13th stepper or payment service??
Reach Out and Touch Faith
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Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: On a Sailboat
Posts: 3,871
13th stepper or payment service??
Several days ago I visited a friend from high school on her Social Network. On the side where events are listed included her husband, as it was his birthday that day. The only problem at that point is that I did not even know his name at that point via a social network much less what their children look like, etc.
When I clicked his name link on the birthday link, the computer security nerd in me came into play.
The social network showed his photographs including his private profile photograph, his name, and the name of his posts in private business recovery groups. EVERYTHING. To say that I found out that she knew much less married this man (I knew him right away by him by his photo) shocked me, to say the least. He is well known in the entertainment business. I simply sent her a text and just said “this is shockozulu from XXX High, please text me back here.” Of course, she used the social network message feature. Sigh.
When that was the only reply and she had gone offline during the next half hour I texted her that “GD’s (only used initials) social network account had been compromised.”
Again, I stressed that earlier I notified her via text that I knew a Major security breach had happened and asked her to call me—ASAP.
This man is that well known in his field that if it came out the nature of his post threads his career would be damaged. I did not tell her that though via text. Talk about shock on my side. .
Almost immediately after my text I got a one sentence reply ON a social network“How do you know GD’s [full name]” (people error is the main reason I studied security tech to begin with. Our teacher in Comp101 had said early in the semester that when a problem comes up, look at the fact that in general people on computers act stupid and that interested me.) After this back and forth I was so frustrated that I called her on the East Coast. I talked her through it and asked if anything (perhaps his social network settings or a change to the Timeline feature might have occurred. Interesting at that time he was one of the few people still defaulted to the old Social Network Wall.” She also told me he had no access to a social network the past two days. I went back to make sure and she was right on both counts.)
Now the really good news. His wife called me and asked if I could help him go over his privacy settings. I agreed because obviously she knows crap about the subject. But the awesome part was that going over our settings he noticed I’m a member of AA: he belongs to both fellowships. He convinced me that based on his experience here in our Narcotics Anon there are (unlike my old experience) some good groups. We went over the list and he recommended some. It seems a friend of his lives here so he goes frequently when in town.
The really special part: He even ordered me an NA Basic Text as well as the official NA step guide. I told him I was uncomfortable with this in case he was trying to 13 step me. He asked if it would be acceptable to use his joint checking account with his wife as long as he waited for the order to go through, forward the email to me, and then delete it on his computer. He ended up setting up me my own account
I am an AA stepper so that may have been taking it too far, it is still better to be safe than sorry but I must admit to you that not only am I really excited over knowing there are good NA meetings in town but also that I’ll be getting the books through Amazon-the basic text is coming today!!!!!!
When I clicked his name link on the birthday link, the computer security nerd in me came into play.
The social network showed his photographs including his private profile photograph, his name, and the name of his posts in private business recovery groups. EVERYTHING. To say that I found out that she knew much less married this man (I knew him right away by him by his photo) shocked me, to say the least. He is well known in the entertainment business. I simply sent her a text and just said “this is shockozulu from XXX High, please text me back here.” Of course, she used the social network message feature. Sigh.
When that was the only reply and she had gone offline during the next half hour I texted her that “GD’s (only used initials) social network account had been compromised.”
Again, I stressed that earlier I notified her via text that I knew a Major security breach had happened and asked her to call me—ASAP.
This man is that well known in his field that if it came out the nature of his post threads his career would be damaged. I did not tell her that though via text. Talk about shock on my side. .
Almost immediately after my text I got a one sentence reply ON a social network“How do you know GD’s [full name]” (people error is the main reason I studied security tech to begin with. Our teacher in Comp101 had said early in the semester that when a problem comes up, look at the fact that in general people on computers act stupid and that interested me.) After this back and forth I was so frustrated that I called her on the East Coast. I talked her through it and asked if anything (perhaps his social network settings or a change to the Timeline feature might have occurred. Interesting at that time he was one of the few people still defaulted to the old Social Network Wall.” She also told me he had no access to a social network the past two days. I went back to make sure and she was right on both counts.)
Now the really good news. His wife called me and asked if I could help him go over his privacy settings. I agreed because obviously she knows crap about the subject. But the awesome part was that going over our settings he noticed I’m a member of AA: he belongs to both fellowships. He convinced me that based on his experience here in our Narcotics Anon there are (unlike my old experience) some good groups. We went over the list and he recommended some. It seems a friend of his lives here so he goes frequently when in town.
The really special part: He even ordered me an NA Basic Text as well as the official NA step guide. I told him I was uncomfortable with this in case he was trying to 13 step me. He asked if it would be acceptable to use his joint checking account with his wife as long as he waited for the order to go through, forward the email to me, and then delete it on his computer. He ended up setting up me my own account
I am an AA stepper so that may have been taking it too far, it is still better to be safe than sorry but I must admit to you that not only am I really excited over knowing there are good NA meetings in town but also that I’ll be getting the books through Amazon-the basic text is coming today!!!!!!
Reach Out and Touch Faith
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: On a Sailboat
Posts: 3,871
I wrote this at 5 am and I usually get up at noon Here is a rewrite.
A few days ago I was visiting the FB page of a high school friend. Suddenly it showed that it was her husband's birthday (I have never met nor friended the man on FB). I didn't even know they were married. However, he is prominent in his industry so I knew him by his profile photograph..
Now this day, I clicked on his "birthday" button and it showed me who he was, what he looked like, what his children looked like, his individual posts at an industry 12 step group and so on.
