Namesake Blog
namesake.com · Company blog · on HN since 2011
The blog of Namesake, a startup discussion site, with posts on tech scenes, social networks, and a claimed PayPal account exposure.
What HN saysHN links it mainly for the 2011 PayPal "accidental hack" thread, where commenters follow the author's updates and conclude it was a non-issue.
17HN people shared it
6linked it in comments
40stories submitted
366story points
14 years agolast shared
2011people per year2026
Most-shared posts
- 1
- 2Anonymity vs. Transparency2 people · 6 points · first shared 2011 · discussion on HN
- 3Welcome to Namesake | Namesake2 people · 4 points · first shared 2011 · discussion on HN
- 4Is the Boston technology scene living in the past?1 people · 42 points · first shared 2011 · 27 comments on HN
- 5Is MySpace's death spiral due to bets on Los Angeles and Microsoft?1 people · 20 points · first shared 2011 · 24 comments on HN
- 6Making stamps obsolete through SMS1 people · 18 points · first shared 2011 · 8 comments on HN
- 7Chris Dixon discusses rising startup valuations & potential startup bubble1 people · 17 points · first shared 2011 · 13 comments on HN
- 8Will Facebook become one of the most profitable companies in the world?1 people · 17 points · first shared 2011 · 23 comments on HN
- 9StartupBus Founder Elias live interview1 people · 17 points · first shared 2011 · 2 comments on HN
- 10Product Development: How do you handle killing features?1 people · 17 points · first shared 2011 · 7 comments on HN
- 11Building an ecosystem & beating the mob: PayPal mafia insiders' story1 people · 14 points · first shared 2011 · 3 comments on HN
- 12Live Q&A with Joey Flores of Earbits (YC W11)1 people · 13 points · first shared 2011 · discussion on HN
- 13Noah Kagan talks startups, marketing, burritos and AppSumo1 people · 13 points · first shared 2011 · 4 comments on HN
- 14Conversation: Mark Cuban's new start-up, 'Motion Loft'1 people · 13 points · first shared 2011 · 1 comments on HN
- 15Semil Shah, TechCrunch contributor and entrepreneur, talks Color1 people · 12 points · first shared 2011 · 2 comments on HN
What HN people wrote when they linked it
choffstein · 2012-08-05
http://namesake.com/ might be what you want
arn · 2011-06-16
Appears this is a non-issue. For those who have been following. Matt Langley (the person who "discovered" the issue) has been posting updates here:
http://namesake.com/conversation/mattlangley/i-just-accidental-hacked-…
Relevant post:
"It seems that the 'victim' had opened an account using an email address of mine, with extra characters thrown in, which Gmail ignores and accepts as the same email address, so it was gmail which uncorrupted the email address and sent the emails to me, not Paypal. I had previously reported an account set-up with fraudulent email address to Paypal many times in the past, but only yesterday noticed that the email address was different to mine, in a way which on any other email system in the world would be a different email address.
Cheeky bugger. I'm gonna have to ask them to close it down or at least change the email address.
but I guess I owe you all an apology" - Matt Langley
edit: someone else posted this too.
so, some commentary. This should have been verified before posting, as it has caused some trouble for people who delinked their account etc. That said, I understand the rapid news cycle of blogging, though with something this potentially serious, I would think it would need to be verified.
Side note, first time I'd…
dangrossman · 2011-06-16
Mr. Langley posted screenshots and additional information on Namesake earlier today:
http://namesake.com/conversation/mattlangley/i-just-accidental-hacked-…
Among other interesting tidbits: "All users are potentially vulnerable, but users of free email services are the most vulnerable, for reasons that I won't divulge until Paypal have fixed it."
shii · 2011-05-19
Original source without the blogspam from a new user: http://namesake.com/blog/2011/05/namesake/are-you-who-you-say-you-are/
mviamari · 2011-01-20
Here's the link to the conversation about the original blog post. http://namesake.com/conversation/92e76ace-2338-11e0-9439-12313f001552
zemaj · 2011-06-16
Updated. Doesn't looks like a huge issue, although obviously needs to be fixed;
"It seems that the 'victim' had opened an account using an email address of mine, with extra characters thrown in, which Gmail ignores and accepts as the same email address, so it was gmail which uncorrupted the email address and sent the emails to me, not Paypal. I had previously reported an account set-up with fraudulent email address to Paypal many times in the past, but only yesterday noticed that the email address was different to mine, in a way which on any other email system in the world would be a different email address."
From http://namesake.com/conversation/mattlangley/i-just-accidental-hacked-…