Does anyone know if the actions described in the article have been carried out? I'd hate to think that the "current owners" of the Sality botnet have fixed this exploit.
Please do not take down the Sality botnet
81–90 of 148 posts
Re: Please do not take down the Sality botnet
#82The guy takes all the time to put this together, write this up, and is perfectly ok with the outcome, but instead of going to a coffee shop and doing this himself, he spends a lengthy amount of time writing up instructions and giving the criminals a chance to fix their injection problems before someone can take down the botnet. Baffling. Not only that, but this guy seems to know what he's doing and instead of someone…
I apologize in advance for the tone, but as a Russian I have a question - are you racist? Since Sergey Brin and Mila Yovovich are "russians", do you imply that Google and Hollywood are part of this botnet? The most famous hacker is Kevin Mitnick [american] and most recent hackers charged/arrested by FBI are also american citizens. Why don't you change "russians" to "americans"? Or may be "new_zealanders" [Kim dot com…
Since when is "Russian" a race?
Re: Please do not take down the Sality botnet
#83I'm kind of confused why one would publish the HOWTO-kill anonymously. It would be totally reasonable to publish the howto and "wouldn't it be horrible if this happened; don't do it" under your name (if you want fame, without legal liability). Or, just publish and do it all anonymously. I guess I'm motivated by either fame or kills, which might be different than the anonymous party here.
I guess even publishing legally-protected information doesn't protect you from the nuisance of civil lawsuits, or potential extralegal/illegal actions by either the botnet staff or anyone who is harmed by the botnet or removal of botnet.
Re: Please do not take down the Sality botnet
#84Earlier quoted context omitted.
I agree that it is a prejudice and should be avoided, but it's not completely groundless: According to industry analyses, Russia accounts for about 35 percent of global cybercrime revenue, or between $2.5 and $3.7 billion. That’s wildly out of proportion with the country’s share of the global information technology market (which is around 1 percent). http://themoscownews.com/siloviks_scoundrels/20111121/189221... It'…
Based on that statistic it is significantly more likely that any particular cyber crime (or accurately dollar raised by cyber crime) is nothing to do with Russia than is and yet still this is a justification? That article doesn't even provide enough information to say that if you had to pick a single country of origin then it's more likely to be Russia than anywhere else. In terms of generalising based on that sort o…
Apparently you forgot to read the first line of my post. I'm not justifying anything, I'm explaining why the prejudice exists, and that it's not necessarily due to racism.
Re: Please do not take down the Sality botnet
#85I'm kind of confused why one would publish the HOWTO-kill anonymously. It would be totally reasonable to publish the howto and "wouldn't it be horrible if this happened; don't do it" under your name (if you want fame, without legal liability). Or, just publish and do it all anonymously. I guess I'm motivated by either fame or kills, which might be different than the anonymous party here. I guess even publishing legal…
Why are you assuming that lawabidingcitizen is not a disgruntled member of the organization behind sality?
Re: Please do not take down the Sality botnet
#86I'm kind of confused why one would publish the HOWTO-kill anonymously. It would be totally reasonable to publish the howto and "wouldn't it be horrible if this happened; don't do it" under your name (if you want fame, without legal liability). Or, just publish and do it all anonymously. I guess I'm motivated by either fame or kills, which might be different than the anonymous party here. I guess even publishing legal…
Why are you assuming that lawabidingcitizen is not a disgruntled member of the organization behind sality?
My lack of creativity or deep thinking on this issue (deadened by 8h of accounting catch-up tonight). That sounds like a highly plausible scenario.
Re: Please do not take down the Sality botnet
#87Earlier quoted context omitted.
Based on that statistic it is significantly more likely that any particular cyber crime (or accurately dollar raised by cyber crime) is nothing to do with Russia than is and yet still this is a justification? That article doesn't even provide enough information to say that if you had to pick a single country of origin then it's more likely to be Russia than anywhere else. In terms of generalising based on that sort o…
Apparently you forgot to read the first line of my post. I'm not justifying anything, I'm explaining why the prejudice exists, and that it's not necessarily due to racism.
I get that, I'm trying to explain why it's not a reasonable basis for prejudice.
Re: Please do not take down the Sality botnet
#88Earlier quoted context omitted.
I agree that it is a prejudice and should be avoided, but it's not completely groundless: According to industry analyses, Russia accounts for about 35 percent of global cybercrime revenue, or between $2.5 and $3.7 billion. That’s wildly out of proportion with the country’s share of the global information technology market (which is around 1 percent). http://themoscownews.com/siloviks_scoundrels/20111121/189221... It'…
thank you :-) Just to point to a couple of facts:- 1. From the same article: "Why does every hacking and cyberscam story – real or fictional – seem to have a Russia connection? In part, it is prejudice and laziness. The stereotype of the Russian hacker has become such a common media trope that it gets recycled again and again. It also offers a handy update for those looking for new ways to perpetuate the ‘Russian thr…
> "Skilled but under-emplored programmer in Russia" is like Bigfoot [also known as sasquatch] - everyone heard about him/her, but noone saw. It is a legend...
Pretty good observation. I think most people are operating on 10-12 year old data when they think that. They think "fall of the Soviet Union" with now hungry scientists slowly turning to the dark side to become less hungry mad scientists who will inflict pain and suffering upon us all.
Re: Please do not take down the Sality botnet
#89Earlier quoted context omitted.
I apologize in advance for the tone, but as a Russian I have a question - are you racist? Since Sergey Brin and Mila Yovovich are "russians", do you imply that Google and Hollywood are part of this botnet? The most famous hacker is Kevin Mitnick [american] and most recent hackers charged/arrested by FBI are also american citizens. Why don't you change "russians" to "americans"? Or may be "new_zealanders" [Kim dot com…
Since when is "Russian" a race?
From the perspective of racism (which is the context here) it's perfectly valid.
The UN's definition of racial descrimination:
"the term "racial discrimination" shall mean any distinction, exclusion, restriction, or preference based on race, colour, descent, or national or ethnic origin that has the purpose or effect of nullifying or impairing the recognition, enjoyment or exercise, on an equal footing, of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the political, economic, social, cultural or any other field of public life."
Re: Please do not take down the Sality botnet
#90Earlier quoted context omitted.
I apologize in advance for the tone, but as a Russian I have a question - are you racist? Since Sergey Brin and Mila Yovovich are "russians", do you imply that Google and Hollywood are part of this botnet? The most famous hacker is Kevin Mitnick [american] and most recent hackers charged/arrested by FBI are also american citizens. Why don't you change "russians" to "americans"? Or may be "new_zealanders" [Kim dot com…
Since when is "Russian" a race?
Russian refers to anything related to Russia, including:
* Russians (russkiye), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries (where they are also known as Ruthenians or by other names)
Close enough?