4 ms·

X Factor & fox.com hacked, contestants database leaked

78 points by temptemptemp13 15y ago

deleted 15y ago
[deleted]
aw3c2 15y ago
I am happy about each and every database leak that makes people aware about the issues with data-mongering. As long as I am not in one of them. Then it feels really really bad (my credentials were "stolen" (ie copied) in a customer database of a hardware shop, since then I get personalised spam and the store still has not notified the thousands of customers whose details are out there).
- LargeWu 15y ago
  How do you know the data was stolen? Is it possible that they just sold your information?
  - wtn 15y ago
    He doesn't—that's why he wrote the word "stolen" in quotation marks.
  - aw3c2 15y ago
    They are trustworthy enough that I can rule that out. Could have been an employer of course. The list was posted online at some point. And the shop acknowledged the incident and is working with the police. I used the quotation marks because of course the data was copied, not stolen, but the word "stolen" is usually used.
- jonursenbach 15y ago
  Being happy about it, as long as you aren't in the mix is pretty hypocritical.
  - seabee 15y ago
    He would only be hypocritical if he was data-mongering himself, or leaking other people's information. Instead it is a selfish attitude, since the consequences to the affected people don't matter as long as he isn't one of them.
temptemptemp13 15y ago
Creds to reddit btw: http://www.reddit.com/r/netsec/comments/h62oz/x_factor_foxcom_hacked_contestants_database_leaked/ http://www.reddit.com/r/netsec/comments/h62oz/x_factor_foxco...
- bmm6o 15y ago
  What does this mean? There's no useful discussion in that thread.
  - nbpoole 15y ago
    I assume it means that's where temptemptemp13 found the link.
    - temptemptemp13 15y ago
      Yes, I meant to point out where I found the link. Was that a bad idea?
      - bmm6o 15y ago
        Ah, ok. I didn't see that you were the OP. Makes sense now.
  - mdg 15y ago
    What does this mean? This is not useful to the discussion either.
- jeffreyg 15y ago
  I'm not sure creds to reddit are necessary unless the original disclosure was made there..
anactofgod 15y ago
HB Gary... Sony... Fox/X-Factor... others/more to come... Prediction: Web security products/services will be the hot ticket for the rest of 2011-2012.
- upgrayedd 15y ago
  People get pwned, dbs get dumped, and sites get defaced e'eryday. This is nothing new.
  - cookiecaper 15y ago
    But the targets are usually not so prominent. As higher profile attacks occur, people in related companies will start to worry if they're next, and start a spending frenzy to try and prevent it (it is, of course, doubtful any product they buy will do any good).
- jrockway 15y ago
  I don't think so -- people don't think of security when they think CRUD applications. What they do think about is outsourcing it to a team of 10 people that will work for $1/day on it. And then they get what they pay for. Hire competent programmers to do important tasks and you won't be disappointed. The problem is that there aren't very many competent programmers.
  - anactofgod 15y ago
    I don't intend to imply that security products/services will address the problems inherent to badly architected/implemented IT systems. Just that we can expect to see an upswing in expenditures for these sorts of tack-on products/services from CIOs seeking silver-bullet assurances from those naive about their corporate infrastructures' security exposure, or blame deflection, from those savvy about the same. In other words, it might be a good time to start a white-hat IT security audit tools/services company.
personalcompute 15y ago
This database is fairly interesting. 73727 people in it. The ratio of females to males is about 1.6 Average age is 27 Top ten email address domains: yahoo.com (24269 addresses) gmail.com (17805 addresses) hotmail.com (7518 addresses) aol.com (7129 addresses) comcast.net (1639 addresses) live.com (1177 addresses) msn.com (1079 addresses) sbcglobal.net (992 addresses) ymail.com (781 addresses) aim.com (698 addresses) There's a lot more I want to graph and look at though. I especially want to see how different demographics pick different email providers. That and getting a map for zip-codes and making a heatmap of the applicants' locations then subtracting that from a population density map.
imrehg 15y ago
not cool...
dkasper 15y ago
What is the legality of downloading and posting analysis of this?

deleted 15y ago

[deleted]

aw3c2 15y ago

I am happy about each and every database leak that makes people aware about the issues with data-mongering. As long as I am not in one of them. Then it feels really really bad (my credentials were "stolen" (ie copied) in a customer database of a hardware shop, since then I get personalised spam and the store still has not notified the thousands of customers whose details are out there).

