collated and sold. It may take time and effort, but it usually turns something up eventually.
Skip tracing can be a lucrative profession.
Saddam Hussein was found in a hole in his home town. Osama bin Laden was found in a home outside of Pakistan's version of West Point. If you are trying to maintain your anonymity, you need to ask yourself WHO am I hiding from and WHY. If those who are looking, are motivated, and have resources, YOU will be found. Some people don't need a judge's permission to find you.
RblDiver
07-24-2017, 10:05
What's the saying, don't piss off the Autist's on 4chan? They will find your shit based on nothing other than jet contrails in your picture [ROFL1]
Lol, yeah, and/or the stars. Loved how that "He Will Not Divide Us!" thing became a global game of Capture the Flag :P
Skip tracing can be a lucrative profession.
Now I'm concerned.
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