Gawker's Latest Embarrassment

[King Jimmeh]

Yes, not the smartest thing to do, but I imagine this happens everywhere including businesses that sell other things to consumers. I'm sure someone at Microsoft for example has jokingly called their customers "peasants" or something in the past in a private conversation, but I wouldn't expect that to be taken out of context whenever MS screws up something next and made out to look like it has something to do with whatever mistake they make. It's more the out-of-context reporting that annoys me here.

[hatch]

according to the forbes checker I am uncompromised in both pw and email which is cool

 

seems like the only person's details that don't appear in the hacked files must be those of ... THE HACKER THEMSELVES

I got a status update saying you quoted me I'm sure that kind of update won't get annoying

[drag]

according to the forbes checker I am uncompromised in both pw and email which is cool

 

seems like the only person's details that don't appear in the hacked files must be those of ... THE HACKER THEMSELVES

I got a status update saying you quoted me I'm sure that kind of update won't get annoying

 

what if i do it every single time?

[StrifeROKs]

The thing is I don't care when they said it, it still shows that they think very little of their users. Honestly I'm more upset now that I know this is an old screenshot. It makes it seem like they knew they had security issues, but just couldn't be bothered to fix them. "Just let the peasants information be at risk because they're unimportant and we're lazy." And the reason it seems like that is because that's what it's like.

[King Jimmeh]

That's completely fine with me, and something I agree with. I just didn't like the way the information was being misconstrued and unfairly reported out-of-context in a number of cases.

[Minirova]

I'm totally deleting my account when they make the tool for it. Doubt i'll ever visit any of the sites again. I can't stand the fact that they have such bad security and encryption apparently.

[Bouchart]

I'm totally deleting my account when they make the tool for it. Doubt i'll ever visit any of the sites again. I can't stand the fact that they have such bad security and encryption apparently.

 

This.

[CorgiShinobi]

Copy-Pasta from Ye Olde Forum:

 

"My account was compromised, but I only use that account's username-password combination on Kotaku and this[other] forum. I received that email from Hint.io as well, but I think I'm even more safe as I've shifted to a new email service months before this crap. The Gawker Media account uses my old email, but I really can't think of anything important that uses the same password.

 

They can't log into that email account as the password is different... right?"

 

It's good to have a set of passwords, especially for different services (i.e. forums, bank account, social network). I'm paranoid like Mister Jack, so I went around changing a few important security options.

 

I mean, hackers can do some amazing things with the little information they acquire. So yeah, I'm going to delete my Gawker Media account when the time comes. I barely post on any of the sites anyway as I've gone back to being merely a reader.

[Bouchart]

I used to post a lot at Kotaku because I liked the community. Now that this forum is seeing some growth, I don't need Kotaku anymore.

[CorgiShinobi]

Yeah, it's the community that got me into posting at Kotaku. I namely wanted to apply some perspective in some misguided conversations, but I found that was far and in-between.

 

Man, I hate this feeling that I've become vulnerable due to some blog I rarely visit. I'm pretty sure I'm safe, and have been from the start, but the paranoia that I've forgotten a site with the same combination is out there. Oh well, it can't be vital if I can't remember it. As long as my finances are secure, it's all good.

 

Of course, now that I'm actually obtaining a dozen of Facebook friends per week, that would be an important aspect of my online identity to maintain. Good thing I have a unique password for Facebook.

[Bouchart]

Yeah, it's the community that got me into posting at Kotaku. I namely wanted to apply some perspective in some misguided conversations, but I found that was far and in-between.

 

Man, I hate this feeling that I've become vulnerable due to some blog I rarely visit. I'm pretty sure I'm safe, and have been from the start, but the paranoia that I've forgotten a site with the same combination is out there. Oh well, it can't be vital if I can't remember it. As long as my finances are secure, it's all good.

 

Of course, now that I'm actually obtaining a dozen of Facebook friends per week, that would be an important aspect of my online identity to maintain. Good thing I have a unique password for Facebook.

 

I think the issue here is that it doesn't matter if you have a unique password if some hacker can download the database of passwords and decrypt them.

[CorgiShinobi]

Yeah, it's the community that got me into posting at Kotaku. I namely wanted to apply some perspective in some misguided conversations, but I found that was far and in-between.

 

Man, I hate this feeling that I've become vulnerable due to some blog I rarely visit. I'm pretty sure I'm safe, and have been from the start, but the paranoia that I've forgotten a site with the same combination is out there. Oh well, it can't be vital if I can't remember it. As long as my finances are secure, it's all good.

 

Of course, now that I'm actually obtaining a dozen of Facebook friends per week, that would be an important aspect of my online identity to maintain. Good thing I have a unique password for Facebook.

 

I think the issue here is that it doesn't matter if you have a unique password if some hacker can download the database of passwords and decrypt them.

Unique as in there's no duplicate password on any other online account. If someone hacks my Facebook, that password only applies to Facebook. They're not going to be able to get onto my email or bank account. Vice versa with my two email accounts now as I use to have an "email password."

[Mal]

Combine this with the Wikileaks thing... security is a joke everywhere.

