So, Spotify sent a mysterious USB stick to journalists to promote a podcast (I’ll assume) about internet security/hacking. The journalists who plugged it in received a message saying they’d been hacked - I assume highlighting the entirety of the this article’s point, I.e. if you don’t know that you shouldn’t plug unknown USB sticks in, then this podcast is for you. So TechCrunch missed the fact that both were highlighting the same point. Spotify can send all the random USBs they want... journalists shouldn’t plug them in without taking proper precautions, as TC did.

> On the drive was a single audio file. “This is Alex Goldman, and you’ve just been hacked,” the file played.

> The drive was just a promotion for a new Spotify podcast. Because of course it was.

And Spotify instantly lost the trust of every journalist it had a relationship with. That was a stupid and reckless move.

I don't want to see this article here because it's letting their stupid PR stunt work.

It seems like the whole point of the skit was to highlight that it's dangerous to plug in unknown USB drives. Reply All's entire podcast is about interesting tech phenomenons. Techcrunch is missing the point on purpose to make themselves look smarter.

Twitter comment from Alex Goldmund: https://twitter.com/AGoldmund/status/1209191026725982208

Don't give them your page views. This article isn't worth your time.

Faux outrage at getting sent a USB drive with an audio file on it. Gods almighty.

This article counts as "outrage"?