Post
Topic
Board Bitcoin Discussion
Re: Hackers steal data from MtGox server and release it with Mark's reddit account.
by
coinage
on 10/03/2014, 08:40:35 UTC
Is the following site safe to visit: bitcoincorp.de/M... [snip]

Currently, the URL you posted appears to return a plain 42MB text file with a columnar text report showing user identifiers, balances, withdrawal limits, etc. It currently seems safe to retrieve with a tool such as wget and to view with a simple plain text viewer.

Chances are the data is valid and the person posting it is providing a useful service.

However, don't let anyone categorically tell you a site or page is safe, unless they're in control of it and you trust them (and you believe it won't be hacked by the time you retrieve it).

Reason: sites can be programmed to return different data to different users.

Example: On linux, using wget (a file retrieval tool) with its default user agent string (not pretending to be using something else), I seem to be getting an ordinary text file (based on a quick view of the beginning, end, and some random points along the file). But a user on another OS, or using an actual web browser (or anyone tomorrow, or maybe just every 17th user) could be sent an entirely different file which could have an exploit. It's also possible this 42MB file could have embedded data which might attack a particular word processor should you try to open it in one.

So: always best to use a computer (or virtual computer) you don't use for financial transactions, and/or to use the simplest tools possible to do the job.