Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

North Korea hacked him, so he took down its internet

wired.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

231–240 of 256 posts

Re: North Korea hacked him, so he took down its internet

#231

Post by kova12 »

ballenf wrote: post #2

I would have advised him to stay quiet about this. Not out of fear of the North Koreans, but out of fear of our own security agencies seeing the activity as interfering in international relations. Also the vagueness of our hacking laws probably make what he did a crime. But I also am immensely proud that we have people willing to take things into their own hands when needed. Also, I feel like the 2nd amendment should…

Bear digital arms and use them are as different as owning a rifle and shooting somebody

Re: North Korea hacked him, so he took down its internet

#232

Post by DyslexicAtheist »

ballenf wrote: post #2

I would have advised him to stay quiet about this. Not out of fear of the North Koreans, but out of fear of our own security agencies seeing the activity as interfering in international relations. Also the vagueness of our hacking laws probably make what he did a crime. But I also am immensely proud that we have people willing to take things into their own hands when needed. Also, I feel like the 2nd amendment should…

> I would have advised him to stay quiet about this. Not out of fear of the North Koreans

Both reasons seem pretty compelling. "Keeping your mouth shut" is such a fundamental rule of opsec that it's hard to take this persons skill/expertise seriously. Why put yourself in a place where you (and your family) have to look over their shoulder for the rest of your life.

It's reckless to go bragging (even under a pseudonym) when your adversary is one of the biggest organized crime networks in the world (masquerading as a country): https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w13xtvg9/episodes/downloads

I applaud the guy for his civil courage, but seriously this just painted a huge target on his back and probably changed his life forever. Hope he is OK and even more so hope he has no family or friends who sure didn't sign up for it.

Re: North Korea hacked him, so he took down its internet

#233

Post by Barrin92 »

throwaway4good wrote: post #113

This is nothing to celebrate. Would we like random people sitting in say North Korea taking cyber revenge over evil regimes they don't like?

Surprised that I have to scroll that far for this comment. Imagine the US or South Korea is negotiating say, prisoner releases or family reunifications and then some dude causes what looks like an American cyberattack on North Korea.

Warfare falls within the domain of the state, that includes cyberspace. Americans love their vigilantes but this has the potential to be incredibly destructive.

It's no different from the private Russian attacks on American oil infrastructure. Private actors causing tensions between nuclear powers is a bad idea.

Re: North Korea hacked him, so he took down its internet

#234

Post by gggg1234567 »

Well, if someone from North Korea did this to some other country, what would be the reaction?

Why is this dubious criminal activity being endorsed as being positive?

Is it wise to endorse criminal activity as positive - depending on what our relation with the victim is?

Can North Korea ask for him to be found and delivered to stand trial there?

Would it be ok for North Korea to find and steal him from his home at night and bring him to trial?

Can North Korea expect that politicians from US to denounce this act as unacceptable?

What does USA intend to do, to stop such acts which are mostly originating from their country?

Re: North Korea hacked him, so he took down its internet

#235

Post by i67vw3 »

pmalynin wrote: post #44
ballenf wrote: post #2

I would have advised him to stay quiet about this. Not out of fear of the North Koreans, but out of fear of our own security agencies seeing the activity as interfering in international relations. Also the vagueness of our hacking laws probably make what he did a crime. But I also am immensely proud that we have people willing to take things into their own hands when needed. Also, I feel like the 2nd amendment should…

We’ll it’s interesting in this case, because technically speaking a peace treaty was never signed and North Korea is in the state of war with the United States. So is it really a crime to attack a hostile state?

Dude will be awarded his countries highest civilian award for contribution to his motherland. /s

Re: North Korea hacked him, so he took down its internet

#236

Post by HarryHirsch »

spaetzleesser wrote: post #225
pmalynin wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We’ll it’s interesting in this case, because technically speaking a peace treaty was never signed and North Korea is in the state of war with the United States. So is it really a crime to attack a hostile state?

“So is it really a crime to attack a hostile state?” I don’t know if it’s illegal per se but it’s definitely a dangerous game. If there are any misunderstandings things like this could lead to retaliation and ultimately armed conflict.

Yes, like that accidental pipeline hack. That group that shut down a good chunk of the national oil supply didn't have a letter of marque, so they were dealt with.

Re: North Korea hacked him, so he took down its internet

#237

Post by parts »

> “The United States is good at protecting the government, OK at protecting corporations, but does not protect individuals.”

> [Dave Aitel] points out that many of the targeted security researchers likely had significant access to software vulnerabilities, enterprise networks, and the code of widely used tools. That could result, he says, in “the next SolarWinds.”

Yikes.

Re: North Korea hacked him, so he took down its internet

#238

Post by mellavora »

archontes wrote: post #104
CircleSpokes wrote: post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It isn't just FFLs. The Gun Control Act (GCA) defines a list of people who aren't allowed to ship, transport, receive, or possess firearms of ammo. This includes any person "who is an unlawful user of or addicted to any controlled substance (as defined in section 102 of the Controlled Substances Act, codified at 21 U.S.C. § 802);" [1]. Since cannabis is federally illegal still if you use it you can't legally even pos…

Admittedly, it's hard to kill another person by voting, or receiving due process. And we do restrict speech when it verges on violence (imminent lawless action, fighting words).

> Admittedly, it's hard to kill another person by voting

I'm not so sure about that.

Re: North Korea hacked him, so he took down its internet

#239

Post by doublerabbit »

chc4 wrote: post #195
doublerabbit wrote: post #187

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> he opened a file sent to him by a fellow hacker, who had described it as an exploitation tool. Is it not potentially their mistake in the first place? They opened themselves to becoming exploited via social engineering. And if that is the real reason why, they were not really hacked. So can we stop using the term "hacked" so ambiguously?

Respectfully, you have no clue what you are talking about and should read https://blog.google/threat-analysis-group/new-campaign-targe...

He was socially engineered in-by trusting who was thought a buddy to open a file; who which was maliciously a actor for the N.Korea. I've been a SysAdmin for god-long time, so thank you for respectfully telling me that I am not, when I am full well aware of what I am talking about.

He was socially engineered to open a file. It wasn't Abbacada 123, poof your hacked. It was his fault, he opened the file and that makes him foolish of him to "trust" and open a file.

End result, he got himself infected with an exploit.

Re: North Korea hacked him, so he took down its internet

#240

Post by raxxorrax »

pmalynin wrote: post #44
ballenf wrote: post #2

I would have advised him to stay quiet about this. Not out of fear of the North Koreans, but out of fear of our own security agencies seeing the activity as interfering in international relations. Also the vagueness of our hacking laws probably make what he did a crime. But I also am immensely proud that we have people willing to take things into their own hands when needed. Also, I feel like the 2nd amendment should…

We’ll it’s interesting in this case, because technically speaking a peace treaty was never signed and North Korea is in the state of war with the United States. So is it really a crime to attack a hostile state?

In this case it seems to be just a retaliation as NK was the aggressor. The article is lazy though as there is zero information.
Post reply on HN