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Kaspersky believes it found new CIA malware

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Re: Kaspersky believes it found new CIA malware

#31

Post by kube-system »

throwaway210222 wrote: post #19
kube-system wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not sure it's really meaningful to simply say they're a "Russian company". More specifically, they're a company that has been accused of cooperating with the FSB in attacks against the US government. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaspersky_bans_and_allegations... Whatever the case, it's probably wise to take their statements with some skepticism of bias in this regard.

Or: "they're a company that has been accused without evidence of cooperating with the FSB in attacks against the US government by US entities aligned to the US-based actors that they have exposed". FTFY.

I used the word "accused" intentionally. My pointing out a potential bias here is not a diminishment of anyone else's potential bias.

Re: Kaspersky believes it found new CIA malware

#32

Post by Dolores12 »

efnx wrote: post #2

So this was deployed in 2014 and we’re just connecting all the dots now? It really makes you wonder what’s being deployed at the moment. The fact that they can determine all this from some binary is amazing. Security researchers really are techno-archaeologists.

Now compare it to how fast US intelligence analysts are. They may conclude who is behind attack in a matter of days. (For example, recent solarwinds attack)

Re: Kaspersky believes it found new CIA malware

#33

Post by viro »

throwaway210222 wrote: post #19
kube-system wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not sure it's really meaningful to simply say they're a "Russian company". More specifically, they're a company that has been accused of cooperating with the FSB in attacks against the US government. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaspersky_bans_and_allegations... Whatever the case, it's probably wise to take their statements with some skepticism of bias in this regard.

Or: "they're a company that has been accused without evidence of cooperating with the FSB in attacks against the US government by US entities aligned to the US-based actors that they have exposed". FTFY.

> without evidence of cooperating with the FSB

That isn't true. This "without evidence" shit is rather silly when it comes to top-secret sources and methods. Blow decades of work and risk getting people killed to Prove that an ex-KGB officer helps an authoritative regime thats known to poison its enemies. People said the same shit about Huawei, then all the KPN shit.

Link: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-07-11/kaspersky...

Re: Kaspersky believes it found new CIA malware

#35

Post by RedComet »

dcsommer wrote: post #28
RedComet wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Its probably because the US government is the single greatest force for evil in the world right now.

This kind of hyperbole is neither instructive nor accurate. What is the intended purpose of this comment?

It is accurate and not hyperbole. But the point is to help that poster understand why someone would not question the claim.

Re: Kaspersky believes it found new CIA malware

#36

Post by Koshkin »

willcipriano wrote: post #24
mc32 wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I recall how when we had North Korean hacking activities and official attributions people would say, but how do we know it was them and how do we know the government isn’t making things up? But when someone accuses the US we never add any salt. Not that I don’t think it’s false, it’s just that the lack of consistent skepticism is interesting.

If I had to wager I'd always bet on the CIA lying, I don't see how anyone could come to another conclusion given their history.

I've come to a conclusion that, from the evolutionary standpoint, lying (and stealing) is one of the most important forms of the intelligent behavior. We see it in the animal world, so this unavoidably should be seen as such in the world of humans...

Re: Kaspersky believes it found new CIA malware

#37

Post by FpUser »

jmann99999 wrote: post #21

I may have missed it in the article, but as a sysadmin, i’m trying to figure out what I should do. It appears the CIA has created malware. I assume, if they have exploited some hole, others will too. While I appreciate the heads up, Can anyone offer suggestions on how to mitigate this malware? What do I do? Do I have to rely on Kaspersky?

If you want to be protected from the US made malware you do not go to US antimalware vendor. If you want to be protected against Russian malware you do not get antimalware from Russia.

So pick your poison.

Re: Kaspersky believes it found new CIA malware

#38

Post by Dolores12 »

Sunscratch wrote: post #27

"Kaspersky believes it found new CIA malware"... being itself russian FSB malware...

Your comment makes no sense. If it were russian malware it would be outed by counterparts in a second. Still ZERO evidence, just FUD. I would also prefer to have FSB malware, just because their power is limited.

Re: Kaspersky believes it found new CIA malware

#39

Post by barkingcat »

jmann99999 wrote: post #21

I may have missed it in the article, but as a sysadmin, i’m trying to figure out what I should do. It appears the CIA has created malware. I assume, if they have exploited some hole, others will too. While I appreciate the heads up, Can anyone offer suggestions on how to mitigate this malware? What do I do? Do I have to rely on Kaspersky?

Almost all government created malware uses 0days that they've kept back or held back from public disclosure, so there's nothing really you can do (aside from waiting for disclosure). That's the point of a CIA hack isn't it?

If there's something you can do, then they've failed at their job, and it's time for hiring the next batch of developers (yes these are developers with a paid day job - to make malware for the CIA).

In university, most computer science or computer engineering students had to make a choice whether to work for the country's security agencies and/or the military industries (via internships, being recruited, or just plain applying to government/pentagon/fbi/cia/nsa/csis jobs, etc), and that's their choice to make.

From the government's point of view, it's no different than recruiting soldiers for the Army/Navy/Marines. If they couldn't train you to their standards for basic fitness and basic shooting skills, they've failed and you'd probably wash out from infantry school.

The other thing you could do is to contribute to initiatives that do specific research into looking for vulnerabilities. It's no guarantee that you'll find the same vulnerabilities that the CIA is exploiting though, or you might find entirely other ones that they've been using for other exploits.

Re: Kaspersky believes it found new CIA malware

#40

Post by viro »

RedComet wrote: post #26
mc32 wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I recall how when we had North Korean hacking activities and official attributions people would say, but how do we know it was them and how do we know the government isn’t making things up? But when someone accuses the US we never add any salt. Not that I don’t think it’s false, it’s just that the lack of consistent skepticism is interesting.

Its probably because the US government is the single greatest force for evil in the world right now.

Yea .... not if you ask a gay person in Russia.
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