Slashdot Mirror


Massive Porn Buyer Info Leak

Anonymous Guy wrote to mention a Wired article that covers the release of information for millions of customers onto the Internet. From the article: "The stolen data, examined by Wired News, includes names, phone numbers, addresses, e-mail addresses and internet IP addresses. Other fields in the compromised databases appear to be logins and passwords, credit-card types and purchase amounts, but credit-card numbers are not included. The breach has broad privacy implications for the victims. Until it was brought low by legal and financial difficulties, iBill was a top credit-card processor for adult entertainment websites."

251 comments

  1. Weakest Link by nmccart · · Score: 4, Interesting

    It's not surprising someone other than MasterCard actually had a list of card numbers stolen. I have customers all the time tell me how they don't like what they feel are draconian measures to protect the credit card numbers people have in their own systems. What they fail to understand is that Visa and Mastercard require us to do this, and the protections we have are customer service.

    But they still complain, because their customers and they themselves don't ever notice. Hell at one point I was told by a demanding customer to remove the protections because he said "I'll risk it." I was tempted to show him how insecure he was by remotely accessing his system, getting his list of customer phone numbers, and telling all his customers that he was careless with credit card numbers and their numbers could have easily been stolen from his system.

    People are pretty careless about credit card security. It's usually in the name of convenience and visible customer service. Credit card security is invisible service. Being able to purchase something conveniently flies right in the face of having security which just might prevent you from selling something to someone, so some people don't care, as long as they are selling. Owners care once they find out that they'll be issued chargebacks, but individual salesreps will write down every credit card number on a piece of paper if it means making money for them personally.

    Visa and Mastercard have the right idea, and in the press release I like how they said that they gave cardsystems a "limited amount of time" to basically get their act together so this doesn't happen again. Education and enforcement of regulations... nice to see an organization, especially one that is a corporation, actually give a damn.

    --
    Funny sigs make your Karma go down.
    1. Re:Weakest Link by frostyboy · · Score: 4, Informative

      Dude, RTFA. They didn't get the credit card numbers. Only personal information like name, phone number, address, email. Not that that's not a big deal, but this isn't a CC number security issue.

      Of course, this isn't made clear until way at the end of the article: "Because the information didn't include Social Security, credit-card or driver's-license numbers, no U.S. laws require iBill or the companies for which they provided billing to warn victims."

      --
      Who is General Failure? And why is he reading my disk????
    2. Re:Weakest Link by Alex+P+Keaton+in+da · · Score: 5, Informative

      Um, anytime I buy something "questionable" or from a questionable source, I use a one time credit card number. I know MBNA has this. You set a dollar amount for the number, as well an expiry date. It is great for sites with auto renewing subscriptions. I use them all the time for 3 day 1.99 trials. I set the card limit at 2.50, use the number, and then forget about it. When they try and charge me, they get nothing but an expired card.
      My understanding is that most identity theft is still done the old fashion way- with garbage diving etc. When I was in college, I bartended. I could have easily written down every credit card number that was handed to me....
      But clearly this is more of a privacy issue. Even if nothing is stolen from me, I would prefer that my name not be associated with porn purchases. But then again, who am I kidding, everyone that meets me just assumes I am into porn. I guess it is my vibe.

      --
      And All I Ask is a Tall Ship And a Star to Steer Her By
    3. Re:Weakest Link by plover · · Score: 3, Interesting
      There was something else of interest in TFA. Wired posted the address of a "spammer community site," specialham.com.

      That plus a few curious slashdotters will probably slow their spam chatter for a few days.

      --
      John
    4. Re:Weakest Link by StarvingSE · · Score: 0, Redundant

      Not to be "that guy" or anything, but if you RTFA, you would have noticed this in the second paragraph.

      The stolen data, examined by Wired News, includes names, phone numbers, addresses, e-mail addresses and internet IP addresses. Other fields in the compromised databases appear to be logins and passwords, credit-card types and purchase amounts, but credit-card numbers are not included.

      Cheers

      --
      I got nothin'
    5. Re:Weakest Link by wkk2 · · Score: 3, Insightful

      The theft of card data won't stop until both the merchants and card issuers incur sufficient liability to wake up and make changes. 1. It should be illegal for merchants to store card numbers after an approval code is received. Buyers should be required to resubmit their card number for new transactions and refunds. It's not that big of an inconvenience to reenter numbers. 2. Reoccurring transactions should be process by submitting the card number to the merchant. The merchant should in turn apply for a reoccurring number that is only valid between that merchant and the card-clearing house. They should be charged a higher fee for the liability of saving that custom number. This number would be worthless to the thieves. 3. The addition of a one time password (federated OATH type token) would also go a long way to solving these problems especially for card not present transactions.

    6. Re:Weakest Link by ObsessiveMathsFreak · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Um, anytime I buy something "questionable" or from a questionable source, I use a one time credit card number. I know MBNA has this. You set a dollar amount for the number, as well an expiry date.

      Some credit companies have even released the equivilent of a mobile phone top up card for credit cards. You purchace credit, which has a built in expiry date, and simply purchace online before it runs out. The card is reusable.

      They are designed primarily for online purchaces, but personally I feel this method will eclipse regular credit cards amoung the general population. It has certainly made me consider it, and am paticularly credit card averse.

      --
      May the Maths Be with you!
    7. Re:Weakest Link by zpeterz63 · · Score: 0

      Since when is porn questionable?

    8. Re:Weakest Link by dusik · · Score: 5, Funny

      >> "But then again, who am I kidding, everyone that meets me just assumes I am into porn. I guess it is my vibe."

      It's because you say things like "I use them all the time for 3 day 1.99 trials". ;-)

    9. Re:Weakest Link by monkeydo · · Score: 2, Informative

      In the US, the merchant and the issuer incur all of the liability for stolen card numbers. As long as the card holder reports unauthorized charges to the issuer within a reasonable time of becoming aware of it, his liability is zero. Credit card fraud costs the issuers abotu $10 Billion annually. Sure, they'd like to reduce that number, but they know that ever dollar of fraud they prevent costs them $/x. When they reach a point of diminishing returns, there will still be some fraud.

      --
      Si vis pacem, para bellum
      The only thing more annoying than a Libertarian is an (un|mis)informed Libertarian
    10. Re:Weakest Link by NoMoreNicksLeft · · Score: 1

      You're into porn and compulsively click links in sigs?

    11. Re:Weakest Link by riker1384 · · Score: 0

      Do you still have to give your name and address out when you use one of those? Does anyone give those to people without regular CC's?

    12. Re:Weakest Link by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Guess was I part of that "unusually high volume of charge backs" group for Mastercard. One of the online retailers I used was compromised back in 2003. A couple hundred people banded together from several websites all over the world to figure it out for that store because they denied any break in for weeks (which was eventually proven false). The charge that showed up on all of our credit card bills? iBill.

      As a result, now I _always_ use the virtual #s from Citibank/MBNA now when shopping online.

    13. Re:Weakest Link by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Actually, it's VISA that has been pushing these sorts of changes, and as the article states, no cards were stolen, just personal information.

      you can't store credit card data in the main database. you have to implement a system that stores the credit card data, and can only be retrieved one card at a time, with appropriate encryption measures.

      iBill was already charged a higher rate, not because they are storing customer information, but because they are providing "high-risk" merchant service (i.e. adult content).

      People would be extremely annoyed if they had to re-signup for their porn websites every month, since it would cause additional risk that their spouses would find out.

    14. Re:Weakest Link by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      some let you use online checks, where you give them your checking account number & routing number

    15. Re:Weakest Link by wkk2 · · Score: 1

      True, but liability isn't really zero. The merchants typically pass on the fraud costs to everyone. Also the card issuers will try to get finance charges on the entire balance if there is a disputed charge even if the real charges are all paid in full. The fees will accumulate until the dispute is resolve. I have been charged finance fees higher than a disputed amount. It's a lot of trouble getting the fees removed.

    16. Re:Weakest Link by Hosiah · · Score: 1

      Dammit, I just visited the site @ 7:55 PM EST 3/9/06 and it's still UP! Come on, people, more hits!

    17. Re:Weakest Link by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      OK, when looking at this, iBill can be glad their not a UK registered company, otherwise they could be facing stiff penalties for breaching the Data Protection Act 1998 even if it was just a single person who released the data, iBill could still be fined or ordered to improve security.

    18. Re:Weakest Link by Hosiah · · Score: 1
      Only personal information like name, phone number, address, email. Not that that's not a big deal, but this isn't a CC number security issue.

      True, but as any skip-tracer can tell you, that's more than enough bread crumbs to follow the trail to the data you want.

      PS RE: your sig. General Failure is in the same unit with Colonel Panic.

