5 ms·

MIT's Saturday hoax incident

81 points by mikexstudios 14y ago

cschmidt 14y ago
A more official looking source for the same information: http://techblogs.mit.edu/news/2013/02/letter-from-israel-ruiz-mit-executive-vp-and-treasurer-about-saturdays-hoax-incident/ http://techblogs.mit.edu/news/2013/02/letter-from-israel-rui...
MichaelGG 14y ago
"It's not a game" - no, but for the people calling in hoaxes, it can very well be. The administration can't choose to stop responding. But the cost of committing such a hoax is effectively zero - what's to stop the hoaxer from calling in each day? How do other police handle high volumes of hoax calls that aren't traceable (i.e., aren't 911)?
- programzeta 14y ago
  From a past example at the University of Pittsburgh[1], the result is simply a campus-wide lockdown and increasingly strenuous security requirements for those caught in between the hoaxer and their target. [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012_University_of_Pittsburgh_bomb_threats http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012_University_of_Pittsburgh_b...
- eli 14y ago
  Abusing the TTY relay intended for the deaf is pretty much only as traceable as an IP address, even if calling 911.
noonespecial 14y ago
This sounds a lot like swatting, a favorite of anonymous. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swatting http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swatting
- aaron695 14y ago
  I've never ever heard of Anonymous swatting so please feel free to post a link??
  - astrodust 14y ago
    It's trolling that ends with black helicopters circling over your house. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_helicopter http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_helicopter)
  - Maxious 14y ago
    > Posted October 9, 2009 > Are you an enemy of Anonymous? If so, you’d better be sure to keep your home address closely guarded, lest you be targeted for a “swatting.” http://anonymouslegions.wordpress.com/2009/10/09/anonymous-swatting-their-enemies/ http://anonymouslegions.wordpress.com/2009/10/09/anonymous-s...
    - danielweber 14y ago
      Lots of other people have also taken to this tactic. SWAT teams have been sent to an ADA's personal residences by someone forging a call from within the house, as just one example.
    - aaron695 14y ago
      If that's the best link(Or a link that links a non-existent link) then I'm happy to say that no Anonymous do not swat. But touché, I didn't ask for a reputable link.
jurassic 14y ago
> At 8:52 AM, a campus-wide alert was sent. It took over an hour after the report of an armed gunman on campus for the community to be notified? Even though it sounds like they were doing a great job physically clearing buildings with armed security, a lockdown procedure seems like a no-brainer. At ~7:30 most people are still in their dorms and it would be easy to keep them there.
- AdamTReineke 14y ago
  It was a Saturday, so I'd expect there weren't many people in campus buildings anyway.
  - jpdoctor 14y ago
    > It was a Saturday, so I'd expect there weren't many people in campus buildings anyway. That's not the same MIT I remember.
    - Symmetry 14y ago
      Well, it'll be at a minimum at least. Grad students probably won't quite be in yet, and for undergrads nothing is going to be due Saturday, so I wouldn't expect too many people pulling all-nighters.
    - danielweber 14y ago
      Just about time to go to sleep, isn't it?
- danielweber 14y ago
  As they say, that was one of the things they learned from this event. They need to send out those alerts faster.
- hoka 14y ago
  I go to Virginia Tech, and people all the time say "Isn't that where those people were killed? Do you feel safe there?" Yes, yes I do. The alert response system here is impressively fast. Good luck getting our response time at any other school comparable to our size.
jpwagner 14y ago
This is just terrible. Couldn't have been someone affiliated with the institute; MIT hacks are creative and witty.
- deleted 14y ago
  [deleted]
- astrodust 14y ago
  MIT hacks are not supposed to be damaging in any way, at least according to lore. Source: If At All Possible, Involve a Cow (http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/407327.If_at_All_Possible_Involve_a_Cow http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/407327.If_at_All_Possible...)
  - deleted 14y ago
    [deleted]
  - esrauch 14y ago
    If someone thought this was a fun idea to begin with, I could easily see that same person seeing this as non-damaging.
- phaus 14y ago
  That's a ridiculous assumption to make. Every screening process has flaws. I would expect the majority of the people at MIT to be really brilliant, but there are bound to be at least a couple immature idiots that slipped through the cracks. It hasn't been proven that the person was associated with MIT, but at the very least, I'd be chasing down anyone who had a potential grudge against the MIT employee that was accused of being a gunman. There's other ways that a person could have known his name, but it does seem kind of suspicious. Unless more information gets released, there's nothing to indicate that it wasn't.
- d4vlx 14y ago
  With anything as elite as MIT there is bound to be a few very self centered narcissists.
mrbill 14y ago
I started reading and saw "A big gun" and "armor" and thought it was going to turn into a normal MIT prank, with a guy wearing a metal suit of armor and carrying a cardboard cannon. Was displeased to learn it was an actual hoax and not a ha-ha-laugh prank.
jlrubin 14y ago
The attacks on MIT are really unintelligent. MIT has some of the most brilliant students and future/current tech leaders, who may have a large impact on how information policy will be shaped. These attacks have only served to alienate MIT students from the cause.
dreamdu5t 14y ago
Can someone explain why this hoax call isn't traceable to the original caller in anyway?
- corresation 14y ago
  The world phone system has virtual no security or legitimate traceability. It is one gigantic cluster-f*.
  - pyre 14y ago
    So if I call the White House right now and made threats, there wouldn't be black helicopters showing up outside? I find that hard to believe.
    - corresation 14y ago
      If you made a call from your AT&T home phone, sure. However there are countless anonymous proxies that you can chain, and countless VOIP providers (many free). Making anonymous, practically untraceable calls is not a difficult thing.
achille 14y ago
Can someone explain to me how is it possible that Sprint Relay is still running completely free without any form of authentication?
- kevingadd 14y ago
  Relays are a necessity for letting the deaf engage with phone services. Authentication would inevitably deny some deserving deaf people access to those services, so it's not really an option.

