Meddling

It would’ve worked, too, if it weren’t for those meddling kids!

There are 614 posts filed in Meddling (this is page 34 of 62).

Following up on Romney hacking with an expert


I saw that the Mother Jones reporter consulted security expert Bill Pennington on the Romney Facebook hacking. Like any good digital sleuth, I hunted down Pennington’s email address to see what he thought about the situation. Pennington works at White Hat Security as the Chief Strategy Officer.

This afternoon I sent him the following email:

Hi Bill,

I’m Mark Turner, a guy who was contacted by Mother Jones about the Mitt Romney Facebook hacking thing.

I wanted to be clear about my experience: I’ve worked in IT and network security for 20 years. I’m a sysadmin who maintains security on my corporate network. I’m the guy who keeps the others in the office from clicking on things they shouldn’t.

I use Privoxy ad-blocking software on my Linux desktops. I do not click on ads, ever. And I rarely if ever use Facebook’s mobile app because it sucks ass. Yet, somehow I became a fan of Mitt Romney without my knowledge.

Facebook’s Activity Log shows every one of the 400+ likes I’ve clicked on during the life of my Facebook account. It does NOT show me ever liking Mitt Romney. That’s the only Like that doesn’t show up. Even if I screwed up and clicked on something by mistake, I would expect there to be a record of it.

But there isn’t. That’s why I think something hacked my account from the inside.
Continue reading →

Antidoping Agency Details Doping Case Against Lance Armstrong – NYTimes.com

The USADA has released a report on Lance Armstrong’s doping case. After reading the summary here in the New York Times I find it virtually impossible to think that Armstrong wasn’t doping all along.

What a sorry outcome. I used to love watching cycling but now I’ll never trust it again.

The United States Anti-Doping Agency on Wednesday released details of its investigation of Lance Armstrong, calling it the most sophisticated doping program in recent sports history — a program in which it said Armstrong played a key role by doping, supplying doping products and demanding that his top teammates dope so he could be successful.

via Antidoping Agency Details Doping Case Against Lance Armstrong – NYTimes.com.

Mother Jones on Romney Facebook hacking


Last week I was contacted by Erika Eichelberger of Mother Jones magazine who was curious about my blog posts covering the Mitt Romney Facebook hacking issue. She was interested in talking to other victims, so I put her in touch with a few people on the Hacked By Mitt Romney page.

Her story ran this morning but it concluded a whole lot of nothing:

So we asked the social-networking company to do that. Facebook agreed, and had a team research the issue. They concluded that users are probably liking the Romney page on a mobile device by either accidentally clicking on a Romney ad or a “sponsored story” from the Romney campaign in their news feed. A Facebook spokesman, who wanted to remain anonymous, said the issue is unique to mobile because of the way the app works on small screens, and rejected the idea that the Romney camp was engaging in clickjacking. He added that the company is currently working to clean up its mobile interface.

Continue reading →

Here’s How Facebook Is Cracking Down On Fraudulent Likes – Business Insider

I posted earlier how Facebook would begin cracking down on fake Likes on their service. Somehow I missed this story on Business Insider that explains how Facebook is going about this.

This is worth a read, and as I pointed out earlier, the fact that Facebook has announced this effort is a tacit admission that Facebook hacking is possible.

Facebook announced that it will be making a concerted effort to crack down on removing Likes on brand Pages “that may have been gained by means that violate our Facebook Terms.”

Although a source familiar with Facebook told Business Insider that engineers have already begun the suspicious Like invalidation process, brand pages can expect to see an average decrease of approximately 1 percent of Likes accumulated by malware, compromised accounts, deceived users, or purchased bulk Likes.

via Here’s How Facebook Is Cracking Down On Fraudulent Likes – Business Insider.

Yet another Romney hacking victim speaks


Early this morning another Romney Facebook victim mentioned getting hacked by Mitt Romney. Like many others, she insists what happened to her is not a sponsored link nor is it anything she did herself.

Dora Maria Costa

They are not advertisements that are showing up on my wall, they are posts that match the posts on the Romney page, and when I went to his page, it said I liked it. They are posts, jut like posts that arrive on my wall of pages that I do actually like, or from friends. I did not go to the Romney page and “like” it! I get the ads and the wall posts showing that friends of mine “like” the Romney page. But, this is different. How did Romney FORCE me to like his page???

Daily Kos: Romney Facebook Fraud-Is this legal?


I’ve been searching the web on a regular basis for mentions of Mitt Romney and Facebook. For some reason I just found this mention of Romney Facebook hacking that was posted on Daily Kos by user MilleNeon back on August 18th – long before I got hacked by Romney myself. As far as I know it’s the earliest mention of this phenomenon on the Internet.

This is a short diary, because I just want someone to tell me how to get this to someplace where it can be reported, like Huff Post.

Looked on my FB page, and in the ad column I saw an ad that said three of my FB friends had “liked” Romney. One is a close friend, and she was appalled that her name was in the ad.

Someone told me companies are bundling FB “friends” and selling them. Is this legal?

I grabbed a screenshot of the ad. Does anyone know who I can send this to so this fraud can be publicized?

Continue reading →

Another Romney Facebook hacking victim speaks up


I received this response today on a post from another blog about Mitt Romney’s Facebook hacking (emphasis mine):

I told my husband that I have been seeing friends of his that we KNOW would never vote for Romney “like” him on facebook. We are discussing this while family is visiting and then my husbands father tells me that he saw I had “liked” Romney on facebook a couple of weeks ago. I would know if I had done this. I would rather eat a hand full of stink bugs. I do not like this one bit.

Your transaction abilities were suspended

Zonkers! My transaction abilities were suspended, according to this breathless email I just got, straight from the Secutity Department of the FDIC!! I do all my corporated and business banking with the FDIC and now I can’t!!! I guess I should try to save and install the newest installations, by browsing this link!!1!!!

Oh, thank you Secutity Department, for watching out for me!1!!1!!eleven!!

Date: Wed, 3 Oct 2012 14:49:11 +0200
From: “FDIC” cautiono@yhbia.com
To: markt at markissupercoolbutthisisnthisemailaddress.edu
Subject: Your transaction abilities were suspended

Your Corporated and Business Banking
Federal Deposit
Insurance Corporation

Your ACH & Wire transaction abilities have been temporarily disabled in order to ensure your security, because of the expiration of your security version. Please save and install the newest installations, by browsing this link.

As soon as update being installed, your account entire features will be completely restored.
Faithfully yours, Secutity Department, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.

Gus Gusler gets hacked by Mitt Romney

I found out last night that Gus Gusler, owner of Raleigh’s Player’s Retreat, discovered to his surprise that he was now a fan of Mitt Romney’s Facebook page. Anyone who knows Gusler knows how ludicrously improbable it is that he chose to do this willingly.

“I wouldn’t vote for that empty suit phony for dog catcher,” Gusler says.

Still hoping that the media starts taking this Mitt Romney Facebook hacking seriously.