Hackers (Or Pen-Testers) Hit Credit Unions With Malware On CD 205
redsoxh8r writes "Online criminals have taken to a decidedly low-tech method for distributing the latest batch of targeted malware: mailing infected CDs to credit unions. The discs have been showing up at credit unions around the country recently, a throwback to the days when viruses and Trojans were distributed via floppy disk. The scam is elegant in its simplicity. The potential thieves are mailing letters that purport to come from the National Credit Union Administration, the federal agency that charters and insures credit unions, and including two CDs in the package. The letter is a fake fraud alert from the NCUA, instructing recipients to review the training materials contained on the discs. However, the CDs are loaded with malware rather than training programs." According to the linked article, the infected CDs were (or at least may have been) part of a penetration test, rather than an actual attack.
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Re:I actually saw one of these.... (Score:5, Funny)
Mail fraud, financial fraud, computer fraud and forgery. What have I missed?
We're on Slashdot. At least insult them properly: they probably use Windows.
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home-brew apps or off-the-shelf package?
if OTS, whose is it?
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I wish I had been able to copy the CD and play around with the trojans in a sandbox but we were instructed not to touch it after we called the proper authorities. It would have been interesting to see what they were all about and where they are phoning home.
That was the first thing that popped in to my head when I saw the article. Hacking brand new malware to see how it works and what it does is fascinating to me. Of course, when the Secret Service says "no touch", they really really mean it.
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Actually, I know the guys at the company who ran this test. They are definitely a Linux shop. MSI is a do-anything security company that will dig through your trash to test your shredder discipline, send phishing messages to your company to test your employee information security training, and try and sneak into your datacenter to test your security guards, as well as the normal vulnerability scanning type stuff.
The outrage over this is pretty funny, because the company behind it was under contract from the
Re:I actually saw one of these.... (Score:5, Funny)
Actually, mimicking government incompetence is a necessary step to enhancing its value as a forgery.
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What? A story with a CEO turning out not to do the dumbest thing in history?? Unpossible!
Are they by any chance... hiring?
.
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If I were the attacker, I'd do it again. This time properly with no errors at all. And with a special warning included, that fake mailings are in circulation, and with a big official seal of trustworthiness, etc. Something that C?Os love. The whole package of "*drool* want". With no fingerprints, genetic material, etc, but real pressed CDs, with professional labels. I'd let the real NC
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I find it amusing that someone would go to such lengths to forge US Government correspondence but not bother to run spell check and/or proof read the letter.
I find it amusing that someone could be found to code up an auto execute function for inserted media. I find it even more amusing that there was a stupid enough manager to sign off on it.
Was Dilbert written at Microsoft?
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The Secret Service actually came down and collected both the letter and the CD. They are taking this seriously.
Granted, it should be taken seriously since it is a crime after all. However, I didn't know the SS had the time to deal with crimes like this that are not against the POTUS. Did you contact them or did they get contacted indirectly? Just wondering how and why they entered the picture as opposed to the FBI (for interstate crimes). I believe I recall hearing that the SS gets involved with counterfeit operations but never heard them getting involved with malware issues.
Re:I actually saw one of these.... (Score:5, Informative)
Secret Service was originally part of the Department of Treasury. Now part of DHS, they still have jurisdiction over counterfeiting and fraud investigations and share jurisdiction with the FBI on some areas such as computer crime. It's well within their baliwick.
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actually they started as a money protection force and only got the presidential gig later.
Any time you start dealing with a large about of iffy money then the Secret Service will show up
(and i think its in the regs for law enforcement that if they see more than X dollars at stake they summon the SS)
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People who know how to write properly are usually smart enough not to get mixed up in petty crime.
If they are of a criminal bent, they get a job at the company and go for the big fraud.
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Yup. And Credit Unions are one of the stronger/more reliable financial institutions right now. Hate to see something happen to them.
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Yea, I think more people would bank at credit unions if they knew about them. I'd never heard of a credit union myself until I went to college (in Urbana-Champaign, IL of all places). Actually, I thought that "credit union" was just the name of a popular banking chain in the Midwest, like Wells Fargo or Bank of America or something. It wasn't until my roommate explained to me what a credit unit was that I actually learned what they were.
Frankly, I'm kinda surprised that the Midwest has so many power co-ops
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Where in SoCal? There's credit unions all over...
