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Feminism: Sex and gender discussions

Oxford Student newspaper doxes Twitter account by possible criminal unauthorised use of a comptuer system

244 replies

QuietContraryMary · 26/10/2018 14:29

Heads up.

www.oxfordstudent.com/2018/10/26/transphobic-tweets-linked-to-oxford-sociology-professor/

"The Twitter account, named Henry Wimbush and still online at the time of publication, has been tweeting statements such as “transphobia is a word created by fascists, and used by cowards, to manipulate morons” since first Tweeting in January.

"it was found that the account in question could be linked to a partial phone number and Yahoo! email using freely available data and by making use of Twitter’s various functions. The Yahoo! email itself is also linked to a phone number ending in the same numbers as those previously identified, while also revealing that it is connected to the" [partially redacted email]

How this hack works:

go to twitter.com/login

click 'forgotten your password'

type in your username, or a third party's username

you will get a message something like this:

We found the following information associated with your account.
Text a code to my phone ending in 12.
Email a link to ab*********@a.**

Note that:

  • the last digits of the phone number can be used to tie your account to any phone number, since there are obviously 100 different combinations, so if it matches a phone number known by the doxer, it essentially identifies you
  • I'm not clear exactly how much information is given on email addresses in every case, but at a minimum you get the first two letters of the username (before the @), the first two letters of the domain name (the bit after the @), and the exact length of both parts of the address.

So for example, if you signed up, anonymously, to Twitter using the email address justine*@mumsnet.com, then it would show to any attacker ju******@mu.** if they tried to recover it in order to dox the owner.

The use of this feature in order to dox people most likely constitutes an offence under the Computer Misuse Act s1 as the use of this feature to dox people is clearly not authorised by Twitter, and I would encourage those affected to report the people involved to the police.

Hence I am not repeating the criminally obtained dox of the person, and I would encourage people NOT the repeat the name in this thread.

Note that this doxing follows quite soon from Aimee Challenor boasting of outing Miranda Yardley's Twitter account using the same means.

Whether there are more serious offences committed is hard to say, as the doxing itself is obviously a preparatory act to having people fired, harassed, threatened, family & children harassed, and so on, but the doing so is not necessarily planned by the original doxer so it would be hard to prove a more serious offence.

I would advise those who are on Twitter and are not using their real name to create a gmail/yahoo/other anonymous webmail account, matching the twitter username (so if you are @ARealRadFem on Twitter, make a yahoo mail account [email protected]). In terms of the phone verification that's a little trickier as the 1/100 last two digits is VERY outing if they have a suspicion who you are, but otherwise completely useless. I have had some luck in the past with adding an extra digit (so if you are 07812 456789, you can add an extra digit on like this 07812 4567890, and verification phone calls still work), but YMMV on that.

OP posts:
Datun · 26/10/2018 16:15

I'm saying it's unenforceable, as it has no definition. It's a made up word

AndhowcouldIeverrefuse · 26/10/2018 16:16

he has signed open letters to that affect

I am sure I have seen another poster on this board getting effect and affect mixed up. In the last 24 hours.

SwearyG · 26/10/2018 16:16

Haven’t RTFT but what a ridiculous article. We tried to hack his twitter so we can show it’s likely him. And we used Mac Harrison (fucking Kilgore Sprout) as someone to get the story from.

Using a known misogynist who puts women and children at risk as a source for a story is horrendously inappropriate. What are you thinking Oxford Student.

OrangeStudent · 26/10/2018 16:16

Datun It has a definition, just not a legal one. They can enforce it internally using their own definition. Not every word has to have a legal definition to be enforceable within internal disciplinary proceedings.

Datun · 26/10/2018 16:17

It doesn't need to have a legal definition to be included in their diversity policy and student handbook (and the equilivent for staff).

What? You can't be serious. How can you begin a process, or any procedure, on the basis of words that have no official meaning?

AssassinatedBeauty · 26/10/2018 16:18

Rather than get sidetracked with the definition of "transmisogyny", could you perhaps make it very clear which statements or views this professor has made which you believe breach the university's guidelines?

You have accused him (anonymously) of transphobia, so you must be able to clearly say exactly why you believe that.

