Nonexistent Privacy

Every Expert Told You So, And It Still Happened! Why?

Steve Smith talks about the Snappening and the Dropbox Password list.

Episode #5-06 released on October 17, 2014

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The Internet is a dangerous place online where the continuous hacks to steal password lists, and the creation of tools designed to bypass other software's safe guards has become big business. It has be so lucrative that hackers have even been able to convince normal everyday curious people to pay through the nose for more information in the form of Bitcoins, and other alternate cryptographic currencies. The issue arising is an old one, but what we are seeing is what I have been saying all along, privacy doesn't exist, and using the same password on multiple web-sites is dangerous.

So, what exactly is going on here? Well, when web-sites get hack, the password lists usually end up in a database where illicit groups buy them in order to gain the information or funds from these accounts. Any account could be worth some money, at least in the short them. Now, as you hack one site, then another, then another, you can see that specific users seem to use the same username and password, this makes that user easier to target. Some Internet users, as a result, have no idea what is going on, but they can frequently find strange things occurring in their accounts. This is why we tell people to not use the same password on every site, but technically speaking, you should avoid using the same username from time to time, just to make it harder to put things together.

Now, what happened to Snapchat is not a rare occurrence, in fact, I am not surprised. An application from Snap Saved was available that allowed users to save photos, unbeknownst to the sender. A lot of Snapchat users are young, and naive, and some our out to keep their favorite Fap photos, unfortunately, a lot of the female Snapchat users are minors, so this becomes an issue of child pornography. Now, the number of supposed images available is largely exaggerated, and the database is not indexed, and Snap Saved did mention that they routinely removed inappropriate photos on a regular basis. Also, let's not forget, that according to the Terms of Service of Snapchat, such use of programs is prohibited, and the leak did not occur on their servers.

What does this all mean?

Never assume a server is safe from any attacks from hackers, we can only do our best at trying to protect accounts online, but everyone has to do their part. Make sure your passwords are unique to the web-site your are on, and if you have problems remember passwords, and in need of a password generator, consider using LastPass. As for your privacy, it doesn't exist on the Internet, and in the age of technology, any camera, including you web cam, can probably be turned on remotely, especially those on your cellphone.

Host : Steve Smith | Music : Jonny Lee Hart | Editor : Steve Smith | Producer : Zed Axis Productions

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