Stephen Fry is a good person.
:-(
:-(
Also, he tries to use his twitter account to promote good causes. Depending on his reaction to this episode, this might have been put at risk.
> "P.S. I deleted that post from his micro-blog a few minutes later, cause my delicate mental organization didn’t allow me to injure a huge army of Stephen Fry fans."
Assuming the "hack" was real (no way to prove it IMO), I rather be hacked by this person than someone else with malicious intent. No harm done, as a matter of fact this will probably help to secure whatever hole was in the system. Do you think we would give a flying-frack if the twitter account in question didn't belong to Stephen Fry or anyone famous?
I doubt it.
Do you know Stephen Fry well? Is he 'nothing'? Can you predict how he will feel about this?
>if the twitter account in question didn't belong to Stephen Fry or anyone famous?
I didn't say famous, I said good.
Btw, check out the author's disclaimer:
>Neither the editors nor the author shall not be liable for any possible damage caused by the materials of this article.
I think you are being a bit too emotional here. Its not like Fry got kidnapped from his house, hog tied and thrown out of london bridge. His twitter account got compromised by someone, who was well intentioned enough not to screw around with it. If the person didn't write about the hack, you wouldn't know about it, Fry wouldn't know about it and he would wake up the next morning and have his "eggie in the basket" and no one would care.
Saying Awwww but "Stephen Fry is a good person. :-(" adds nothing to a discussion about something that has to do with web security.
Would knowing that Stephen Fry suffers from bipolar disorder, and has threatened to quit Twitter not long ago (http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2009/oct/31/stephen-fry... ) change your view?
No. I would be more concerned about him quitting blogging than him quitting twitter. He is an amazing writer and speaker and using twitter is a disservice to his talent. IMO.
How many times did twitter itself got hacked? From DNS hack to brute force password cracked (was no failed password limitation) to phishing attack to twitter employees account getting compromised to XSS attack to every single twitter account (earlier this year).
Twitter account of famous people getting hacked is part of the experience of using twitter. If someone stops using twitter for this, I don't feel bad about it.
Its twitter, not the end of the world.
Some weeks ago Stephen Fry was watching some live sporting event from his sofa, wrote a tweet about it, and got a reply from the presenters ON AIR. In a program broadcast to millions.
I think your position is that you don't care about these people and their use of Twitter. Fine, but THEY care.
Besides, a tweet like this from Sarah Palin is worth more than ten press releases: http://twitter.com/SarahPalinUSA/status/6823906156
Whether he is seen as a good or bad person is immaterial. Public figures like Fry are not immune to attacks on the basis of their personal qualities. If someone's account is going to be accessed unlawfully, then Stephen Fry's is as good a target as any other. Fry is as much fair game as Britney Spears.
FWIW, the vulnerability is listed in the OWASP 2007 Top 10 as Malicious File Execution http://www.owasp.org/index.php/Top_10_2007-A3
What??? I guess you don't watch BBC TV do you.
QI (Fantastic series).
Kingdom.
Stephen Fry's America
Last chance to see
etc etc