Telesis, Premier America, Wescom, Kinecta, employer specific (Ventura Schools, Lockheed, etc...).
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I live in the IE (Inland Empire). And upon further research, it appears that you're right. There is actually a Wescom very close to where I live and a few others in neighboring cities, but I'd never heard of these places. Everyone I know banks at a commercial banking chain. Do you bank at a CU in SoCal? If so, what's your experience with ATMs? http://www.cufriendly.net/ [cufriendly.net] doesn't show any CU-friendly ATM machines in my area. Are those fee-free CU ATMs pretty rare?
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Part of the problem may be the fact that Credit Unions were originally tied to group of people (Teacher's union, large employer, etc.) but back in the 90's (I think) they were deregulated and allowed to open up membership to anyone. Some, like the Teacher's CU I belonged to, back in Fla., became almost as bad as a bank, service wise and fee wise. They were advertising like crazy on tv and building branches and all this stuff required more income for the CU. Sure, they're non-profit but in this case, were ac
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What you describe is what credit unions are supposed to be. The reality for many of them is very different.
Many credit unions spend a bundle on advertising, including in public schools, and charge numerous fees much like for-profit banks do.
A prime example is Discovery Federal Credit Union in Berks County Pennsylvania - they aggressively advertise, charge lots of fees ( https://www.discoveryfcu.org/disclosure-main.html [discoveryfcu.org] ), and even bought naming rights to the Wilson *public high school* gymnasium.
In regards
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We're members of three credit unions, having kept open our accounts from college in another state, then added a joint account here in Austin at one credit union and recently, when we refinanced our home then I bought a car, at another.
The best thing in Austin is that all the credit unions are members of a shared network, so all credit union ATMs from any credit union in town are free to all credit union members. It makes their ATM network rival the size of any major bank, at least while in the local area.
I
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It's not a "debt institution". They loan money at extremely competitive rates and have no direct profit incentive...
They are a "debt institution" because they loan money at interest (usury). Their non-profit status is not relevant.
To argue that they have "no profit incentive" is highly misleading. Like most nonprofits and charities most credit unions have EXTREMELY well-compensated executives whose compensation is based on how much money the credit union makes. So the employees (not the members per se) have a profit incentive. I'd also point out that in most nonprofits executive nepotism is rampant (it's not uncommon for
Don't bother man (Score:3, Insightful)
The GP is just one of many "Banks are evil!" types online. You aren't going to convince them otherwise. They have little understanding of finance and less of banking. Also the reason he's whining is because the USSS was involved. He also doesn't understand that they are responsible for this kind of crime, he thinks the president ordered them on the case because banks are special.
I've debated with the "Use only cash, banks are evil, we need the gold standard!" types and there is just no reasoning with them.
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What about the warehouse guys? Are they really as goofy as they show on TV?
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Re:I actually saw one of these.... (Score:5, Funny)
Doesn't AOL give out 10-month CDs for free?
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I got really interested in the stock market was heading down for record lows. Did a little research and some rabid buying :D I made a lot of mistakes in hindsight, yet I'm still up 52% now, but I expect most of my profits to realize over the next year. The commodities market is a different beast altogether. In this respect you'll find that the reality is that a lot of a companies' value is derived from it's ability to invest in hard goods.
If you plan on outsourcing to India you need to effectively gauge the
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murp! sorry, my "play" account is up 5.2%. I stand on the assertion that most of my profits will realize off in the not too distant future. That said, with real money I've seen 500% profits in as little as three months with commodities. I don't see anything wrong with someone investing a specified amount of money in gold each month.
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Mr. Buffet also said by Euros when the dollar was being and still is being devalued to pay debt. He is just about always right. I knew the late 90's bubble when I said buy some 5 year CD's. Everyone said I was crazy too. No stocks are better, etc. At 120 times earnings without any potential I don't think so. 2.75% for CD's? Hell, WWII war bonds paid 3% which was considered incredibly low even at that time. It's probably about time to sell again though except for stocks that we'll, deal in commodities. Just
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If you think interest is unethical, you shouldn't be willing to use government backed currency, as governments often create or destroy money without doing anything to tie that activity to anything real.