I texted my friend, saying simply ' “this is shockozulu from XXX High School, please text me back here at this telephone number” '
Of course, instead she used the Facebook social feature option. They say human error is often the case with security problems such as this.
She wrote me one sentence back while on FB. It was "How do you know who my husband, GD is?"
When she logged off Facebook I replied that I did not know she was married to GD. Then i told her in 5 minutes, again through text, that I was aware there was a major breach on his account and asked her to call me ASAP.
I have always done computer secuirty on the side. It is something I enjoy. Anyway, back to my story....
After this back and forth I was so frustrated that I called her on the East Coast. I talked her through it and asked if anything (perhaps his FB settings or his change to the Timeline feature) might have occurred. Interesting at that time he was one of the few people who had their account default to the old Social Network "Wall.” She also told me he had no access to a social network the past two days. I went back to make sure and based on his activity (he was very regular in that) she was right on both counts.
After he telephoned me I would ask him to read his privacy settings. Then I would attempt to see if he could see everything on my wall.. Eventually he could.
This is the awesome part. While we were going back and forth on FB, he noticed I was also a 12 stepper. He asked why I went to AA. I lold him I liked it better. He said he also went to both as they offer different but important parts to his recovery.
I told him he would not say this if he belonged to NA where I live. He asked where, and since I knew everything about him, I told him where I lived. Then he laughed very hard. He knows our NA very well. His best friend lives here now. At first he would just attend meetings when in my town, but now he finds he likes them so much he will find excuses to visit his friend here just to go to our meetings. He joined NA three years after I had left.
The most special part is that he asked if, since I had trouble finding them in my town, would I accept the NA Basic Text and official Step Guide as payment if he ordered them through Amazon.
[ told him I was uncomfortable with this in case he was trying to 13 step me. He asked if it would be acceptable to use his joint checking account with his wife as long as he waited for the order to go through, forward the email to me, and then delete it on his computer.
It ended up that he set up an account for me at Amazon so I would not worry about anyone knowing I read recovery literature. He even ordered them overnight. Today my Basic Text is coming!!!!
A few days ago I was visiting the FB page of a high school friend. Suddenly it showed that it was her husband's birthday (I have never met nor friended the man on FB). I didn't even know they were married. However, he is prominent in his industry so I knew him by his profile photograph..
Now this day, I clicked on his "birthday" button and it showed me who he was, what he looked like, what his children looked like, his individual posts at an industry 12 step group and so on.
I texted my friend, saying simply ' “this is shockozulu from XXX High School, please text me back here at this telephone number” '
Of course, instead she used the Facebook social feature option. They say human error is often the case with security problems such as this.
She wrote me one sentence back while on FB. It was "How do you know who my husband, GD is?"
When she logged off Facebook I replied that I did not know she was married to GD. Then i told her in 5 minutes, again through text, that I was aware there was a major breach on his account and asked her to call me ASAP.
I have always done computer secuirty on the side. It is something I enjoy. Anyway, back to my story....
After this back and forth I was so frustrated that I called her on the East Coast. I talked her through it and asked if anything (perhaps his FB settings or his change to the Timeline feature) might have occurred. Interesting at that time he was one of the few people who had their account default to the old Social Network "Wall.” She also told me he had no access to a social network the past two days. I went back to make sure and based on his activity (he was very regular in that) she was right on both counts.
After he telephoned me I would ask him to read his privacy settings. Then I would attempt to see if he could see everything on my wall.. Eventually he could.
This is the awesome part. While we were going back and forth on FB, he noticed I was also a 12 stepper. He asked why I went to AA. I lold him I liked it better. He said he also went to both as they offer different but important parts to his recovery.
I told him he would not say this if he belonged to NA where I live. He asked where, and since I knew everything about him, I told him where I lived. Then he laughed very hard. He knows our NA very well. His best friend lives here now. At first he would just attend meetings when in my town, but now he finds he likes them so much he will find excuses to visit his friend here just to go to our meetings. He joined NA three years after I had left.
The most special part is that he asked if, since I had trouble finding them in my town, would I accept the NA Basic Text and official Step Guide as payment if he ordered them through Amazon.
[ told him I was uncomfortable with this in case he was trying to 13 step me. He asked if it would be acceptable to use his joint checking account with his wife as long as he waited for the order to go through, forward the email to me, and then delete it on his computer.
It ended up that he set up an account for me at Amazon so I would not worry about anyone knowing I read recovery literature. He even ordered them overnight. Today my Basic Text is coming!!!!
Last edited by shockozulu; 03-07-2012 at 07:12 AM.
Reach Out and Touch Faith
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: On a Sailboat
Posts: 3,871
Originally Posted by sugarbear1 
What's your definition of "13th stepping?"
Member
Join Date: May 2011
Location: TN
Posts: 162
Originally Posted by shockozulu
A member of the opposite using recovery to attempt a possible romantic/sexual relationship.
Reach Out and Touch Faith
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: On a Sailboat
Posts: 3,871
Originally Posted by BHF
Your description of the events does not strike me as being an attempt to initiate a romantic/sexual relationship. Sounds like he was simply trying to show his appreciation.
It was mainly the references to the fact he comes here fairly frequently to attend meetings that just set that nagging "overzealous" AA voice in my head.
Reach Out and Touch Faith
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: On a Sailboat
Posts: 3,871
Originally Posted by stugotz
My brain hurts....
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