4 ms·

Seems like they could have sold this hack for way more than this will make them.

by sleepybrett 6y ago

logicslave 6y ago
Its almost suspicious how poorly this turned out for them. I suspect theres more going on than this
- rcpt 6y ago
  It's such a dumb way to make money with this kind of power that I'm more likely to believe that Elon really is sending back 2x BTC
  - manquer 6y ago
    It is perhaps a proof of ability, burning a zero day might be worth it, if you have others you can sell, also if the zero day was one time use or likely getting closed soon , the value might be not as high as it may look.
  - donkeyd 6y ago
    I've been thinking about this for a bit. Perhaps these were crypto scammers that discovered a God mode and used it. To actually monetize this hack in another way would mean getting in touch with some truly powerful/evil people and possibly putting yourself in danger. Creating a couple of wallets and a website can be done mostly anonymously. Sure, the money is a lot less, but so is the risk.
jdminhbg 6y ago
Via Tyler Cowen [0]: > If you've ever watched Goldfinger, you have to wonder if the real ploy isn't somewhere else, such as auctioning off DMs, blackmail, etc., and the bitcoin thing just proof of concept. 0: https://twitter.com/tylercowen/status/1283518906041278468 https://twitter.com/tylercowen/status/1283518906041278468
- wcarss 6y ago
  this makes a lot of sense. The bitcoin is actually a proof of authenticity -- send a small quantity from that address to prove that your screenshots of the DMs are authentic.
  - kyboren 6y ago
    No need to send anything. Just sign a message with the corresponding private key.
- giarc 6y ago
  Motherboard is reporting some screenshots that apparently show some Twitter admin panel that allowed these hackers to take control. Assuming this panel has that kind of power, they potentially could see all DMs as well. However, why expose yourself if you can get in and out of these accounts and collect the info. I'm not sure I buy the diversion explanation.
  - jjulius 6y ago
    >However, why expose yourself if you can get in and out of these accounts and collect the info. I'm not sure I buy the diversion explanation. Perhaps they felt as though they already had everything they needed and didn't mind ending their access? That would be weird, though, because I imagine long-term, continued access to DMs would likely be more valuable than just cutting out now.
  - totony 6y ago
    I'm being charitable to the hackers, but maybe using only one wallet is part of the ploy? You can prove your identify by sending 0.001 to an address if someone doubts you. But then again if you have the info you can reveal some of it as a proof. Maybe a way to get street cred by having a proof you did the attack?
vagab0nd 6y ago
They wouldn't know how much profit there'd be beforehand. If this was 2017-2018 I can imagine this being much more profitable. Plus it's lower risk compared to others.

Seems like they could have sold this hack for way more than this will make them.

logicslave 6y ago

Its almost suspicious how poorly this turned out for them. I suspect theres more going on than this

rcpt 6y ago
It's such a dumb way to make money with this kind of power that I'm more likely to believe that Elon really is sending back 2x BTC
- manquer 6y ago
  It is perhaps a proof of ability, burning a zero day might be worth it, if you have others you can sell, also if the zero day was one time use or likely getting closed soon , the value might be not as high as it may look.
- donkeyd 6y ago
  I've been thinking about this for a bit. Perhaps these were crypto scammers that discovered a God mode and used it. To actually monetize this hack in another way would mean getting in touch with some truly powerful/evil people and possibly putting yourself in danger. Creating a couple of wallets and a website can be done mostly anonymously. Sure, the money is a lot less, but so is the risk.

jdminhbg 6y ago

Via Tyler Cowen [0]: > If you've ever watched Goldfinger, you have to wonder if the real ploy isn't somewhere else, such as auctioning off DMs, blackmail, etc., and the bitcoin thing just proof of concept. 0: https://twitter.com/tylercowen/status/1283518906041278468 https://twitter.com/tylercowen/status/1283518906041278468

wcarss 6y ago
this makes a lot of sense. The bitcoin is actually a proof of authenticity -- send a small quantity from that address to prove that your screenshots of the DMs are authentic.
- kyboren 6y ago
  No need to send anything. Just sign a message with the corresponding private key.
giarc 6y ago
Motherboard is reporting some screenshots that apparently show some Twitter admin panel that allowed these hackers to take control. Assuming this panel has that kind of power, they potentially could see all DMs as well. However, why expose yourself if you can get in and out of these accounts and collect the info. I'm not sure I buy the diversion explanation.
- jjulius 6y ago
  >However, why expose yourself if you can get in and out of these accounts and collect the info. I'm not sure I buy the diversion explanation. Perhaps they felt as though they already had everything they needed and didn't mind ending their access? That would be weird, though, because I imagine long-term, continued access to DMs would likely be more valuable than just cutting out now.
- totony 6y ago
  I'm being charitable to the hackers, but maybe using only one wallet is part of the ploy? You can prove your identify by sending 0.001 to an address if someone doubts you. But then again if you have the info you can reveal some of it as a proof. Maybe a way to get street cred by having a proof you did the attack?

vagab0nd 6y ago

They wouldn't know how much profit there'd be beforehand. If this was 2017-2018 I can imagine this being much more profitable. Plus it's lower risk compared to others.