(Interest works because the debtor is exchanging future consumption for present day consumption, presumably to their own advantage)
Re:I actually saw one of these.... (Score:5, Informative)
From the Secret Service website [secretservice.gov]:
"1984 Congress enacted legislation making the fraudulent use of credit and debit cards a federal violation. The law also authorized the Secret Service to investigate violations relating to credit and debit card fraud, federal-interest computer fraud, and fraudulent identification documents."
"2001 The Patriot Act (Public Law 107-56) increased the Secret Service's role in investigating fraud and related activity in connections with computers. In addition it authorized the Director of the Secret Service to establish nationwide electronic crimes taskforces to assist the law enforcement, private sector and academia in detecting and suppressing computer-based crime; increased the statutory penalties for the manufacturing, possession, dealing and passing of counterfeit U.S. or foreign obligations; and allowed enforcement action to be taken to protect our financial payment systems while combating transnational financial crimes directed by terrorists or other criminals. "
Having the secret service investigate a cracking attempt at a bank is about as natural as having the local cops investigate a burglary. These guys are, in essence, the counterfeit currency and bank haxx0ring police, the protecting the president gig is just a flashy sideline. The fact that we have a dedicated counterfeit currency and bank haxx0ring police force does indeed say something about our priorities; but the fact that a police force does exactly what it was set up to do isn't much of a demonstration in itself.
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In fact the only reason that they do protect the president is back when the issue came up, they were it for federal law enforcement. When congress wanted protection for the president (when McKinley was assassinated) they were pretty much the only choice. There was no FBI, the US Marshals didn't have the man power, and the US Postal Inspectors were just for the post office.
Perhaps they should have created a specific police force for presidential protection, but they didn't.
However, just because the USSS had
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--The fact that we have a dedicated counterfeit currency and bank haxx0ring police force does indeed say something about our priorities; but the fact that a police force does exactly what it was set up to do isn't much of a demonstration in itself.--
I know that, but why again would this not be a high or even higher priority? The financial transactions have to work. Most money is just a stored number on a computer, without any physical currency. It's really a worse threat than counterfeiting. The local polic
Pen testers (Score:2, Funny)
I'm in favor of it; I think that banks really need pen testers.
Their pens usually are broken off of those little chain things, and when you do find one that's still attached, it doesn't write.
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Barclays Bank in the UK got bad news coverage a few years ago for refusing to lend a pen to a customer. To counteract this bad coverage, they got rid of all the pens-on-a-chain and now have disposable ballpen dispensers throughout their branches. You can just walk in off the street and help yourself to a pen, no questions asked. I must have a dozen by now. They have amusing mottos down the side such as "Steal me" or "Bank swag".
And they write pretty well.
http://www1.banner-online.biz/whybanner/barclaysbank_ [banner-online.biz]
Training (Score:4, Funny)
Did the penetration testing "training" CDs at least provide a helpful "Lesson Number 1: Never do what you just did." video?
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Windows Autorun (Score:3, Insightful)
The problem here is Windows Autorun. As soon as you insert a CD, Windows checks for the presence of an "autorun.inf" file, and if it exists, it can specify a binary program on the disc to execute immediately, as whatever user is currently logged in. Thus, killing your security immediately.
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Re:Windows Autorun (Score:4, Informative)
Easily disabled or dismissed.
The real issue here is that without autorun, idiots would open My Computer, open up D:\, and double-click "Training.exe".
Re:Windows Autorun (Score:5, Insightful)
Easily disabled or dismissed.
Uh, no; there are so many different places where autorun is configured in Windows that the average clueless user has no hope of managing to completely disable it. The whole thing is a disaster.
Re:Windows Autorun (Score:5, Informative)
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You mean you're challenged by the nice little GUI that says "Turn off Autoplay"? If a GUI is a challenge, how are you ever going to master the command line?
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How right you are. For their needs maybe they couldn't tell the difference if you used another OS and applications on Linux. Just rename them. Like call firefox IE and so on. If you were real clever you could probably move the Icons too. I know I did this FireFox on Windows a few years back to stop spyware and it worked for a couple of years. Now they just go out on the net and run programs without permission. I can't just shut it all down either, the higher ups get mad at you for this as they are the worst
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Great idea. Then we all know who is secure because of their typing style. Let me implement this, hang on a second..
YEAH WORKED GREAT I FEEL MORE SECURE ALREADY THANKS FOR THE TIP!!!
