ex dx dy

January 20th, 2023 at 1:58 PM ^

Can't say I'm surprised. I think the computer access crimes will turn out to be a lot less exciting than people think: probably something like snooping through someone's email that they happened to leave open on a computer somewhere. But there aren't a lot of reasons for doing that that won't get you fired.

Oh well. Can't wait for the hourly CC threads. I'll start:

CC: Tom Brady

Joined: 10/30/2018

MGoPoints: 4500

Beat Rutgerland

January 20th, 2023 at 2:28 PM ^

"probably something like snooping through someone's email that they happened to leave open on a computer somewhere."

 

No, it is not that. It is going to be significantly worse than that. You think the police search your house and the university abruptly dismisses you because you looked at somebody's email they left open?

 

I don't know if y'all are just perpetual optimists or what, but he did something bad.

Joined: 11/29/2015

MGoPoints: 4629

ex dx dy

January 20th, 2023 at 2:56 PM ^

Re: you and City above...

No, of course you don't get all this just because you snoop through someone's email. You get fired and the police showing up at your door because of what you do *after* snooping through someone's email. It's entirely possible he did something worse with the information he found, but there's not enough evidence to charge with with the greater offense, so they instead charge with with what they *can* prove, which is the email snooping. Like getting Capone on tax evasion, although on a much, much smaller scale.

Here's the thing: someone as successful as Weiss in football does not have the time or mental space to learn what is required to *actually* hack a computer. The only way Weiss could have illegally accessed anything on a computer is because someone else left something logged in they shouldn't have. This was almost certainly a crime of opportunity, not something pre-planned.

Joined: 10/30/2018

MGoPoints: 4500

TruBluMich

January 20th, 2023 at 3:39 PM ^

Hacking is not always what you see in movies.  It's actually never like what you see in the movies or read about in the news.  It's almost always using a username and password that someone gave you.  Whether that was because the "hacker" tricked the victim, the "hacker" was trusted with that information, or the hacker was given the information from a data breach.  None of those things require much skill or knowledge.

Joined: 08/03/2011

MGoPoints: 22556

Thursday

January 20th, 2023 at 7:11 PM ^

As the second factor, most people get a code by text, email to another account, or give permission via a security app on a smart phone (but it lasts a week before you have to redo it). Back in the day, if you had access to grades, you got a keyfob that displayed random six-digit numbers and you had to input whichever one it was displaying every time you logged into certain parts of the system (the ones with sensitive student info). They changed every 10 or 15 minutes, IIRC, but I don't know if they're still using that system. None of these methods is super difficult to defeat if you know someone's log-in credentials and have physical access to their smartphone or key-chain.

Joined: 08/23/2018

MGoPoints: 79

KRK

January 20th, 2023 at 3:45 PM ^

Agreed. I would bet UM lawyers ultimately made the decision.  There's no way this didn't get discussed at the highest levels of the university with the lawyers "advising" the school on what they should do.  Which basically means they told them "If you don't fire this guy we could have X, Y and Z happen and then everyone is fucked."  Lawyers at public institutions tend to only care about protecting the institution, and Weiss isn't important enough for them to cover up anything or risk any liability.

Joined: 07/17/2008

MGoPoints: 5691

matt1114

January 20th, 2023 at 2:59 PM ^

Everything I've read about Weiss has said he isn't a recruiter and is a numbers guy. While that's valuable, I think you need to be a recruiter in College. I'm interested in knowing how much he was apart of the offense, because it really looks like he was in a bunch of different positions throughout his time at the Ravens, and suddenly he becomes co-oc after 1 year here. 

Joined: 01/08/2021

MGoPoints: 6914

njvictor

January 20th, 2023 at 2:02 PM ^

Possible options to replace Weiss:

  • Kirk Campbell (current analyst and former OC at Old Domion)
  • David Shaw
  • Greg Roman
  • Brian Griese (half kidding)
  • Kliff Kingsbury (kidding)
  • Tom Brady (kidding)

Joined: 07/20/2017

MGoPoints: 65645