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Fox Hacks Fark
Posted by
kdawson
on Fri Aug 17, 2007 04:05 PM
from the rule-number-one-is-see-rule-number-one dept.
from the rule-number-one-is-see-rule-number-one dept.
circletimessquare writes "Valleywag.com is reporting on a case of a hacker not covering his tracks. It seems that, via a targeted email, an admin at Fark.com downloaded a trojan, which was used to steal passwords for Fark servers. Notably, these activities were traced to an IP address in Memphis Tennessee, and to a Fox News new-media reporter. As to the veracity of the story, that is bolstered by the fact that the story was greenlit for the front page of Fark. Motive? That could range from Fark being a rumored Fox takeover target, to stealing source code for a competing Fox social networking site. If the story is true, laws have been broken, but perhaps not by the Fox News reporter: it's possible his computer was hacked as well. Whatever the truth, it's a very entertaining read, as it pushes a number of hot buttons."
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Hah. (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Hah. (Score:5, Funny)
Parent
Re:Hah. (Score:4, Insightful)
Conservative style politics is politics that is resistant to change, prefers the status quo, avoids war, has no interest global expansion, deplores increased government spending, they demand privacy, insist upon the respect of private property, and loathe the concentration of power.
That the term conservative has been flagrantly hijacked by the pseudo Christian lobbyists party (the republicans) and by corporate mass media is with out question, that the term conservative is actually being used to camouflage, gross corporate exploitation of the conservative electorate is self evident.
The Fox Network is a relic of the past, an abusive of the truth, bereft of honesty, network whose only goal is profit without limits, and the damage done to a society and those middle class conservative members who make up that society, just seems to motivate Fox Network to ever greater excesses. The Network seems to be going out of it's way to support the ruination of the US economy and the elimination of the actual real conservative middle class.
Parent
Re:Hah. (Score:5, Informative)
Parent
Journalist == Hacker? (Score:5, Interesting)
So a news anchor has hacked Fark in an attempt to possibly steal source code for their own social networking site?
This apparently isn't your average local anchor.
Jim
RunFatBoy ( http://www.runfatboy.net/ [runfatboy.net] ) - A workout plan for beginners.
Re:Journalist == Hacker? (Score:5, Insightful)
Not to mention, it doesn't take a genius to write a trojan and any hobbyist programmer can do it (though maybe a little harder now with "enhanced security" in Windows").
Parent
Re: (Score:2)
Not only that what is he doing running Windows?
Well I will not need to go to Fark every again.
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
Your dedication as an ideologue is impressive, and appropriate for a story involving Fox and Rupert Murdoch's News Corp.
Comfortable Little Cave (Score:3, Insightful)
That's right, just keep telling yourself Rupert Murdoch isn't in it for the money...
Re:Journalist == Hacker? (Score:5, Funny)
Parent
Re: (Score:2)
So a news anchor has hacked Fark in an attempt to possibly steal source code for their own social networking site?
This apparently isn't your average local anchor.
That was my first thought as well. Then I realized that even an idiot can hire someone from say "rentacoder" to write them a trojan, then email it off to the victim.
That doesn't mean the guy is guilty of course. Only that lack of knowledge or technical expertise doesn't clear him.
Fox News Reporter == Journalist? (Score:3, Funny)
Well, actually, even my own biased opinion wouldn't label most Fox employees as 'not journalists' - but everytime I consider the Fox news network as a whole, I just can't think of it as a news network.
Ryan Fenton
Re:Fox News Reporter == Journalist? (Score:5, Informative)
Well, actually, even my own biased opinion wouldn't label most Fox employees as 'not journalists' - but everytime I consider the Fox news network as a whole, I just can't think of it as a news network.
This was not a reporter from the cable Fox News Channel, but a news anchor from a local Fox TV station. You know, the same one that shows Family Guy and The Simpsons. That is not FNC, which shows Bill O'reilly and Geraldo.
Parent
look (Score:2)
having said that (that the hacking in question here most definitely is not representative of fox news), it is intellectually dishonest of you to draw distance between a local fox station and the national one i
Re:Fox News Reporter == Journalist? (Score:5, Informative)
Where are all you guys getting "news anchor" from? (I'm not even going to ask where the submitter and editor hallucinated "reporter" from.) The article describes him as the "new media manager" -- i.e. the head of their website and related activities.
The elaborate fantasies in the link still seem unlikely, but this is a relatively tech-savvy guy, not the sportscaster.
Parent
It's got to be a cover (Score:5, Interesting)
I'm not sure how you could be smart enough to set up a trojan to gather passwords but not either run your own OS forum or code one from scratch.
it's not rocket science
Parent
Investigative Journalism (Score:3, Funny)
Huh (Score:5, Insightful)
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Let us not forget that reporters often forget that they are also within the law when they are covering a story. Perhaps he did all this without thinking he was breaking a law.