    19. Re:Weakest Link by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      In addition to your suggestions, a major improvement would be the inclusion of disposable anonymous credit cards. The problem, at a fundamental level, is that internet purchases of a private nature are always traceable and never actually private, because conventional credit card systems do not support anonymity.

    20. Re:Weakest Link by cornelius1729 · · Score: 1
      I could have easily written down every credit card number that was handed to me....

      A guy I knew in school got a job at Barclaycard, and started doing just that. Whenever a customer phoned up to pay their bill, he'd note down the details and use the card himself. It wasn't very long before he got caught and thrown in jail...

      --
      1729 = 9^3 + 10^3 = 1^3 + 12^3
    21. Re:Weakest Link by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      it appears to be down now

    22. Re:Weakest Link by pedalman · · Score: 1
      >>Even if nothing is stolen from me, I would prefer that my name not be associated with porn purchases. But then again, who am I kidding, everyone that meets me just assumes I am into porn. I guess it is my vibe.
      Jeez, just the fact that you post on Slashdot is a sign that you are into pr0n.
      --
      Friends don't let friends line-dance.
    23. Re:Weakest Link by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And the web sites would lose a lot of income from the people who do not remember when the subscription is due, do not cancel it and just have their card charged for the next month.

    24. Re:Weakest Link by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's back up....persistence, people, persistence...is the key here.

    25. Re:Weakest Link by RockDoctor · · Score: 1

      When I was in college, I bartended. I could have easily written down every credit card number that was handed to me....

      Strange ... in the 20-odd (sometimes very odd) years I've been drinking in bars, and in the hundreds of bars and 11 countries I've drunk in, I've never yet once noticed someone paying with a credit card. Correction - 12 countries - I forgot I'd been to America for a couple of weeks too.
      Cash, on the nail, when you place your order, has always been the deal. It's faster and it removes the possibility of the customer getting hammered and then not paying up.

      Buying meals in pubs - yes, plastic is common there. In those places that serve food. But not at the bar.

      To quote a colleague, way back when, before I got a credit card myself (actually for the trip to America, as it happens), "Beer is just about the only thing I use cash for these days."

      --
      Birds are not dinosaur descendants;birds are dinosaurs, for all useful meanings of "birds", "are" and "dinosaurs"
  2. Quite Humorous by eldavojohn · · Score: 4, Interesting
    From the frontpage of iBill, they have their most recent news as:
    Internet Billing Company, LLC (iBill) announced that the relocation of their corporate headquarters to more cost-efficient facilities has been completed.
    Even after looking around, I can't determine where this move was to. Their contact info on the site lists Deerfield Beach, Florida as their location. Is it possible they moved all their transaction servers to a different country to avoid possible legal implications?

    If you care to read more about iBill, you can check out their blog on G Spot. I didn't link the blog because it's not about the company; it's about trading buyers across all of its customer sites.

    I wonder if this is a case of the company selling anything they could to escape dire financial straights or if it is the case of a disgruntled underpaid employee indulging.

    Am I surprised such a shady company had its user's credit card info traded on the black market? Gosh, not really.
    --
    My work here is dung.
    1. Re:Quite Humorous by SleepyHappyDoc · · Score: 4, Funny

      "More cost-efficient facilities"? Did they just skip all the steps and set up their headquarters in a federal prison?

      --
      Stasis is death. Embrace change.
    2. Re:Quite Humorous by fm6 · · Score: 1
      Is it possible they moved all their transaction servers to a different country to avoid possible legal implications?
      Unless their lawyers are total idiots (or graduates of the Ask Slashdot School), they'd know better. Having your servers offshore does you no good if you still have a local physical presence. And I can't see a company that has to deal with so many U.S. banks being located outside the U.S.
    3. Re:Quite Humorous by michaelhood · · Score: 1

      Actually they owe adult webmasters [from my understanding] several million dollars in held funds (they process CCs, then pay out to webmasters after X days.. well, they just didn't pay out). So now they keep bouncing around until they're finished. Steer clear.

    4. Re:Quite Humorous by NoMoreNicksLeft · · Score: 1

      Yeh, except this one was prominently featured on ynot.com until just a little while ago, I believe. They were about as close to trustworthy a site as there is for legit operators, and so anyone displaying big prominent ads on their site sort of looked legit too, by association.

  3. Time for an Open Porn Movement by RedHatLinux · · Score: 4, Funny

    After all, free, as in beer, porn, means never have to worry having identity stolen or saying sorry to wife.

    Plus, given the bottoming out production costs, we can easily produce porn of the same quality as closed source porn.

    1. Re:Time for an Open Porn Movement by Nosklo · · Score: 1

      Parent has an interesting idea. I think most of /. users would like to collaborate.

      --
      find -name "*base*" -exec chown us {} \; ; ln -s /dev/zero /dev/chance ; make time
    2. Re:Time for an Open Porn Movement by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I know you were trying to be cute but there's a serious flaw in your plan; geeks don't pay for porn. Don't even get me started on 'viral' licenses...

    3. Re:Time for an Open Porn Movement by mano_k · · Score: 2, Funny

      That would be a gangbang with a massive male majority ...
      Argh! Need mental erasor!!!!

    4. Re:Time for an Open Porn Movement by Zenmonkeycat · · Score: 1

      True, the production values would match those of the bigger studios, but I seriously doubt people are going to want naked pictures of someone named RedHaxLinux or Zenmonkeycat, no matter /how/ free they are.

      --

      *****
      Dear Mary,
      I yearn for you tragically,
      A.T. Tappman, Chaplain, U.S. Army.

    5. Re:Time for an Open Porn Movement by ettlz · · Score: 1
      Plus, given the bottoming out production costs, we can easily produce porn of the same quality as closed source porn.

      So: zlib Licence if you just want it known that "it really is my arse"; GPL for those who want it all kept out in the open; and BSD only if you're into that sort of thing?

    6. Re:Time for an Open Porn Movement by XMilkProject · · Score: 1

      Which means we would need free, as in beer, porn stars. Kickass!!

      --
      Big ones, small ones, some as big as yer 'ead!
      Give 'em a twist, a flick o' the wrist...
    7. Re:Time for an Open Porn Movement by Toutatis · · Score: 1

      And what's the next? Free sex?

    8. Re:Time for an Open Porn Movement by jacksonj04 · · Score: 1

      Creative Commons surely, then you get all the funky ShareAlike and NoCommercial uses.

      --
      How many people can read hex if only you and dead people can read hex?
    9. Re:Time for an Open Porn Movement by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      no my friend, you need bukakke!

    10. Re:Time for an Open Porn Movement by pjp6259 · · Score: 1

      Project Voyeur is what you are looking for. People post pictures of themselves for free, and you can look at them for free. (Note, quality levels vary).

      --
      Computers don't make mistakes. What they do, they do on purpose.
    11. Re:Time for an Open Porn Movement by zippthorne · · Score: 1

      Free love. the phrase is "Free Love." They had it during the 60s, but they got greedy and mixed it with drugs. By the time they realized what was going on, the disaster was unavoidable: many children were born with the name "Flower Child" or "Earth child" somesuch psuedoaboriginal rediculousness. Fortunately a few kept enough of their heads to at least make it a middle name.

      --
      Can you be Even More Awesome?!
    12. Re:Time for an Open Porn Movement by Ohreally_factor · · Score: 1

      BSD is dead. Netcraft confirms it,

      Therefore, a BSD license would be very apt for snuff films.

      --
      It's not offtopic, dumbass. It's orthogonal.
    13. Re:Time for an Open Porn Movement by Eccles · · Score: 1

      That would be a gangbang with a massive male majority ...

      Perhaps Jasmine St. Claire is free?

      --
      Ooh, a sarcasm detector. Oh, that's a real useful invention.
    14. Re:Time for an Open Porn Movement by barefootgenius · · Score: 1

      Err....open sauce porn?

      --
      /. bug #926803 - Why I can post.
  4. "Interesting" headline. by XorNand · · Score: 4, Interesting

    "Massive Porn Buyer Info Leak?" What the hell does that even mean? Hats off to Zonk for managing to use "porn", "leak", and "massive" all in the same headline and posting it to one of the most widely read sites on the net. That sound you hear is thousands of RSS feed subscribers all scratching their heads.

    --
    Entrepreneur : (noun), French for "unemployed"
    1. Re:"Interesting" headline. by dr_dank · · Score: 3, Funny

      That sound you hear is thousands of RSS feed subscribers all scratching their heads.

      Is that what furious masturbation sounds like?

      --
      Where does the school board find them and why do they keep sending them to ME?
    2. Re:"Interesting" headline. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Hyphens, use them:

      "Massive Porn-Buyer-Info Leak"

    3. Re:"Interesting" headline. by master_p · · Score: 1

      "What the hell does that even mean?"

      that the /. crowd's personal details will be revealed? :-)

  5. In other news... by Shadow+Wrought · · Score: 4, Funny

    A sudden surge in the filing of divorces is plaguing thousands of local communities...

