Hacking Team hacked, attackers claim 400GB in dumped data • Hacker News Board

Re: Hacking Team hacked, attackers claim 400GB in dumped data

#211

Post by Jugurtha » Mon, Jul 06, 2015, 8:48 PM UTC

rjaco31 wrote: post #77

Jugurtha wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What if it was a deliberate effort from Hacking Team itself to fake a breach, produce a torrent file to be downloaded and compromise whoever is downloading it? The size would need to be large enough that whoever trying to download it will have to stay a relatively long time.

The massive PR hit they're taking means their company will most likely die. And "compromising" someone merely by letting one download stuff is at best a gamble, any decent infosec professional will examine this stuff with the same precautions as when analyzing malware.

This is exactly what I'm talking about: What I'm being downvoted for and what each comment is doing is rationalizing why this simply can't happen. Everyone is confident about what Hacking Team is or isn't doing/thinking.

How can someone be so sure what an entity is thinking or doing? Yes, it's not likely. Yes, it's risky.. but what if they were really bold?

The PR hit is a non issue if it is the case, since they can simply say what happened: "Basically, here's how to own a huge number of very sophisticated people". Make nice slides, and show them at Black Hat or something like that. It's "research".

The icing on the cake would be to present this material to the very security researchers who've been ownd. This would be a huge PR stunt since it's basically security researchers who will download the file.. And if security researchers are as confident as most people that this simply can't be a con, then all the better :)

It is still not likely, but it would be beautiful.

PS: Something like that happened at NASA many, many, years ago. There was a security breach and instead of shutting it down, the security team uploaded a ton of bogus classified files, plans, and reports to keep the guy coming and unsuspecting. Until they got him.

Re: Hacking Team hacked, attackers claim 400GB in dumped data

#212

Post by MichaelGG » Mon, Jul 06, 2015, 9:03 PM UTC

TeMPOraL wrote: post #204

MichaelGG wrote: post #197

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I actually have software that'd be a decent fit for this use case. I'm working on bringing it to market for VoIP companies to use in troubleshooting networks. (Hint: It's super effective. At one place we cut ticket response times down by an enormous factor.) And one benefit I'm planning on adding is lawful intercept. A lot of VoIP companies are sitting at risk of getting a valid warrant and having no way to respond.…

Here's the problem: you think someone else will do it anyway thus damage is certain, so you can at least be the first to profit from it. And guess what, your competitors probably think the same thing. And you'll all rush to delivering morally dubious products. Because hey, if someone will defect anyway, it's best I defect fist. I am increasingly convinced that the very point of morality is to steer society away from…

Fair point. I guess if I was convinced that my actions would actually matter, then I'd care. It's like voting for a third candidate in US elections - pointless.

Anyways I'm far more interested in how to get to a point to sell to governments the first place. Hacking Team's marketing seems juvenile and lame from the naming to the way they phrase stuff. But at E200K per license, they were obviously successful.

Re: Hacking Team hacked, attackers claim 400GB in dumped data

#213

Post by ikeboy » Mon, Jul 06, 2015, 9:27 PM UTC

ikeboy wrote: post #166

nohostname wrote: post #124

i wonder who is behind this massive hack, is it a positive or even worst group? i wouldn't want to be in the private pictures leaked once the world knows you are responsable for torture and murder of potential innocent people, very nasty karma

According to https://twitter.com/lorenzoFB/status/618060756198772736 , it's the same guy who hacked finfisher a year ago.

And now a follow up article http://motherboard.vice.com/read/hacker-claims-responsibilit...

Re: Hacking Team hacked, attackers claim 400GB in dumped data

#214

Post by ikeboy » Mon, Jul 06, 2015, 9:33 PM UTC

mirimir wrote: post #188

Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai at Motherboard reports evidence that PhineasFisher hacked Hacking Team.[0] It's also possible that someone else hacked both Hacking Team and PhineasFisher, of course. [0] http://motherboard.vice.com/read/hacker-claims-responsibilit...

