28 comments

  • Stephen GraceStephen Grace, 9 years ago

    This is like the tech version of Captain Philips.

    26 points
  • Tom PettyTom Petty, 9 years ago

    Will sell for >$50,000, though (@tp)

    10 points
  • Chris De La FuenteChris De La Fuente, 9 years ago

    My first reaction to all this is that it's hilarious. Hilarious because my first impressions are that his Twitter handle is that precious to him by the way he called it his $50,000 username. (That is obviously not really the case, he gave it up willingly)

    I am only 21 and I love tech, but this sort of puts the world in perspective for me as far as what's important. I used to Google everywhere how I could get the Twitter handle @CD because I thought it would be "cool" but that is obviously a path I would rather not follow now.

    /rant - I suck at putting my thoughts into writing - downvotes please.

    7 points
    • Joshua HynesJoshua Hynes, 9 years ago

      (That is obviously not really the case, he gave it up willingly)

      Well if you believe his account, he didn't really give it up "willingly." Probably more begrudgingly because he valued everything else this attacker held (domain, email, PayPal, etc).

      2 points
      • Chris De La FuenteChris De La Fuente, 9 years ago

        Yeah true. I wanted to express the fact that the headline woke me up and made me laugh at myself and my illusions of what is important. I am just terrible with putting things concisely.

        0 points
  • Mark Peck, 9 years ago

    The scariest part is that he DIDN'T take $50,000 for a twitter account.

    5 points
  • George Kedenburg IIIGeorge Kedenburg III, 9 years ago

    Jeez this is some scary stuff...

    2 points
    • Eliot SlevinEliot Slevin, 9 years ago

      The scary thing is the extorter seems to be doing this all just because he can. Despite @N being valued $50,000 (which holy moly why didn't you take that), the handle doesn't have monetary value now. Maybe he was planning on selling it, but I'm sure he realised after one post like this he could never find a buyer for a stolen handle.

      Maybe he just wanted it to brag, still a pretty weak reason.

      It is scary that there are people on the internet who will screw you over just because they can.

      2 points
      • Karl DanningerKarl Danninger, 9 years ago

        Maybe he just wanted it to brag, still a pretty weak reason.

        I think it makes for a compelling headline, that's all. I don't think Naoki's intention was ever to sell his username

        0 points
  • Thomas FadrusThomas Fadrus, 9 years ago

    Even if Paypal did give out the credit card number (which is not necessarily true), anyone you ever bought something from or has found a credit card statement of you in the trash could have pulled that off. Accepting the CC number as a proof of identity is the far more worrying fact here, I think.

    1 point
  • Osandi Sekoú, 9 years ago

    that shit cray.

    1 point
  • tom randletom randle, 9 years ago

    This made me turn on 2 factor auth!

    0 points
  • Al HaighAl Haigh, 9 years ago

    Just reminds me how much I hate paypal & godaddy.

    0 points
  • Tom GurkaTom Gurka, 9 years ago

    scary yes. But a great read.

    0 points
  • Oscar MarceloOscar Marcelo, 9 years ago

    Damn! This is really scary!

    0 points
  • Jim SilvermanJim Silverman, 9 years ago

    seems fake.

    0 points
  • Laurens DebackereLaurens Debackere, 9 years ago

    Shocking, Note to self: You cannot trust the internet. Hope Naoki gets his handle back, soon. Twitter has to take this seriously.

    0 points
    • Luke ChesserLuke Chesser, 9 years ago

      I feel like with all this attention, Twitter must be taking note. They'll need to go through all the verifications and check that he did recently have the account, but it seems like an easy fix. I guess it depends on how much information Twitter stores about account history.

      0 points
  • Chuck GibsonChuck Gibson, 9 years ago

    This really makes me mad.

    0 points
  • Cat NooneCat Noone, 9 years ago (edited 9 years ago )

    Yikes! All though this probably wouldn't hold up in court for $50k because it is an alleged estimation, it still is super shitty the lengths this attacker went to.

    0 points
    • Karl DanningerKarl Danninger, 9 years ago (edited 9 years ago )

      Also it's against Twitter's ToS... so you're right. It would never hold up in court

      1 point
  • Roy QuilorRoy Quilor, 9 years ago (edited 9 years ago )

    Must be a corrupt corporation playing hardball

    0 points
    • Tyson KingsburyTyson Kingsbury, 9 years ago

      if that were the case, then wouldn't it backfire? as this has gone viral, and now everyone knows that twitter handle is tainted as hell.... if suddenly some big company starts using it, there would be an awful backlash.... atleast as from what i can tell based on how this story is unfolding...

      0 points
  • Tom PettyTom Petty, 9 years ago

    I have a two-letter twitter handle that people regularly try and grab. Going back and upping all my security settings after this

    0 points
  • Jonathan YapJonathan Yap, 9 years ago

    Jeez, to think that if someone try hard enough to piece the information together, no one is really safe from these attacks. Reading further down, apparently Josh Bryant faced similar attack with @jb.

    I don't know how much more a person can do to protect themselves. Its a risk we'll have to live with.

    0 points
  • Joe TurnerJoe Turner, 9 years ago

    Scary.

    0 points
  • Dirk HCM van BoxtelDirk HCM van Boxtel, 9 years ago

    Time for an even better password structure. Brb while I reinvent my patterns.

    0 points