    --
    If brevity is the soul of wit, then how does one explain Twitter?
    1. Re:In other news... by justgeekin · · Score: 1

      The article didn't specify, but it didn't mention what was purchased by customers through iBill.

    2. Re:In other news... by PhotoBoy · · Score: 1

      Yeah, I'd be interested to know if there's a list of websites ordered next to each person's record.

      This could be a blackmail gold mine; "give me $5000 or I tell your wife about your subscription to gayguys.com". Scary.

    3. Re:In other news... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What you need is a girl friend that knows that you look at porn.

    4. Re:In other news... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I have the theory that the Congress will never pass laws that crack down too hard on ISPs, because if they try, any closeted Congress people will be blackmailed into putting a stop to it. Similarly, google probably knows who you are by your GMail and search history.

    5. Re:In other news... by ivan256 · · Score: 1

      You know, it's the lying that causes the divorce, not the porn.

      If you want to look at porn, your signifigant other should know about it. Then they'll never be surprised, or 'catch you in the act'.

  6. Oh crap... by eln · · Score: 5, Funny

    They didn't do credit card processing for midget-granny-and-horse-porn.com did they?

    I mean, not that it would matter to me if they did...I'm just curious.

    1. Re:Oh crap... by BenEnglishAtHome · · Score: 4, Informative

      They didn't do credit card processing for midget-granny-and-horse-porn.com did they?

      No, but they did do credit card processing for sites featuring under-18 models doing "non-nude" work. Within the past couple of weeks, a group of those sites got busted and the FBI has announced intentions to prosecute them for selling child porn even though the models were clothed. (It seems the clothes were too small and/or the poses too racy.) Note that I don't know if any of the recently busted sites were using iBill and the point may already be moot since iBill has been defunct or close to it for a while.

      However, according to TFA

      The stolen data, examined by Wired News, includes names, phone numbers, addresses, e-mail addresses and internet IP addresses. Other fields in the compromised databases appear to be logins and passwords, credit-card types and purchase amounts, but credit-card numbers are not included.

      I have to figure if logins and passwords are there, then the websites accessible via those logins might also be in the data. If so, I imagine that at this moment a whole bunch of guys are pretty worried.

    2. Re:Oh crap... by Le+Marteau · · Score: 1

      Probably not. It sounds like a relational database, and what was leaked was the 'consumer' table. The actual details of the websites (the 'content provider' table, which was probably extensive, including principals, addresses, accounting information) were almost certainly a one-to-many relationship with the 'consumer' table

      --
      Mod down people who tell people how to mod in their sigs
    3. Re:Oh crap... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

      Here's some relief for those people. Wired have another article up which suggests the database has nothing to do with iBill and that it's just someone renaming it to make the data seem more valuable.

      It does strike me as odd though if it has records dating back to 1998, I wouldn't think spammers and scammers would have a database dating that far back. And of course iBill could just be lying to save face...

  7. No Baby! I swear it wasn't me! by darth_MALL · · Score: 5, Funny

    It was the other Chester J. Winthrop-Montague III!

  8. Whew, that was too close by LunaticTippy · · Score: 5, Funny
    I'm sure glad I've never paid for internet porn.

    Now if they leak the hardon pill database I'm screwed...

    --
    Man, you really need that seminar!
    1. Re:Whew, that was too close by sgt_doom · · Score: 1
      You think I could get Tom DeLay's private information from them????

      Nahh....He probably signs on to those bestiality sites.....

    2. Re:Whew, that was too close by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Not that I'm interested or anything [ahem!], but what the heck do you get with pay-porn that's different from what you can get for free?

    3. Re:Whew, that was too close by kcornia · · Score: 1

      Oh I don't know, movies that are larger than 320x240 and 6 seconds long?

    4. Re:Whew, that was too close by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Oh I don't know, movies that are larger than 320x240 and 6 seconds long?

      Empornium, dude. Empornium.

    5. Re:Whew, that was too close by Anne_Nonymous · · Score: 1

      > movies that are larger than 320x240 and 6 seconds long?

      To paraphrase Bill, six seconds should be enough for most men.

    6. Re:Whew, that was too close by riker1384 · · Score: 0

      >> movies that are larger than 320x240 and 6 seconds long? >To paraphrase Bill, six seconds should be enough for most men. Speak for yourself.

  9. Internet IP addresses? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    Internet IP addresses?
    Well, as long as they didn't get their PIN numbers.

    1. Re:Internet IP addresses? by Jim+in+Buffalo · · Score: 1

      Right, they might head over to the ATM machine!

      --
      This sig, aah-ah, is comin' like a ghost-sig...
    2. Re:Internet IP addresses? by noamsml · · Score: 1

      I always wondered if ATM machines had RAID arrays.

    3. Re:Internet IP addresses? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      Internet IP addresses?

      Yeah, and the biggest downloader of porn on the entire planet seems to be some dork whose address is 192.168.1.100

  10. Wait a second... by ENIGMAwastaken · · Score: 5, Funny

    You can BUY porn? News to me.

  11. Anyone? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I am sure there is a funny "Getting caught with your pants down" joke here..

  12. This Could Be Quite Damaging! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    CUSTOMER
    --------
    Bill O'Reilly
    bill@billoreilly.com

    WEBSITES
    --------
    falafelpron.com
    hotfalafels.com
    teenfalafel.com

    1. Re:This Could Be Quite Damaging! by Rude+Turnip · · Score: 1

      I think this one would be the most damaging: join.moveon.org

    2. Re:This Could Be Quite Damaging! by WindBourne · · Score: 1

      Just wait til they find all the high level Washington folks in there. One of the interesting things about groups like Hiedi Fliess and this, is that we will find that Liberals and Conservatives alike visit the same place and sadly in about the same number. Only one of them condemms it though.

      --
      I prefer the "u" in honour as it seems to be missing these days.
    3. Re:This Could Be Quite Damaging! by The+Warlock · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Both condemn it. Stop kidding yourself; 99% of all politicians are filthy corrupt bastards who want nothing more than to screw you over. The other 1% get shot.

      --
      I've upped my standards, so up yours.
    4. Re:This Could Be Quite Damaging! by NCraig · · Score: 1
      One of the interesting things about groups like Hiedi Fliess and this, is that we will find that Liberals and Conservatives alike visit the same place and sadly in about the same number. Only one of them condemms it though.
      Heidi Fleiss?

      Which party, pray tell, doesn't condemn prostitution?
  13. Well thank God I never pay for porn... by R2.0 · · Score: 5, Funny

    Wait...did I just type that out loud?

    --
    "As God is my witness, I thought turkeys could fly." A. Carlson
    1. Re:Well thank God I never pay for porn... by bzipitidoo · · Score: 1

      Buy some porn, quick, and get your info in this data for the next time! Can't have people thinking you're unnatural or anything.

      --
      Intellectual Property is a monopolistic, selfish, and defective concept. It is "tyranny over the mind of man"
  14. That's why . . . by nixman99 · · Score: 1

    I never use my real name. William R. Pearce Chicago, Il

  15. If... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Interesting

    If we used a decentralized, anonymous digital cash system, these kinds of problems would be much less common. Furthermore, the responsibility would lie in your own hands rather than in the hands of thousands of unidentifiable people at some corporation.

    I suppose it's wishful thinking, though, because everybody wants to be the central financial gateway (Visa, Mastercard, Paypal, etc.) and governments prefer being able to track all transactions (toll booth transponders, bankers reporting all transactions over $10,000, etc.).

    1. Re:If... by nologin · · Score: 1

      Hmm, I guess you're talking about something like Mondex. Unfortunately, it hasn't seen much of any implementation in North America because it is simply way too expensive to deploy the terminals and electronic wallets to make these sorts of electronic cash transactions.

    2. Re:If... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Furthermore, the responsibility would lie in your own hands rather than in the hands of thousands of unidentifiable people at some corporation.

      I think the problem started because something was already in your hands.

  16. Where do I buy? by RobertB-DC · · Score: 4, Funny

    In January of last year, iBill was purchased by Interactive Brand Development for $23.5 million. On Monday, IBD's stock closed at 8 cents a share in over-the-counter trading.

    8 cents a share? Nowhere to go but up! Time to call my broker*.

    At the very least, their certificate will look good on the wall, next to the one from Enron. Maybe really good -- or really bad -- depending on which of their subsidiaries did the artwork. According to the Yahoo Finance link, "IBD also owns a library of original cartoon cel art (including He-Man, She-Ra, and Flash Gordon) [and] a 35% stake in Penthouse publisher Penthouse Media Group."

