Oops! Fresno Bee leaks HUNDREDS of Readers' Private Contact Info
by Sny Sneedly
Alright kids, I hope you're seated with tray tables in an upright position, because this is a real scoop. It turns out that the Vida en el Valle website (owned and operated by the same folks as the Fresno Bee, and fresnobeehive.com, left hundreds of their readers private, personal information out on the internets! If you entered in the "win tickets to the circus" drawing on Vida en el Valle, your full name, home address, email, and phone number are sitting on an unsecured webpage, just waiting for some weird web bot to snatch 'em up and ruin your life. All for some tickets to the circus. An anonymous tipster pointed this security breach out to us here at GBF, but since we're classy and respectful gentlemen, we aint gonna post the link. However, if the bee needs any help identifying it, we would be glad to direct them to their own unlocked door (Seriously, fix it soon guys). We were skeptical at first, but after trying out the contest site, sure enough! Your info goes in one end...
...and then comes right back out on the internet.
Unencrypted, unsecured, and kinda uprofessional, right? For you Game of Thrones fans, if Daeny thought it was bad when they stole her dragons, wait until they steal her identity!
But wait, it gets worse. Our research department over here googled a couple of the names on the list by only typing in the name and the city (fresno, duh), and guess what, they popped right up. Along with their home address, their email, and their phone number. All on the same site, from nearly every contest that Vida en el Valle has ever had (around 100 contests in all)! So you may have provided your info to the bee, for them to leak onto the internet, all for circus tickets, Clovis rodeo tickets (remember this one for later), free movie passes, for nearly anything. Hope you enjoyed those free tickets to Mars Needs Moms.
Does anyone get a sense of deja vu? Maybe from last year? On the beehive, no less? Here, let me refresh your memory:
Thats right, the beehive is in good company. Turns out that Fresno Magazine made a similar Oops! Way back in 2011. Mike Oz pointed out their gaff, hinted at their unprofessionalism, and then proceeded to boast in the comment thread about the beehives own sterling privacy protection. Check it out:
Indeed Mike, I too hope you never do. Except, wait, when exactly was the Clovis rodeo? That's right, April 2011, well over a month before Fresno Magazine spilled their beans. All of that private info, for HUNDREDS of Vida en el Valle readers was leaked, and has been leaky for over a year.
Technically, Mike's comment was true, though. The beehive didn't leak the private info, their spanish speaking sister site did. And they also didn't leak email addresses, they leaked full name, email, home address, and phone number. And technically they had "never done that", they were "presently doing it".
I'm no food critic (I rarely eat at the restaurants that I review), but I've got a feeling that Mr. Oz might be reviewing a slice of humble pie pretty soon.
Remember, you heard it here first folks.
- Big thanks to our anonymous tipster, GBF owes you a pint of Ancient Age.
As always, feel free to comment, criticize, or suggest: goodbadfresno@gmail.com
Alright kids, I hope you're seated with tray tables in an upright position, because this is a real scoop. It turns out that the Vida en el Valle website (owned and operated by the same folks as the Fresno Bee, and fresnobeehive.com, left hundreds of their readers private, personal information out on the internets! If you entered in the "win tickets to the circus" drawing on Vida en el Valle, your full name, home address, email, and phone number are sitting on an unsecured webpage, just waiting for some weird web bot to snatch 'em up and ruin your life. All for some tickets to the circus. An anonymous tipster pointed this security breach out to us here at GBF, but since we're classy and respectful gentlemen, we aint gonna post the link. However, if the bee needs any help identifying it, we would be glad to direct them to their own unlocked door (Seriously, fix it soon guys). We were skeptical at first, but after trying out the contest site, sure enough! Your info goes in one end...
...and then comes right back out on the internet.
Unencrypted, unsecured, and kinda uprofessional, right? For you Game of Thrones fans, if Daeny thought it was bad when they stole her dragons, wait until they steal her identity!
But wait, it gets worse. Our research department over here googled a couple of the names on the list by only typing in the name and the city (fresno, duh), and guess what, they popped right up. Along with their home address, their email, and their phone number. All on the same site, from nearly every contest that Vida en el Valle has ever had (around 100 contests in all)! So you may have provided your info to the bee, for them to leak onto the internet, all for circus tickets, Clovis rodeo tickets (remember this one for later), free movie passes, for nearly anything. Hope you enjoyed those free tickets to Mars Needs Moms.
Does anyone get a sense of deja vu? Maybe from last year? On the beehive, no less? Here, let me refresh your memory:
Thats right, the beehive is in good company. Turns out that Fresno Magazine made a similar Oops! Way back in 2011. Mike Oz pointed out their gaff, hinted at their unprofessionalism, and then proceeded to boast in the comment thread about the beehives own sterling privacy protection. Check it out:
Indeed Mike, I too hope you never do. Except, wait, when exactly was the Clovis rodeo? That's right, April 2011, well over a month before Fresno Magazine spilled their beans. All of that private info, for HUNDREDS of Vida en el Valle readers was leaked, and has been leaky for over a year.
Technically, Mike's comment was true, though. The beehive didn't leak the private info, their spanish speaking sister site did. And they also didn't leak email addresses, they leaked full name, email, home address, and phone number. And technically they had "never done that", they were "presently doing it".
I'm no food critic (I rarely eat at the restaurants that I review), but I've got a feeling that Mr. Oz might be reviewing a slice of humble pie pretty soon.
Remember, you heard it here first folks.
- Big thanks to our anonymous tipster, GBF owes you a pint of Ancient Age.
As always, feel free to comment, criticize, or suggest: goodbadfresno@gmail.com
Burn...
ReplyDeletewow. that's crazy. you should give whoever clued you into this a hug for helping you break this news.
ReplyDeletebtw, did you hear that fierce creatures are breaking up?