R0wantrees · 26/10/2018 16:19

The Guardian Letter referred to previously is signed by:

Professor Kathleen Stock, Philosophy, University of Sussex
Chetan Bhatt, Professor of Human Rights, Sociology, London School of Economics
Professor Rosa Freedman PhD, LLM, LLB, Professor of Law Conflict and Global Development, Director Global Development Division, Co-Director United Nations and Global Order Research Programme, University of Reading
Professor Sophie Scott, Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, UCL
Professor Alice Sullivan, Sociology, University College London
Professor Jo Phoenix, Chair in Criminology, The Open University
Professor Jackie Cassell, Head of the Department of Primary Care and Public Health, Brighton and Sussex Medical School
Kathleen Richardson, Professor of Ethics and Culture of Robots and AI, Centre for Computing and Social Responsibility, De Montfort University
John Gardner FBA, Professor of Law and Philosophy, All Souls College, Oxford
Professor Judith Suissa, UCL Institute of Education
Professor Michele Moore, Patient Safety Academy, University of Oxford
Professor Sian Sullivan, Centre for Environmental Humanities, Bath Spa University
Professor Debbie Epstein, Professor of Cultural Studies in Education
School of Education, University of Roehampton, London
Richard Byng, Professor in Primary Care Research, University of Plymouth
Professor John Collins, Philosophy, University of East Anglia
Professor PM Higgins, Honorary Research Fellow, Royal Holloway University of London; former Professor of Music, University of Nottingham; former Käthe-Leichter Visiting Professor of Women’s and Gender Studies, University of Vienna
Sheila Jeffreys, Professorial Fellow, University of Melbourne
Professor Leslie Green, Philosophy of Law, Balliol College, Oxford
Dr Michael Biggs, Associate Professor in Sociology and Fellow of St Cross College, University of Oxford
Dr Diane Brewster (Retired. ex University of Sussex and Open University)
Dr Susan Matthews, Honorary Senior Research Fellow, Department of English and Creative Writing, University of Roehampton
Dr Clare Chambers, Reader in Philosophy, University of Cambridge
Dr Stephen Cowden, Senior Lecturer in Social Work, Coventry University
Dr Catherine Butler, Senior Lecturer in Psychology, University of Bath
Dr Mary Leng, Senior Lecturer in Philosophy, University of York
Ms Georgia Testa, Teaching Fellow, School of Philosophy, Religion, and History of Science, University of Leeds
Dr Rosalind Barber, English & Comparative Literature, Goldsmiths, University of London
Dr Sophie Allen, Lecturer in Philosophy, Keele University
Dr Paul Sagar, Lecturer in Political Theory, Department of Political Economy, King’s College London
Dr Julia Jordan, Department of English Language and Literature, UCL
Dr David Pilgrim, Honorary Professor of Health and Social Policy, University of Liverpool
Dr Rosie Dias, Associate Professor, History of Art, University of Warwick
Dr Maureen O’Hara, Senior Lecturer in Law, Solicitor, Coventry University
Dr Eva Poen, Lecturer in Economics, University of Exeter
Sian Hindle, Senior Lecturer, School of Jewellery, Birmingham City University
Dr Holly Smith, UCL Institute of Education
Dr Lesley Semmens, Senior Lecturer (retired), School of Computing, Leeds Beckett University
Richard Garside, Director, Centre for Crime and Justice Studies, Senior Visiting Research Fellow, Open University
Dr Jane Clare Jones, independent scholar
Dr Jo Waugh, Senior Lecturer in English Literature, York St John University
W Burlette Carter, Professor of Law Emeritus, The George Washington University Law School, Washington, DC
Professor Alex Byrne, Head of Linguistics and Philosophy Department, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Dr Ruth McGinity, Lecturer in Educational Leadership and Policy, Institue of Education, UCL
Professor Emeritus Robert Jensen, School of Journalism, University of Texas at Austin
Dr Kathryn Oliver, Associate Professor of Sociology and Public Health, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
Dr Sophia Connell, Philosophy, Birkbeck College London
Dr Liz Guy, School of Computing, Engineering & Mathematics, University of Brighton
Dr H. Susana Marinho, Assistant Professor of Biochemistry, University of Lisbon
Dr Heather Brunskell-Evans, Academic, Writer and Political Commentator
Dr Laura McGrath, Senior Lecturer in Psychology, University of East London
Dr Mike Hannis, Senior Lecturer in Environmental Humanities (Ethics and Sustainability), Bath Spa University
Doctor Emma Hilton, University of Manchester (honorary)
Dr Holly Lawford-Smith, Senior Lecturer in Political Philosophy, University of Melbourne
Dr Rupert Read, Reader in Philosopher at UEA, and Chair of Green House
Dr Patrick Turner, Senior Lecturer in Sociology, Bath Spa University

OrangeStudent seems to rate themselves very highly^

OrangeStudent · 26/10/2018 16:19

Datun They have an official meaning within the internal procedures of the University. You clearly don't have much experience with University disciplinary policies.

