Siri Goes Crazy on Rush Limbaugh

[mtalsma]

I'm not trying to start a thread on politics or the semantics of talk radio personalities. However, this is worth checking out for iPhone people:

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/hack...a-and-minions/

To me, it's pretty crazy. I think someone somehow hacked into Apple's servers and decided to mess with him. Limbaugh stated he had no way to prove this happened (should've taken screenshots), however I don't think there'd be any reason to make it up.

[rdowns]

Yeah, I couldn't imaging Rush Limbaugh making anything up.

[appleguy123]

That's seriously the dumbest thing I've ever heard...

[gdjsnyder]

Probably, just like everything else he says, not true.

[mobilehaathi]

Originally Posted by mtalsma

however I don't think there'd be any reason to make it up.

srsly?

[mtalsma]

Originally Posted by mobilehaathi

srsly?

Yes, seriously. I'm a conservative Christian. As I stated, the point of this thread was not to get into a discussion of politics.

No one here will even concede that what was described is even plausible?

[SGMD1]

“I am not making this up,” Rush said

http://i.imgur.com/w0XjC.gif

[ytk]

I don't see why he would make up something like this. If he were using this incident to make some sort of political point that the government is out to get him, that would be a bit suspicious. But he's stating at the outset that he thinks this is probably some sort of hack, and not anything politically motivated. So, while I suppose he COULD have just made it up, I see no reason not to take it at face value, at least for purposes of speculating how such an attack might be carried out.

The most likely possibility, of course, is that his account was hacked on the server end. But I can think of at least one other way this could happen. He said that it was only misbehaving while on his Verizon LTE hotspot while driving to work, and it worked normally on the Wi-Fi at the studio. So, somebody who knows where he lives and his daily routine might be able to follow his car with a massively power-boosted wi-fi hotspot that would overpower his own mobile hotspot, forcing his iPhone to unknowingly connect to the hacked hotspot instead (particularly if the Verizon hotspot weren't properly secured). The hacked hotspot could then intercept Siri requests, returning forged results (the software to do this can be easily located on the Internet).

It would take a considerable amount of effort to pull this off, but then, getting Rush Limbaugh to mention it on his radio show would make for a pretty epic hack.

[jessica.]

Is Rush even relevant?

[scaredpoet]

Rush says that after he saw the disturbing message on his phone, the radio didn’t come back as it usually did. “The whole system was discombobulated,” he said. Switching from satellite radio to AM, in case that would make a difference, Rush found it worked.

<...>

Going to computer experts, Rush explains the answers as to what could have happened ranged from being hacked or someone tampering with the bluetooth.

<..>

All of these answers he considers unsatisfactory. Rush says his experts’ most suggested option, even though they still couldn’t believe what transpired, was that it was a bluetooth problem. Rush, though, is adamant that he didn’t say “Obama” or any of the text that appeared on his phone, leading him to believe it was Apple’s servers that were hacked.

Right, so Rush Limbaugh, the guy who doesn't really have his head on straight politically, thinks he knows better about IT than the IT guys... and even though all this of this allegedly happened only in his car with his funky hotspot-bluetooth-jenga-puzzle of a weird setup, and NOT anywhere else, that clearly means to him that those hippies at Apple are to blame.

Real smart.

I call BS on the whole thing. While technically it's possible to hack his bluetooth, that would be a lot of effort for such a small return (making a guy who's known for saying crazy, irrational idiotic things spew only more crazy, irrational, idiotic things). And while I suppose it might be possible to hack the servers running SIRI, that would take even MORE effort to single out one individual for such a targeted, partisan hack. They'd have to find his UDID, tamper with SIRI's input and output responses, and make sure it says the "wrong" thing at the right time.

This is way beyond any plausibility here. Which is nothing new, really.

----------

Originally Posted by ytk

I don't see why he would make up something like this.

