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by nbpoole 5567 days ago
I don't think we're using the same definition of "act of nature":

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Act_of_God

"Act of God is a legal term for events outside of human control, such as sudden floods or other natural disasters, for which no one can be held responsible"

Do you think nobody can be held responsible for this breach?
2 comments
Helianthus16 5567 days ago
You're right, we're not using the same definition. That doesn't mean I don't have a point.
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nbpoole 5567 days ago
Of course. I guess I'm not clear what your point is though.
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Helianthus16 5567 days ago
My point is that you must treat intrusions as an inevitability when trying to counteract intrusion. And anyone who builds a sandcastle should be aware of the ocean. The kid's breaking into this account is embarrassing.

Just because we can hold individual humans accountable (and should) doesn't mean we shouldn't have the perspective of "CONSTANT VIGILANCE."

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jamesbkel 5567 days ago
Still, does that really hold up?

Certainly should have to treat intrusions as inevitable in designing the system, but there still is responsibility on the part of the intruder.

I lock my door because I consider it inevitable that someone will eventually try and break in. However, if someone does break into and vandalize my apartment, I sure as hell would consider them responsible and not consider in an act of God.

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pyre 5567 days ago
You seem to be implying that since PHPFog should have defending against this, that what the teenagers did is perfectly acceptable.
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parfe 5566 days ago
I never claimed it was acceptable. Only that it was irrelevant. Why should anyone besides PHPFog's lawyer and the kids' parents care? It's because PHPFog chose to play PR guru and throw the drama into their postmortem as a distraction.

Does it matter to you if some kid in Australia is brought up on charges? No?

Does it matter to you if a hosting company is competent in securing their servers? Yes?

Any discussion of who did the hack servers no purpose other than to distract from the only issue that matters to anyone which is PHPFog's security.

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bigiain 5567 days ago
Well, legally no - I think 16 year olds _aren't_ "held responsible" for pulling crap like this (rightly or wrongly).
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