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Target's Data Breach Started With an HVAC Account
Jim Hall writes "Security blogger Krebs reports that Target's data breach started with a stolen HVAC account. Last week, Target said the initial intrusion into its systems was traced back to network credentials that were stolen from a third party vendor. Sources now claim that the vendor in question was a refrigeration, heating and air conditioning subcontractor that has worked at a number of locations at Target and other top retailers. Attackers stole network credentials from Fazio Mechanical Services, then used that to gain access to Target's network. It's not immediately clear why Target would have given an HVAC company external network access, or why that access would not be cordoned off from Target's payment system network."
why Target would have given an HVAC company external network access, or why that access would not be cordoned off from Target's payment system network
Because they have just one big unified network for everything. That probably saves them money, unless something really bad were to happen...
Better known as 318230.
There are readers and contributors. Slashdot acknowledges some people as meaningful contributors by allowing them to disable ads. So, yes. We contributors ARE paying to use the site by offering our content. We're not giving the content for free, we get compensated in the form of a site that lives up to our high standards. So, when the compensation fails to be adequate, we must be vocal. We understand that we can stop using the "free" site at any time. We become vocal in hopes it doesn't have to come to that.
After seeing what the new beta site looks like, in the future "being slashdot'd" will mean being destroyed by someone who does not understand what they are destroying.
Where do people get this strange notion that the hosters of free services should never receive negative feedback?
They provide the service for free because they want people to use it (usually for ad revenue, though there are other motivations). If people don't like it, they won't use it. Providing negative feedback informs the providers that something is driving users away, which suggests changes that could increase usage, which is ultimately what the provider wants.
Receiving something for free does not negate one's right to complain about it.
Target fucked somewhere between 40 million and 110 million people. DICE is now trying to fuck something south of half a million people.
Cut this shit out. Revert. Take the DICE Marketing department out for a nice big lunch, drinks and all. Then send them home for the weekend. Then undo the damage they've done.
I'm sadly sure that this is an intentional ploy to drive away long-time users ("geeks" and "nerds") who have contributed so much that, like me, they're eligible to disable advertising. What they don't understand is that even if my karma was shit (we don't get numbers anymore, I guess mine would be 50++++++), I'd still be using Ghostery and AdBlock to block the ads without Slashdot's generous option.
Wake up, guys. This is a tech site. The comments make the site. The users make the site. We aren't going to sit around and watch it go to shit. You will have nothing, ZERO left if the beta interface goes into production, except for a few new users who came over from MSNBC.
Writing, wall, see it, hope you have negotiated a nice severance package.
Thanks to the War on Drugs, it's easier to buy meth than it is to buy cold medicine!
This is very true. Please keep the feedback coming. The more constructive, the better.
Well, aren't you just an entitled little shit.
Do you not understand his argument, or are you really just an asshole? The value of Slashdot that keeps old-timers coming back, and brings new people in, is the content... and virtually all of that content is created and moderated by the users. Yes, the site itself is valuable as well, but only because it enables a certain style of discussion and fosters a particular kind of community, all built around that user content.
When the site no longer enables the discussion and fosters the community that is Slashdot, it ceases having any value. People will leave. The quantity, quality, and very nature of the content will change... and as that continues, more people will leave. Now you're into a potentially unstoppable death spiral, and whatever remains will be just a pale image of the greatness that once existed.
Do you expect us to keep our mouths shut? We don't want to see Slashdot die! Even if an alternative pops up somewhere, it won't have all the history that this site has. Losing all of that will be tragic.
Getting tired of Slashdot... moving to Usenet comp.misc for a while.
Do you actually pay to use slashdot or are you complaining about a service you use freely that is no longer up to your high standards?
Well, I provide content by commenting, and I improve the quality of content by moderating. For nothing. Without people like me doing that, Slashdot ceases to exist.