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DarkSide ransomware gang quits after servers, Bitcoin stash seized

krebsonsecurity.com

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Re: DarkSide ransomware gang quits after servers, Bitcoin stash seized

#511

Post by matmatmatmat »

robocat wrote: post #396
doomroot wrote: post #294

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In the bitcoin space it’s colloquially known as the “$5 wrench attack.” All the cryptographic, air gapped security hardware doesn’t matter if someone can beat the keys out of you.

Also perhaps a fair reason for some part of taxation. Owning millions in .*coin, and the ability to freely wander around in a first world country while not getting hit with a wrench has a whole lot of value.

I've heard of this security that comes from a bit of taxation phrased as "guillotine insurance".

Re: DarkSide ransomware gang quits after servers, Bitcoin stash seized

#512

Post by taylorfinley »

rurban wrote: post #112
geofft wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the question is, how come an attack on a hospital does not have the optics of an attack on infrastructure? (It almost seems oil does not require infrastructure - you can, theoretically, prep for an oil infrastructure outage by storing it containers, same as you do with water and food. But you can't really prep for a medical infrastructure outage. Is it just that, as a result, there were no photos of people ho…

Because when you attack oil it will be considered as an act of war and they will counter with their war powers. Which they did. No civilian police action against Sergey followed, but military style seizures, bitmix closure and Bitcoin retrieval. This was not the FBI, but their criminal higher ups. Military style, with no civilian oversight. Which is somewhat disturbing, because first the industry is still considered…

I hate Windows with a firey passion and use linux top to bottom on all my projects and devices, but I have to disagree with you. Windows can be quite secure, as is evidenced by the last several decades of most corporate and military IT systems using it. Not having backups and untrained admins are platform agnostic security issues.

Re: DarkSide ransomware gang quits after servers, Bitcoin stash seized

#513

Post by colechristensen »

SavantIdiot wrote: post #504
colechristensen wrote: post #282

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The median lifetime earnings in the US is 1.7 million, and that’s equivalent to... $20 an hour or so. 5 million is “never work again” money for a couple of people who want middle class incomes the rest of their lives... it is not really that much when spread over more than a few people.

My friend, you need to [1] travel, and [2] learn a tiny bit about investing. First, you can live like a fucking KING for $2000/mo in southeast asia and most of central/south america. 24k/yr is 208 years. Bonus! The food is awesome, the people are great, the climate is ... nice most of the year, and the pollution is a little awful in the cities, but damn the beaches are gorgeous, and there are loads of them. Second, E…

And you need to check your assumptions if you think the likely outcome of extorting five million out of a major piece of infrastructure with your buddies would be collecting dividends on a tropical beach.

If you do everything perfectly you have a target painted on your back for life, a group of friends that all want to be the first to save their skins by giving the rest of you up, and a huge chunk of that change given away trying to launder that money well enough that you don’t get caught. Not to mention the foolishness that comes with suddenly finding yourself with a big pile of money which is easy to pretend wouldn’t affect you when there’s no chance of it actually being a challenge you’ll ever have.

Your advice to high tech thieves is to hire an accountant?

Best to find a job tending bar in a country not too friendly for an extradition and keeping the money under your mattress to hire the best lawyer you could afford to avoid spending the rest of your life in prison hoping that the CIA doesn’t make you disappear.

Re: DarkSide ransomware gang quits after servers, Bitcoin stash seized

#514

Post by [deleted] »

Ekaros wrote: post #509
miles wrote: post #288

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The Colonial Pipeline Is Finally Back Online and Pumping Gas https://www.thedrive.com/news/40583/the-colonial-pipeline-is... > New details from within Colonial Pipeline have come to light surrounding the decision to shut off supply. Those briefed on the matter have suggested that fuel flows were shut down due to the company's billing system being compromised. Company officials were reportedly concerned that they woul…

I hope they will be hit with massive fines. That sort of reasoning should be absolutely unacceptable... Billing system going down should not take down critical infra...

[deleted]

Re: DarkSide ransomware gang quits after servers, Bitcoin stash seized

#515

Post by cromka »

“Ransomware has gathered a critical mass of nonsense, bullshit, hype, and fuss around it. The word ‘ransomware’ has been put on a par with a number of unpleasant phenomena, such as geopolitical tensions, extortion, and government-backed hacks. This word has become dangerous and toxic.”

Imagine feeling hurt that your low-key mob activities are equalled to high-stakes mob activities, so much that your consider it "dangerous" and "toxic". Really love the irony here.

