I still don't quite understand hackers: doing such high-profile hacking and writing lame texts even wihout much fact checking (about agency divisions in this case). Being written in more professional way, this attack could be way more effective.
Also, is it a thing among "hackers" to write with tons of mistakes? A part of culture maybe? Or to scare the bricks out of people? )
Email from FBI Looks Odd
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Re: Email from FBI Looks Odd
#62The email domain where the messages originate is from some sort of federated identity management system that was created in 2010 (here is a proposal deck [0] with technical details). Found this program simply by searching Google for the sending domain. Based on the guide for using this system [1] (see step 15) looks like this specific email address is the one that sends automated confirmation emails upon registration…
"Enter your official business email address...Do not use hyphens or dashes in the social security number (SSN#) and Date of Birth fields....Enter your employer’s information in the “Employer” fields"
Oh, fun. Connected to a treasure trove of LEO personal info.
Re: Email from FBI Looks Odd
#63Earlier quoted context omitted.
Awesome. A guide written in 2019 from the FBI that suggests Internet Explorer.
What’s wrong with internet explorer? It’s still in active support.
Where have you been for the past 20 years? Amish country? Because there weren’t many other places to take shelter from the horrors of IE.
Re: Email from FBI Looks Odd
#64From the Reddit thread: "got it too. i called the FBI helpdesk and they are getting flooded with calls..." I mean as a spammer (or whateveer) do you REALLY want to piss off the FBI like that?
Misdirection? Loud noise here - actual attack somewhere else?
or shake the machine and see what falls out - watch the access logs to find what individuals have the power to respond, target them for further spearfishing
Re: Email from FBI Looks Odd
#65Earlier quoted context omitted.
The hackers have the ability to originate legit emails from ic.fbi.gov and they blow it on a spammy phishing campaign with broken English? what a waste..
It doesn't even seem like phishing; there's no contact info and the sender bounces in a way that seems like it doesn't go to the one who sent it. Is it general FUD (eroding FBI legitimacy) or a smear campaign against Vinny Troia..? EDIT: Or it's a diversion of attention; there's something else going on somewhere else that they want to go unnoticed.
vinny troia himself washing out the google results for his name?
Re: Email from FBI Looks Odd
#66I still don't quite understand hackers: doing such high-profile hacking and writing lame texts even wihout much fact checking (about agency divisions in this case). Being written in more professional way, this attack could be way more effective. Also, is it a thing among "hackers" to write with tons of mistakes? A part of culture maybe? Or to scare the bricks out of people? )
Or the purpose is to make the FBI look publicly incompetent, not to successfully carry out a secret operation.
Re: Email from FBI Looks Odd
#67Seems like an attempt to embarrass the FBI?
Re: Email from FBI Looks Odd
#68Earlier quoted context omitted.
If you can send email from the FBI then you also have a get out of jail free card for any crime. Seems like a bad use of this access.
I don't see how sending an email from the FBI gives you a get out of jail free card.
Send an email under the guise of the FBI to the president, asking for immunity for yourself?
Re: Email from FBI Looks Odd
#69Earlier quoted context omitted.
Sounds about right. A blue chip I work with had a successful phish against them - the attacker ended up with access to the email inbox of an HR person. So they tried basic, stupid 419 type scams, with broken English. They could have pried the entire org wide open - she had masses of private data in her inbox, enough to impersonate or social engineer your way to anywhere. But instead, they blew it - and blew it so bad…
The other episode that springs to mind is the hackers who managed to compromise the Twitter accounts of the likes of Obama and Elon Musk, but used it to promote a shitty Bitcoin gifting scam, which netted them an easily traced $100k and a prison sentence. Probably the scammers promoting the same sort of scheme in the comments with legal fake accounts make more money
i’ve heard it said, “if criminals were any smarter they wouldn’t be criminals” - but of course its a selection bias because smart criminals don’t get caught, you only hear about the dumb ones
Re: Email from FBI Looks Odd
#70I still don't quite understand hackers: doing such high-profile hacking and writing lame texts even wihout much fact checking (about agency divisions in this case). Being written in more professional way, this attack could be way more effective. Also, is it a thing among "hackers" to write with tons of mistakes? A part of culture maybe? Or to scare the bricks out of people? )
According to the phishing training I was mandated to take at work if you are stupid enough to overlook the mistakes you are the right target. According to them the misspellings filter out the smart enough people they don’t want talking to. But that could also be nonsense.