4 ms·

What I don't understand is why the hacker (whose full name is used in the article - alias?) is being public about this? Shit security or not, they made a clear

What I don't understand is why the hacker (whose full name is used in the article - alias?) is being public about this? Shit security or not, they made a clear cut black hat move purely for money. Or I suppose the other factor is fame/infamy. Pretty sure there are at least a few pissed off hackers among those 50M people who would want to track this person down digitally and pull something as retaliation.

toomuchtodo 5y ago
I'm going out on a limb, but based on signal from the article and actions the person has taken, I don't think they're mentally well.
- CSSer 5y ago
  I was about to comment this. He says he went public to raise awareness about allegedly being illegally detained in a "fake mental hospital". Obviously anything is possible, but that sounds a lot like he could've been legally detained and doesn't really understand the law i.e. he could've been a danger to himself or others. His other bombastic comments to press and relatives also make him sound insecure and immature. Obviously he had to be somewhat adept and dedicated to gain access, but he didn't discover any incredible exploit here. He also takes credit for discovering a well known zero-day but admits he had nothing to do with the code for the exploit. To me that supports the idea that he hangs out in black hat circles because he wants to be one of the 'cool kids', put in the time and got lucky. I imagine the press love that because a lot of the public doesn't really know the difference.
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
hpoe 5y ago
From the article "John Binns, a 21-year-old American who moved to Turkey a few years ago" I'm assuming it is the Turkey thing, probably counting on that to be a significant barrier. Yes they have extradition but I've also heard that Turkish authorities are quite amenable to bribes as well.
- short_sells_poo 5y ago
  > I've also heard that Turkish authorities are quite amenable to bribes as well. If the dude is banking on this, the major issue is that the Turkish authorities may be quite amenable to bribes from anyone indeed. Subsequently, my wager is that both TMobile and many among the 50M whose details were stolen have far deeper pockets than hacker exhibit A. In other words, the dude must be absolutely certain that government corruption can only go well for him. In the US, he'd "only" go to prison if the system wants to make an example out of him. In a place where anyone can be bribed to do anything, the sky is the limit.
  - lotsofpulp 5y ago
    What would Tmobile or those whose details have already been leaked have to gain from going after the guy now? The information is already out there, is it not?
    - datameta 5y ago
      It could even simply be a matter of harrassment by the Turkish government because existing bribes are suddenly, say, insufficient. Under penalty of prison, of course. Unless he gets a cushy gov't cybersec job from all this, which is another angle I have just considered.
    - short_sells_poo 5y ago
      Well, the first thing that springs to mind is to make an example out of him to discourage others trying to pull similar stunts. Second, if the dude manages to make any appreciable sum out of selling the data, the corrupt officials may come by with the proverbial $5 wrench and encourage him to share the spoils for continued protection and avoidance of wrench induced bruising.
  - vxNsr 5y ago
    He also appears to have turkish citizenship, so that might help
  - addingnumbers 5y ago
vmception 5y ago
yeah I had read that too and concluded he is an idiot and also shame on the reporter for enabling this idiocy. but also props to the reporter for getting likely winning the FBI's bounty.

toomuchtodo 5y ago

I'm going out on a limb, but based on signal from the article and actions the person has taken, I don't think they're mentally well.

CSSer 5y ago
I was about to comment this. He says he went public to raise awareness about allegedly being illegally detained in a "fake mental hospital". Obviously anything is possible, but that sounds a lot like he could've been legally detained and doesn't really understand the law i.e. he could've been a danger to himself or others. His other bombastic comments to press and relatives also make him sound insecure and immature. Obviously he had to be somewhat adept and dedicated to gain access, but he didn't discover any incredible exploit here. He also takes credit for discovering a well known zero-day but admits he had nothing to do with the code for the exploit. To me that supports the idea that he hangs out in black hat circles because he wants to be one of the 'cool kids', put in the time and got lucky. I imagine the press love that because a lot of the public doesn't really know the difference.
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]

hpoe 5y ago

From the article "John Binns, a 21-year-old American who moved to Turkey a few years ago" I'm assuming it is the Turkey thing, probably counting on that to be a significant barrier. Yes they have extradition but I've also heard that Turkish authorities are quite amenable to bribes as well.

short_sells_poo 5y ago
> I've also heard that Turkish authorities are quite amenable to bribes as well. If the dude is banking on this, the major issue is that the Turkish authorities may be quite amenable to bribes from anyone indeed. Subsequently, my wager is that both TMobile and many among the 50M whose details were stolen have far deeper pockets than hacker exhibit A. In other words, the dude must be absolutely certain that government corruption can only go well for him. In the US, he'd "only" go to prison if the system wants to make an example out of him. In a place where anyone can be bribed to do anything, the sky is the limit.
- lotsofpulp 5y ago
  What would Tmobile or those whose details have already been leaked have to gain from going after the guy now? The information is already out there, is it not?
  - datameta 5y ago
    It could even simply be a matter of harrassment by the Turkish government because existing bribes are suddenly, say, insufficient. Under penalty of prison, of course. Unless he gets a cushy gov't cybersec job from all this, which is another angle I have just considered.
  - short_sells_poo 5y ago
    Well, the first thing that springs to mind is to make an example out of him to discourage others trying to pull similar stunts. Second, if the dude manages to make any appreciable sum out of selling the data, the corrupt officials may come by with the proverbial $5 wrench and encourage him to share the spoils for continued protection and avoidance of wrench induced bruising.
- vxNsr 5y ago
  He also appears to have turkish citizenship, so that might help
- addingnumbers 5y ago

vmception 5y ago

yeah I had read that too and concluded he is an idiot and also shame on the reporter for enabling this idiocy. but also props to the reporter for getting likely winning the FBI's bounty.