I doubt it was PhineasFisher that was hacked; there's almost no attack vector. S/he hadn't used the twitter account in almost a year , there's extremely little info about them for any attacker to go on, and there's little obvious motive for a hacker to impersonate them as opposed to starting their own pseudonym or anything.

The only method of attack would be to know what email is used for the twitter and hack it, or guess the password, neither of which should be easy against someone using minimal security precautions. (Or, I guess, it could be a false-flag by the US, who could force twitter to do stuff; but that seems way too much risk of PhineasFisher coming out elsewhere and exposing that. Did PF ever put a pgp key somewhere?

Re: Hacking Team hacked, attackers claim 400GB in dumped data

#215

Post by shit_parade3 » Mon, Jul 06, 2015, 9:52 PM UTC

MichaelGG wrote: post #212

TeMPOraL wrote: post #204

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Here's the problem: you think someone else will do it anyway thus damage is certain, so you can at least be the first to profit from it. And guess what, your competitors probably think the same thing. And you'll all rush to delivering morally dubious products. Because hey, if someone will defect anyway, it's best I defect fist. I am increasingly convinced that the very point of morality is to steer society away from…

Fair point. I guess if I was convinced that my actions would actually matter, then I'd care. It's like voting for a third candidate in US elections - pointless. Anyways I'm far more interested in how to get to a point to sell to governments the first place. Hacking Team's marketing seems juvenile and lame from the naming to the way they phrase stuff. But at E200K per license, they were obviously successful.

Yeah man, selling surveillance software totally doesn't amount to a thing, those dissidents would of met a gruesome end one way or another.

You are evil.

Re: Hacking Team hacked, attackers claim 400GB in dumped data

#216

Post by tedks » Mon, Jul 06, 2015, 10:04 PM UTC

criley2 wrote: post #156

pound wrote: post #151

Earlier quoted context omitted.

it's not just closure of mental-health institution. You may also say the roots of homelessness lie in liberal values. Here is a bit of context for often mentioned closure of mental hospitals/services: at first there was a decision NOT to force anyone with mental issues to be admitted into such establishments against their will unless they dangerous to themself/others. And only ofter that closures of half-empty at tha…

" You may also say the roots of homelessness lie in liberal values." LOL - no. Liberal values include state housing which is proven time and time again to end mass homelessness at a smaller cost than the law enforcement, judicial and social cost of managing homeless populations. Liberal values strongly support taking from the rich to support the poor, including the mentally ill and homeless. You do not see many liber…

>LOL - no. Liberal values include state housing which is proven time and time again to end mass homelessness at a smaller cost than the law enforcement, judicial and social cost of managing homeless populations. Liberal values strongly support taking from the rich to support the poor, including the mentally ill and homeless. You do not see many liberal values at play here.

It's pretty ridiculous to say that when in democrat-controlled areas (I will strip the political posturing from the "liberal"/"conservative" weasel words to the teams they refer to, democrats and republicans) there is still plenty of homelessness, very little state housing, and plenty of law enforcement.

DC has been controlled by democrats for decades, as has Chicago, and I know DC has been having a great time selling off homeless shelters so developers can keep gentrification rolling.

Pretending that the other team is responsible for all the world's ills is so juvenile. Can you really not see how partisanship has literally blinded you?

Re: Hacking Team hacked, attackers claim 400GB in dumped data

#217

Post by EliRivers » Mon, Jul 06, 2015, 10:13 PM UTC

drzaiusapelord wrote: post #136

chinathrow wrote: post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You know, this is what I keep asking myself about all the fine folks in defense, developing the newest fucking weapons/plane/gun/drone/whatever which _will_ be used people in other countries. We should introduce a "walk away from your job"-kickstarter thing to encourage leaving those positions.