Re: DarkSide ransomware gang quits after servers, Bitcoin stash seized

#516

Post by matmatmatmat »

aerostable_slug wrote: post #128
geofft wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the question is, how come an attack on a hospital does not have the optics of an attack on infrastructure? (It almost seems oil does not require infrastructure - you can, theoretically, prep for an oil infrastructure outage by storing it containers, same as you do with water and food. But you can't really prep for a medical infrastructure outage. Is it just that, as a result, there were no photos of people ho…

I think the point people are missing is that hospitals don't just stop providing services when they are hit by ransomware, at least not in my admittedly limited experience. There's a ton of paper involved even today and life could move on with ballpoint pens and forms. The game was changed when Colonial closed the valves and services were impacted.

There is actually a counterexample to this that is happening right now. The Scripps hospital system in San Diego was hit with ransomware about two weeks ago and has been more or less down since then. Patients are not able to make new appointments, medical records are unavailable. My understanding is that doctors are still seeing patients if they have existing appointments, but surgeries are getting performed at other hospitals in other health systems.

Re: DarkSide ransomware gang quits after servers, Bitcoin stash seized

#517

Post by JumpCrisscross »

this_user wrote: post #245
bredren wrote: post #45

It was a mistake to attack the business side of the oil company, because it created what could be sold as reasonable doubt to shut down the pipeline. As a result, the ransom had the optics of an attack on infrastructure. As evidenced by the coverage of Americans desperately filling up containers. This created the impetus for the US to treat this as an incident far and above the ambient ransomware activities leading u…

The fact that their coins were apparently easily stolen also debunks another favourite talking point of the crypto people that it secures your money from government access. Clearly, ways and means have been developed to do just that if necessary.

> another favourite talking point of the crypto people that it secures your money from government access

Credibly threatening repeated 51% attacks against Bitcoin is well within any G7 member’s budget.

Re: DarkSide ransomware gang quits after servers, Bitcoin stash seized

#518

Post by monkeybutton »

thesuperbigfrog wrote: post #325
schoen wrote: post #259

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe people didn't like your use of the term "terrorism" for national security threats? A common understanding is that terrorism is intended to frighten people or make them feel unsafe, while various official definitions of terrorism include the idea that it's intended to coercively achieve some particular political goal. If attackers just intend to get money, they're probably well-described as extortionists (or in…

On the high seas of the Internet there is a thin line between pirates and state actors. There could even be "privateer" ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Privateer ) attackers who work for a nation and for profit at the same time. From the victim's perspective it matters less who is attacking you or why they are attacking you and much more what the results of the attack are, how you can mitigate and recover from the da…

I think Evil Corp falls under the definition of privateer:

>As noted in previous stories here, during times of conflict with Russia’s neighbors, Slavik was known to retool his crime machines to search for classified information on victim systems in regions of the world that were of strategic interest to the Russian government – particularly in Turkey and Ukraine.

>“Cybercriminals are recruited to Russia’s national cause through a mix of coercion, payments and appeals to patriotic sentiment,” reads a 2017 story from The Register on security firm Cybereason’s analysis of the Russian cybercrime scene. “Russia’s use of private contractors also has other benefits in helping to decrease overall operational costs, mitigating the risk of detection and gaining technical expertise that they cannot recruit directly into the government.

https://krebsonsecurity.com/2019/12/inside-evil-corp-a-100m-...

Re: DarkSide ransomware gang quits after servers, Bitcoin stash seized

#519

Post by JumpCrisscross »

Ekaros wrote: post #509
miles wrote: post #288

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The Colonial Pipeline Is Finally Back Online and Pumping Gas https://www.thedrive.com/news/40583/the-colonial-pipeline-is... > New details from within Colonial Pipeline have come to light surrounding the decision to shut off supply. Those briefed on the matter have suggested that fuel flows were shut down due to the company's billing system being compromised. Company officials were reportedly concerned that they woul…

I hope they will be hit with massive fines. That sort of reasoning should be absolutely unacceptable... Billing system going down should not take down critical infra...

> should be absolutely unacceptable... Billing system going down should not take down critical infra

It’s a privately financed, constructed and operated pipeline. I don’t see why they should be obligated to operate without getting paid.

Re: DarkSide ransomware gang quits after servers, Bitcoin stash seized

#520

Post by PragmaticPulp »

smabie wrote: post #466
kube-system wrote: post #284

Earlier quoted context omitted.

$500,000 salary? Let me know where these jobs are because I'd like to submit my resume.

A 500k isn't all that unusual in tech I feel like.. Like a senior engineer at a FANG is probably making that much or more all in. Entry level salary for tier one firms across finance and tech is probably around 250-300k. Not hard to get to 500k with some experience.

> A 500k isn't all that unusual in tech I feel like..

> Like a senior engineer at a FANG

Becoming a Senior Engineer at FAANG is very unusual, across all tech workers.

It's doable with the right amount of work, dedication, and willingness to relocate to the right locations, of course. But it's nowhere near guaranteed or common.

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