How the Data Breaches Have Actually Harmed the Innocents
And So This Is What It Has Come To
CNN and other news outlets are reporting about what may well be the most disturbing cyberattack ever. The headline from the CNN website, dated November 9, 2024, states, "Authorities work to find the source of racist texts sent to Black people nationwide after the election. Here’s what we know." African-Americans from all age groups have randomly received the most vile text messages. As per CNN's reporting, a 12 year-old girl in Milwaukee, Wi, received such a text November 6, 2024, one day after the election. The text reads as follows below.
Greetings Talaya J, You have been selected to pick cotton at the nearest plantation starting 11/07/2024. Please Be ready at 8am SHARP! with your belongings. Our executive slave catchers pick you up in a brown van, be prepared to be searched once you've entered the plantation. You are in Plantation group 7
American citizens across the nation have received similar text messages.
According to CNN's reporting, tt is believed that many of these vile texts originate from two free texting websites. One such service, TextNow, admitted to CNN that it had fallen victim to “a widespread, coordinated attack.” Another free texting website, TextNow, told CNN that their AI content filtering had "immediately flagged the message and prevented it from being sent." The racist texts were traced to a new user who signed up for an account. The suspected holder of that new account was barred from the website. Neither of these two websites, however, had any mention of these attacks.
In the reporting on these incidents made by NBC, November 7, 2024, said black college students were targeted as a group. NBC also pointed to TextNow as a source of the texts. NBC pointed out that TextNow allows its users to "obtain untraceable, “burner” phone numbers."
In more than one instance, the election of Donald Trump had been mentioned as the impetus of the threatening roundup. As reported by The Record, November 8, 2024, voicemails, "that used the voice of Trump," and with a similar theme, have also been received by victims of this attack. When asked about the Trump connection to the attacks by NBC, a spokesperson for the Trump campaign vigorously denied any knowledge or involvement with these attacks.
In its reporting, The Record mentioned what I have been discussing for some time now. The Record noted that in the wake of so many data brokers having suffered cyberattacks recently, and all those highly detailed profiles of individuals having been made available on the dark web, it is easy to ascertain the ethnicity of individuals, as well as contact info.
For at least 25 years now, I have tried to tell anyone who would listen that the ever growing problem of cyberattacks will eventually cause real harm to real people. Only to suffer ridicule and deep personal and financial losses for my efforts.
As a society and a people, we not only allow these attacks to continue, we foster the attacks by not taking measures that might prevent such attacks. This situation is a perfect example of my thesis. Although there may be legitimate reasons to have a disposal phone number, as PC Magazine published April 3, 2024, it seems obvious to me that the fact that anyone can create an untraceable random telephone number, and then use that burner number to harass people and cause people harm, negates any good that can come from this technology.
PC Magazine only discussed the subject from a sender's viewpoint. It makes no reference to all the problems this kind of anonymous communication poses for recipients of such calls. One can choose to not answer one's phone. Text messages, on the other hand, often, in part or in full, simply appear. As happened to the many victims of this particular cyberattack discussed herein.
One way or another
One way or another
One way or another
This darkness got to give
New Speedway
Boogie, The Grateful Dead
Songwriters, Robert Hunter, Jerry Garcia
Gerald Reiff
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