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Re:'Impossible-to-Hack' Security Turns Out to Be No Security... by JayeLTee on Monday February 24, 2025 @10:32AM (#43160681)
OP here, the one who found the exposed data.

Not sure if you read my 2 emails to the company but I would say I was polite to them and was met with accusations of harassment and straight up lies.

Don't expect me to pat you in the back if you come at me with such claims when I simply alerted you of a security issue.

Re:'Impossible-to-Hack' Security Turns Out to Be No Security... by DangitBobby on Monday February 24, 2025 @10:51AM (#43160929)
I don't think you get to call yourself polite or well-meaning when you pan them and air their shit out publicly after they respond in a way you don't like. Maybe you were superficially polite, but you do not come across as an angel. I _still_ don't know exactly what your goals are, if you're looking for acknowledgement, payment, or just trying to make the Internet a safer place for users.
Re:'Impossible-to-Hack' Security Turns Out to Be No Security... by JayeLTee on Monday February 24, 2025 @11:01AM (#43161063)
I think the around 50 public disclosures I did in the last year where I asked 0 times for anything kinda show I'm not looking for any payments.

There is a huge issue regarding publicly exposed data that no one seems to want to acknowledge or talk about, what you see online? It's 100 times worse.

I'm someone who is trying to raise awareness through my finds, nothing else.

Also I was initially polite to the company, not once but twice, as I am to anyone who I reach out, why wouldn't I be? I want them to fix the issues, not ignore me.

Don't expect the politeness to be infinite though, specially when you start accusing me of harassment and lying about the severity of the exposure that affects thousands of people, the ones I DO care about, not the companies.

Re:'Impossible-to-Hack' Security Turns Out to Be No Security... by prododev on Monday February 24, 2025 @11:02AM (#43161072)
Sure you do. The poster was polite, got an extremely rude response, and has no obligation to be polite afterwards.

Airing their shit out is a disclosure of a vulnerability, and it's important to do. Typically you reach out to say, "how would you prefer I do this?" And work through a common understanding. The company flipped the bird, so it got aired very publicly.

Re:'Impossible-to-Hack' Security Turns Out to Be No Security... by DangitBobby on Monday February 24, 2025 @11:21AM (#43161331)
I can call myself a bicycle but I don't have any wheels.

Their behavior when things don't go their way belies their initial "politeness". When the transaction didn't go how they wanted, they pulled the trigger on being a dick, publicly. That is a much worse offense that an impolite email. If this were a coworker or a contractor, it would color all of my interactions with them going forward.

Re:'Impossible-to-Hack' Security Turns Out to Be No Security... by grayhatter on Monday February 24, 2025 @12:03PM (#43161916)
> they pulled the trigger on being a dick, publicly. That is a much worse offense that an impolite email.

brain dead take; the article was impolite, the email was an overt threat by an impotent exec *in response to someone trying to help*!

Dang it bobby, it's not worse to respond to respond to asshattery (the email) with irreverent sunlight (the article).

I also wouldn't call you a bicycle because you're not going anywhere with this attitude. The CEO got a gift, and the author got a middle finger. No matter what happens after, the CEO without a doubt shot first. And shot someone just trying to help. He can get fucked, and anyone defending him can join in too.

Re:'Impossible-to-Hack' Security Turns Out to Be No Security... by DangitBobby on Monday February 24, 2025 @12:06PM (#43161968)
I'm not defending him so much as advocating for understanding, grace, transparency, and de-escalation. You of course are welcome to conduct yourself in the ways that you see fit.
Re:'Impossible-to-Hack' Security Turns Out to Be No Security... by grayhatter on Monday February 24, 2025 @12:27PM (#43162257)
> I'm not defending him so much as ...

Nah, it's clear to me that you're defending the CEO, and blaming the researcher. In a manner that's as you state is just my opinion, is inverse from what justice would be.

Re:'Impossible-to-Hack' Security Turns Out to Be No Security... by DangitBobby on Monday February 24, 2025 @12:37PM (#43162390)
Wild how I can state my intentions and then someone would just not believe me.

But seriously, it's not possible for me to frame how the researcher could improve future probability of success without framing it from the CEOs perspective. To do that I must recognize he is a human person with his own internal motivations for his behaviors, which likely are not so much monstrous as childish.

Re:'Impossible-to-Hack' Security Turns Out to Be No Security... by grayhatter on Monday February 24, 2025 @12:40PM (#43162427)
Your other comments across the larger topic refute your claimed good intentions. It's not that wild that no one would believe you, when you contradict yourself.
Re:'Impossible-to-Hack' Security Turns Out to Be No Security... by DangitBobby on Monday February 24, 2025 @12:46PM (#43162498)
My thoughts on the matter may have evolved over time while interacting with other people in the thread. While I do still believe it could have been an attempt at blackmail, I think it most likely was not, even though the researcher clearly must have downloaded the entire database ahead of time based on the chronology presented. In that case, I can see how I have apparently contradicted myself. But I can assure you, I am not acting in bad faith.
Re:'Impossible-to-Hack' Security Turns Out to Be No Security... by grayhatter on Monday February 24, 2025 @12:54PM (#43162612)
I never thought you were acting in bad faith. My assumption was that you were gaslit like every other non-security person has been, where you were willing to shoot the messenger (the researcher) instead of the person creating the problem (the CEO). My problem wasn't that you were lied to, my only problem was that you were repeating a common lie that I think needs to die.

People operating in bad faith give up or hide when they notice their position is weakening, people working in good faith respond, and acknowledge the weaknesses in their ideas. Like you are doing.

Re:'Impossible-to-Hack' Security Turns Out to Be No Security... by DangitBobby on Monday February 24, 2025 @12:41PM (#43162431)
Okay.
Re:'Impossible-to-Hack' Security Turns Out to Be No Security... by erikerikson on Monday February 24, 2025 @12:27PM (#43162251)
Welcome to Hacker News. Thank you for the post and your advocacy.