    *Disclaimer: I don't have a broker.

    --
    Stressed? Me? Of course not. Stress is what a rubber band feels before it breaks, silly.
    1. Re:Where do I buy? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "IBD also owns a library of original cartoon cel art (including He-Man, She-Ra, and Flash Gordon)"

      I have a fairly large collection of original animation art (mainly Warner Bros and Hanna Barbera) and if they see what they have as an asset then they have *no* idea.

      Sounds more like a junkpile than a library.

  17. Freakin' Sweet by GabrielF · · Score: 5, Insightful
    Other fields in the compromised databases appear to be logins and passwords

    Woohoo! Free porn for everyone!

    1. Re:Freakin' Sweet by Hulleye · · Score: 1

      I wonder how long these will take to make their way to bugmenot

    2. Re:Freakin' Sweet by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Were you on a hunting trip? Free porn was here for a while and it is good! It's called "the Internet" :)

  18. Poor pervets.... by madnuke · · Score: 1

    Hah thats quite funny I wonder how much viagra adds and hack attempts they are going to have now?

  19. More material for late night talk shows by ScooterBill · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I think it's kind of funny. My wife isn't really in on my porn habits but she isn't stupid and knows that sometimes her hubby isn't just "defragging the hard drive" in the basement.

    The funny part is when we get to see the "questionable" surfing habits of some famous self-righteous fundy preachers. I love it.

    Of course, it wouldn't be so funny if the entire credit card info got released...

    1. Re:More material for late night talk shows by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      defragging the hard drive

      Ummm, is that what the kids are calling it these days??!

    2. Re:More material for late night talk shows by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      I think it's kind of funny. My wife isn't really in on my porn habits but she isn't stupid and knows that sometimes her hubby isn't just "defragging the hard drive" in the basement.

      Well, you will defrag your hard drive if you keep doing that...
    3. Re:More material for late night talk shows by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "My wife isn't really in on my porn habits..."

      Now I am.

  20. Time for an Open Porn Movement by AnonymousPrick · · Score: 5, Funny

    I suggest that the open-porn should be stored on "Freshmeat".

    --
    Saturday is April 1. Slashdot will be shut down. Sorry for the inconvenience.
  21. Good thing... by ndogg · · Score: 1

    I guess it's a good thing that sex-starved geeks don't look at porn, huh?

    --
    // file: mice.h
    #include "frickin_lasers.h"
  22. Victims indeed by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    A local guy, who I knew, got nailed when the cops busted a kiddie porn site. That led the cops to his credit card number and then to him. The judge threw the book at him and lamented the fact that he couldn't give him a longer sentence.

    I'm conflicted about this: He was a nice guy and a good buddy. He never gave any hint that he was any kind of pervert. On the other hand, he wanted to be a youth worker.

    As for myself, I behave as though anyone can see everything I do on the net. I am astounded that people are willing to give up personal information when they're doing something illegal. Yes I know that adult porn isn't illegal, it's just that if the woman is under 18 then it's child pornography. Call me paranoid but I'm not one of those who should be very worried today.

    1. Re:Victims indeed by TapeCutter · · Score: 1

      Many people would think that a site taking your credit card would imply the product is legal, but I don't know the guy or the circumstances so I won't comment on him.

      I was also once good friends with a guy for over a decade, I gradually found out he was an incestious pervert who had molested his three kids for at least 15yrs. In the time I knew him he appeared to be the exact opposite, always ready to rant on the evils of porn, prostitutes, strippers, gays, perverts, anything to do with sexuality in public, most of all he was keen to point suspision at others.

      When I came to learn the full extent of his deeds I wanted to confront him but he was already dying of cancer and drugged up on morphine in a hospital bed. He was my father-in-law, after several breakdowns my ex-wife of 20yrs now says she has forgiven him. Personaly I still feel it was "natural justice" that he died a painful and early death.

      The point is you should not feel bad about having been friends with an alleged pervert, anybody can be a rock spider, you cannot "see it in their eyes", often the worst perpetrators are the ones who denounce anything sexual in public.

      --
      And did you exchange a walk on part in the war for a lead role in a cage? - Pink Floyd.
  23. BIG DEAL? by HTTP+Error+403+403.9 · · Score: 2, Insightful
    They have names, addresses and phone numbers but no credit card numbers or social security numbers. Isn't this basically the same information you can find in the phone book?

    About the only thing one can do with this information is crank calls and spam.

    Big deal.

    --
    I'm not a Troll, it's reverse psychology.
    1. Re:BIG DEAL? by NoData · · Score: 0

      They have names, addresses and phone numbers but no credit card numbers or social security numbers. Isn't this basically the same information you can find in the phone book?

      What the hell kinda phone book do they publish in your town?!

      And can you send me a copy?

    2. Re:BIG DEAL? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What about black mail? If there's some guy who paid for a gay site they could threaten to reveal this info to family members if they don't get paid. Or some fundamentalist who hates gay people could decide to "name and shame" everyone by posting the list to an open website.

    3. Re:BIG DEAL? by HTTP+Error+403+403.9 · · Score: 1
      What about black mail? If there's some guy who paid for a gay site they could threaten to reveal this info to family members if they don't get paid. Or some fundamentalist who hates gay people could decide to "name and shame" everyone by posting the list to an open website.
      Interesting points but the article didn't mention that website names were included in the stolen database so I am assuming there is no way for the blackmailer to know what sites the blackmailee was visiting.

      If a fundy got all righteous and listed names in the stolen database - I could easily deny using the iBill for porn sites - the article states "that pornography made up 85 percent of the business." Just say that I am part of the 15% that didn't use iBill for porn.

      Anyway - I am not saying this is a good thing - just not a big deal.

      --
      I'm not a Troll, it's reverse psychology.
    4. Re:BIG DEAL? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's a pity the Wired article wasn't more specific about this, it mentions logins and passwords being in the database but it's unclear on whether website names are there. I find it odd that usernames were included in the database if the websites they work with weren't.

      Perhaps as you say that is not there and it just makes for a juicier story for Wired if they don't mention this.

  24. Still Online? by NoData · · Score: 4, Interesting
    FTFA:
    Last month, Sunbelt Software found an additional list of slightly over 1 million individual entries labeled Ibill_1m.txt on a spamming website. That list appeared to date from 2003.

    Hmm.

    http://www.google.com/search?q=Ibill_1m.txt
    [TXT] Ibill_1m.txt 08-Jun-2003 03:49 214M
    Thaaaat doesn't look good.

    1. Re:Still Online? by TubeSteak · · Score: 1

      I think we /.ed the link.

      Mirror please.

      --
      [Fuck Beta]
      o0t!
    2. Re:Still Online? by necro2607 · · Score: 1

      Funny... 0 results... :) I guess Google reads Slashdot...

    3. Re:Still Online? by Hollinger · · Score: 1

      The data may be fake. This followup article says that iBill claims that it was framed. From the article

      "The databases, examined by Wired News, include names, phone numbers, addresses, e-mail addresses and internet IP addresses of customers making online purchases. Other fields in the compromised databases appear to be logins and passwords, credit-card types and purchase amounts, but credit-card numbers are not included.

      But Spaniak says iBill cross referenced the 17 million transaction database against its own on Wednesday, and that only three e-mail addresses matched between the two.

      Additionally, some entries in the stolen databases were identified as purchases on Diner's Club cards, which iBill says it has never accepted in its nine year history. Spaniak says iBill recently passed a security audit that found its databases well secured.

      SunBelt Software couldn't immediately be reached for comment Thursday. But Secure Science's Lance James backed away from his conclusion that iBill, which processes most of its transactions on behalf of adult services, was the source of the leak."


      So, I'd suggest that we stop with the knee-jerk reactions, and realize that everyone here may have been had by some l33t h4xor renaming a file.

      ~ Mike

  25. That's what I don't get... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Informative

    What kind of moron buys porn? Hello? IT'S FREE ON TEH INTARWEBS, and especially on Usenet. There are people who literally get off on making and distributing porn of all varieties at no cost. They want you to watch.

    Unless your idea of hotness is overproduced Playboy-style photography with a combination of four different skin textures, three different lighting rigs, and sixteeen different gauze filters, you can get what you want on Usenet without risking your credit history.

    1. Re:That's what I don't get... by paco3791 · · Score: 2, Interesting

      I had an ex-girlfriend once, who I still kept in contact with for some reason, who broke up with her then fiance because he charged $500 of Pr0n onto her debit card. Not credit card, debit card! Besides the obvious "What a Tool!" At the time I remeber thinking "Wow, that is a lot of real money to spend on something I can find just laying around on the web". This was in the early days of P2P and bittorrent wasn't even on the scene yet and still you could bairly do a search on the web without some offer for free porn poping up.

