On Getting Farked (99.9 percent)

In an E-mail interview with Mediaverse, Fark.com Founder Drew Curtis said his sight is set squarely on Darrell Phillips as the one who tried to hack into the social networking news site.

A quote from Curtis:

"Our chances of being wrong are close to nil. Even with the information we currently have we're standing at 99.9%. Our data indicates that only one individual was using the dphillips Fark account for the entire time it's been in existence. That individual worked at Fox, used a verizon wireless card, and a comcast cable modem account in the Memphis area."

Curtis said WHBQ Fox13, Phillips's employer, has not been contacted because Fark.com does not believe the station played a role in the hack attempt -- at least, it doesn't for now. Fark.com is trying to subpoena Internet Service Providers for more information.

Curtis revealed the hack attempt in an exclusive interview with Valleywag.com, a Silicon Valley gossip news site, on Friday. Valleywag has since posted a follow-up. (All things DP on Mediaverse.)

Given Fark.com's sense of humor, one could easily have dismissed that allegation as a joke but there has been no punchline, only the seriousness of an act that has seemingly damaged the reputation of one of the best new media managers in the Memphis market.

Neither Phillips nor Fox13 has responded to Mediaverse inquiries.

As is the custom, what follows is Curtis's E-mail interview -- unedited, only re-formatted for this post. Curtis's comments are in italics.

M: Has Fark.com been subject to hacking efforts before? If so, did Fark respond to those efforts in the same way it has this one? If not, what made this one so different?

DC: This is the first time anyone tried social engineering on us. I was once at a hacker conference when a guy snagged my Fark password during a talk I was giving. Luckily he let me know right after I was done. I pretty much felt like a huge dumbass.

Is Phillips still a member of Fark?

his account(s) have been locked

What's the possibility that Fark could be wrong? And if that happens, what can be done to redress Phillips' damaged reputation?

Our chances of being wrong are close to nil. Even with the information we currently have we're standing at 99.9%. Our data indicates that only one individual was using the dphillips Fark account for the entire time it's been in existence. That individual worked at Fox, used a verizon wireless card, and a comcast cablemodem account in the Memphis area.

It's either Phillips or he's been completely owned by someone else, who coincidentally has access to all of his websites, email accounts, paypal information, work and home computers. That's a huge stretch.

We've also received some new information that I'm not at liberty to divulge at this time. But if anyone else out there reads this and has anything to share please contact me.

If Fark.com pursues legal action, what is the company hoping to gain?

This is like a situation where a burglar tries to get into every house in the neighborhood, and eventually actually breaks into one of them. Do you let them get away with that? Wait for it to happen again? Absolutely not. In the very least we're looking for an injunction to prevent this invasive conduct in the future.

What's the nature of Fark.com's subpoena requests? What kind of information are you seeking?

In a nutshell, we need to confirm the identify of the hacker to pursue any claims for damages and injunctive relief. The subpoenas are the only mechanism to accomplish this, and they would be directed at every ISP whose networks were involved. For example, the IP address of the cable modem attaches to a specific house in Comcast's database. They won't release that information without a subpoena.

Do you believe that Phillips is tied into some News Corp. conspiracy to get proprietary info on Fark?

I doubt it. But clearly Fark's confidential information, trade secrets,
user database, and other related data were potentially compromised during
the attack.

Why release the statement to Valleywag without contacting Fox13 first?Has the company officially made contact with Fox13?

We didn't contact Fox13 because we don't believe at this time that Fox13 ahad anything to do with this. If that changes we'll cross that bridge when we get there.

So, this is strictly between Fark.com and Phillips, not the TV station?

that is correct

____________________________________
... Valleywag.