[AcidCrownie]

This is how my visits to Kotaku go..

 

1.) Open Kotaku.

2.) Scroll down the posts.

3.) Find one of few articles I'm interested in.

4.) Read article to decide if it's worth commenting on.

5.) Decide it's not.

 

 

Rarely do I read an article, and it's an even rarer event when I comment on it.

[ixa]

oh man, that is pretty much what I do as well. there's usually only ever like 2-3 articles each day that I'm at least slightly interested in. and then I never comment on them. yet...I still sign in for some reason. meh. I read the comments though, but rarely do I come away thinking "I'm glad I did that".

[Swordfyre]

Kotaku sucks. Kotaku's community The people part of the Kotakuites don't.

 

Comment to end all comments.

[King Jimmeh]

Looks like a Spam E-mail going round that hit my normal inbox:

 

from Gawker Media <help@gawker.com>

reply-to Gawker Media <help@gawker.com>

to predator2312@gmail.com

date 14 December 2010 01:59

subject Gawker Comment Accounts Compromised -- Important

mailed-by mcsv177.net

Signed by mcsv177.net

 

hide details 01:59 (5 hours ago)

 

This weekend we discovered that Gawker Media's servers were compromised,

resulting in a security breach at Lifehacker, Gizmodo, Gawker, Jezebel,

io9, Jalopnik, Kotaku, Deadspin, and Fleshbot. As a result, the user name

and password associated with your comment account were released on the

internet. If you're a commenter on any of our sites, you probably have

several questions.

 

We understand how important trust is on the internet, and we're deeply

sorry for and embarrassed about this breach of security. Right now we

are working around the clock to improve security moving forward. We're

also committed to communicating openly and frequently with you to make

sure you understand what has happened, how it may or may not affect you,

and what we're doing to fix things.

 

This is what you should do immediately: Try to change your password in

the Gawker Media Commenting System. If you used your Gawker Media

password on any other web site, you should change the password on those

sites as well, particularly if you used the same username or email with

that site. To be safe, however, you should change the password on those

accounts whether or not you were using the same username.

 

We're continually updating an FAQ (http://lifehac.kr/eUBjVf) with more

information and will continue to do so in the coming days and weeks.

 

Gawker Media

 

==============================================

You are receiving this email because your email

address was associated with a Gawker Media user

account. We are using this list only for the

purpose of sending you this important notification.

 

Unsubscribe predator2312@gmail.com from this list:

http://gawkermedia.us2.list-manage.com/unsubscribe?u=3c8e5d7d32e57d5b89c516c3b&id=83042a99b7&e=2d73897740&c=db43e1f179

 

Our mailing address is:

Gawker Media

210 Elizabeth St

Floor 4

New York, New York 10012

 

Was a bit iffy considering (1) I signed in with my Facebook account, and (2) the URLs in the e-mail.

[Mister Jack]

I got that too but my email wasn't in the list of compromised ones.

[CorgiShinobi]

Could be a phishing attempt, so I would leave it alone. That same material is on all the Gawker sites, so it wouldn't be hard to sound official.

[Mal]

I actually got a password recovery request from NEOPETS. Needless to say... I lol'd. I just left it alone.

[Cyber Rat]

Okay, let's talk about the reference to "peasants." It was unthinking, obviously. Gawker writers say glib and obnoxious things in discussions -- as we all sometimes do in comments, for that matter.

 

But what's behind the attitude? Sometimes they and the writers on other Gawker sites do indeed develop an adversarial relationship with commenters. On occasion, we've felt that the sites have been hijacked by a small clique, who believe the site is entirely for them. And just imagine what it's like to write, day in, day out, before the withering gaze of the commentariat. They are under pressure to think about the wider readership -- whose interests are often at odds with those of the most frequent commenters.

 

Now that attitude is a mistake, of course. A writer can often win over commenters simply by participating in the discussion. Often they extrapolate from one or two obnoxious slams and generalize about the rest of the critics. And they do develop thicker skins over time.

 

I'm not sure how much that explains. But I wanted to give you a little insight into the mind of a pissy editor.

 

There's one way to tell how they do -- in their heart of hearts -- value the Gawker community. Take Richard Lawson and John Cook. Both left Gawker to work at CBS and Yahoo respectively. And then they came back. One of the key factors: they couldn't stand the readers and commenters on those other sites.

 

http://gawker.com/comment/33995844/

[Cyber Rat]

They want the advantage of both blogging and being a journalist without taking on the responsibilities of either. They've proven that more than once.

[Thursday Next]

The rampant sycophancy shown once Denton, Nolan and Lawson showed up was sickening. Then Lawson bemoaning his heartbreak really pissed me off.

[Showmeyomoves!]

 

Of course, they're claiming it's fake and/or doctored but I wouldn't surprise me if it's legit.

 

Obvious fake. Come on, guys... :/

[jayc4life]

 

Of course, they're claiming it's fake and/or doctored but I wouldn't surprise me if it's legit.

 

Obvious fake. Come on, guys... :/

Obviously it's shopped. Those arrows weren't there in the live chat.