Is this guy for real?
|
| Author | Content |
|---|---|
| notbob Aug 08, 2012 8:20 AM EDT |
I can't believe this guy. Not only does he manage to do just about everything wrong, but he then turns it into a four page feature story. "Hi. I'm Mat Honan and I'm dumber'n a bag o' hammers." Unbe-lieeeevable! And this from a guy who's a senior writer for Wired, where he allegedly dispenses geeky guru advice about all kinds of hi-tech gadgetry aimed at keeping everyone continually connected to the net 24/7. Some brilliant gems of wisdom from ol' Mat: "In many ways, this was all my fault." .....and I'm near my deadline. "My accounts were daisy-chained together." .....we didn't see that coming, did we. "Lulz." .....had to get the cool/hip creds in. "But what happened to me exposes vital security flaws in several customer service systems....." .....no, Mat. What happened to you is because you're naive and clueless about how the system you claim to know so much about works. More careful people have been warning about these problems with the cloud for a long time. You go out there, put your whole life on the cloud, and then are shocked, bewildered, and hurt that such a dastardly thing can happen. You actually blame others! Sorry, Mat, but you are a fool. Apparently, a well paid fool, but a fool, nonetheless. nb |
| BernardSwiss Aug 08, 2012 6:01 PM EDT |
He was quite clear about his own responsibility -- and he admitted it upfront and in plain words He also makes some good points about the deficiencies on the part of various service providers. Yes, he was stupid. but he doesn't shy away from acknowledging that. And there is quite a bit more to this story. |
| JaseP Aug 08, 2012 6:46 PM EDT |
It doesn't make sense that the guy's entire life could be wiped away just by hacking a couple of accounts... I mean,... deleting pictures off his iPad? There's something seriously wrong with Apple's security if that can happen. No local storage?!?! By the way I've turned on 2-step security on my own Google account... Anyone using Google,... I'd recommend the same. |
| jdixon Aug 08, 2012 8:31 PM EDT |
> By the way I've turned on 2-step security on my own Google account. Which requires a cell phone. Which I don't have. |
| tuxchick Aug 09, 2012 1:41 AM EDT |
Everyone wants our cell phone numbers. I do not trust all these bozos er I mean fine companies who want our cell phone numbers. Yes I know, they have only our very best interests at heart, and I am a mistrustful creaking old paranoic. Executive summary of this article: big billionaire businesses secuairty hahahahaha |
| lufthans Aug 09, 2012 3:19 AM EDT |
It took a lot of guts for Mat to post that story ( presuming it wasn't actually posted by whomever cracked all of Mat's accounts ). It's embarassing to be cracked even if you didn't make any mistakes. Most people just use one email address ( and don't even take advantage of sub-addressing ), so his story is relevant to lots and lots of people. Should *he* have known better? I don't know. The only thing I know about him is that he's at least a part-time journalist for Wired. That doesn't scream "tech savvy" to me. I do hope he actually is tech savvy and uses this experience and his platform as an author to help others. I think his article does just that. I know it does just that for me as I was already scheduled to give a talk on personal privacy and security on the Internet and his article more than makes the case for what I'll be covering ;-). |
| lufthans Aug 09, 2012 3:23 AM EDT |
tuxchick: yeah, no need to give them a second factor to track. Much better would be something like a secure XMPP service where we can choose the client and we can specifically choose one that gives random unique IDs rather than being mapped to the phone's static unique ID. |
| notbob Aug 09, 2012 10:27 AM EDT |
I see Wired is milking this incident for all it's worth. Ol' Mat Hodad is now sniveling in a video about how "devastated" he is, looking all the world like a female rape victim on Law and Order SVU. It would be downright hilarious if it wasn't, in fact, so pathetic. I read most of the comments of Mat's first installment of shame. Like here, so many are saying what a honest and brave soul he is for admitting his stupidity. Seems Mat is going to be the poster boy for the pitfalls of the cloud for both sides of the table for some time to come. The people who are sold on this idiocy can all learn something, though I have no idea what that may be, other than how to blame all the apps/service providers. I know damn well no one is going to give up one single app or toy. The nay-sayers, like myself, are bound to have a field day, pointing out this is what we've been warning against from the beginning, that five Batman-belt toys and fifty "cool" apps is no substitute for common sense. This whole thing reminds of the tragic episode of another gadget guru, James Kim, who died in the OR backcountry, despite advocating being connected to everything at all times. Kim seems to have been totally ignorant of limitations of his gadgets and knowledge of appropriate tools like emergency QRP radios or personal ELTs, preferring to focus on what's cool and hip and the latest hi-tech toy of the day. Such naivete cost him his life. All Mat lost are a few photos and any claim to having an actual functioning brain. But, to see him whining on this latest video, you'd think he'd lost his entire family in the latest whack-job massacre. Pitiful, Dan. Just pitiful. |
| patrickjmquinn Aug 09, 2012 11:15 AM EDT |
notbob there is literally no need for such a vicious and unfair attack on the author, this kind of problem is systemic of the bigger issue around here. Grow up and learn to be impartial when writing things publicly, if your feelings towards a subject out weigh you uncompromising impartiality then, and only then may you make a point one way or the other. That applies to anyone, if you truly love Linux dont go posting things which make its users look like a bunch of antisocial snobs. /ofmytether |
