How dangerous is it if RallyPoint gets hacked by the enemy?

CH (MAJ) William Beaver — Sun, 07 Jun 2015 05:36:45 -0400

I wonder if Rally Point has ever been hacked by the enemy. If so, how often? How would we know? What are the dangers of Rally Point being hacked?

Response by GySgt Wayne A. Ekblad made Jun 7 at 2015 5:50 AM

GySgt Wayne A. Ekblad — Sun, 07 Jun 2015 05:50:49 -0400

I don't think I will be losing any sleep over it CH (MAJ) William Beaver. Especially since I was recently informed that I am one of the millions of federal employees who was affected by the breach at the U.S. Office of Personnel Management.

Response by PO1 John Miller made Jun 7 at 2015 5:54 AM

PO1 John Miller — Sun, 07 Jun 2015 05:54:16 -0400

Well, like with other social media sites I take everything on RP with a grain of salt, so I wouldn't be too concerned if it ever got hacked.

However, hackers don't normally waste their time with these types of sites. So again I'm not too worried.

Response by MAJ Robert (Bob) Petrarca made Jun 7 at 2015 6:25 AM

MAJ Robert (Bob) Petrarca — Sun, 07 Jun 2015 06:25:15 -0400

The enemy being China or our spouses? The latter I fear more because then she'll know what I'm REALLY up to.

Response by CPT Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 7 at 2015 6:40 AM

CPT Private RallyPoint Member — Sun, 07 Jun 2015 06:40:44 -0400

I am really afraid of this. They will really find out how we argue over such pity things and how we use memes as a motivational multiplier. If they did I am pretty sure they wouldn't stay on long.

To be honest what real information can they get. Something like they found a soldier that is stationed on an Army base or that a guy in in Afghan is not really something that can influence anything. But if they were to see the saluting LT discussion then we would be screwed.

Response by PVT Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 7 at 2015 10:51 AM

PVT Private RallyPoint Member — Sun, 07 Jun 2015 10:51:24 -0400

Theyll find out why we're the besy military on earth.. the all mighty PT belt. oh no

Response by SrA Edward Vong made Jun 7 at 2015 12:31 PM

SrA Edward Vong — Sun, 07 Jun 2015 12:31:26 -0400

The enemy will find out I'm part of the experimental Power Rangers unit. Other than that, I don't think there is much on this site that one can't find on the Internet. Maybe our DD214 of the administrators keep access to it.

Response by PO3 David Fries made Jun 7 at 2015 5:07 PM

PO3 David Fries — Sun, 07 Jun 2015 17:07:49 -0400

Maybe the enemy will target all these terrible point stealers that I keep hearing about.

Response by SSG Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 7 at 2015 6:49 PM

SSG Private RallyPoint Member — Sun, 07 Jun 2015 18:49:09 -0400

We're no more or less vulnerable here than any other system out there. On the other hand, this place is pretty user-friendly, and they may come here after hacking into AKO and finding out what an alligator swamp that is to find anything. If their brains aren't turned to oatmeal by the experience, lol.

Response by Capt Jeff S. made Jun 7 at 2015 7:17 PM

Capt Jeff S. — Sun, 07 Jun 2015 19:17:50 -0400

Judging by the content of the discussions, I really don't think the Chinese would gain anything useful.

In fact, the time they waste reading about white socks, saluting lieutenants, etc. could be valuable to our side. Think of how many man years of their time we could waste -- time that they might have otherwise put to more productive use?!!

The Chinese are more interested in stealing our technology -- seeing as they don't want to expend the effort developing it themselves. As bad as the French are about Corporate Espionage, and as blatant and unapologetic as they are, I trust the Chinese less.

As an aside, and I realize this is somewhat off topic -- BUT! Since we ARE talking about the Chinese...

What the Chinese are doing in the Spratley Islands SHOULD be of great concern to our military. It is very strategically important. Essentially, they are creating their own space in an area that belongs to the international community. It is of high strategic importance in that it puts the Chinese in position to control/interdict shipping through that area. And they have been getting aggressive toward our Navy.

At the moment, they have no blue water Navy that can challenge ours, but we are in a very precarious position to challenge them and they know it. They think long term and we can't even think four years down the road, let alone elect sensible leaders to represent us.