LargeWu 15y ago
How do you know the data was stolen? Is it possible that they just sold your information?
- wtn 15y ago
  He doesn't—that's why he wrote the word "stolen" in quotation marks.
- aw3c2 15y ago
  They are trustworthy enough that I can rule that out. Could have been an employer of course. The list was posted online at some point. And the shop acknowledged the incident and is working with the police. I used the quotation marks because of course the data was copied, not stolen, but the word "stolen" is usually used.
jonursenbach 15y ago
Being happy about it, as long as you aren't in the mix is pretty hypocritical.
- seabee 15y ago
  He would only be hypocritical if he was data-mongering himself, or leaking other people's information. Instead it is a selfish attitude, since the consequences to the affected people don't matter as long as he isn't one of them.

temptemptemp13 15y ago

Creds to reddit btw: http://www.reddit.com/r/netsec/comments/h62oz/x_factor_foxcom_hacked_contestants_database_leaked/ http://www.reddit.com/r/netsec/comments/h62oz/x_factor_foxco...

bmm6o 15y ago
What does this mean? There's no useful discussion in that thread.
- nbpoole 15y ago
  I assume it means that's where temptemptemp13 found the link.
  - temptemptemp13 15y ago
    Yes, I meant to point out where I found the link. Was that a bad idea?
    - bmm6o 15y ago
      Ah, ok. I didn't see that you were the OP. Makes sense now.
- mdg 15y ago
  What does this mean? This is not useful to the discussion either.
jeffreyg 15y ago
I'm not sure creds to reddit are necessary unless the original disclosure was made there..

anactofgod 15y ago

HB Gary... Sony... Fox/X-Factor... others/more to come... Prediction: Web security products/services will be the hot ticket for the rest of 2011-2012.

upgrayedd 15y ago
People get pwned, dbs get dumped, and sites get defaced e'eryday. This is nothing new.
- cookiecaper 15y ago
  But the targets are usually not so prominent. As higher profile attacks occur, people in related companies will start to worry if they're next, and start a spending frenzy to try and prevent it (it is, of course, doubtful any product they buy will do any good).
jrockway 15y ago
I don't think so -- people don't think of security when they think CRUD applications. What they do think about is outsourcing it to a team of 10 people that will work for $1/day on it. And then they get what they pay for. Hire competent programmers to do important tasks and you won't be disappointed. The problem is that there aren't very many competent programmers.
- anactofgod 15y ago
  I don't intend to imply that security products/services will address the problems inherent to badly architected/implemented IT systems. Just that we can expect to see an upswing in expenditures for these sorts of tack-on products/services from CIOs seeking silver-bullet assurances from those naive about their corporate infrastructures' security exposure, or blame deflection, from those savvy about the same. In other words, it might be a good time to start a white-hat IT security audit tools/services company.

personalcompute 15y ago

This database is fairly interesting. 73727 people in it. The ratio of females to males is about 1.6 Average age is 27 Top ten email address domains: yahoo.com (24269 addresses) gmail.com (17805 addresses) hotmail.com (7518 addresses) aol.com (7129 addresses) comcast.net (1639 addresses) live.com (1177 addresses) msn.com (1079 addresses) sbcglobal.net (992 addresses) ymail.com (781 addresses) aim.com (698 addresses) There's a lot more I want to graph and look at though. I especially want to see how different demographics pick different email providers. That and getting a map for zip-codes and making a heatmap of the applicants' locations then subtracting that from a population density map.

imrehg 15y ago

not cool...

dkasper 15y ago

What is the legality of downloading and posting analysis of this?