| notbob Aug 09, 2012 12:42 PM EDT |
Patrick, I'm not going to get into a flame war over this, but the only problem that is "systemic" is the gullible masses believing that a bunch of commercial companies offering up the "cloud" like some golden calf and letting said masses believe they give a rat's ass about your security or data or anything else other than your wallet and their profits is just stupid. I hope this episode does foster some serious debate on the issue. It matters not what OS is involved. What matters is people taking responsibility for their own security. Here we have a person who is supposedly something of an authority on all things gadgety and cloudy, yet is acting like a deflowered babe in the woods. Are the rest of the gadget/cloud masses equally as trusting and clueless as this guy? After all, he's supposed to be a guru, a person advising others. Does the "crowd" really trust the "cloud? Do they really believe their data, info, records, etc, are truly safe? What really scares me is that, yes, I believe they truly do. If Mat's incredulity is sincere, it's already too late. Yes, I'm an old cynical curmudgeon, but I came by it honestly after a lifetime of being screwed, believing the endless line of money grubbing corporations that glibly lie about all the benefits they are going to bestow. It's my job as an elder to warn you young whippersnappers about the ogres under the bridge. I know none of you will listen, but then, that's your curse. ;) nb |
| BernardSwiss Aug 09, 2012 1:41 PM EDT |
@notbob Half the story here -- the bigger half -- is the very real deficiencies described in the article. The deficiencies that Wired took the trouble to confirm were real and systemic. If Mat Honan had followed sensible practices, and taken the kind of precautions he knew he should have, he would almost certainly have been hacked anyways -- but it wouldn't have been quite so easy, and he would have taken far less damage from the incident. This is actually two stories: 1) "I was stupid -- but you can learn from my mistakes." 2) Apple, Amazon and doubtless lots of other big corporations that lots and lots of people trust with both personal data and access to it, are being stupidly (or cavalierly) careless about it, too. Hackers can get at and abuse that info with nearly trivial ease. Sneer at the first story all you like -- but don't let your lip curl so far over that it blinds you to the second. |
| tracyanne Aug 09, 2012 6:32 PM EDT |
Quoting:Half the story here -- the bigger half -- is the very real deficiencies described in the article. The deficiencies that Wired took the trouble to confirm were real and systemic. If Mat Honan had followed sensible practices, and taken the kind of precautions he knew he should have, he would almost certainly have been hacked anyways -- but it wouldn't have been quite so easy, and he would have taken far less damage from the incident. That is the half of the story I believe notbob is railing about. The Corporations (in this case Apple Google and Amazon) don't and won't discuss the potential pitfalls, don't and won't give advice on the potential pitfalls, make claims that all is sunshine and lollipops, and do their damnedest to make it really really easy to take the path this bloke took. Yes he was dumb arse stupid, but the Corporations don't give a rats, so long as he keeps parting with his money, they depend on you the users not questioning, and they make sure their marketing bumpf does everything it can to ensure no real questions are asked. The bloke is probably not as techie as he would like to believe, clearly he knows a lot at a superficial level, and knows plenty about using his gadgets and "cool" apps, but just as clearly he doesn't know or understand at a deeper level. The people who read his stuff, and use the gadgets "cool" apps he recommends, most likely know and understand far less. I come in contact with such people on a regular basis, they are often quite arrogant in their ignorance. It is these people the corporations are cleverly manipulating, it's a legal long con. |
| tuxchick Aug 10, 2012 11:40 AM EDT |
Exactly what I said-- big billionaire businesses secuairty hahahahaha. They don't care because they don't have to. |
| jdixon Aug 10, 2012 12:42 PM EDT |
> They don't care because they don't have to. And until the number of people affected is large enough to attract a class action lawsuit on their behalf, they won't. :( |
| patrokov Aug 17, 2012 11:57 AM EDT |
"The people who read his stuff, and use the gadgets "cool" apps he recommends, most likely know and understand far less. I come in contact with such people on a regular basis, they are often quite arrogant in their ignorance. " And these people (that I meet) are 90% Mac users...and Macs are invulnerable to viruses you know. Meanwhile, they can't even set margins or tab stops in their word processor. |
| notbob Aug 17, 2012 7:04 PM EDT |
I told you they would milk it for all it's worth. They just put up another installment, "...how I resurrected my life...yada yada. I'm sorry, but it's just too too much. I can no longer tolerate such nonsense. The guy is basking --nay, reveling!-- in his spineless helplessness. It's too pathetic to continue following, even as comedy relief. I deleted my bookmark for Wired and will never follow their garbage again. Ars Technica is not far behind. |
| notbob Aug 19, 2012 4:30 PM EDT |
BOINK!! There went my Ars Technica bookmark. They just updated their never ending I-wuz-hacked story with "Episode 8....I Can't Stop Whining!". I saw it coming, AT having been bought by Condé Nast-ee in 2008. Now, they're just another shill for Apple and Google, just like Wired. So sad. |
Posting in this forum is limited to members of the group: [ForumMods, SITEADMINS, MEMBERS.]
Becoming a member of LXer is easy and free. Join Us!