Re:Windows Autorun (Score:4, Informative)
Easily disabled
Easy for an experienced computer user, yes. We can just look up on the internet which registry key needs to be changed, and to what, and then we do it. For most users this is too much, and the registry is pretty scary to them.
or dismissed.
For some versions of Windows, yes. For the most popular version in credit unions (based on my limited anecdotal experience) "dismissing" is not an option. Windows 2K just runs whatever the CD tells it to.
The real issue here is that without autorun, idiots would open My Computer, open up D:\, and double-click "Training.exe".
Users will do silly things, but that is no reason to just give up on security and make an OS insecure by default.
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Easy for an experienced computer user, yes. We can just look up on the internet which registry key needs to be changed, and to what, and then we do it. For most users this is too much, and the registry is pretty scary to them.
Of course, you could also just hold down the shift key.
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Any financial institution that deploys a "bare metal" installation of ANY OS without any hardening, be it Windows, Linux or whatever, shouldn't be handling the public's money to begin with and needs to be slapped severely about the face and ears. I wouldn't deploy a stock install of Linux either without spending time hardening it. Anyone who thinks Linux is "Secure by default" has drunk a little too much of the Kool-Aid. Believe me when I say that Windows can be hardened to a point where it is rather diffic
Another scam (Score:4, Insightful)
like those Emails from Microsoft with attachments that say they are operating system patches you must install to prevent a virus.
Instead of being from @microsoft.com they are from @hotmail.com or @yahoo.com using a free throwaway webmail address.
The attached files usually have malware in them.
Microsoft does updates via Windows Update or Microsoft Update or via their web site in downloading patches, they never attach the patches to email.
I also get mail saying I won the UK Microsoft lottery and other BS as well. I am keeping a "Scams" folder for that sort of stuff.
I'd expect Credit Unions to have better sense than to run random CDs on their systems without verifying that the NCUA sent them. "What? We didn't send them to you."
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Instead of being from @microsoft.com they are from @hotmail.com or @yahoo.com using a free throwaway webmail address.
Can't you spoof an email address if you do not need to receive a reply? I remember doing this a few years ago. Maybe they patched it now, with the spam filters and such...
Re:Another scam (Score:5, Funny)
Yep, trivial.
Years back (about 1995 or so) I configured my MTA to provide "president@whitehouse.gov" as the "From" address when I sent an obvious prank to a co-worker. He replied (!) cussing me out and joking, "I'm going to kill you". You can imagine he quickly realized what he'd done and sent another email explaining himself. Who knows if he managed to get himself on an FBI watchlist or not. ;)
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I once played around with that, 10, 12 years ago, writing emails using telnet -- ostentatiously with an address billgates@microsoft.de (or some such shenanigans). Apparently I did something wrong, because a couple of days later I got a stern but friendly mail from a Microsoft admin. I probably sent it to myself, misspelled my own address and it got bounced back to them.
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Microsoft will send you direct links to download hotfixes when you request them from their website. Not quite the same as an attachment and you have to request it first but it would be the same result if you got such an email while you were expecting a reply from Microsoft which can sometimes take a few days.
I created a spam account on our domain where users can forward their spam if they are getting it on a regular basis. That way I can extend my filters and content blockers. Keeps the spam pretty low for
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Hey! Shhh... I'm twying to hunt wetawds hewe...
*sends out more very obvious scams targeted at IQs below 80*
You know... fow natuwaw sewection and such...
Expect this more in the future (Score:3, Insightful)
Expect malware to appear or be in the wild already on/in:
The more I use my laptop, the more I wish to install a hypervisor on the BIOS (preferably based on Linux CoreBOOT or something) and use it to track my laptop and profit from it if it gets stolen.
Hey if someone steals my laptop, sit and cry?
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At the current price why would anyone bother with second hand routers, switches etc. They would do it with new gear, redo the factory default in a chip programmer and, then offer them at a discount, in the thousands. Especially with countries deeming it appropriate to become involved in large scale computer hacking as intelligence operations and, for the inevitable rogue agents and contractors, a future 'route' to profits.
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Happens more often that you'd realize. China is very, very good at hacking and spying. They also happen to manufacture a significant portion of the IT components that we all buy and consider trustworthy. I've convinced that if we ever piss of China, they can send out some magic icmp packet that will start bricking every Cisco switch in the US.
