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"Stop fucking ruining people's lives" Serious, legit question here. How many lives will be ruined by this breach of 50k? How many lives were ruined when 40 mil

"Stop fucking ruining people's lives" Serious, legit question here. How many lives will be ruined by this breach of 50k? How many lives were ruined when 40 million CCs and 70 million accounts (address, phone number , etc) were stolen in the Target breach? Ruin seems like an awfully strong word here. I hesitate to say that because I don't want to downplay the importance of security. But to take security seriously I think we also have to be non-hyperbolic about the consequences of not doing so.

imnewhere 12y ago
I think you're going to need to define what a ruined life is. I doubt getting a replacement credit card in the mail will ruin someone's life under most definitions.
- forrestthewoods 12y ago
  One time I got an e-mail from Amex saying my account may have been compromised and to click a link. Fearing a phishing attempt I went direct to their website and logged in. A big red banner said to contact them ASAP. I called a number they gave. They asked if I ordered plane tickets for Turkey. I said no. They said ok, no worries, they auto-blocked the purchase. We went through my history to make sure everything else was correct, it was. The card was cancelled and they mailed a new one overnight. It was under 22 hours from e-mail to new card in hand. I was very impressed. My sister has info stolen from a fake pad at a gas station. It was a debit card. She got all of her money back but it took close to 6 weeks to fully resolve. If you live paycheck to paycheck, and at the time she wasn't too far off, that can be a very difficult situation. It worked out in the end but it was definitely painful for her. By and large these are not "ruined life" events. Identity theft and fraud are, unfortunately, common and mainstream enough that hitting "ruined life" level is exceptionally difficult. Back in the 90s when the average person didn't know those terms it might have been more common. But now it's just something that everyone, individuals and corporations, have to deal with.
- walterbell 12y ago
  It can be logistically inconvenient when traveling internationally, a few thousand miles and a few days of shipment delay away from your bank.
freehunter 12y ago
You're right, "ruin" was poetic license on my part. I was either going all-in with the outrage or I was going to delete the post and move on. I chose the former. But think about the Anthem breech just this year. SSNs, full name, date of birth, employer and yearly income, home address. Everything you need to ruin someone's life for real, and permanently. Having to have a credit card replaced is an inconvenience. Having to constantly watch your credit because everything an attacker needs to open a new credit card in your name is ruin. Beyond that though, little inconveniences add up. How many times do you want to have to replace your credit card in a year? And if you have an auto-payment set up but miss changing your card number for that, how much will missing that payment impact your credit score? And how many hours are you spending fighting fraudulent charges? How many years of your life are taken off by the stress of constant breaches? Life ruining? Probably not. Life-changing? Yeah, it's getting there.
- reustle 12y ago
  > Having to constantly watch your credit because everything an attacker needs to open a new credit card in your name is ruin. This leads to a ruined life? Talk about a first world problem
  - moe 12y ago
    This leads to a ruined life? Talk about a first world problem Hey now, cancelled auto-payments are no joke. Just imagine you lose your Netflix subscription or (god beware) Amazon Prime over this.
    - mpclark 12y ago
      Two card changes in quick succession led to my car insurance being cancelled when they couldn't take a payment. The first I knew of it was when the blue lights came on behind me. That is firmly into ruined life territory.
      - moe 12y ago
        That is firmly into ruined life territory. Sounds more like "inconvenience" territory to me, but I hope you and your car are recovering well from this life altering experience.
peteretep 12y ago
My understanding is that UberX is illegal in Thailand, but they've been doing it anyway as it's too difficult for police to enforce. If I was a Thai UberX driver, I might be thinking my life was significantly worse off...
- SyneRyder 12y ago
  UberX is apparently illegal in parts of Australia as well, and authorities have been using entrapment to identify drivers and fine them [1]. Having access to a database of drivers would make it easier for authorities to fine the drivers, apparently $1700 per offence. [1] http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2015/s4162393.htm http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2015/s4162393.htm "NICK MARSDEN, DEPT. OF TRANSPORT AND MAIN ROADS (Aug. 28, 2014, male voiceover): "No covert activity was done today, Uber locked third phone due to penalty infringement notices being issued yesterday. Time was spent purchasing new credit cards, activating Gmail accounts and setting up two more phones. These phones are the last ones, will be ordering additional units.""

