Ashley Madison

[rslade]

Remember Ashley Madison?  Website for people who wanted to cheat on their spouses?  Promised to delete your profile if you paid extra, but didn't, and then had a huge data breach that exposed, well, a whole lot of really embarrassing stuff?

Yeah.  It's still operating.  (Rather depressing, to think of how much ethics doesn't matter to most people at all.)

Well, the guy who founded it has other companies, some of which seem to be just outright frauds.

(Well, I mean, with that kind of business model, what kind of morality did you expect?)

(Oh, and the guys who stole the AM data and sold it?  They've pleaded guilty ...)

[Steve-Wilme]

If it sound too good to be true it probably is!

The scheme sounds similar to your typical advanced fee fraud.  We see phishing and smishing every day offering our customers discounts and prizes from us if the customer just clicks through on the link.  The problem is that often people so want these things to be true that they get drawn in.

[Caute_cautim]

But a lot of people, appear to implicitly and outwardly trust, without questioning, and the majority is either younger and the other extreme the elderly, who are lonely or life has taken a turn for the worst and its their first venture into the Internet.  Unfortunately, lots of people are being suckered every day and unfortunately its only going to get worst.

Now here in New Zealand, they have decided to invest in an app for the elderly along with education to give them access to Internet services - just watch the fraud, ransomware and phishing attacks increase exponentially over time as this rolls out.  

Everything I am told goes in circles, we repeat ourselves, perhaps we need to commence identifying these repeat cycles, and breaking them, before many parts of society are too badly affected and have to live with the implications and repercussions.

Regards

Caute-cautim

[Steve-Wilme]

Maybe part of the problem is that people expect someone else to protect them against their own actions combined with poor impulse control.  It's not just the internet either; many people have stopped weighing the risks against the benefits in the way that they may have in the past.  Just how often do people read terms and conditions or privacy notices?  Almost no one does in their personal lives and that can spill over into work life.  I'm forever reading contracts and heading off signing up to massively disadvantageous terms.

[Caute_cautim]

They obviously need assistance, and guidance - Augmented Intelligence and built in ethical practices (via apps) may become the norm, for those whose brain cells do not quite connect the way that others. 

However, the implications come down to Human Rights, and allowing such systems to exist on their mobile phones, systems that they use - or perhaps we need assistance to pick out the "deepfakes" and what is real and what is put out there to trip us up.

Regards

Caute_cautim

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@Steve-Wilme wrote:

Maybe part of the problem is that people expect someone else to protect them against their own actions combined with poor impulse control.  It's not just the internet either; many people have stopped weighing the risks against the benefits in the way that they may have in the past.  Just how often do people read terms and conditions or privacy notices?  Almost no one does in their personal lives and that can spill over into work life.  I'm forever reading contracts and heading off signing up to massively disadvantageous terms.

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