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Governments turn tables on ransomware gang REvil by pushing it offline

reuters.com

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Re: Governments turn tables on ransomware gang REvil by pushing it offline

#61

Post by klyrs »

PaulDavisThe1st wrote: post #45
Moosdijk wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When a lot of culprits are state actors, stepping up enforcement is a naive and useless endeavour

Actually, it's called "war", and it tends to be fairly effective (for one side, at least). Unfortunately it comes with a lot undesirable side effects.

If this century sees large-scale DDoS attacks, information breaches, power plant / pipeline shutdowns, etc., I strongly prefer that to the trench warfare and carpet/nuclear bombings of the last century.

Hacking wars are lukewarm. A hot war seems like it will involve a lot more drone strikes -- which might not be significantly better than the last century, but terrifying nonetheless. And until it comes home, I don't think Americans will fully appreciate how our government (hence, our nation) is perceived a terrorist organization abroad.

Re: Governments turn tables on ransomware gang REvil by pushing it offline

#62

Post by aaron695 »

Yep, REvils website is down :(

dnpscnbaix6nkwvystl3yxglz7nteicqrou3t75tpcc5532cztc46qyd.onion

"nginx error!"

[ Powered by nginx ]

[ Powered by Fedora ]

There's a lot of evidence REvils was sent from the future to stop a coming cyber-war that wipes out much of humanity due to systematic unpatched issues across the world that multiple nation states collected and used at once wiping out supply chains killing billions.

It all fits, imagine if REvil's "Colonial Pipeline that led to widespread gas shortages" was in the hands of North Koreans or from a solar storm.

Which does beg the question who really is currently attacking REvil. It stands to reason future nation states also might send people back in time to keep things unpatched and they would already know Biden has Alzheimers.

Re: Governments turn tables on ransomware gang REvil by pushing it offline

#63

Post by camjohnson26 »

gopher_space wrote: post #59
nindalf wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No. I can’t believe this needs to be explained, but the two situations are remarkably alike. If all of a corporations data is being held to ransom, there is no choice in the matter, they must pay. You’re talking like losing all their customers or IP or shutting down the corporation wouldn’t hurt anyone but it would hurt all their employees at the least. What such an idiotic, short sighted policy would do is to encour…

If "all" of your data is being held to ransom and that will tank your company then you are a bad businessperson and deserve whatever you get. Right now it's apparently cheaper to pay a ransom than it is to implement sane security and backup procedures. That needs to end.

That would be true if it was possible for any company to have perfect processes, but that’s not the case. Companies are run by real people with real flaws and a perfect system doesn’t exist.

Re: Governments turn tables on ransomware gang REvil by pushing it offline

#64

Post by sydbarrett74 »

The solutions are multi-pronged. 1) Step up enforcement of current laws and regulations. (A law or regulation is only as effective as its enforcement.) 2) Do as much as possible to trace payments and force payment networks to co-operate with criminal investigations, preferably through multilateral treaties or agreements. 3) Thwart social engineering by training and promoting good online hygiene.

Re: Governments turn tables on ransomware gang REvil by pushing it offline

#65

Post by Sniffnoy »

rich_sasha wrote: post #8

I hope this is a sign of things to come. Train robberies and privateering were common because the culprits were rarely caught. I feel ransomware has been so successful because it operated in an environment where you never get caught. The solution is always the same, step up the enforcement.

I'm assuming you mean piracy rather than privateering?

Re: Governments turn tables on ransomware gang REvil by pushing it offline

#66

Post by codegeek »

gopher_space wrote: post #59
nindalf wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No. I can’t believe this needs to be explained, but the two situations are remarkably alike. If all of a corporations data is being held to ransom, there is no choice in the matter, they must pay. You’re talking like losing all their customers or IP or shutting down the corporation wouldn’t hurt anyone but it would hurt all their employees at the least. What such an idiotic, short sighted policy would do is to encour…

If "all" of your data is being held to ransom and that will tank your company then you are a bad businessperson and deserve whatever you get. Right now it's apparently cheaper to pay a ransom than it is to implement sane security and backup procedures. That needs to end.

That's like saying "Right now it's cheaper to not have locks so lets punish the homeowners who don't lock their doors instead of punishing the thieves and robbers"

Yes, security and backup measures are critical and companies SHOULD be scrutinized for those things especially if you deal with mission critical data/information. But that has nothing to do with Ransomware Gangs.

Re: Governments turn tables on ransomware gang REvil by pushing it offline

#67

Post by codegeek »

spywaregorilla wrote: post #36
codegeek wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's like saying "make it illegal to get robbed". If I have a robber with a gun to my head asking for my wallet, I would comply. I wouldn't tell them sorry it is illegal to give you my wallet. You should not penalize the victim. Crack down on perps, not victims please.

No those are not similar cases. Yours is urgent, violent, tiny scale, and individual level. The individual doesn't have any agency in this situation. The alternative is get shot and robbed. If a corporation is unable to pay a ransom then the incentive to do the ransomware attack immediately drops. Cracking down on perps would be nice, but is not feasible.

"unable to pay" is not the same as "should be illegal"

The perps don't give a shit about what is legal and illegal. They target preys that are vulnerable but have critical functions (e.g. a Hospital network). It is not just about individuals. If a Hospital Network gets attacked and has serious consequences, they won't do a board meeting to discuss "Gee, paying ransomware is illegal. We must say No. ".

I am not advocating that people should just pay but we cannot punish the victims even if the victims were careless (bad security practice etc).

Re: Governments turn tables on ransomware gang REvil by pushing it offline

#68

Post by tarboreus »

Sniffnoy wrote: post #65
rich_sasha wrote: post #8

I hope this is a sign of things to come. Train robberies and privateering were common because the culprits were rarely caught. I feel ransomware has been so successful because it operated in an environment where you never get caught. The solution is always the same, step up the enforcement.

I'm assuming you mean piracy rather than privateering?

You could say that Russian hackers are a form of privateer. Don't think that's what OP meant, though.

Re: Governments turn tables on ransomware gang REvil by pushing it offline

#69

Post by ausername42027 »

spywaregorilla wrote: post #36
codegeek wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's like saying "make it illegal to get robbed". If I have a robber with a gun to my head asking for my wallet, I would comply. I wouldn't tell them sorry it is illegal to give you my wallet. You should not penalize the victim. Crack down on perps, not victims please.

No those are not similar cases. Yours is urgent, violent, tiny scale, and individual level. The individual doesn't have any agency in this situation. The alternative is get shot and robbed. If a corporation is unable to pay a ransom then the incentive to do the ransomware attack immediately drops. Cracking down on perps would be nice, but is not feasible.

This is some "I am 12 and this is deep" level of logic. Or in other words, what is "not feasible" is expecting companies it literally just shut down if they get their data ransomed.

Re: Governments turn tables on ransomware gang REvil by pushing it offline

#70

Post by AtNightWeCode »

YAY! Some thoughts about the article. In my country and many others it is for sure already illegal to pay ransom. Would say it applies to the entire EU at least. Every company that paid should be prosecuted. I work for a company that payed ransom. Yes, it was illegal, and yes, the company is owned by "dudes"...
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