      Still amazes me, to this day, how people can be so stupid/lazy that they spend enough money to keep an entire industry racking up the profits when free, legal alternatives abound.

    2. Re:That's what I don't get... by ettlz · · Score: 2, Funny
      What kind of moron buys porn?

      Same kind of moron who pays cash for some semi-naked woman to dance in front of him!

      I mean, you gotta make a chick work for sex!

    3. Re:That's what I don't get... by beoswulf · · Score: 1

      Pirating porn is not only illegal, but it hurts the livelihoods of thousands of pimps, Hollywood rejected starletts and fluffers.
      "You can jerk but you can't hide"

    4. Re:That's what I don't get... by Eccles · · Score: 1

      I had an ex-girlfriend once, who I still kept in contact with for some reason, who broke up with her then fiance because he charged $500 of Pr0n onto her debit card. Not credit card, debit card! Besides the obvious "What a Tool!"

      I dunno, it might be worth $500 to break off an engagement... perhaps it wasn't an accident?

      --
      Ooh, a sarcasm detector. Oh, that's a real useful invention.
    5. Re:That's what I don't get... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Unless your idea of hotness is overproduced Playboy-style photography with a combination of four different skin textures, three different lighting rigs, and sixteeen different gauze filters, you can get what you want on Usenet without risking your credit history.

      You haven't really checked out sites like Hegre Art, have you? ;-)

      Minimum filters @ 4000 pixel resolution.

      Oh, and you'd just be stupid to enter your main credit card number on them. At least over here, you can create temporary numbers with a low limit (i.e. = subscription cost), so there's nothing econimically related to fear even if they stole it.

    6. Re:That's what I don't get... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Still amazes me, to this day, how people can be so stupid/lazy that they spend enough money to keep an entire industry racking up the profits when free, legal alternatives abound.

      Are you implying that the adult industry which turns a profit is not legal? As an adult webmaster who runs free sites (which do generate profit) I can tell you that I would feel a lot safer paying money to most paysites than surfing free sites. Pay sites are usually (and I emphasize *usually*) run by legitimite companies who care about the interests of their customers. Many free sites are also run by honest people but there are also sooo many free sites run by people who instead of trying to make money off of advertising they turn to malware, viruses, auto dialers etc.

  26. I feel a great disturbance in the Force..... by 8127972 · · Score: 3, Funny

    .....as if millions of computer geeks had cried out, and then became silent.

    --
    This is my opinion. To make sure you don't steal it, it's covered by the DMCA.
    1. Re:I feel a great disturbance in the Force..... by ibentmywookie · · Score: 1

      I think the geek cry would be a bit like this:

      "If I had a girlfriend, she'd kill me!"

      --
      -- The doctor said I wouldn't get so many nose bleeds if I just kept my finger out of there!
  27. Gullible morons by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Who the fuck pays for porn anymore? If you're not a porn pirate nowadays, something's wrong with you. I'll never give another dime to the porn industry. They can lick my balls for all I care.

    /me thanks the P2P and Bittorrent gods for all their enabling of porn sharing.

    1. Re:Gullible morons by Bull999999 · · Score: 3, Funny

      They can lick my balls for all I care.

      They might take you upon that offer for their new Computer Geeks Gone Wild series.

      --
      1f u c4n r34d th1s u r34lly n33d t0 g37 l41d
    2. Re:Gullible morons by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      "...the porn industry. They can lick my balls for all I care."

      Film at 11.

    3. Re:Gullible morons by meringuoid · · Score: 0, Troll
      I'll never give another dime to the porn industry. They can lick my balls for all I care.

      * fires up a few favourite porno bookmarks *

      Er, yes. Yes, definitely. They can lick my balls any time they like.

      --
      Real Daleks don't climb stairs - they level the building.
  28. Know Your Congress by Doc+Ruby · · Score: 4, Funny

    grep -i 'senator' iBill.dat; grep -i 'representative' iBill.dat ; grep -i 'congress' iBill.dat

    --

    --
    make install -not war

    1. Re:Know Your Congress by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      grep -i "senator\|representative\|congress" iBill.dat

    2. Re:Know Your Congress by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      egrep -i 'senator|representative|congress' iBill.dat

    3. Re:Know Your Congress by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Oh! Orrin Hatch is there! Good to see he's practicing what he preached on the web site...

  29. I don't think it was stolen. by eldavojohn · · Score: 4, Interesting

    After all, the article said that no pieces of information were stolen that required them (by law) to inform their customers. Pretty convenient, eh?

    I also noticed that they're from Deerfield Beach, Florida. Now, something odd about Deerfield Beach is its location. It's on the coast of Florida there. That unmarked island on the east side of the map? That would be Grand Bahama. Care to take a guess at what country it lies in?

    So my guess is that the company did this legally and by choice. They probably found some bum on the street who didn't ask questions and would like to recieve a paycheck. He's probably also the president of the company with very limited responsibilities and capabilities. They're also probably prepared to give him a briefcase full of $100,000 and a boat to take to Freeport. And also some cute documents for him to sign that might as well say that he shot JFK.

    Meanwhile, all the workers and people profiting off the deal claim they had no knowledge.

    --
    My work here is dung.
    1. Re:I don't think it was stolen. by HardCase · · Score: 1

      Maybe you should consider lining that tinfoil hat with lead - I think that the mind control rays are leaking through...

    2. Re:I don't think it was stolen. by superflyguy · · Score: 1

      Wait... according to some mit thing reported in popsci, alluminum foil reduces virtually all bands not owned by the government, and amplifies those the government owns, so if he's the only one wearing a hat, and that's non-government propaganda... Illegal Radio Broadcasting!

  30. MOD PARENT UP by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    5sec.us is totally slashdotted now though

    1. Re:MOD PARENT UP by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

      Anyone have a .torrent file?

  31. lol... they deserve it... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ... for being the dolts to pay for porn when so much of it is available for free.

  32. Will anyone sue? by digitaldc · · Score: 1

    Or, would anyone want to go through that kind of lawsuit?

    --
    He who knows best knows how little he knows. - Thomas Jefferson
  33. different rules for porn watchers by max+born · · Score: 1

    A year after the FBI first learned of the larger leak, they have also failed to issue any public warnings.

    Yeah, because it's porn related. You can bet if this happened to Disney online they'd be maxim publicity.

    1. Re:different rules for porn watchers by Dekortage · · Score: 1

      maxim publicity

      Uh... isn't Maxim basically soft porn?

      --
      $nice = $webHosting + $domainNames + $sslCerts
    2. Re:different rules for porn watchers by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

      Uh... isn't Maxim basically soft porn?

      Maxim would be mild erotica. When the pussy makes it's appearance is where soft porn begins. Even then I would classify that as mild erotica.

  34. Porn Leak by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    I could swear that's the name of some Thai porn star.

  35. Moral of the story by dwalsh · · Score: 1

    ... what moron pays for porn? :-)

    --
    ${YEAR+1} is going to be the year of Linux on the desktop!
  36. Whois data by NoData · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Anyone know if this guy is a known spammer? He's now upgraded to trafficking in stolen property.

    http://www.whois.net/whois.cgi2?d=5sec.us

    (sorry, lameness filter is being lame, here's just the basics badly formatted)

    Registrant Name Sean Rogers
    Registrant Organization Sean Rogers
    Registrant Address1 1275 Falkland Rd
    Registrant City Jacksonville
    Registrant State/Province FL
    Registrant Postal Code 32221
    Registrant Country United States
    Registrant Country Code US
    Registrant Phone Number +95.486824101
    Registrant Email gsmmax@mail.ru

  37. You forgot by WindBourne · · Score: 2, Informative

    grep -i "senator\|representative\|congress\|whitehouse" iBill.dat. There are sure to be plenty there.

    --
    I prefer the "u" in honour as it seems to be missing these days.
  38. What we need by lildogie · · Score: 3, Interesting

    What we need is for the name of some elected official(s) to be found in the data.

    Then we'll see swift lawmaking action to clamp down on leaks of personal information by merchants and money-handlers.

    1. Re:What we need by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Or even better, the preachers at some these holier-than-though mega churches!

    2. Re:What we need by fbg111 · · Score: 1

      Then we'll see swift lawmaking action to clamp down on leaks of personal information by merchants and money-handlers.

      Unfortunately, no. Rather we will see swift lawmaking action to clamp down on the press when they try to expose the fact that stolen lists of internet porn registrants include elected officials' names...

      --
      Flying is easy, just throw yourself at the ground and miss. -Douglas Adams
  39. So even those who give a f*ck ... by AHumbleOpinion · · Score: 3, Funny

    So even those who give a f*ck, who bend over backwards for their customers, who do all that is humanly possible, don't get security right. ;-)

    1. Re:So even those who give a f*ck ... by alex4u2nv · · Score: 0

      Its because they expose their privacy =p

  40. buy? by Dmack_901 · · Score: 0

    "BUY?"