A nation's strong defensive capabilities deter action. If Ukraine had NATO level arms that could counter Russia's weapons, there would be no war in Ukraine right now. Instead, their military is all Soviet relics that current-gen and even most last-gen Russian arms can easily overrun; thus the Russian led artillery, Russian led AA, Russian led forces, and Russian special ops making mincemeat of their military. Its inc…

Deterrence indeed; the nations keenest right now on developing their own nuclear weapons (DPRK and Iran, I'm looking at you) are doing it because they know damn well it's the only way to be safe from the world's current invasion-happy globe-trotting nation and favoured sidekick (who, to be fair, do seem a lot less keen to invade other countries after the long series of monumental clusterfucks in Iraq and Afghanistan). The question is can they develop them before said warstarters decide to invade anyway?

China remembers what the US was thinking the last time it was yomping about near the Yalu River and certainly won't put up with anyone invading the DPRK, so they're safe at least from that quarter, but if I was Iran, having watched Iraq get invaded and then screwed over for a decade for essentially no reason whatsoever, I'd be really keen to have some kind of deterrence before the US decided to invade.

Re: Hacking Team hacked, attackers claim 400GB in dumped data

#218

Post by grossvogel » Mon, Jul 06, 2015, 10:40 PM UTC

tedks wrote: post #216

criley2 wrote: post #156

Earlier quoted context omitted.

" You may also say the roots of homelessness lie in liberal values." LOL - no. Liberal values include state housing which is proven time and time again to end mass homelessness at a smaller cost than the law enforcement, judicial and social cost of managing homeless populations. Liberal values strongly support taking from the rich to support the poor, including the mentally ill and homeless. You do not see many liber…

>LOL - no. Liberal values include state housing which is proven time and time again to end mass homelessness at a smaller cost than the law enforcement, judicial and social cost of managing homeless populations. Liberal values strongly support taking from the rich to support the poor, including the mentally ill and homeless. You do not see many liberal values at play here. It's pretty ridiculous to say that when in d…

I suspect parent would disagree with your assertion / assumption that the US Democratic Party embodies liberal values.

Re: Hacking Team hacked, attackers claim 400GB in dumped data

#219

Post by caskance » Mon, Jul 06, 2015, 11:24 PM UTC

griffinmb wrote: post #143

caskance wrote: post #106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Freedom is a feeling. If you feel free, then you are free.

That's an interesting way of looking at it, though I disagree. Consider the society depicted in Brave New World (or, more recently, District 1 in the Hunger Games). It may be fiction, but I think it showcases a true-to-life phenomenon where people feel free only because of hyper-stimulation. Because they have so much, they don't think about everything they lack.

One could say the same about any so-called free people. Do you feel free? Even though you don't have eternal life? Even though you can't afford to fly to work every day in a jetpack? Even though you can't have sex with a woman other than your wife? If you have the things that matter to you, and can make the choices that are meaningful to you, then you are free.

Re: Hacking Team hacked, attackers claim 400GB in dumped data

#220

Post by tedks » Tue, Jul 07, 2015, 12:04 AM UTC

grossvogel wrote: post #218

tedks wrote: post #216

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>LOL - no. Liberal values include state housing which is proven time and time again to end mass homelessness at a smaller cost than the law enforcement, judicial and social cost of managing homeless populations. Liberal values strongly support taking from the rich to support the poor, including the mentally ill and homeless. You do not see many liberal values at play here. It's pretty ridiculous to say that when in d…

I suspect parent would disagree with your assertion / assumption that the US Democratic Party embodies liberal values.

That's almost certainly true. However, it's equally almost certain that they would agree with the statement that the Republican Party embodies conservative values.

I'd also like to clarify: I was neither assuming nor asserting that the Democratic Party "embodies" "liberal" "values". Rather, I was asserting that the use of the term "liberal" is a weasel word meant to refer to a in-group centered around the Democratic Party, not any political ideology.