I do. Limbaugh has just come off a huge controversy that has caused him to lose stations and advertisers. Distracting people by making up a "vast, left-wing conspiracy" to drive him batty via his iPhone 4S sounds about in line with his past "logic."

It could also be a cover for any other activity that might be traced to him in the future, via his iPhone or any other computers he uses. At this point, for any naughty e-mail or text message he might be accused of sending, or not-so-nice website he might be accused of visiting, he can just blame on those creepy, mysterious hackers who are out to get him. And since Apple's OS security is also at the forefront of people's minds with Flashback, the timing is very, very convenient.

If he were using this incident to make some sort of political point that the government is out to get him, that would be a bit suspicious. But he's stating at the outset that he thinks this is probably some sort of hack, and not anything politically motivated.

So why were the "hacked" responses to politically pointed? the "hack" could've been less partisan... maybe some profanity, or inserting some language in that text to his wife that would suggest infidelity or something. But it wasn't... it was specifically political, and specifically antithetical to his political ideals. how is that not "politically motivated?"

Too many holes in this story.

Add on top of that, nothing was saved. No screen shots, all the messages were deleted. How convenient. If I was trying to tell people my phone was hacked, I'd save everything.

Of course, Rush could still prove his story by calling law enforcement (this IS a hack after all, and probably serious criminal activity, if real) and have them analyze his phone with a Cellebrite UME, which should easily recover the deleted content and any associated logs. I'm sure there's lots of law-and-order types listening to his show who could've informed him of that, too. But I have a good feeling this isn't going to happen.

[ytk]

Originally Posted by scaredpoet

So why were the "hacked" responses to politically pointed? the "hack" could've been less partisan... maybe some profanity, or inserting some language in that text to his wife that would suggest infidelity or something. But it wasn't... it was specifically political, and specifically antithetical to his political ideals. how is that not "politically motivated?"

Umm, to get him to mention it on his show? If it were just random gibberish, or even random profanity, it likely wouldn't be worth mentioning. But if you were to go the trouble of setting all of this up, you'd want to make the message something that's relevant to his show—that is, something political. Likely, you'd even want to make him sound like a conspiratorial lunatic who thinks the government is out to get him.

If I were hacking his iPhone, that's what I'd do, anyway.

Originally Posted by scaredpoet

I do. Limbaugh has just come off a huge controversy that has caused him to lose stations and advertisers. Distracting people by making up a "vast, left-wing conspiracy" to drive him batty via his iPhone 4S sounds about in line with his past "logic."

But he's not doing that. He said he thinks it was a hack, and he has no idea how it was done. At no point did he indicate that there was any sort of conspiracy, left-wing or otherwise.

[-aggie-]

Trolls should start adding this after all their posts:

“I am not making this up.”

[scaredpoet]

Originally Posted by ytk

Umm, to get him to mention it on his show?

And do what with that? Someone is playing games with poor, poor Rush's iPhone, and only Rush's iPhone, telling things he specifically wouldn't want to hear. But who? No one seems to be taking the credit for this.

If you want notoriety, and if you want his listeners to know you're out there, all you need to do is call up his show.

----------

Originally Posted by ytk

But he's not doing that. He said he thinks it was a hack, and he has no idea how it was done.

Except that he's rejecting the advice of many IT people he's asked about this, in favor of his own largely uninformed theories about Apple's server's being hacked.

At no point did he indicate that there was any sort of conspiracy, left-wing or otherwise.

Second paragraph:

"On his radio show Tuesday, Limbaugh told the incredible, creepy, and funny story of how his phone recently started talking to him about Obama, wind power, and even the president’s “minions.”"

[mobilehaathi]

Originally Posted by mtalsma

Yes, seriously. I'm a conservative Christian.

Which is probably why you think he'd never make something like that up I suppose...

As I stated, the point of this thread was not to get into a discussion of politics.

I'm pretty sure it is impossible to mention Rush and not get booted into PRSI, but that's rather the point now isn't it?

