Obama's Twitter Account "Hacked"

Oxford_Comma_Lover writes "A 24-year-old living with his mother in France was arrested for 'hacking' into Obama's twitter accounts. (Warning: WSJ does obnoxious paywall things. Your miles may vary.) Apparently he guesses the answer to a question related to password recovery in order to break into the accounts of famous people; he has no computer science training or financial motive. He posted screenshots to a few boards and twitter found out within a few hours, either from a tip or from noticing when someone from France logs onto twitter as the President of the United States. (He did not actually tweet as POTUS, but just wanted to show he could break into the account.)"

Comments

He shouldn't be arrested

[Monkeedude1212]

Apparently he guesses the answer to a question related to password recovery in order to break into the accounts of famous people

If thats all it takes then the system is broken, not the people abusing it.

Re:He shouldn't be arrested

[magsol]

Or the users need to cease using common knowledge as the answers to these not-so-security questions.

Re:He shouldn't be arrested

[girlintraining]

If thats all it takes then the system is broken, not the people abusing it.

Yes, blame the victim. You didn't install triple deadbolts on your door. It's not my fault all your stuff got fenced by me. Jeez, I mean, what do you expect a criminal to do? Hey, btw -- what kind of slashdot poster are you, I didn't find any ramen to eat while you were out running errands either. I really wanted to have a snack after cleaning the place out. Ungrateful jerk...

Re:He shouldn't be arrested

[Monkeedude1212]

The "Security question" system in itself is the weak point in most security situations.

Mother's Maiden name?

Pet's first name?

Favourite Band?

How long do you think it would take to brute force any of those with a simple script? There's no point in making sure your passwords Really strong if your security question can be as weak as a noodle.

Re:He shouldn't be arrested

[DragonWriter]

If thats all it takes then the system is broken, not the people abusing it.

Its pretty trivial to break into most homes, cars, etc., but when people actually do it, we consider their actions to be the problem.

I don't see why the fact that it is a computer system means that there is suddenly nothing wrong with the actions of the person deliberately breaking in.

Sure, its fairly trivial for an online service to institute better security than "guess an fairly easy question and get access", so there are grounds for saying that the system has a problem. Its another thing, though, to go further and say that it is the system and not the intruder that is the problem.

Re:He shouldn't be arrested

[clone53421]

Mix metaphors thoroughly, serve confused.

Re:He shouldn't be arrested

[girlintraining]

Having a security question that is easily guessable is like leaving your car door unlocked. I wouldn't be surprised if it got stolen. Simple as that.

You know, bathroom locks in most homes and apartments can be opened with a straightened paper clip. There's a reason for this: You can't accidentally open the door, but if there's an emergency (say someone has a fall, or locks themselves in to overdose on pills) the door can be easily opened.

Pointing out the flaws of the security system don't relieve the person overriding it of their ethical responsibilities to their fellow human beings. Most security exists merely to satisfy the restraint that breaking it isn't accidental, because strong security can impede a variety of legitimate activities. As one example, my cousin lives with roommates who steal her pills, so she had a lock placed on her bedroom door. However, she needed me to get into the room while she was away to get some paperwork. So I fashioned a simple lock pick and gained entry (with the owner's permission). The average person would be unable to do this, but as a security expert, I can. However, I did not do so without permission, because that would be a violation of privacy, however trivial it was for me to actually open the door (about 5 seconds).

The password

[Anonymous Coward]

I heard was "Let them eat cake"

Good.

[geekoid]

Having a password clearly dictates the intent of the person is not to allow other people to use it.

If a door is locked, then people know they shouldn't enter and kicking in the door would be a crime... or at least very rude.

Re:He should've at least posted something.

[Starteck81]

I was thinking "Hey guys Global Thermal Nuclear War later this afternoon... just thought you should know."

log of 'hacked' password recovery session:

[circletimessquare]

q: "what city were you born in?"
a:"honolulu"
incorrect
a:"oahu"
incorrect
a:"kandahar"
correct

q: "what is your political affiliation?"
a:"democrat"
incorrect
a:"centrist"
incorrect
a:"fascist"
correct

q:"what is your favorite catchphrase?"
a:"yes we can"
incorrect
a:"change we can believe in"
incorrect
a:"from each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs"
correct

(i love obama and i'm 100% for common sense healthcare reform... i need to make this qualification because some tea party morons out there might actually take my joke seriously)

Re:log of 'hacked' password recovery session:

[bsDaemon]

I used to be a paid functionary of the "conservative" movement. I use the term paid loosely, though, because I made shit for money and no benefits, but was forced to write propaganda against health care reform, even back in 2007. Most of these high-profile people against health care reform, I've met. Eric Cantor, for instance, I've met on several occasions. My hatred for the movement is largely to do with my own shame in having been part of that side of the aisle and actively working against my own interest, as well as that of many, many others of my countrymen. I'm sorry for all the crap that I helped do, but I learned my lesson, left and went on to other things. Maybe hate against movment members on the streets isn't warrented like it is against the party leaders, but I feel really, really bad for them that they either can't or won't realize that they're being manipulated to work against their own interests by the rich and powerful who serve as their puppet masters.

Re:And this is why we ONLY SERVE FREEDOM FRIES !!

[Anonymous Coward]

This is France. Since you don't like our language, we'll be taking it back. Please remove the word 'language' from your post. Merci.

Re:He should've at least posted something.

[amliebsch]

No, no, no, he should have tweeted:

"My fellow Americans, I am pleased to tell you today that I have signed legislation that will outlaw France forever. We begin bombing in 5 minutes."

Re:too obvious..

[Captain Splendid]

My grandmother hasn't been a maiden since 1910

Suuuure she was. Pretty damn 'lively' from '07-'09 if you consult the outhouse walls.

Re:too obvious..

[Applekid]

Why even include anything that relates to your mothers name? Why even give attackers that much? Just provide a 30 character string of random characters.

Yo, I heard you like passwords, so we're going to protect your password with another password.

Re:too obvious..

[cmiller173]

That's a great idea! I'm off to the hall of records with a box of matches!

that's kind of funny

[circletimessquare]

considering the fact that

1. vitriolic hatred is pretty much all of the tea party consists of,

2. sound fiscal responsibility is finally what this health reform delivers,

3. health care security is unconstitutional only in creative crackpot legal arguments,

4. and free market principles do not answer every question in life (as the 2008 meltdown demonstrates: you need strong government regulation to keep the markets healthy)

a capitalist society with social safety nets is clearly and obviously superior in every measurement to the social darwinism i hear you advocating, even if you don't realize that is what you are advocating. free market fundamentalism died in 2008, i guess you didn't get the memo

Re:notice the last sentence in my comment

[Dahamma]

I thought the tea party movement was just a bunch of morons. Then I read this:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/andy-borowitz/teabaggers-new-cry-mrs-ob_b_508683.html

Now I think calling them that has just been an insult to morons.