FermatsTheorem · 26/10/2018 16:20

As always you seem to have misunderstood my question. The word "transposition" gets applied both correctly and erroneously and even in bad faith. So in your opinion (not a clicky link, your opinion) which if any of the following are transphobic statements.

"Karen White should not have been placed in a women's prison."

"Lauren Hubbard's move from mediocre men's athlete to world championship medallist in women's sports at an age when most athletes would be retiring raises serious questions as to whether the inclusion of trans athletes in sports is fair."

"I want a woman - a born woman - to perform my smear test."

"As a survivor of sexual assault I do not want to share overnight accommodation with a male bodied individual regardless of how that individual identifies."

"Women should be allowed to meet to discuss the implications of changes to the GRA in women's rights."

Are these transphobic statements? All of them? Some of them? (If so, which?) None, but HM said things which were transphobic (and if so what were these things)?

Datun · 26/10/2018 16:21

I don't, no. But that document makes for some very odd reading.

I suspect it would be ripped to shreds in a heartbeat with the smallest scrutiny.

However, it's useful that you have highlighted it on here now.

But I agree, it's a detour.

What has Henry said that constitutes transphobia?

OrangeStudent · 26/10/2018 16:22

AssassinatedBeauty Even his bio by itself would come under the definition, “AMAB transmasculine non-binary demiboy. Polyam aro/ace. 2 + 2 = 4” unquestionably (for anyone who isn't blinded by their transphobia) would come under "making derogatory jokes"

On top of multiple times when he misgendered people, which is also on the Univercities list of transphobic examples. It really isn't hard.

OrangeStudent · 26/10/2018 16:25

FermatsTheorem I'm not playing your game of "explain in detail this long list of transphobic statements written abignously to try and sound reasonable". He was clearly transphobic by the basic examples of the Universities guidelines and definition of transphobia.

Datun · 26/10/2018 16:26

So just a hunch then?

UpstartCrow · 26/10/2018 16:27

Is it acceptable to hack someones account if you disagree with them?

OrangeStudent · 26/10/2018 16:28

UpstartCrow No, hacking is illegal. They didn't hack anyone, they used a publicly available function to confirm that it was him.

FermatsTheorem · 26/10/2018 16:29

In other words you don't have a good account of what the difference is between transphobia and shutting down free speech, and you're either too intellectually dishonest or too cowardly to try.

Because believe me, in this brave new world of yours, I damn well want to know whether I can still insist on a female HCP to do my smear test.

This may be some sort of wanky intellectual game to you, but for women it's going to directly affect their day to day lives.

Micke · 26/10/2018 16:29

I dunno - under definitions I've read, if you converted that to AFAB then that could be my profile.

I don't believe a jot of it, but if it's true, how is it a derogatory joke really?

How do we tell the difference between a derogatory joke and edgy humour, or a derogatory joke and fair use of terms?

You seem to be assuming his motives here - that in itself seems a tad off - have you asked him if this is how he identifies? Or are you assuming?

This seems rather like people who demand pronouns, but just assume that us boring women on mumsnet should all roll over and let them call us cis...

R0wantrees · 26/10/2018 16:30

You clearly don't have much experience with University disciplinary policies.

You don't seem to understand the fundamental principles this raises or the history of Oxford University:

"As the oldest university in the English-speaking world, Oxford is a unique and historic institution. There is no clear date of foundation, but teaching existed at Oxford in some form in 1096 and developed rapidly from 1167, when Henry II banned English students from attending the University of Paris.