    Why would your pay for porn?

  41. NSFW by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Don't worry. I don't think Wifey will mind atall. =)

  42. From TFA by secolactico · · Score: 1

    From TFA:

    The 41-year-old San Diego man says he allowed a "business partner" to use his credit card on an adult website dedicated to finding resources in Tijuana's red light district, with discussion groups and locations of prostitutes.

    Right... a business partner...

    --
    No sig
    1. Re:From TFA by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      err...maybe he is a pimp...

  43. Imagine the spam... by FrontalLobe · · Score: 1

    I can see my inbox being flooded with subjects like

    Porn customers EXP0S3D!!!

    --
    -FL
  44. News for Nerds... by jon.wolf · · Score: 5, Funny

    If ever a story qualified as, "News for Nerds. Stuff that Matters." -- this is it.

  45. IP Addresses, huh? I have this friend... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    So anyway this friend of mine who stole a password to a porn site ... would his IP be on the list? Or is this just a list of suckers who paid for porn?

    1. Re:IP Addresses, huh? I have this friend... by Dunbal · · Score: 1

      Or is this just a list of suckers who paid for porn?

            Whaa? You have to pay for it? :)

      --
      Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
  46. In Unrelated News .... by Vinnie_333 · · Score: 1

    Pete Townshend has applogized in advance for anything he may have been caught for ....

    --

    "We shall party like the Greeks of old! You know the ones I mean." - HedonismBot
  47. I'm cool.... by fm6 · · Score: 1

    As long as they don't reveal my (rather embaressing) taste in porn.

    1. Re:I'm cool.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Its ok to like midget-puppy porn.

  48. Anonymous digital transactons won't be allowed by AHumbleOpinion · · Score: 3, Interesting

    If we used a decentralized, anonymous digital cash system, these kinds of problems would be much less common ... I suppose it's wishful thinking ... governments prefer being able to track all transactions.

    Exactly. You are more likely to see secure computers and honest people than anonymous digital transactions. Governments won't allow it. And no you do not have a US Constitutional right, quite the contrary, the US government has the Constitutional power to create currency, collect taxes, define felonies (say money laundering) and pass enacting legislation, etc.

    1. Re:Anonymous digital transactons won't be allowed by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "Governments won't allow it."

      It's sad that humanity is still at this point. We are ruled not by ourselves, not by self-enacted systems of individual responsibility and sovereignty, but by ephemeral "governments" (obviously made up of individuals, wielding their power over everyone else from behind the one-way mirror).

  49. This is also used by the Washington Post by kalidasa · · Score: 2, Informative

    I know, I had a little scuffle with them last week because I couldn't change my CC# on my Washington Post Online subscription. So not all the names are pr0n buyers.

    1. Re:This is also used by the Washington Post by Skagit · · Score: 1

      You just gave millions of guys an excuse. On my^H^Htheir behalf, I offer heartfelt thanks.

      --
      Why does my coffee mug smell like trout?
    2. Re:This is also used by the Washington Post by kalidasa · · Score: 1

      No problem. Just make sure that wife/girlfriend doesn't pull up all your transactions on their website (you can, with an email address and a CC#). That could be ugly.

    3. Re:This is also used by the Washington Post by tvalley000 · · Score: 2, Interesting

      iBill.com was also used by the Make Money Fast Hall of Humiliation (mmfhoh.org) back in 1997. Don't know if any of the members are in the lists, or if even the exposed names go back to 1997, but this would be baaaaaad for those members that received death-threats back in the day for their activities.

  50. Also stolen credit cards used? by msbsod · · Score: 1

    How about information of people whose credit card number was fetched from insecure software, like Microsoft IIS? Somehow I doubt that iBill would have removed those people from their database.

  51. Heres the actual list.... by XMilkProject · · Score: 4, Informative

    You can actually download this 214mb list of information here:
    http://5sec.us/Ibill_1m.txt
    I don't know why you'd want it, maybe you can use the passwords or something. But there it is anyway.

    --
    Big ones, small ones, some as big as yer 'ead!
    Give 'em a twist, a flick o' the wrist...
    1. Re:Heres the actual list.... by 55555+Manbabies! · · Score: 1

      Site is slashdotted, is there a torrent?

    2. Re:Heres the actual list.... by u16084 · · Score: 1

      IS there an alternative link available?

      --
      -- I Dont Deserve A Sig I Have Bad Karma
    3. Re:Heres the actual list.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      anyone have this file??

    4. Re:Heres the actual list.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You know that's pretty fucked up to link directly to that file. Hopefully when a company you have shopped at gets its information stolen some asshole like you doesn't go posting your private details online.

      WTF is wrong with the mods modding that up? Ban the user and delete the post.

    5. Re:Heres the actual list.... by Afty0r · · Score: 2, Informative

      It is a 214MB file on a fairly weak host. By posting the URL to Slashdot the parent has almost certainly gauranteed that FEWER people will get the file in coming days than if he had not acted as such.

      To link from Slashdot to a file nearly a quarter of a gig large is surely meant in jest? :)

    6. Re:Heres the actual list.... by boarsai · · Score: 1

      The parent is undoubtedly on the list. Sneaky.

    7. Re:Heres the actual list.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "I don't know why you'd want it"

      To find out if I'm on it?

    8. Re:Heres the actual list.... by Suhas · · Score: 1

      Muwahahahaha. pwned. Hope your login/pass does not leak out.

  52. Everyone seems to be forgetting... by Psykosys · · Score: 5, Informative
    that an estimated 25% of the transactions weren't for porn. Unless the customer information is associated with the purchase information (it sounded to me like the account axx infomation was in separate, unlinked records), the leak has much fewer social implications than commenters here seem to be implying.

    Livejournal, for example, was offering payment through iBill during the time covered by the leak (run that link through Archive.org if you care to verify, /. filters the part following the asterisk).

    1. Re:Everyone seems to be forgetting... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yeah, I was wondering if this leak could be a source of black mail information. I mean if there's a record in there for someone buying access to gay porn, S&M or goatse, it could be used to black mail someone for cash. But if there's no details of what was bought then it's probably just going to be another sorry tale about spammers getting their hands on more email addresses. Although I wonder how many accounts from 1998 are still active?

    2. Re:Everyone seems to be forgetting... by ignavus · · Score: 2, Funny

      And suddenly the number of people claiming to read LiveJournal climbs through the roof.

      "Each copy must be getting read by several thousand people, if that is the case", said the circulation manager of LiveJournal. "Perhaps we should put our membership list on the web next week ... hurry up, folks, you just have time to subscribe right now."

      And in the Congress lobby this week, the biggest topic in conversation was "Did you see that article in LiveJournal..? I read it all the time."

      --
      I am anarch of all I survey.
    3. Re:Everyone seems to be forgetting... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yeupp, a quick search through my gmail shows that i have used ibill in the past to pay the subpar usenet provider 100ProofNews. So obviously not everyone on that list has used it to purchase pornography.

  53. Well, there goes the current House and Senate by WillAffleckUW · · Score: 1

    my guess is we're looking at probably 80+ percent of them will be in the pr0n buyer category and now the media will release their data.

    Good thing I have a girlfriend.

    --
    -- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --
    1. Re:Well, there goes the current House and Senate by jrockway · · Score: 1

      Is it really that big of a deal if they do look at pr0n? It means that the social taboo will be lifted if everyone does it.

      (Pr0n is a perfectly normal thing in Japan... maybe we should be as progressive as them?)

      --
      My other car is first.
  54. Weakest Link-You're fired! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "My understanding is that most identity theft is still done the old fashion way- with garbage diving etc."

    And just in case you haven't been paying attention for the past five years. Most POS systems don't print out the entire credit card number. The only one's that dumpster diving can hit, are the one's that use the old embossing receit machines. The other to watch out for is an employee copying the numbers. That's why you make certain they process the card in front of you.

    1. Re:Weakest Link-You're fired! by Alex+P+Keaton+in+da · · Score: 1

      While I agree with you, keep in mid that every credit card bill that arrives at my home has the credit card number on it. I shred these, but many people simply throw them out.
      Also, my point about the bar- there was no way, at the bar I worked at, and every bar I have ever worked in, for the customer to watch the bartender swipe the card. Also, not to be an ass, but who is going to follow a waiter, waitress to the bussing station to watch them handle the card?

      --
      And All I Ask is a Tall Ship And a Star to Steer Her By
    2. Re:Weakest Link-You're fired! by jacksonj04 · · Score: 1

      Chip & Pin - recently implemented in the UK and in use in mainland Europe for some time - is a great way to avoid this. If you don't want to, you never even have to let go of the card. Basically you put your card into a reader, punch in your PIN, and take the card out again.

