Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with hackers

Who outsources to Cleveland, anyway?

chesty_a_arthur — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 08:15:39 -0800

Apparently I am one of the freelancers whose profiles Outsourcingroom.com (allegedly) stole from elance. Unfortunately, the Outsourcingroom.com profile appears very high in Google searching for my name. How can I get Google to remove this badness from their index? Outsourcingroom.com (as you will see if you google them) is an...organization that has -- allegedly -- stolen thousands and thousands of freelancers' profiles from Elance.com via a security breach last July. Elance is all "sure, we're concerned and we patched the hole", which, whatever. And I suppose stuff like this is the risk one takes when using the Internets for work stuff.

I've requested that Outsourcingroom.com remove my profile, although I don't seem to be able to remove it myself (because I can't log in. Because I don't have login information. Because I didn't create the profile) and maybe that will work. If it doesn't, I doubt I can do much elance hasn't already done.

But I don't like having Outsourcingroom.com/chesty_a_arthur come up when someone looks for me, pushing down other legitimate hits. Any ideas for red-flagging this site with Google? Do you know where this kind of thing falls within their policies?

Hacker Essays

MotorNeuron — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 14:46:43 -0800

Do you know of any more essays like Hackers, In the Beginning Was the Command Line, or the DadHacker Atari Articles?

I need resources / links information to convince a friend that his small computer network might be of interest to hackers?

jacobean — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 09:41:43 -0800

I need resources / links information to convince a friend that his small computer network might be of interest to hackers? How do I convince friend of mine, that his small office network of 5 computers needs protection from hackers, phishers, etc. He says "no hacker would be interested in my data". He runs a small logistics business? Is his assertion right or am I just being over cautious? Are hackers really interested in the "average" small business, or are they just after the "big boy corporates"?

( in his office he has a wireless network with WPA encryption and yes he does have basic AVG anti-virus software on his systems)

Mecha armor, you say? You know, I can weld.

Netzapper — Sat, 10 May 2008 11:52:19 -0800

PugetSoundFilter: We're relocating to Kitsap County, from Philadelphia, in a month. I need to find the other hackers and tinkerers. Help me build a new network. I'm going to be working from home: writing science fiction, and hacking contract software. But, I want to bounce around between acquaintances' projects. I'd like to help somebody build a website one week, and a hovercraft the next. Then I'd like to spend a month running the sound board for a musical. Then help a software startup do their prototypes. I'd like some of these projects to pay, but mainly I just want to be intrigued.

So, I'm looking for groups, organizations, and activities in the Puget Sound area that are likely to be filled with geeky artists, hackers, tinkerers, malcontents, gear heads, and the like. Ideally, such organizations and groups would have creative productivity as the central focus, but I'll also take those which are just likely to be full of nerds. We're living in Kitsap, so stuff on that side of the water would be ideal; but, have car, will travel.

How's the dorkbot chapter? Are there co-op garages, or machine shops? New media artists' collectives?

Bonus point: good RPG gaming groups?

Recompense for Incompetance

about_time — Wed, 21 Mar 2007 12:13:20 -0800

I received a letter last December from UCLA stating that "a restricted campus database containing personal information has been illegally accessed by a sophisticated computer hacker" (gotta love the assumption of "sophisticated there"). And that they regret to inform me my name is in the database. My question is, can I sue for damages? Is there already a class action lawsuit for damages against UCLA? What are my options? What traditionally happens to victims in these cases in terms of compensation?

Help me help a friend find/hire a coder who has written games and is willing to do it again.

Grod — Sun, 21 May 2006 02:28:08 -0800

Where would I look for a couple of experienced game designers in the Baltimore Washington area who aren't so experienced that they avoid startups? This isn't for me but for a professor of mine who, along with several of her colleagues, is planning what might misleading be labeled an edutainment. Misleading because most edutainment is either educational and dull or just dull. They have a pretty solid idea and I gather a large part of the focus will be on quality, addictive game play. They know their market quite well and I suspect they have a pretty good chance if they can get the right people on board. They asked me if I could do it, which I can't, and which shows their technical understanding is severely lacking. I've been asking the hackers I know for suggestions to pass on to the prof, but none of them are remotely linked to entertainment and leads have been slim. If there are forums or freelance sites where she (the prof) could look, or any other suggestions, I'd appreciate it. I owe her a favor and I'm personally interested in seeing where this project goes. What do you say, fellow mefites?

RISC architecture is gonna change everything.

Skyanth — Fri, 13 Jan 2006 02:22:14 -0800

Cyberpunk, hacker culture, BBSs and alt.2600 newsgroups... have they really all gone? Is it really all virus breeders and script kiddies now? What has happened to the cyberpunk movement - I keep reading it has died and post-cyberpunk doesn't seem to be doing much. What is the current counterculture on the net? Please don't tell me it's goths weeping on their keyboards? Extended question: can you point me at some ezines like New World Disorder, Neofiles, Mindjack? Active ones, that is. Please?

Internet Identity Theft

PuGZ — Fri, 04 Nov 2005 15:39:12 -0800

How do you deal with your Internet identity being compromised? What do you do if someone has changed the passwords to every account you own? My gmail account has been compromised, the specifics of how I'm not concerned with at the moment. I know this because when I woke up this morning and checked my email, I saw password change verification emails for EVERYTHING. PayPal, dozens of forums, Passport, Gmail itself.

I hurriedly changed my Passport password. Scarily enough, I was able to enter a new password without having to enter the answer to my secret question! I just had to click on the link in my email that the attackers had previously used. Talk about "security". Speaking of a lack of security, I now realised that I could still access my Gmail account despite the password, secret answer and secondary emails all being changed. Thank god for that cookie, although it worries me if I ever log into my account from another computer. I have alerted Google to this. (I have also asked them to change my password ASAP.)

I got in contact with moderators at many of the forums I frequent. My account has been banned upon my request pending "investigation" (I asked for this so the attackers could not pose as myself.)

Several gigabytes of hosted materials have also been deleted from my webhost, but I backed it up just a few days ago -- thank god. Hopefully that will be recovered soon.

I am asking of fellow mefites, what else should I do? Who should I contact? This is infuriating, real damage has been done. He has sent shocking emails to a girl I like quite dearly, he has compromised my PayPal account, he has deleted incredibly valuable data. This is in Australia, although any general recommendations would be more than greatly appreciated.

what to do about a hacker?

mcsweetie — Tue, 12 Apr 2005 21:09:37 -0800

I've found the IP address of someone who's hacked my phpBB. now what? earlier tonight, I found that every post and forum on my phpBB had been erased and I wasn't able to login. I had a fellow admin reset my password, and it was then that I noticed a strange IP address logged in as me. and for a time after that, every post or forum I created vanished until I banned said address at the server level. so I'm reasonably certain that that's the guy.

but now, I'm not sure what recourse I have. is there a law enforcement agency I can report the address to? should I report the address to the offender's ISP? I have access to the server logs but I'm not sure what to look for in order to offer proof. any ideas?