how come hackers never do anything cool like erase debt or steal from the ultra wealthy or completely obliterate the credit reporting agencies

[madengineering@hachyderm.io]

@aeva The hacking stuff might convince a computer that the debt isn't real, but a bank probably also has it on paper somewhere and will re-enter it when it notices the discrepency.

So now we're talking about a heist.

[howtophil@mastodon.social]

@madengineering @aeva

Step 1: Social Engineering to convince banks to "go paperless"
Step 2: Oopsie, the system erased itself.
Step 3: Party like it's a debt-free world?

[madengineering@hachyderm.io]

@howtophil @aeva You still have to heist the bank to make sure the backups also do not show the debt, but that said, your plan made me evil laugh pretty hard.

[hipsterelectron@circumstances.run]

@madengineering @aeva it could go deeper. we could attack the capital

[jackmexa4@mastodon.social]

@aeva

Only Mr Robot
and Tyler Durden, but he went analogue

And none in real life.

[howtophil@mastodon.social]

@madengineering @aeva It requires a concerted effort of an army of hackers/social-engineers to slowly overthrow the banking infrastructure over the course of decades. I, of course, have nothing to do with any such plan, and it... is... completely... fictional

[be@floss.social]

@madengineering @aeva Serious question, do banks keep stuff on paper these days?

[madengineering@hachyderm.io]

@be @aeva They do have accounting, and I've seen banks largely computerize it, but I've also seen them keep a literal book as a sort of emergency backup.

[madengineering@hachyderm.io]

@hipsterelectron @aeva War is decisively out of my skillset, I can't even win a game of chess.

[be@floss.social]

@madengineering @aeva It does seem awfully silly to trust computers with such things.

[hipsterelectron@circumstances.run]

@madengineering @aeva i'm terrible at chess https://circumstances.run/@hipsterelectron/117488076396220087

[madengineering@hachyderm.io]

@be @aeva After all, in the event of a prolonged power outage, people might still want to withdraw money.

[hipsterelectron@circumstances.run]

@be @madengineering @aeva the IRS has paper backups

[be@floss.social]

@hipsterelectron @madengineering @aeva Are you sure about that in the post-DOGE era?

[madengineering@hachyderm.io]

@be @hipsterelectron @aeva Banks knowing how much money you've deposited, and thus how much you can demand back from them, is serious business for banks.
Wouldn't want me to withdraw a million dollars that I don't actually have now, would you?

[hipsterelectron@circumstances.run]

@be @madengineering @aeva the IRS is more important than you would expect

[hipsterelectron@circumstances.run]

@be @madengineering @aeva unfortunately, for surveillance, but nonetheless

[be@floss.social]

@hipsterelectron @madengineering @aeva yeah that's why I wouldn't be surprised if DOGE conveniently lost those paper records for Elon Musk

[hipsterelectron@circumstances.run]

@be @madengineering @aeva the career IRS workers are largely still there

[madengineering@hachyderm.io]

@hipsterelectron @be @aeva The government has plans ready to collect taxes in the apocalypse, so yeah, they are ready to operate on paper, with candles, writing with goose quills if need be. The world literally ending would not stop them.