      --
      How many people can read hex if only you and dead people can read hex?
    3. Re:Weakest Link-You're fired! by MBGMorden · · Score: 1

      Another thing: some companies will allow you the option of no longer receiving paper statements, and just doing everything online. This is great for me, because I never look at the paper statements anyways. They're out of date by the time they get to me.

      --
      "People who think they know everything are very annoying to those of us who do."-Mark Twain
    4. Re:Weakest Link-You're fired! by cortana · · Score: 1

      As long as you trust the reading device. It could still display a different amount to the one that it charges you for; or copy your card details from the magstripe that is still on the back.

    5. Re:Weakest Link-You're fired! by KenSeymour · · Score: 1

      Years ago, I heard about a bar-related scam. It worked this way:

      1) You have a bar tab. They ask to hold your credit card while you
      and your friends get your fill of cocktails.
      This was (and maybe still is) normal practice.

      2) When it is time to pay, instead of getting your card back,
      they give you another card. You go home drunk and sleep it off.

      3) Meanwhile, they give your card to their criminal friends who
      go out and spend, spend, spend.

      4) After the normal time it takes to detect the lost card, they
      re-cycle your card and give it to the next party animal
      after they pay for their bar tab.

      This was back in the 1980's.

      --
      "We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them." -- Albert Einstein
    6. Re:Weakest Link-You're fired! by DDLKermit007 · · Score: 1

      Hell it's fairly eaisy to add a second stripe scanner into the box and people would never even notice unless they really looked between the cracks to see two metal humps (swipe versions).

    7. Re:Weakest Link-You're fired! by cortana · · Score: 1

      Oh, or more obviously it could capture your PIN and store it along with the card details. Can't believe I forgot that one!

    8. Re:Weakest Link-You're fired! by jacksonj04 · · Score: 1

      Nah, no mag stripe. It's a smart-chip with quite a complex auth mechanism. I'm not party to the actual details (Anyone who works with it want to respond?) but from what I can tell it's a session-based encrypted system. At no point are your card details ever actually seen by the reader, only the end result of sending a key to the card. See http://www.chipandpin.co.uk/ for details.

      --
      How many people can read hex if only you and dead people can read hex?
    9. Re:Weakest Link-You're fired! by cortana · · Score: 1

      This is true, but you forget that the cards still have an additional magnetic stripe on the bottom, for compatibility with legacy systems.

    10. Re:Weakest Link-You're fired! by FLEB · · Score: 1

      Not bad as far as efficiency, but the centrality of the scam (and the fact that you can't really pack up a bar and skip town) would make it easier to find and shut down, I would think. It seems like someone would see the big obvious pattern of bar-tabs followed by rack-up charges.

      --
      Information wants to be free.
      Entertainment wants to be paid.
      You just want to be cheap.
    11. Re:Weakest Link-You're fired! by TapeCutter · · Score: 1

      I seem to recall the same story, maybe they were the first to get caught? Most bar tenders who want to boost thier paypack simply give drunks the wrong change.

      --
      And did you exchange a walk on part in the war for a lead role in a cage? - Pink Floyd.
    12. Re:Weakest Link-You're fired! by grahamm · · Score: 1

      True that the cards have a mag stripe, but when you (the cardholder) put your card into the reader (as opposed to handing it to the shop assistant) then there is no way for the mag stripe to be read.

    13. Re:Weakest Link-You're fired! by cortana · · Score: 1

      Unless the reader has a magstripe reader. ;p

    14. Re:Weakest Link-You're fired! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Doesn't work.
      In the card tape, besides the number there is some added 'garbage', this changes everytime you use the card, if you try to use it again, there will be duplicates of the garbage and the card is immediatelly blocked.

    15. Re:Weakest Link-You're fired! by cortana · · Score: 1

      Can't a human sort out the card number from the extra data? Do you have any further information about this?

    16. Re:Weakest Link-You're fired! by KenSeymour · · Score: 1

      Perhaps you're right. I heard this story a long time ago.
      The disadvantage of that scheme is they know where to find the
      bartender.

      I did a google search and the closest thing I found to this was a
      guy who was accidently given the wrong card back.
      He went on to knowingly rack up charges on it. When they figured
      it out, he had already fled and has an outstanding warrant.

      So maybe it is an urban legend. The other kinds of bar tab frauds
      I found were all targeted at foreign travellers. Look up
      "friendly greek bar scam."

      Oh well, I don't spend as much time drinking as I did when I was 22.

      --
      "We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them." -- Albert Einstein
    17. Re:Weakest Link-You're fired! by TapeCutter · · Score: 1

      "So maybe it is an urban legend." - Probably, could have been FUD started by the card companies to deter scammers.

      --
      And did you exchange a walk on part in the war for a lead role in a cage? - Pink Floyd.
    18. Re:Weakest Link-You're fired! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The card number is easy,
      it's just in standard BCD, eache number on the sequence is coded in four bit's then you have a parity bit. The order is reversed but that's easy ;)
      The problem is the pin. This is never stored in the card, and each time it is used there's a random datain the end of the strip (after the card number) that changes, and if the card has some duplicate, it is blocked.
      Still you can buy lot's of stuff only with the number...

    19. Re:Weakest Link-You're fired! by cortana · · Score: 1

      Yes, this is what I thought. The attack I was talking about would involve a Chip & PIN reader that is modified in two ways. First, a magstrip reader is added, to capture the card number. Second, additional circuitry is added to the keypad so that the PIN is recorded. Now the evil shopkeeper has both your card number and PIN. :(

  55. Crap. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Crap.

  56. Re:Oh crap... or why horses shy away from ... by WillAffleckUW · · Score: 1

    They didn't do credit card processing for midget-granny-and-horse-porn.com did they?

    I mean, not that it would matter to me if they did...I'm just curious.


    You know, that's illegal in the state of Washington now.

    Seriously, the Governor just signed a bill.

    --
    -- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --
  57. Sure, you *can*... by Colin+Smith · · Score: 1

    but other than that I'm as confused as you are.

    --
    Deleted
  58. Whew, that was too close-Cut shaving. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Pfft! The only way you all would get screwed is if you did it with a hardware store.

  59. Re:HAH by kunakida · · Score: 2, Funny

    So what I want to know is... how many Sunday Sermon TV jockeys are on the list? Now _there's_ one for Conan O'Brien.

  60. Thank goodness I steal all my porn. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I mean...if I had any.

  61. Re:HAH by Heembo · · Score: 1

    What, are you referring to the large number of priests and televangelists that were found to be on the list?

    --
    Horns are really just a broken halo.
  62. Link to list? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    So does anyone have a link to the list(s)?

  63. The IP information is invaluable by humankind · · Score: 1

    For a long time, I've been thinking that a centralized IP database would be extremely useful. You know the big retailers and sites like Google cherish this info. This list could be very helpful towards those ends. A name and address cross-referenced with an IP address? That's hot in the data mining business.

    I sure hope someone posts the list. They should put up a site where you can type in an IP and get a name and address. VERY, VERY useful in cases where you're getting spam from zombied PCs or someone's harassing you behind an IP and the ISP won't do anything about it.

    1. Re:The IP information is invaluable by daverabbitz · · Score: 2, Informative

      That's all very well and good, until you remember that most people still have dynamic IP addresses, even on cable/dsl.

      --
      What could be better than a jet powered motorcycle? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u8l6GTHLSWE
    2. Re:The IP information is invaluable by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Most people in your country? Most people you know? Or just most people in your wild guess???

    3. Re:The IP information is invaluable by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I sure hope someone posts the list. They should put up a site where you can type in an IP and get a name and address.

      There already exists one, it's called "whois." Try whois on the command line or one of the many whois websites.

    4. Re:The IP information is invaluable by daverabbitz · · Score: 1

      Most people in my country.

      --
      What could be better than a jet powered motorcycle? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u8l6GTHLSWE
  64. Re:Oh crap... or why horses shy away from ... by whitehatlurker · · Score: 1
    I'm just curious.

    You know, that's illegal in the state of Washington now.

    Seriously, the Governor just signed a bill.

    Not that I'm curious, but your governor made curiosity illegal?

    --
    .. paranoid crackpot leftover from the days of Amiga.
  65. Re:Oh crap... or why horses shy away from ... by WillAffleckUW · · Score: 1

    Not that I'm curious, but your governor made curiosity illegal?

    Why yes, but by asking that question, you've now entered double secret probation and must now stay more than 1000 feet away from all horses or equine species.

    --
    -- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --
  66. It is free... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Pr0n more or less is free these days....

  67. I'm f*cked by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I know they got mine.

    1. Re:I'm f*cked by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I feel your pain brother...

  68. But how about other slashdotters? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Say, any way of checking the leaked information against slashdot users?
    I bet the discovery would be, shall we say, revealing.