imnewhere 12y ago

I think you're going to need to define what a ruined life is. I doubt getting a replacement credit card in the mail will ruin someone's life under most definitions.

forrestthewoods 12y ago
One time I got an e-mail from Amex saying my account may have been compromised and to click a link. Fearing a phishing attempt I went direct to their website and logged in. A big red banner said to contact them ASAP. I called a number they gave. They asked if I ordered plane tickets for Turkey. I said no. They said ok, no worries, they auto-blocked the purchase. We went through my history to make sure everything else was correct, it was. The card was cancelled and they mailed a new one overnight. It was under 22 hours from e-mail to new card in hand. I was very impressed. My sister has info stolen from a fake pad at a gas station. It was a debit card. She got all of her money back but it took close to 6 weeks to fully resolve. If you live paycheck to paycheck, and at the time she wasn't too far off, that can be a very difficult situation. It worked out in the end but it was definitely painful for her. By and large these are not "ruined life" events. Identity theft and fraud are, unfortunately, common and mainstream enough that hitting "ruined life" level is exceptionally difficult. Back in the 90s when the average person didn't know those terms it might have been more common. But now it's just something that everyone, individuals and corporations, have to deal with.
walterbell 12y ago
It can be logistically inconvenient when traveling internationally, a few thousand miles and a few days of shipment delay away from your bank.

freehunter 12y ago

You're right, "ruin" was poetic license on my part. I was either going all-in with the outrage or I was going to delete the post and move on. I chose the former. But think about the Anthem breech just this year. SSNs, full name, date of birth, employer and yearly income, home address. Everything you need to ruin someone's life for real, and permanently. Having to have a credit card replaced is an inconvenience. Having to constantly watch your credit because everything an attacker needs to open a new credit card in your name is ruin. Beyond that though, little inconveniences add up. How many times do you want to have to replace your credit card in a year? And if you have an auto-payment set up but miss changing your card number for that, how much will missing that payment impact your credit score? And how many hours are you spending fighting fraudulent charges? How many years of your life are taken off by the stress of constant breaches? Life ruining? Probably not. Life-changing? Yeah, it's getting there.

reustle 12y ago
> Having to constantly watch your credit because everything an attacker needs to open a new credit card in your name is ruin. This leads to a ruined life? Talk about a first world problem
- moe 12y ago
  This leads to a ruined life? Talk about a first world problem Hey now, cancelled auto-payments are no joke. Just imagine you lose your Netflix subscription or (god beware) Amazon Prime over this.
  - mpclark 12y ago
    Two card changes in quick succession led to my car insurance being cancelled when they couldn't take a payment. The first I knew of it was when the blue lights came on behind me. That is firmly into ruined life territory.
    - moe 12y ago
      That is firmly into ruined life territory. Sounds more like "inconvenience" territory to me, but I hope you and your car are recovering well from this life altering experience.

peteretep 12y ago

My understanding is that UberX is illegal in Thailand, but they've been doing it anyway as it's too difficult for police to enforce. If I was a Thai UberX driver, I might be thinking my life was significantly worse off...

SyneRyder 12y ago
UberX is apparently illegal in parts of Australia as well, and authorities have been using entrapment to identify drivers and fine them [1]. Having access to a database of drivers would make it easier for authorities to fine the drivers, apparently $1700 per offence. [1] http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2015/s4162393.htm http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2015/s4162393.htm "NICK MARSDEN, DEPT. OF TRANSPORT AND MAIN ROADS (Aug. 28, 2014, male voiceover): "No covert activity was done today, Uber locked third phone due to penalty infringement notices being issued yesterday. Time was spent purchasing new credit cards, activating Gmail accounts and setting up two more phones. These phones are the last ones, will be ordering additional units.""