Hacker News Reader

> Do you really think someone like elon musk will pay a bitcoin ransom

A somewhat odd blog post by Jeff Bezos about blackmail from last year is quite interesting in this context. [1]

[1] https://medium.com/@jeffreypbezos/no-thank-you-mr-pecker-146...

They grossly overestimated their leverage in that story though.

Anything illegal might've been actually good for black mail purposes, but dick pics? As if someone would actually look for that or even take a business decision based on that.

Dick pics are what lead a candidate for Paris Mayor election to resign this year. It is a powerful item against some people.

Indeed, it's a powerful weapon against anyone who depends on general public popularity for their power (for example many/most elected officials). This is in fact one of the things that is highly investigated for getting TS/SCI US government clearance. They don't want to employ anyone who possibly has dirt against them in the open.

For a public official I can see why it would give them some leverage, but Jeff Bezos/Elon Musk/any rich dude doesn't really have to care. Did the "fappening" damage anyone's career?

Reply on news.ycombinator.com