  69. Well, that explains why I'm getting more spam... by sstamps · · Score: 2, Informative

    I was a subscriber to the MMORPG Horizons, which used to use iBill as their payment processor (they use iPay now; not much of a difference, really). I used new mail accounts I set up specifically for the game, and all of a sudden, about a month ago, I started getting tons of spam on them.

    I figured my email addresses had been sold by one of those sleazebag payment processors. Turns out they aren't evil, they're just STUPID.

    --
    -SS "Teach the ignorant, care for the dumb, and punish the stupid."
  70. Yes by NoData · · Score: 1

    Yeah, some very cursory research reveals 5sec.us is a host domain for all sorts of spam and trojan badness.

  71. Re:HAH by dusik · · Score: 0

    Jizzus Christ, that's nasty!

  72. Re:HAH by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    Turn away from? Dude, I spent a lot of time watching Tracy Lords.

    Oh - wait, you said Lord, singular. Sorry, my bad.

  73. Darn that name by phorm · · Score: 2, Informative

    As an admin at my previous job, I often searched SF.net and freshmeat for open-source/free solutions. At one point, our ISP's caching filter decided to regularly boink the freshmeat site, which resulted in the site autobanning one of the upstream routers.

    It was a really fun thing trying to explain to the ISP person why they should put in an caching exemption for a site called "freshmeat", and what the actual content of said site was.

  74. why pay for porn? by LunaticTippy · · Score: 1
    I've got no idea.

    I'm astonished that porn is such a lucrative business. Everything, and I mean EVERY THING that I've looked for is there, free.

    My poor Mule has to carry porn 24 hours a day up the pipe. I've got these nice open softwares and cc musics that get 1 or 2 downloads a month. But porn? tens of thousands.

    Who the hell is buying porn and why the hell are they buying it?

    I'm gonna guess idiots that install malware and buy herbal viagra from spam.

    --
    Man, you really need that seminar!
  75. Even better by phorm · · Score: 1

    We need some of the anti-pr0n crusading wingnuts in congress to be caught with their own pr0nsite subscriptions...

    The first thing they'd probably do is hunt down the info-leaking merchants with a vengeance.... but it would also be nice to see how such things fit with their anti-pr0n crusading.

  76. IP adresses? by JThundley · · Score: 4, Funny

    "The stolen data, examined by Wired News, includes names, phone numbers, addresses, e-mail addresses and internet IP addresses."

    So it included the internet internet protocol addresses? I keep my internet IP address next to my PIN number at the ATM machine.

  77. Not so Funny.. by TubeSteak · · Score: 1

    That comment isn't so funny when you think about it.

    Prisons provide cheap work programs to businesses so that they can keep the prisoners busy. Some of these programs involves things like processing credit card orders and doing data entry.

    This particular link is from 1991, but it was one of the first that popped up in Google. AFAIK, it still goes on in various prisons.

    --
    [Fuck Beta]
    o0t!
  78. Wired is not credible by Ohreally_factor · · Score: 2, Funny

    I don't believe this, and I won't be satisfied until I carefully examine the list of logins and passwords to the alleged pr0n sites.

    --
    It's not offtopic, dumbass. It's orthogonal.
  79. Re:Well, that explains why I'm getting more spam.. by Hollinger · · Score: 1

    I just did a search of my old, old emails, and it looks like usenet-access.com used iBill as well (back in the day, I downloaded DreamCast backups).

    In my case, every piece of information in the database entry is wrong (according to the email I found from the original purchase), since I've moved four time since I bought the account.

    Hmmph. I'm in the same boat as you. This sucks.

  80. Re:HAH by MightyMartian · · Score: 0, Troll

    But your lord was a pervert. He had some sort of bizarre anti-menstruation fetish.

    --
    The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
  81. They deserve it by Sargeant+Slaughter · · Score: 1

    Anybody dumb enough to pay for porn on the internet deserves to have their name and addy plastered everywhere.

    One site for you dumbasses: www.persiankitty.com

    If that not enough, just get some p2p software and have at it. I've never seen a DMCA cease and desist order for downloading porn...

    --
    I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand. -Confucius
  82. people don't realize by recharged95 · · Score: 2, Insightful

    that there's no such thing as anonymity on the internet.

    1. Re:people don't realize by cciRRus · · Score: 1
      "that there's no such thing as anonymity on the internet."
      People also don't realize the existence of anonymity networks like Tor.
      --
      w00t
    2. Re:people don't realize by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      but... but... look at me!

  83. iBill leak is a fake. by MacDork · · Score: 2, Informative
    According to this Wired article, the iBill data is fake:
    But Spaniak says iBill cross referenced the 17 million transaction database against its own on Wednesday, and that only three e-mail addresses matched between the two.

    and

    Wired News found that entries from the smaller cache of one million consumers are listed as mortgage leads on a spammer community site, specialham.com. A Google search turns up scores of offers on specialham.com for purported iBill databases, one of them advertising "20mill ibill list w/Full data from 2003" for $300. But in one message, a spammer slams an underground vendor for selling him a fake iBill list.
  84. Still Owe Me by Killshot · · Score: 1

    In the article it talked about webmasters having to wait months to get paid.
    Not true, they still owe me over $30k and I think 18 million total is still owed to webmasters

  85. Wait a minute... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    > Good thing I have a girlfriend.

    ALARM!! Intruder at Slashdot!!!
  86. CC Fraud Prevention by SonicSpike · · Score: 1

    I travel sporadically.

    And back in Aug 05 I had my CC declined because I had gotten a trailer ($800) and was moving some stuff a few states a way plus buying meals, gas etc.

    I didn't know why it was declined so I called up my CC co and asked what was up and they said "well we saw some unusual activity and decided to put your account on hold until we heard from you"

    I was PISSED! I told them to never decline my card again to help "prevent fraud" but if they thought there was a problem they should contact me directly and get ahold of me before assuming that an extra $3k of charges within a week was fradulent.

    When one is on the road for a bit and living off of their CC to make all of their essential purchases, and then that gets axed, it tends to really be detrimental to one's short term operations. I made sure they know that if it happens again I will be dropping their card within 24 hours.

    --
    Libertas in infinitum
  87. Voters are in charge, not politicians by AHumbleOpinion · · Score: 1

    "Governments won't allow it."

    It's sad that humanity is still at this point. We are ruled not by ourselves, not by self-enacted systems of individual responsibility and sovereignty, but by ephemeral "governments" (obviously made up of individuals, wielding their power over everyone else from behind the one-way mirror).


    Now I have some libertarian tendencies, but what a load of crap you are serving up. Government is the US is completely under control of the voter. The simple truth is that all the crap politicians get away with is what we allow them. We are indifferent. When they cross "the line" and piss us off they get their butts thrown out on election day. Don't confuse you individual inability to enact change with the voters ability to enact change. There are thieves and liars in DC because voters knowingly send thieves and liars there.

    1. Re:Voters are in charge, not politicians by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "Government is the US is completely under control of the voter. The simple truth is that all the crap politicians get away with is what we allow them. We are indifferent. When they cross "the line" and piss us off they get their butts thrown out on election day."

      Government is not "completely under control of the voter." Government is completely under control of the majority. That's an important distinction, and it's why politicians get away with what they do.

      "We" aren't indifferent. Enough people are, though, to keep the politician with the best advertising in office -- regardless of what that politician actually does.

  88. excellent word list by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Harvest the usernames and passwords off that list and use it as a wordlist. Imagine, 17,000,000 logins to try!

  89. People pay for porn? What about #asp? EOM by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Cat got your tongue? (something important seems to be missing from your comment ... like the body or the subject!)

  90. That was close by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    One time iBill customer speaking. Thank God I'm not in the time span of the leak.

  91. Database Leak Was Over 50GB by Skeetskeetskeet · · Score: 0

    Fortunately 49.9 GB of it was information pertaining to Gary Glitter.

    I can breathe easy now.

    --
    Yeah, my karma sucks....but so do the mods.
  92. What about non-porn customers? by Joe+Jarvis · · Score: 1

    iBill handles non-porn billing too; does anyone know if those customers were in the breach? For example, I formerly subscribed to the Washington Post's electronic edition, which relied on iBill. Telling of iBill's character, after I cancelled my subscription, they began marketing adult material to me through a newsletter called "G Spot News." Slightly different coverage than the Post.

  93. Nope. Someone is out to hurt iBill by 200_success · · Score: 1

    The latest reports saying that the leaked data did not come from iBill.

  94. Force, eh? by Headcase88 · · Score: 1

    *nerd sees article* "Noooooooooooo!"

    --
    "When the atomic bomb goes off there's devastation...but when the atomic bong goes off there's celebraaaaation!"