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Dimitry's company sold password crackers to the FBI
According to this russian article, Elcomsoft sold password crackers to the FBI. Elcomsoft's president, Alexander Katalov said
"Yes, main customers of our program for breaking passwords are special services. Same FBI repeatedly for us purchased these programs". Since Alexander was involved in the KGB, he is apparently trying to pull favours from his FBI friends.
The following russian to english translator appears to work on the article. Alternatively you can read this Inquirer article which provides a partial translation.
Alexander how there was Dmitry's arrest?
We get handcuffed!!
What your lawyers speak?
How are you client?
All your rights are belong to government.
You have no chance to survive.
What you are going to do(make) now?
Since I have no chance to survive,
I will make my time.
Ha Ha Ha Ha!
But you see "having broken open" the book once, it is possible to distribute her(it) then...
Move 'broken female book.'
You know what you doing.
Take off every 'broken female book.'
Final thoughts?
Please, get me out of here.
For great justice!!!
--
Investigative journalists-- there's a Pulitzer waiting for you in here somewhere.
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This is my SIG. There are many like it, but this one is mine.
Hey looks like Sklyarov isnt the only one "cracking" things he shouldn't be...
It's ok because we're the government... Riiiight.
prosebeforehos.com
The FBI probably has a copy of every cracking/security gizmo out there. They're in the security business, they get them primarily to know how they work and what their "adversaries" have and can get and can do.
If this is a surprise to anyone, I'm surprised...
From http://www.netoscope.ru/theme/2001/07/17/2925.html
They Handcuffed Dmitriy Right Away
Alexey Andreyev
lexa@spb.cityline.ru
7/17/2001
The president of "Elcomsoft" Aleksandr Katalov tells details about the arrest of the company's employee Dmitriy Sklyarov. The FBI arrested Dmitriy in Las Vegas after his presentation at Def Con of a [computer] science paper, part of his dissertation. In the USA, however, he is going to be tried as a malicious hacker.
Aleksandr, how was Dmitriy arrested?
DefCon was on Sunday, and Dmitriy was presenting our paper "eBook Security: Theory and Practice." On Monday morning, he, and another of our employees, Andrey, were leaving the hotel for the airport. Two individuals stopped them at the exit. They showed them FBI badges, and handcuffed Dmitriy right away. Dmitriy and Andrey were led to different rooms. The just had a discussion with Andrey - asked him this and that for about half an hour, then let him go. He tried to call me several times, but couldn't reach me. Then he called the Moscow office around 10:30, and they sent us an [e-]mail about the arrest.
Was Dmitriy Sklyarov the only author of the program "Advanced eBook Processor" (because of which he was arrested)?
Of course not! Also, he was responsible for the scientific, research part of the project, he is the author of the algorithms. This is part of his dissertation. At least three employees of our company have worked on this program, and it is distributed under the "Elcomsoft" brand. But now the Americans, most likely, will try to represent this as a break-in, perpetrated by some lone Russian hacker.
So it turns out, they "took away" Dmitriy, only because he did a presentation at DefCon?
It looks like it, yes. Although at the beginning of his presentation he announced that he is employed by "Elcomsoft", the company which developed this program.
What do your lawyers say?
Our lawyers learned about the arrest in the evening, after everything was already closed. Here is what happened: after I got the message about the arrest, I immediately called the Russian consulate. They suggested that I wait until noon - maybe he would be placed on the flight to LA, and from there on the Aeroflot flight home. However, he didn't show up at the airport. After that the consulate started preparing an official inquiry for the American authorities. They were dealing with that until about 2 pm, when the check-in for the flight was over - it was clear the Dmitriy hadn't left. On top of that, we had no idea where he was. Around 2 the consulate made the inquiry but until the end of the work day - 6 pm - there was no response. In other words, on Monday there was no information whatsoever.
On Tuesday morning, when our Moscow office openned, Dmitriy's wife called. She told them that she was called and informed through a translator that her husband was arrested. They didn't let her talk to him personally. This happened around 4 am Moscow time - so here it was still around 3 pm on Monday. Turns out that they didn't inform the consulate that day.
Have they filed charges?