[ytk]

Originally Posted by scaredpoet

Except that he's rejecting the advice of many IT people he's asked about this, in favor of his own largely uninformed theories about Apple's server's being hacked.

What advice is he rejecting? Do you have a better theory as to how it might have happened? He did offer a theory, but qualified that by saying he doesn't have enough computer knowledge to know how exactly something like that could have been done.

Originally Posted by scaredpoet

Second paragraph:

"On his radio show Tuesday, Limbaugh told the incredible, creepy, and funny story of how his phone recently started talking to him about Obama, wind power, and even the president’s “minions.”"

Now you're just being deliberately obtuse. What part of that indicates that he thinks there's some sort of conspiracy? He is relating what the messages said. He is not saying that he thinks they came from the government, or the Democrats, or Obama, or anything of the sort. Where's the conspiracy theory here?

[scaredpoet]

Originally Posted by ytk

What advice is he rejecting?

"Going to computer experts, Rush explains the answers as to what could have happened ranged from being hacked or someone tampering with the bluetooth. “Somebody’s done something,” he said. “They’re sending you a message that they can do it.” He was also told there could have been something wrong with his LTE hotspot or that his bluetooth was defective.

All of these answers he considers unsatisfactory."

Do you have a better theory as to how it might have happened?

Yeah. Any of the theories suggested that he's considered "unsatisfactory." Or, he simply made it up.

Now you're just being deliberately obtuse.

No, I'm quoting directly from the article. What's obtuse is your refusal to read.

He is not saying that he thinks they came from the government, or the Democrats, or Obama, or anything of the sort.

I'm not saying the he claims it was Obama or the government either. But you're saying that these random, non-partisan hackers with no apparent agenda whatsoever, randomly decided to inject politically charged invective into their hacking of a random individual who just happened to be a right-leaning radio host? Right, makes PERFECT sense.

IF someone hacked his phone (which again, I have my doubts), the motive would seem pretty clear: get a rise out of Rush by injecting some leftwing propaganda in his phone. I'm not sure how that would NOT be politically motivated. it doesn't have to come from the government for the likes of Rush to claim a conspiracy.

It's sad, but yeah, this thread got polarizing real quick.

[macrazee]

Bringing up Rush Limbaugh on a tech site... predominantly, overwhelmingly LIBERAL...what do you expect?

[entatlrg]

Rush loudmouth is a proven liar many times over, and a bumbling idiot, how could anyone believe he's telling the truth this time. And for all the millions it could happen to, it happens to him? Lol, No.

[ytk]

Originally Posted by scaredpoet

"Going to computer experts, Rush explains the answers as to what could have happened ranged from being hacked or someone tampering with the bluetooth. “Somebody’s done something,” he said. “They’re sending you a message that they can do it.” He was also told there could have been something wrong with his LTE hotspot or that his bluetooth was defective.

All of these answers he considers unsatisfactory."

All of those answers ARE unsatisfactory. They're all just vague statements, without concrete evidence of how it happened, or even a definite explanation of exactly how it might have happened. Read it a bit more carefully. He's not saying they're wrong—just unsatisfactory.

Originally Posted by scaredpoet

No, I'm quoting directly from the article. What's obtuse is your refusal to read.



.. but these random, non-partisan hackers with no apparent agenda whatsoever, randomly decided to inject politically charged invective into their hacking of a random individual who just happened to be a right-leaning radio host? Right, makes PERFECT sense.

IF someone hacked his phone (which again, I have my doubts), the motive would seem pretty clear: get a rise out of Rush by injecting some leftwing propaganda in his phone. I'm not sure how that would NOT be politically motivated.

That's exactly what I'm saying. By going off on what you THINK I'm saying rather than reading what I actually wrote, you're doing exactly what you accuse Limbaugh of doing.

