Re: Hacked FreeWebStuff Site Still Offline, May Not Return

[security curmudgeon <jericho () ATTRITION ORG>]

> http://www.newsbytes.com/pubNews/00/153944.html
>
> By Michael Bartlett, Newsbytes
> SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A.,
> 21 Aug 2000, 1:10 PM CST
>
> FreeWebStuff.Com, Inc., the "get-paid-to-surf" Internet company that
> became so infiltrated by hackers it was forced to take its site down on
> July 10, may be offline permanently.

So infiltrated by 'hackers'? Or so infiltrated by criminals using
computers? Is it really so difficult to make a distinction?

Use such sweeping statements about 'journalists' and most of them will get
all upset and cry like they have a skinned knee, yet they do it to
'hackers' on a daily basis.

> FreeWebStuff.com also attempted to fight back by hiring three hackers as
> security consultants, but ultimately, the company decided it could not
> trust the hackers in the long run.

This is a nice vague statement. Three hackers as security consultants? And
then they couldn't trust them? Gee, not familiar with the basics of hiring
or something? Any company that reacts like this without thinking or
putting in mechanisms to protect their investments probably shouldn't be
doing business. I think we're all familiar with good hiring practices,
weeding out those who overstate their qualifications, etc.

> "The good news is, we realized early on that there was an insurmountable
> problem," Johnson said. "We did not want fake growth.  We were not going
> to tell our investors that we had 65,000 subscribers when we knew the
> number was not real. We have integrity."

The REAL good news is, less spam. I don't know about you, but I was
spammed on a near daily basis with "get paid to surf" crap.

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