81 points by mikexstudios 14y ago

A more official looking source for the same information: http://techblogs.mit.edu/news/2013/02/letter-from-israel-ruiz-mit-executive-vp-and-treasurer-about-saturdays-hoax-incident/ http://techblogs.mit.edu/news/2013/02/letter-from-israel-rui...

MichaelGG 14y ago

"It's not a game" - no, but for the people calling in hoaxes, it can very well be. The administration can't choose to stop responding. But the cost of committing such a hoax is effectively zero - what's to stop the hoaxer from calling in each day? How do other police handle high volumes of hoax calls that aren't traceable (i.e., aren't 911)?

programzeta 14y ago
From a past example at the University of Pittsburgh[1], the result is simply a campus-wide lockdown and increasingly strenuous security requirements for those caught in between the hoaxer and their target. [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012_University_of_Pittsburgh_bomb_threats http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012_University_of_Pittsburgh_b...
eli 14y ago
Abusing the TTY relay intended for the deaf is pretty much only as traceable as an IP address, even if calling 911.

noonespecial 14y ago

This sounds a lot like swatting, a favorite of anonymous. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swatting http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swatting

aaron695 14y ago
I've never ever heard of Anonymous swatting so please feel free to post a link??
- astrodust 14y ago
  It's trolling that ends with black helicopters circling over your house. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_helicopter http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_helicopter)
- Maxious 14y ago
  > Posted October 9, 2009 > Are you an enemy of Anonymous? If so, you’d better be sure to keep your home address closely guarded, lest you be targeted for a “swatting.” http://anonymouslegions.wordpress.com/2009/10/09/anonymous-swatting-their-enemies/ http://anonymouslegions.wordpress.com/2009/10/09/anonymous-s...
  - danielweber 14y ago
    Lots of other people have also taken to this tactic. SWAT teams have been sent to an ADA's personal residences by someone forging a call from within the house, as just one example.
  - aaron695 14y ago
    If that's the best link(Or a link that links a non-existent link) then I'm happy to say that no Anonymous do not swat. But touché, I didn't ask for a reputable link.

jurassic 14y ago

> At 8:52 AM, a campus-wide alert was sent. It took over an hour after the report of an armed gunman on campus for the community to be notified? Even though it sounds like they were doing a great job physically clearing buildings with armed security, a lockdown procedure seems like a no-brainer. At ~7:30 most people are still in their dorms and it would be easy to keep them there.

