# You thought hackers where bad? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [May 28, 2004, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-thought-hackers-where-bad/247459 "2004-05-28T02:46:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Ale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@Ale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ale)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2004, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-thought-hackers-where-bad/247459/1 "2004-05-28T02:46:41Z")
[This pisses me off to no end](http://www.3dtotal.com/sabotage) What kind of psycho would do something like that? are there any precedents for this kind of attack? I curse you, low life form; this guys have worked hard to build a site, a communty and a business; what kind of pervert breaks in like that to try to destroy all that hard work, for what? revenge? (for what???), getting rid of the competition? I really can´t wrap my mind around a rational motive. :mad: ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2004, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-thought-hackers-where-bad/247459/2 "2004-05-28T02:50:12Z")
Sounds like an old-school ‘taking care of the competition’ attack, which just happened to involved computers. However, they clearly weren’t following the first golden rule of backup: _keep the backups off-site_ ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2004, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-thought-hackers-where-bad/247459/3 "2004-05-28T03:54:39Z")
10 to 1 it was a recently dismissed employee, or an irrational one who had just quit over a percieved injustice. In any event, I’m sure they will be caught. ---
**Author:** ![Master\_Wang-Ka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/master_wang-ka/32/3325_2.png) [@Master\_Wang-Ka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Master_Wang-Ka)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2004, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-thought-hackers-where-bad/247459/4 "2004-05-28T04:26:44Z")
Goes way beyond mere vandalism – this was someone with a grudge, or someone looking to specifically cripple the business in some way. Who? Why? Insufficient data for a meaningful answer. Ask again later. Your weight is one hundred and sixty-eight pounds. You will meet a tall dark stranger. Kick a Pisces. ---
**Author:** ![LeeshaJoy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e8cbc/32.png) [@LeeshaJoy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LeeshaJoy)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2004, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-thought-hackers-where-bad/247459/5 "2004-05-28T05:07:26Z")
> [@Master Wang-Ka](#): > > Kick a Pisces. Ow! ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2004, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-thought-hackers-where-bad/247459/6 "2004-05-28T06:13:33Z")
That is truly fucked up. It seems too personal to just be random, which means that the perpetrator/s are considerably more likely to be caught. I really hope they are. Can you imagine the weight in your stomach coming back to the office to find that five years of work had been destroyed? ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2004, 6:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-thought-hackers-where-bad/247459/7 "2004-05-28T06:30:18Z")
Holy shit, that is terrible. Applause to the guys for getting right back to their work and being crafty and determined enough to rig their hard drives. ---
**Author:** ![duffer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duffer/32/1026_2.png) [@duffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/duffer)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2004, 6:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-thought-hackers-where-bad/247459/8 "2004-05-28T06:43:17Z")
I’ve never run an operation that would be shut down because of damgaed hard drives and “glued” cd’s. Wouldn’t it be common to have physical backups? Or is it the standard to only have data backups? ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2004, 7:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-thought-hackers-where-bad/247459/9 "2004-05-28T07:06:02Z")
> [@duffer](#): > > I’ve never run an operation that would be shut down because of damgaed hard drives and “glued” cd’s. Wouldn’t it be common to have physical backups? Or is it the standard to only have data backups? A CD is a physical backup. The problem was that they stored their CDs onsite because they expected to lose data from a crash or a virus. They didn’t expect it from someone breaking in and shitting on their last 5 year’s work. ---
**Author:** ![duffer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duffer/32/1026_2.png) [@duffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/duffer)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2004, 7:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-thought-hackers-where-bad/247459/10 "2004-05-28T07:12:48Z")
> [@Cisco](#): > > A CD is a physical backup. The problem was that they stored their CDs onsite because they expected to lose data from a crash or a virus. They didn’t expect it from someone breaking in and shitting on their last 5 year’s work. OK. I admit I wasn’t thinking that far into it. I’m just the type that would have whole CD libraries in a vault knowing this kind of thing could happen. Paranoid? Sure. But it may have helped. Hope the hosts catch the little fucker/s. ---
**Author:** ![Ale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@Ale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ale)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2004, 11:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-thought-hackers-where-bad/247459/11 "2004-05-28T11:59:29Z")
> [@spooje](#): > > 10 to 1 it was a recently dismissed employee, or an irrational one who had just quit over a percieved injustice. I hardly doubt it, I work freelance for this guys and they are the best bosses one could ask for; besides, as far as I know they haven´t fired anyone so far, the site is growing and ther have been nothing but new jobs there. It´s puzzling, really puzzling. ---
**Author:** ![Bill\_H](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a5b964/32.png) [@Bill\_H](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bill_H)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2004, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-thought-hackers-where-bad/247459/12 "2004-05-28T20:13:00Z")
Very sad. Has to be a disgruntled employee or someone else who has a personal vendetta. ---
**Author:** ![P\_T](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a587f6/32.png) [@P\_T](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/P_T)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2004, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-thought-hackers-where-bad/247459/13 "2004-05-28T20:20:29Z")
Well, someone knew where to look for everything, certainly sounds like an inside job. ---
**Author:** ![Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cc9497/32.png) [@Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capt.Ridley_s_Shooting_Party)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2004, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-thought-hackers-where-bad/247459/14 "2004-05-28T22:09:10Z")
Why weren’t the backups stored in a fireproof safe? ---
**Author:** ![Ale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@Ale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ale)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2004, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-thought-hackers-where-bad/247459/15 "2004-05-29T01:08:41Z")
> [@+MDI](#): > > Why weren’t the backups stored in a fireproof safe? Dunno… it costs money for an unforeseen situation? :dubious: _Superglue on the CDs?, now that´s odd why not just breaking them in half?_ However I think that from now on they´ll keep the important stuff backed up by duplicate and stored at different locations. ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2004, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-thought-hackers-where-bad/247459/16 "2004-05-29T01:28:37Z")
> [@Ale](#): > > … it costs money for an unforeseen situation? It shouldn’t have been unforseen. OK, not necessarily targeted destruction as in the story - but what about the building burning to the ground overnight? Gawd, I’ve known for years no to keep backups near the computer…mind you I was in a very crime prone area… ---
**Author:** ![Manduck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manduck/32/256_2.png) [@Manduck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Manduck)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2004, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-thought-hackers-where-bad/247459/17 "2004-05-29T01:34:51Z")
> [@LeeshaJoy](#): > > > [@Master Wang-Ka](#): > > > > Kick a Pisces. > > Ow! Sorry, **Leesha** , but he told me to. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2004, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-thought-hackers-where-bad/247459/18 "2004-05-29T02:03:41Z")
> [@Ale](#): > > _Superglue on the CDs?, now that´s odd why not just breaking them in half?_ What’s really cool is microwaving them. They spark up real pretty. ---
**Author:** ![XJETGIRLX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9fc29f/32.png) [@XJETGIRLX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XJETGIRLX)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2004, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-thought-hackers-where-bad/247459/19 "2004-05-29T02:40:55Z")
> [@Ale](#): > > _Superglue on the CDs?, now that´s odd why not just breaking them in half?_ From the picture it looked like they were glued together on the spindle holder thingy. They may have used glue so that it would not be obvious at first what they’d done. ---
**Author:** ![Ale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@Ale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ale)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2004, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-thought-hackers-where-bad/247459/20 "2004-05-29T02:43:57Z")
> [@XJETGIRLX](#): > > From the picture it looked like they were glued together on the spindle holder thingy. They may have used glue so that it would not be obvious at first what they’d done. That makes sense… evil as heck, but makes sense… 🙂