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Where do you think Cisco has all of its gear manufactured?
Now think just a few years back when the FBI release a warning about fake Cisco gear coming out of China with possibly some dodgy software loaded?
Bad name for pen-testing (Score:5, Informative)
Aside from the usual gripes about the efficacy of pen-testing, this gives pen-testing a bad name. The firm I work for does this exact same ploy, and so do teams from the Big 4 and various security firms, but they are always planned ahead of time. You have to do this sort of thing in a controlled manner (or as controlled as possible.) Usually, these things are dropped in a parking lot, the the payload is innocous, because a customer (or member in the case of a CU) can pick it up. These guys exposed themselves to a lot of liability and can screw it up for honest hardworking sellout hackers such myself and others.
Wait, I've heard this one before. (Score:5, Interesting)
In fact, I've used it. Until last year I worked for a credit union and frequently described a scenario almost exactly like this to justify things like a least-privilege security model for end users. It's scary to consider what an attacker might be able to accomplish with a scheme like this. The article only touches the surface in pointing out that credit unions are typically smaller than banks and lack security resources. Mine was one of the largest and probably the most technologically progressive credit union in my state but I had a lot of interaction with smaller credit unions due to their cooperative, less competitive nature. (less competitive with each other, that is.) My experience is that most credit unions have IT departments that can be counted on one hand, and no security-oriented individuals on staff at all. (IT or otherwise) In fact, there are many credit unions whose ENTIRE staff can be counted on one hand. Not long before I left, we absorbed a failed credit union's assets and member base at the NCUA's request. This particular example's infrastructure consisted of three desktop computers and an Access database. Credit unions make great financial sense but only the largest ones have the kind of IT and security resources most of us associate with a bank.
Re:Wait, I've heard this one before. (Score:4, Funny)
> Credit unions make great financial sense but only the largest ones have the
> kind of IT and security resources most of us associate with a bank.
Considering what the banks accomplish with those resources, I'll take the credit unions.
CDs? (Score:2)
Why did it take so long to come back? (Score:2)
Truly, there's a sucker born every minute. Most of them seem to wind up working in business, and most of them have the technological competence of a retarded toaster. With any luck, the movers and shakers will figure out that paying the IT guy more than minimum wage...and having somebody competent to watch over HIM...is a wise investment.
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With any luck, the movers and shakers will figure out that paying the IT guy more than minimum wage...and having somebody competent to watch over HIM...is a wise investment.
Only when they realize paying an Executive to play golf and schmoose all day for ungodly amounts of money a year is stupid and eliminate the worthless position all together.
for every underpaid IT guy there is at least 1 worthless Executive that can be tossed out of the company and nobody would notice. It amazes me how many executive pos
The simplest tactics (Score:2)
Often are the best.
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Actually Credit Union customers get "Phising" emails that pretend to be from the Credit Union and goes to a fake web site that looks like the Credit Union but steals their password, user ID, account number, etc.
This happened to a friend of mine, and he phoned it in and the Credit Union asked him to come into their nearest branch and present ID and get his account changed to verify who he is, only the Credit Union near him closed down and he didn't know it and the next one was 100 miles away. He had to drive
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This bout of reasonable discourse brought to you by: Slashdot
Shoes for Turds, Stuff that Splatters.
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I think it's really sad that phishing credit unions is even possible. Today's web browsers suck so bad that everyone involved ought to be deeply ashamed.
Credit unions are always local. You always physically meet them. You also (usually) probably have at least some ongoing snail mail communication with them.
You don't even need a trusted introducer, like Verisign. It ought to easy to directly check fingerprints and certify keys yourself, without having to trust anyone else. But no... we're still using X.
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whoosh
No capitals, no exclamation mark, just a quiet little whoosh. Just about the volume of a tired gnat flying past a dog's ass. Had you bothered to read ANYTHING before you commented, then you might warrant a real whoosh.
Re:Hackers can be pen testers (Score:5, Insightful)
Man I hear ya... It's just like all those fools calling that box on the desk a computer, when we all know a computer is actually a person who performs computations. Anyway, I gotta jump into the old horseless carriage for a spot of motoring. ;)
ObSimpsons (Score:2)
I gotta jump into the old horseless carriage for a spot of motoring.