In 1188, the historian, Gerald of Wales, gave a public reading to the assembled Oxford dons and in around 1190 the arrival of Emo of Friesland, the first known overseas student, set in motion the University's tradition of international scholarly links. By 1201, the University was headed by a magister scolarum Oxonie, on whom the title of Chancellor was conferred in 1214, and in 1231 the masters were recognised as a universitas or corporation.

Less than a century later, Oxford had achieved eminence above every other seat of learning, and won the praises of popes, kings and sages by virtue of its antiquity, curriculum, doctrine and privileges. In 1355, Edward III paid tribute to the University for its invaluable contribution to learning; he also commented on the services rendered to the state by distinguished Oxford graduates.

From its early days, Oxford was a centre for lively controversy, with scholars involved in religious and political disputes. John Wyclif, a 14th-century Master of Balliol, campaigned for a Bible in the vernacular, against the wishes of the papacy. In 1530, Henry VIII forced the University to accept his divorce from Catherine of Aragon, and during the Reformation in the 16th century, the Anglican churchmen Cranmer, Latimer and Ridley were tried for heresy and burnt at the stake in Oxford." (continues)

During the 20th and early 21st centuries, Oxford added to its humanistic core a major new research capacity in the natural and applied sciences, including medicine. In so doing, it has enhanced and strengthened its traditional role as an international focus for learning and a forum for intellectual debate."
www.ox.ac.uk/about/organisation/history?wssl=1

SwearyG · 26/10/2018 16:31

They didn't hack anyone, they used a publicly available function to confirm that it was him

Something that nobody with morals would do. It’s a supremely underhand and undignified way to behave.

And I’m going to say it again. Using a man who doxxes and puts women and children at risk as a source for an article is a huge misstep. Oxford Student are being used as a pawn, a willing idiot, for people seeking to shut down free speech. Idiots.

Micke · 26/10/2018 16:31

UpstartCrow No, hacking is illegal. They didn't hack anyone, they used a publicly available function to confirm that it was him.

Hacking includes social engineering and mis-use of systems.

Using forgotten password facility to uncover someone else's details is no different to hammering a website with legitimate requests until it buckles under the load - they're both using a facility for malicious purposes

R0wantrees · 26/10/2018 16:32

Something that nobody with morals would do. It’s a supremely underhand and undignified way to behave.

And I’m going to say it again. Using a man who doxxes and puts women and children at risk as a source for an article is a huge misstep. Oxford Student are being used as a pawn, a willing idiot, for people seeking to shut down free speech. Idiots.

This ^^

Datun · 26/10/2018 16:35

Just trying to get my head around this, because I don't fully grasp the implications of the process by which the Henry was doxxed.

What I am seeing, however, is someone claiming it was justified on the basis that Henry should have a courage of his convictions, which only highlights the rank hypocrisy of why doxxing happens in the first place. ( and whilst choosing themself, to remain anonymous).

Which all seems to be backed up by an inclusion document looks like it was put together by a group of extra zealous trans-activists.

The glee with which orange is narrating this and the sources he admires will be the downfall of transactivism.

AssassinatedBeauty · 26/10/2018 16:37

I think it's ridiculous to suggest that it is a hate crime or transphobic to refer to someone's biological sex when discussing whether their biological sex is an unfair advantage over other competitors. This is clearly not the same as specifically, deliberately and repeatedly misgendering a transgender colleague, student or other person at the university.

OrangeStudent · 26/10/2018 16:38

What I am seeing, however, is someone claiming it was justified on the basis that Henry should have a courage of his convictions

I am not actually making a judgement on its justification or not. I started posting to point out and correct the OPs clear misinformation about the legality of what took place.

I do however think it is justified, but based on freedom of the press and that he should be exposed to journalistic criticism by the student paper for his didgusting conduct on twitter.

UpstartCrow · 26/10/2018 16:39

www.zdnet.com/article/21-year-old-gets-12-months-for-hacking-facebook-account/

21-year-old gets 12 months for hacking Facebook account

21-year-old Gareth Crosskey of the U.K. has been sentenced to 12 months in jail for illegally accessing a Facebook account belonging to an unidentified individual in the U.S. The Brit was accused of hacking into the American's Facebook account on January 12, 2011.

...he was charged with two offenses under the UK's Computer Misuse Act 1990. He was convicted on Wednesday and will now serve a year in prison. He pled guilty to both counts: using a computer to gain unauthorised access to a program/data...