Like other migrating beasts, hackers travel huge distances for feeding, breeding, and breaking things every summer -- at Defcon in Las Vegas. The way they move about the city is driven primarily by the availability of free booze at corporate parties or the convenience of air-conditioned infosec habitats; the heat makes them torpid. As such, everyone takes taxis, Ubers, and Lyfts everywhere, day and night.
The mostly-male migration forgoes the braggadocio of colorful plumage as seen in avian species. Instead, they establish social dominance and attract attention of potential mates and recruiters by bragging. Thus, according to my taxi-related experiences while covering the conference over the years, Las Vegas car drivers overhear way more of infosec's boasting and swagger than they probably should.
Ferrying hackers and feds during "hacker summer camp" has got to be a dream gig for a spy. How could it not be? Spying on hackers is usually more trouble than it's worth. Thanks to Uber and Lyft's gig economy it's much easier. No union, no problem (for them at least).
Source: https://www.engadget.com/2018/08/03/when-your-uber-driver-is-a-spy/
(Score: 2, Disagree) by Runaway1956 on Monday August 06 2018, @01:45AM (3 children)
What if my spy is not a Uber driver?
Abortion is the number one killed of children in the United States.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 06 2018, @02:37AM (2 children)
Perhaps your driver is just a dick [cnet.com]
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Monday August 06 2018, @03:07AM (1 child)
No expectation of privacy. Of course, just because a businessman records his customers doesn't mean he should publish the recordings for the public to see.
Abortion is the number one killed of children in the United States.
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Monday August 06 2018, @03:52PM
. . . unless there is profit to be made from publishing.
Or maybe even just ad revenue from putting it on social media.
Young people won't believe you if you say you used to get Netflix by US Postal Mail.
(Score: 0, Flamebait) by khallow on Monday August 06 2018, @01:56AM (1 child)
The premise is ridiculous. Uber and Lyft are now "attack vectors" for the laziest spy agencies on Earth who can't be bothered to spy on "Infosec" via taxi. It's too much like work with all those taxi labor unions. I get that the author is a tasty dinosaur that doesn't like being on the menu for the gig economy. But perhaps he could spend more time coming up with reasons that make sense to someone with a brain larger than a pea?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 06 2018, @04:06AM
Those agencies do bother [wired.com]. However, getting the deeper details may be impossible inside the conference space - the hackers know there are Feds amongst them. However tracking the hackers in taxis is going to be an expensive proposition with no guaranteed benefit. You should be glad the Feds refrain from wasting you tax money.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 06 2018, @03:08AM (1 child)
diane feinstein's chinese driver had this figured out 20 years ago.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 06 2018, @05:41AM
Current Uber drivers don't make enough to survive, so the spying gig is a nice, concurrent, second job.
(Score: 5, Funny) by Azuma Hazuki on Monday August 06 2018, @03:28AM (7 children)
Always have your Pyro do a Spy check! Honestly, that was elementary from the start...
I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 06 2018, @05:13AM (6 children)
What pyro?
Meanwhile, my mother never warned me about girls. Should I be concerned?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 06 2018, @05:18AM
Concerned? No. Terrified rather.
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Monday August 06 2018, @05:21AM
That [teamfortress.com] Pyro
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Monday August 06 2018, @03:55PM (3 children)
When you were a teenager (or while you still are maybe?) your father should have sat you down and patiently explained to you how women's vaginas are lined with razor sharp teeth that can bite off a child's hand. Consider yourself warned.
Young people won't believe you if you say you used to get Netflix by US Postal Mail.
(Score: 2) by maxwell demon on Monday August 06 2018, @07:27PM (2 children)
But who would want to put a child's hand into a vagina anyway? :-)
The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Monday August 06 2018, @07:53PM (1 child)
The idea is to convey the understanding that nobody would want to put anything there ever. Biting off an entire hand vividly conveys the danger. Ideally parents would explain this to boys by the time they are age 10.
Young people won't believe you if you say you used to get Netflix by US Postal Mail.
(Score: 2) by maxwell demon on Tuesday August 07 2018, @06:02AM
And what do you think the last three characters of my comment are meant to convey?
The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
(Score: 5, Interesting) by archfeld on Monday August 06 2018, @05:04AM (2 children)
Loose lips sink ships. Seems simple enough. If someone isn't disciplined enough to NOT brag in public about 'secret stuff' then perhaps they shouldn't have security clearance or access to secret stuff. Next news flash...Selfies in top secret labs are a bad thing.
For the NSA : Explosives, guns, assassination, conspiracy, primers, detonators, initiators, main charge, nuclear charge
(Score: 2) by Freeman on Monday August 06 2018, @03:37PM
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/moron-terrorist-leads-u-s-troops-isis-hq-selfie-article-1.2247912 [nydailynews.com]
Social Media, best way to blow a secret. Also, best way to get your identity stolen: https://xkcd.com/1977/ [xkcd.com]
Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Tuesday August 07 2018, @02:44PM
But your honor! I wasn't bragging about secret stuff, I was merely tweeting.
Young people won't believe you if you say you used to get Netflix by US Postal Mail.
(Score: 1, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 06 2018, @10:01AM
The article leads in claiming to be about Uber drivers who socially-engineed hackers.
The article actually turns out to be about an Uber driver who socially-engineered journalists.