AdamTReineke 14y ago
It was a Saturday, so I'd expect there weren't many people in campus buildings anyway.
- jpdoctor 14y ago
  > It was a Saturday, so I'd expect there weren't many people in campus buildings anyway. That's not the same MIT I remember.
  - Symmetry 14y ago
    Well, it'll be at a minimum at least. Grad students probably won't quite be in yet, and for undergrads nothing is going to be due Saturday, so I wouldn't expect too many people pulling all-nighters.
  - danielweber 14y ago
    Just about time to go to sleep, isn't it?
danielweber 14y ago
As they say, that was one of the things they learned from this event. They need to send out those alerts faster.
hoka 14y ago
I go to Virginia Tech, and people all the time say "Isn't that where those people were killed? Do you feel safe there?" Yes, yes I do. The alert response system here is impressively fast. Good luck getting our response time at any other school comparable to our size.

jpwagner 14y ago

This is just terrible. Couldn't have been someone affiliated with the institute; MIT hacks are creative and witty.

deleted 14y ago
[deleted]
astrodust 14y ago
MIT hacks are not supposed to be damaging in any way, at least according to lore. Source: If At All Possible, Involve a Cow (http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/407327.If_at_All_Possible_Involve_a_Cow http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/407327.If_at_All_Possible...)
- deleted 14y ago
  [deleted]
- esrauch 14y ago
  If someone thought this was a fun idea to begin with, I could easily see that same person seeing this as non-damaging.
phaus 14y ago
That's a ridiculous assumption to make. Every screening process has flaws. I would expect the majority of the people at MIT to be really brilliant, but there are bound to be at least a couple immature idiots that slipped through the cracks. It hasn't been proven that the person was associated with MIT, but at the very least, I'd be chasing down anyone who had a potential grudge against the MIT employee that was accused of being a gunman. There's other ways that a person could have known his name, but it does seem kind of suspicious. Unless more information gets released, there's nothing to indicate that it wasn't.
d4vlx 14y ago
With anything as elite as MIT there is bound to be a few very self centered narcissists.

mrbill 14y ago

I started reading and saw "A big gun" and "armor" and thought it was going to turn into a normal MIT prank, with a guy wearing a metal suit of armor and carrying a cardboard cannon. Was displeased to learn it was an actual hoax and not a ha-ha-laugh prank.

jlrubin 14y ago

The attacks on MIT are really unintelligent. MIT has some of the most brilliant students and future/current tech leaders, who may have a large impact on how information policy will be shaped. These attacks have only served to alienate MIT students from the cause.

dreamdu5t 14y ago

Can someone explain why this hoax call isn't traceable to the original caller in anyway?

corresation 14y ago
The world phone system has virtual no security or legitimate traceability. It is one gigantic cluster-f*.
- pyre 14y ago
  So if I call the White House right now and made threats, there wouldn't be black helicopters showing up outside? I find that hard to believe.
  - corresation 14y ago
    If you made a call from your AT&T home phone, sure. However there are countless anonymous proxies that you can chain, and countless VOIP providers (many free). Making anonymous, practically untraceable calls is not a difficult thing.

achille 14y ago

Can someone explain to me how is it possible that Sprint Relay is still running completely free without any form of authentication?

kevingadd 14y ago
Relays are a necessity for letting the deaf engage with phone services. Authentication would inevitably deny some deserving deaf people access to those services, so it's not really an option.