Fark front page (Score:2)
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
No, the fact that is was greenlit by Fark and that it unblinkingly bashes Fox does that. If it had been an IP address at NPR, that would be different. Then there would have be peer review, done by Digg.
seems to make sense to me (Score:5, Interesting)
otherwise, fox could turn around and cry foul themselves, a smear campaign, perhaps libel, etc. if valleywag.com made this up or has a bad source, fark would not link to the story, and they would know better than anyone else
then there is the whole liberal bias thing: no. fark is not a liberal website #1, they are pretty even handed with the conservative and liberal spun links. and #2, even if fark were liberal, if you are going to smear someone, you don't stick your neck out in this way. you smear them in such a way that someone else's reputation is on the line. fark is putting it's own reputation on the line by questioning fox's reputation here. you don't want blowback here, which fark certainly would get if it got out the story was phony, and it would permanently diminish fark's good name (such as it is) if this was a phony story. thus the care involved in greenlighting the story or not
so it's a rare case of the story being about the news, and one of the players in the story being a news aggregator site. what that means is is that you have an added level of verification automatically involved right there that you would not otherwise have
however, in fox's defense, if you want to talk about smearing someone, i can think of no better devilish smear than hacking a fox news reporter's computer, and framing the guy as a hacker. brilliant
but in such a case, you would expect the reporter to immediately allay with fark in just as much anger, anger at getting framed, and demand from his cable provider comcast records of inbound ip connections to his computer in the time frame outbound connections to fark were discovered by fark. any sheepishness, avoidance, or reticence on the reporter's part would pretty much spell doom for the guy's reputation
and note that: the reporter's reputation. i don't at all think this is the work of news corp, rupert murdoch, or even the local fox tv station. if the reporter is guilty, he's obviously just a lone idiot, not part of some vast conservative conspiracy
Parent
Completely off-topic but... (Score:3, Interesting)
i'll do you one better (Score:3, Interesting)
so either we can meet on the field of battle, or maybe even team up
cheers
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
It's really not very hard; there's certainly no need to steal the fark code
"Fox Hacks Fark" (Score:5, Funny)
WHBQ Fox13 != Fox News (Score:5, Informative)
Re: (Score:2)
Ah, you're new here!
Shhh! (Score:2)
dude: WHBQ Fox13 = News Corp (Score:5, Informative)
it's not just an affiliate, it's not just getting house, 24, and the simpsons
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WHBQ-TV [wikipedia.org]
it's owned by rupert murdoch. if you hadn't noticed, murdoch has a pretty solid track record of seeding his media acquisitions with his particular conservative point of view
however, it is certainly disingenuous of you to think that distancing fox affiliates from each other is supposed to instill innoculation for fox (national) from implication for this hack
no: the proper way for you to innoculate fox from the implications of any wrongdoing here is to point out, compellingly and reasonably, that this is probably the actions of a lone idiot, not fox news (local) or fox news (national)
IF this guy is guilty (and he could be hacked and framed himself), i think it is certain the guy is just a lone idiot. the question being: why would fox hack fark? there's no valid reason for them to do that. but there is a valid reason for a new media reporter trying to build a social networking site to do that
having said that (that the hacking in question here most definitely is not representative of fox news), it is intellectually dishonest of you to draw distance between a local fox station and the national one in this case as a defensive posture. they are all owned by rupert murdoch. maybe you just didn't know, but it sounds like you're spinning
Parent
Is this a valid sentence? (Score:2)
Slashdot channeling Dr. Suess (Score:2)
Darl's SCOX sucks Cox
Google bungles YouTube's bundles
Global Greedy Gluttons Gleefully Grind Glaciers
I couldn't get anything to rhyme with "RIAA"
Heh (Score:3, Funny)
"Darrell Phillips... HACK-tion News 5!"
Fox Hacks Fark? (Score:5, Funny)
Undead Ed
Stealing the fark source code (Score:5, Interesting)
Short of collecting personal information, I can't see what value is there.
This is news? (Score:5, Funny)
Err... I mean... yeah... this is terrible. Terrible I tell you.
His paypal account was used. (Score:5, Interesting)
For it to be a different individual, someone would have had to compromise the PayPal account of Phillips without him noticing. I expect there would be a shocked response from Phillips if this had been the case. Instead, the website of Darrell Phillips [dnphillips.com] seems to be blank today.
good point (Score:5, Funny)
I'm not sure where all my money went though.
Parent
As a wise man once said (Score:4, Funny)
That's great and all but... (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:That's great and all but... (Score:5, Informative)
Parent
Re: (Score:3)
Watch your Back, CmdrTaco! (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Fox take over? Stealing source code? (Score:5, Interesting)
They are probably not after the source code or anything that ridiculous. They are pulling the same stunt they did a few months back with Photobucket -- give them negative publicity and drive down the bidding prices (assuming Fark is on the market). If you recall, Photobucket sold for like 1/3 of the original price because MySpace -- owned by Fox -- broke the linkage between their servers and Photobucket. Dirty, but brilliant.
Too bad Fark didn't fall for it. Go get 'em Drew!!!
Parent
Re:Fox take over? Stealing source code? (Score:5, Funny)
Parent
Re: (Score:2)
Whereas you, I suppose, are the picture of objectivity?
If you find the articles and/or conversations here, you always have the option of, you know, not reading them.
yes and its necessary for it to be in that way (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
You know what is really fucktarded? Confusing Fox News with a local Fox TV station. One shows the Simpsons, one shows O'reilly. This was the Simpsons one.
Re: (Score:2, Funny)
"Not now Mom, I'm CALLING PEOPLE FUCKTARDS ON THE INTERNET!!"
Re: (Score:3, Informative)