AP: 100s Of White House, Congress, Pentagon Employees Used Adultery Site On The Job

[TheBlackAdder]

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Perhaps it's a good thing that this came out, to prevent blackmail.

If these hackers got it, foreign governments probably had the information too.


http://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/ashley-madison-hack-government-workers


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One thing is for certain, the government needs to put blocks on these types of sites at work, like most companies.

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[djean111]

1. I don't think people necessarily signed up for Ashley Madison at work - IMO it was just stupid for

anyone to think that something like this would not eventually be hacked. What a mess. And, I imagine, what a bunch of people who are going to feel as if they have been made fools of.

[Fred Sanders]

4. Was this a crime or breaking the law?

[djean111]

6. Nope. Of course it was not. I said it was stupid, in this day and age of hacktivists,

to believe that the information would be kept secret. Hackers gonna hack. Hacking IS against the law, but the information is out there anyway, now.

[Fred Sanders]

8. So Clinton's possible, if proven intentional, breach of government policy, like this breach of policy, would be a similar thing?

[djean111]

9. I have not expressed any opinion on Clinton's email issue per se. I quite honestly feel I will

never know enough about it to have an opinion on it. Her email issues are not even on my list of why I support Bernie Sanders and not Hillary. It interests me when HRC supporters say that Hillary will have an easier time working with the same GOP Congress that spends so much time investigating the emails and Benghazi - I think both issues are bogus distractions and are an indication of just how much the GOP will not be working with her.
E-mails (and Benghazi) do not figure into my non-support of Hillary. So I can't be drawn in to a discussion about emails and Hillary. I just do not care.

[4lbs]

2. There are always ways around it. Blocks like you are talking about only matter if the employees get

on the sites via their work networks, through either wired Ethernet cables or Wi-Fi connections.

What about smartphones that have their own 4G cell network data connections that can bypass company networks?

They can also access these sites while at lunch, since many places, like Starbucks, have free Wi-Fi for customers.

So, even if the employer won't allow personal cell phones inside, the employees can simply leave them in their cars and use them while out at lunch. Blackmail intact.

EDIT:

Here's a scenario that bypasses any "block" put in at a government site.

Before I go to my Pentagon job at 9:00am, I go to Starbucks at 8:00am to buy an overpriced $6.00 latte.

As I sit down and drink it, I whip out my personal smartphone, and use the Starbucks free Wi-Fi to log onto Ashley Madison. I arrange for a tryst later that night at 9:00pm at a hotel.

I then call my spouse and tell her that while here at the Starbucks drinking my latte, I got a call from work regarding an urgent last-minute emergency and will have to work late, probably until 11:00pm or midnight.

There, boom. I bypassed any network at the site and "blocks" installed at said site, and still arranged a secret adulterous affair.

Now, if the "person" on the other end was actually some entity that wanted to blackmail me and not a married woman, guess what, they would have all the information they needed.

[TheBlackAdder]

10. My company: If you are caught accessing restricted sites, using company equip--warning or dismissal!

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The minimum offense is a disciplinary warning.

Second warning or a severe first warning results in termination.


This prevents the company's IP being associated with pr0n (prevents viewage by passerbys), hate groups, virus-plagued sites, etc.

That eliminates a lot of HR complaints about employees, BTW.


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If the government sites used similar practices, there would be almost no pr0n accessed at work.

Not only are IP's checked, filtered, and blocked before leaving the site, and users notified that they are attempting access to a restricted site... the PCs have logging software that only site admins and auditing can access. You can use your own phones, but it better not be company equipment doing it, including company issues cell phones, because they are tracked too.


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[4lbs]

11. But in my sample given scenario, I'm not using company equipment. I'm using my own smartphone

that I paid for. It is not company assigned. I am also using it off-site, at a Starbucks.

So, no violation of corporate policy or government policy. Unless there is a morals clause that one signs upon employment .

Any blackmailer could then tell me "We want $1000 or your wife and work will know about your secret affair(s)" or "If you don't want your wife, kids, and work knowing about this, we want you to get us some information about some of your company's projects."

[TheBlackAdder]

12. That's your right, as a private individual. If caught doing it on company time, warn/termination.

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However, as part of the employee agreement, you are not to act in a way that would reflect poorly on the company.

Depending on your actions, and whether the company is dragged into it, depends on whether you are terminated.

You would go in front of an executive board, something you'd never want to have happen, even if you stay.


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[4lbs]

13. I agree. That is the morals clause in the employment agreement.

Many companies, not just the government, have it.

It still doesn't prevent married people from having affairs. The tightest security at work won't prevent all of them either.


This Ashley Madison thing has the potential to really cause a tidal wave in the coming months as information filters out from the dark web.

EDIT:

Sure, many of the enrolled likely used false names and such, but they will usually be tracked down via the credit cards or bank accounts used to pay for enrollment.

[Fred Sanders]

3. Against government policy or breaking the law and a crime?? Where have I heard it argued before

that breach of government policy is obviously also a crime or "breaking the law"???

Why is the media focus apparently more now on the government and not the violators of policy?

[Purveyor]

5. This shoe hasn't even begun to drop yet... Stay tuned. eom

[Fred Sanders]

7. No kidding. The significant others and family and voters may not be much pleased.

[4lbs]

14. Oh yes. As information from the dark web filters out into the light, I expect many

lives, marriages, and homes will be destroyed because of this. Not to mention some of the people may be fired by their employers if it becomes too embarrassing for the company.

We will see in the coming months. Thanksgiving and Xmas should be fun for those involved.

[ecstatic]

15. If you're not tech-savvy, you shouldn't cheat online. Period.

Actually, you shouldn't cheat at all regardless... All I can do is shake my head at all the suckers who paid all that money to talk to bots with fake profiles.