Let's go over this piece by piece: Assuming it actually was a hack, then yes, the attacker most likely targeted him specifically. And yes, they tried to provoke a response from him by making politically related statements. But nobody—not me, not Limbaugh, not anybody—is indicating that this was the result of some sort of actual left-wing conspiracy. You're suggesting that he made statements indicating that he thought it was. You're wrong. He never did. He said he thought it was a hack, and did not in any way indicate that he thought it might be the result of a "vast left-wing conspiracy" out to get him.

Originally Posted by scaredpoet

It's sad, but yeah, this thread got polarizing real quick.

Seems like you're the one calling him a liar and a conspiratorial lunatic based solely on your political beliefs and your preconceived notions about his motivations. Personally, I don't care for Limbaugh or the majority of his political opinions, but I still don't see why he would make this up under the circumstances. But you want to believe he did, so there's no appeal to reason that will cause you to consider any other possibility. Seems like you came into the discussion polarized.

[SGMD1]

Originally Posted by ytk

I don't see why he would make up something like this.

It's very easy to see why he'd make up something like this. It generates controversy, and that boosts his ratings.

It's not rocket science.

[ytk]

Originally Posted by SGMD1

It's very easy to see why he'd make up something like this. It generates controversy, and that boosts his ratings.

It's not rocket science.

Ehh, too simplistic. There are plenty of ways to generate controversy for the sake of ratings that are more effective. Why make factual statements that can potentially be later proven false (and therefore potentially humiliate yourself very publically), when you can just offer up a radical opinion and make headline news?

[scaredpoet]

Originally Posted by ytk

Seems like you're the one calling him a liar and a conspiratorial lunatic based solely on your political beliefs

It may seem like that, and I'll admit that my views are diametrically opposed to his. it's unfortunate that you felt the need to dwell on that. But, as you appear to want to focus on semantics, I should point out that I never used the words "liar" nor "lunatic," and so called him neither.

What I did say what was it was awfully convenient that all of this happened while he was alone, in his car, in what appears to be a pretty convoluted setup for audio and internet connectivity, and could not be reproduced afterwards, and he insists it's Apple's servers that were hacked, not his car setup.

Equally convenient is how he claims to have chosen to remove all traces of evidence of this happening.

If this happened to anyone, regardless of their political views or anything else that they might be associated with, it would be pretty hard to buy such a fantastic story when the person telling it has said they deliberately removed all trace of proof of it happening. I and others have called BS on a lot of people on this forum before, without knowing any of their personal background. I don't need to have opposing political viewpoints to say that something in someone's story just doesn't gel, nor should agreeing with that person's political viewpoints be reason enough to take his word as gospel.

Conspiracy or no conspiracy, hacking into a phone or Apple's servers is a criminal act. If anyone would be up for catching criminals, especially ones who may disagree with his political views, it would seem to me that Rush Limbaugh would be game for getting that investigated and the perpetrators found. Deleting the evidence doesn't contribute to that, and makes this whole thing awfully suspicious.

[melva]

Was it the Siri he heard or was it the Oxy talkin'?

[dmccloud]

Rush is full of it. In order for this to have been a server-side hack, someone would have had to a) hacked the Apple Servers used for Siri, b) obtained the UDID for Limbaugh's phone and c) inserted code into the Apple Servers to give him completely different information from anyone else. The other option would require physical access to his phone (or extremely close physical proximity) as well as specialized equipment to intercept his signal.

The problem with Limbaugh is that he talks without thinking far too often, such as the case with Sandra Fluke (the woman that testified before Congress a few months ago). Furthermore, Limbaugh has a track record of taking comments completely out of context to fit the story he wants his viewers to believe dating back to before the 1992 election. Limbaugh is not a reporter, so he doesn't have to abide by any of the guidelines that journalists have to. He is an entertainer who caters (some would say panders) to the far right.

[Bchagey]

Originally Posted by mtalsma

Yes, seriously. I'm a conservative Christian. As I stated, the point of this thread was not to get into a discussion of politics.

No one here will even concede that what was described is even plausible?

I'm with you on this one. I blame nuance