PIA hires man who 'lost' $473M from 'security flaw' as technology officer.

[Top_Hat_Tomato]

 

As of a few days ago, Mark Karpeles became the CTO of Private Internet Access, who was largely responsible for the downfall of Mt. Gox and is under investigation for various crimes such as theft and fraud.

Quote

Karpeles was in trouble with the law even before the theft. He's been indicted for a pair of fund transfers that took place in 2013: one that saw cash from a Mt. Gox customer be funneled into his personal account andtanother wherein an account in his name on the exchange had its balance mysteriously increased.

 

Quote

Mark Karpelès landed a big new job: chief technology officer at London Trust Media, a Denver-based corporation that runs the largest virtual private network (VPN) service in the world.

 

 

This is quite the interesting scenario because PIA, a service that is supposed to improve the security and reassure their users that their data is secure, hired a person who either lost $473 million in user's money due to poor security, or stole $473 million in users money. Does the LinusTechTips community approve that this service is being partially influenced by someone who has had such a poor history?

 

While we should be wary and critical, we shouldn't sink the boat yet, so please be moderate in your discussion before we learn more.

 

Engadget source

Fortune source

PIA source

Edited April 30, 2018 by Top_Hat_Tomato
Added an 'improved' title to garner more views, added PIA source, added little comment to try and make the comments a bit more moderate.

[ItsMitch]

What. The. Fuck?

[imreloadin]

FFS now LMG is going to have to find a different VPN service to promote

[DrAwesome821]

yikes

[bellabichon]

...oops

[Razor01]

wow why would any company that values customer privacy do something like this lol.

[ItsMitch]

@CPotter / @LinusTech I guess it's time for another LTT VPN Sponsor?

[Imbellis]

This needs more attention - and perhaps a message from the LMG team.

 

Edit: I don't know the dude personally - so there's no way for me to tell if it's his fault or not; however, it still makes me wary - for like I said - there's no way to tell.

[ItsMitch]

>So guy is STILL on trial for Embezzlement over MT Gox scandal in Japan while he claims "I did nothing wrong"

>Restricted in Japan and isn't allowed to leave due to his bail requirements

>Invests in a multitude of cryptocurrencies

>??

>PIA offer him CTO at a VPN service

>Go on record to say "He deserves a second chance" in his "CRITICAL HOUR" 

>??????

PIA gone mad? Going to add that the conviction rate in Japan is 99%......

1 minute ago, VegetableStu said:

I wonder if there'd be a point when they completely stop taking VPN sponsors though ._.

Hey, their is always ProtonVPN!

 

[Drak3]

1 minute ago, VegetableStu said:

I wonder if there'd be a point when they completely stop taking VPN sponsors though ._.

Yes, when there are none left.

[Top_Hat_Tomato]

7 minutes ago, Pangea2017 said:

Why is there no link to the statement from PIA?

https://www.privateinternetaccess.com/blog/2018/04/why-i-hired-mt-gox-ex-ceo-mark-karpeles-as-cto-of-london-trust-media/

I had that in my original post but removed it because it attempted validation, not an explanation, but I'll be adding it back.

[ItsMitch]

2 minutes ago, Pangea2017 said:

Why is there no link to the statement from PIA?

https://www.privateinternetaccess.com/blog/2018/04/why-i-hired-mt-gox-ex-ceo-mark-karpeles-as-cto-of-london-trust-media/

"Give him a second chance" hmm

[AshleyAshes]

33 minutes ago, imreloadin said:

FFS now LMG is going to have to find a different VPN service to promote

"This video is brought to you by: Tin cans and string!  The secure communication systems for all your needs!  Use discount code KickTheCan for a 10% discount!"

[TetraSky]

Oh ffs.

[LienusLateTips]

Well, back to Tunnelbear! It's better than this piece of junk PIA

 

I'll switch to Nord probably eventually.

[AntiTrust]

I am glad to see this seeing as I am nearly due for renewal on PIA and was considering not buying with a throwaway VISA this time...

 

might as well wait to see the outcome of this before locking in for 2 years...

[JoostinOnline]

We all make mistakes. This morning I set the timer for 11 seconds instead of 11 minutes.

[ItsMitch]

Just now, JoostinOnline said:

We all make mistakes. This morning I set the timer for 11 seconds instead of 11 minutes.

that's catastrophic, hope you can recover from it

[NumLock21]

There was a topic not too long about where someone post a complaint about how PIA can't handle the traffic after LMG mentioned about PIA and a bunch of users probably signed up.

[Misanthrope]

Cyber security jobs always fascinate me since I often see the most clean cut, straight arrow types at those positions yet the best security experts are mostly unwashed neckbeards.

 

There's a really big disconnect between corporations wanting to keep things secure and corporations not wanting to hire people that go way, way outside of their comfort zone profiles.

[JoostinOnline]

1 minute ago, SC2Mitch said:

that's catastrophic, hope you can recover from it

It totally messed up my cooking. Sure you can just set it to 10:49 after that, but you're not taking into account the time it took for you to react to the alarm error, or to put in the new one!

[Canada EH]

You gotta wonder what other sketchy as fuck employees they have hired.

[BuckGup]

Annnnnd this is why you make your own and save money while doing so. LTT should honestly just make a video on how to make your own. There is a script online that makes it so all you have to do is hit 1-4 to select the options you want like 192 or 256 bit. 

[JoostinOnline]

10 minutes ago, VegetableStu said:

10, then grok count a tiny bit before starting the timer

 

this coming from an activity when measurements come in teaspoons ._.

Jokes aside, this bothers me a lot. I've used them for years and have been a strong supporter of them. They've been extremely pro-consumer.  I don't know why they'd do this. Maybe it's some kind of "no bad publicity" thing. It just doesn't make any sense to me.

[JoostinOnline]

2 minutes ago, BuckGup said:

Annnnnd this is why you make your own and save money while doing so. LTT should honestly just make a video on how to make your own. There is a script online that makes it so all you have to do is hit 1-4 to select the options you want like 192 or 256 bit. 

That doesn't make any sense. Someone else who's not on your ISP has to decrypt the data. Are you sure you aren't thinking of a proxy server?