They bought the Clintons and they are probably thinking down the road that they will own us because we have indebted ourselves to them. Wouldn't surprise me a bit if at some point in the future they demand land in exchange for some of the debt we owe them...

Response by COL Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 7 at 2015 7:21 PM

COL Private RallyPoint Member — Sun, 07 Jun 2015 19:21:30 -0400

If they hack RP, it's no different than hacking FB. The only difference is they have picked the wrong crowd to mess with. Bring it. Lifelock yourself and get fraud protection. Hope for the best, prepare for the worst. If the enemy comes knocking and you aren't prepared, then you're on the front page news. If you are prepared, if you have exercised your 2d Amendment rights, and are vigilant...you will prevail...and be righteous. Come to my doorstep. I'll leave the doormat out for you.

Response by SFC Mark Merino made Jun 7 at 2015 11:32 PM

SFC Mark Merino — Sun, 07 Jun 2015 23:32:23 -0400

Anything I say on here I say to people's faces. I'm an open book. The only thing the enemy will learn from me is that I'm really pissed about the Army giving up the best scout platform we have ever had.

Response by PO3 Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 8 at 2015 3:04 AM

PO3 Private RallyPoint Member — Mon, 08 Jun 2015 03:04:29 -0400

We'll if things get too out of hand, I'll gladly introduce the nefarious terrorists to our second amendment.

Response by SGT Bryon Sergent made Jun 8 at 2015 9:33 AM

SGT Bryon Sergent — Mon, 08 Jun 2015 09:33:45 -0400

Well I don't remember but I don't think that I gave any personal info when I joined, but if they come they will see this!

Response by PFC Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 8 at 2015 9:48 AM

PFC Private RallyPoint Member — Mon, 08 Jun 2015 09:48:17 -0400

The people who have all their information, duty positions, previous postings, ribbon racks and schools posted here are not the ones who would matter. No offense intended to anybody but let's be honest. There is little strategic value to the Chinese in having the personal information (servicewise) about an E-7 (insert random MOS) who retired 10 years ago. Even an active duty E-6 who is a cook at Fort Bragg...what will the Chinese gain from that? What day they are serving hotwings at a DFAC? Even a lot of the senior active people here. There is a point, even with the SOF guys that your rank sorta pulls you out of the game. Think about ADM McRaven. He's a guy with a pretty spooky background but he got promoted to the point that there isn't much to hide concerning his current duty posting.

I will say this. For everyone who has a verified profile that hides their profile so that only verified people can see it...well, your buddies dime you out when they respond to your posts and type out your name and rank. It also doesn't take much to get verified. Especially with options 2,3, and 4.

The real risk here are the old retired guys with ties to the defense industry only because a hacker looking for information can use a site like this to begin establishing a profile. Based on that profile you can expand into other more personal social media that could be used for blackmail purposes or to try to hack a password based on simple password combinations (dog's name, your high school mascot etc).

Response by CH (CPT) Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 8 at 2015 4:41 PM

CH (CPT) Private RallyPoint Member — Mon, 08 Jun 2015 16:41:36 -0400

They'll probably find, like most of us, they encounter a few interesting discussions but mostly just squander some time they could have spent doing something more productive.

Response by SSG Thomas Brousseau made Jun 8 at 2015 5:24 PM

SSG Thomas Brousseau — Mon, 08 Jun 2015 17:24:24 -0400

It would be dangerous alright, dangerous for the lowlife terrorist scumbags. I had no fear of those fools when I was in their country and I definitely don't fear them in my country. I say bring it punk.

Response by SSG Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 9 at 2015 1:22 PM

SSG Private RallyPoint Member — Tue, 09 Jun 2015 13:22:44 -0400

At the risk of RP giving me the ban hammer I'll weigh in with a few realities. (Just joking mods, calm down)

As websites go, they are very vulnerable. There's a running joke that all the best programmers learn how to code twice. Once to learn how to do it, and a second time to learn how to do it securely. The issue isn't just with programmers however, the number of attackers and their tactics are growing and shifting constantly. From a security perspective this can get chaotic at times. There are also so many attacks tools and methods available that make cracking a web server all too easy. Whether it's CSS (Cross-site scripting) or SQL injection, if a group really wants to break into or bring down a website, it's just a matter of time and resources.