"Fill it up with petroleum distilates, post haste!"
We also would have accepted: "My car gets 40 rods to the hogshead, and that's the ways I likes it."
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I'd like to send this letter to the Prussian consulate in Siam by aeromail. Am I too late for the 4:30 autogyro?
Re:Hackers can be pen testers (Score:5, Insightful)
I don't care what percentage of society is cluless in this regard even if it is 99+%. I am just proud to not be one of them. A large percentage of the populace thinks they run the best, most secure OS in the world; indeed the only one. Did they become right by way of their mass delusion?
Considering that language is just a bunch of grunts(spoken) or squiggles(written) with agreed upon meanings...yes. As long as the meaning the speaker intended is imparted to the listener, they served their purpose.
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Interesting... I just noticed, that when you would exchange the quote and the answer of your comment, GP would still be right. I've never seen that before, but it's certainly cool. I'm going to try to reproduce that... ^^
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The set of hackers and Pen Testers is not disjoint. The summary writer is thinking of crackers. And yes, I know 1200 morons will pipe up to say that Hacker is in common usage, to which I say millions of teenagers say "minute" when they mean a long time, but a minute is still 60 seconds. The world can be divided many ways. One way is those who know what Hacker means, and those who mistakenly think it is a synonym for cracker. I don't care what percentage of society is cluless in this regard even if it is 99+%. I am just proud to not be one of them. A large percentage of the populace thinks they run the best, most secure OS in the world; indeed the only one. Did they become right by way of their mass delusion?
You know there's a whole school of philosophy dedicated to the common usage vs. defined meaning problem. As for which one is right.. Inconclusive.
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No, the descriptivists are right. Probably even in France.
If nearly every language had not changed drastically over time, there might at least be an interesting conversation there, but alas.
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... and you needed to quote my whole post to state that? Actually, you again have those with a clue against those without a clue who refuse to admit it. If it is common usage, but not part of defined meaning, we have an actual defined meaning for that ! It's called slang.
Yah, Wittgenstein was a hack! [wikipedia.org]
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Right, right. It's like when my wife goes, "Why do you bother reading what a bunch of frigtards think on some lame site for dorks?"
And I correct her, "Honey, they're FREETARDS, not frigtards. And the site is for nerds, not dorks!"
Then she blows me!
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A large percentage of the populace thinks they run the best, most secure OS in the world
Most people think they're runing Linux? Oh, wait...
Racism! (Score:2)
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I say millions of teenagers say "minute" when they mean a long time, but a minute is still 60 seconds.
Yeah, I don't think so. Your definition of "a long time" is something that YOU have pretty much made up on the spot and in the process ruined any claim to being an authority on english word definitions. Very few teenagers, or anyone else, mean "a long time" when they say "minute" - its pretty rare for anyone to mean anything even approaching an hour when they say "minute." And unless you are a fruit-fly or suffer from ADD, an hour hardly ever qualifies as "a long time."
But, since a "short space of time"
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You know about all of the teenagers on the planet??? Who would have thought that Santa Clause posts on Slashdot under the SlashID Jah-Wren Ryel !!!
You know about all of the teenagers on the planet??? Who would have thought that Santa Clause posts on Slashdot under the SlashID Zero_Kelvin !!!
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Dude, you're a moron. You are the one claiming you know all of the teenagers on the planet. ZK is saying some of the teenagers (many?) say this. You are claiming that NONE of them do. Only one of you is claiming to know all of the teenagers on the planet.
Do you really believe that Zero_Kelvin knows "millions of teenagers?" For all practical purposes he is claiming the exact same thing I am, except I'm applying common sense and he's just making shit up to support his own little pet peeve.
It's like herbal tea (Score:2)
Haha, I hear you. As for myself, people who call a tisane simply "tea" or "herbal tea" get on my nerves. If it's not made with the "tea" plant, it's not "tea" damnit!!!! But most grammar softwares don't even know the correct word anyway...
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Maybe you also missed the part of my post about the 1200 morons? It should have conveyed to you I was well aware that there is a faction of the audience that is as ignorant as you describe. There are, however, quite a few pe
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As I said to the OP, the meanings of words change regardless of the source of that change. Get the fuck over yourself.
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You act like impersonating a federal agency isn't a crime in and of itself.