From what I understood from Dmitriy's wife (and she wasn't clear on everything under these circumstances, she also has a two-month old child) - yesterday was when he was arraigned. And it was decided that until the trial Dmitriy will stay in jail, because there is no one here to post bail for him. Further more, they did not tell anyone [who could post bail] about the arrest - not us, not the consulate. Obviously, we couldn't do anything yesterday.
After this case, and the arrest of another Russian hacker earlier, one could think that the FBI has established a new operating procedure: lure Russain hackers to the US, and arrest them there, "according to their laws." Have your employees traveled before to meetings like DefCon? Were there no similar stories?
This story is truly a test of [...] the U.S. Constitution.
The U.S. what? The what constitution? The what what?
OH, you mean that thing that Congress has been wiping its ass with for the last century, that the religious wacko right wants to do away with, that the chucklehead left wants to do away with, and which wouldn't be ratified if it were brought to a vote today?
It describes a different, better, and dead country. May its day come again.
- - - - -
Napster-to-go says "Fill and refill your compatible MP3 player", which is a lie. It's not MP3. It's WMA with DRM.
Only a decade or so ago it was the Soviet regime that was imprisoning their own scientists, sometimes because of "non-socialist" behaviour, perhaps simply for approving of "western" commercial/capitalistic principles. The FBI would play cat and mouse against their "evil" (probably back then they indeed were more sinister) KGB counterparts.
Now we have a scientist from democratic Russia, working for a company with ex-KGB affiliations, jailed by FBI, the guardians of ultra-capitalistic USA. And FBI is now the the state organ protecting state-approved monopoly on information claimed by US-based Adobe Corporation. National Profit comes before Scientific (or personal) Freedom.
O Tempora O Mores.
This case made me realize that non-US citizens apparently have no constitutional rights in the USA, the self-proclaimed "home of the free". I wonder if that also applies to green-carded residents such as, hmm, Linus. Until this incident I only knew one (aspiring) superpower which would detain visiting scholars under the all-encompassing pretext of "state security". Now there's another superpower, the pretext simply being the all-mighty corporate Profit instead.
--
A. Bullard
Should invading one's peaceful neighbours be opposed, or rewarded with trade deals?
Also, I recently applied for a position as a software engineering manager at Adobe, which would be a good job for me and for which I feel I am qualified. Times have been tough for me and my little family and for quite some time I thought I might not speak out in a public way on this matter.
But long ago I decided that staying quiet was the wrong thing to do, so after quaking in fear for a while I decided I'd copy the following letter to the nice lady in the Adobe HR department who has been considering my application.
Mike
-- Could you use my software consulting serv
- A visitor to this country is jailed because of something he did in his own country infuriated an American corporation.
- Same visitor did not commit ANY illegal acts in this country.
- Visitor's said actions were very much legal in his own country.
- This story is not even mentioned by the news media.
And this is America, the land of the free?
Who wrote that circumvention device that allows access to copyrighted information that has been encrypted in Russian?
134340: I am not a number. I am a free planet!
It's worse that Elcomsoft sells rather nasty spamware.
If it had been idealism, I would have been on the barricade right away, but this is a case of Elcomsoft's money vs. Adobe's money, and I think I'll limit my protest to underwriting petitions, and speak out against the use of PDF.
But you guys need to get rid of DMCA, it is clearly a significant threat to free expression, and I guess this is a good case to use in that fight. Just don't make heros of Elcomsoft.
Employee of Inrupt, Project Release Manager and Community Manager for Solid
The Nazi pinhead shouting obscenities and "Kill the Jews" outside Temple, HIS speech is protected.
The right-wing minister protesting at a funeral, screaming "God's vengeance on fags," HIS speech is protected.
A geek programmer from Russia gives a speech on software security, and his speech ISN'T protected.
Something's wrong with this picture, maybe the vertical hold's broken...
..as usual. however, i wouldn't be surprised if FBI or any other, be it a govermental or private party, used the software. why the hell not? and for those of you who claim that russian media is mum, you're just not informed well or speak out of your ignorance. yes, maybe some peasant who doesn't watch news in Urals might not even know what "hacking" is, but people are rather informed about the matter and updated constantly, for all major newspapers/radio/tv shows report the incident on a daily basis. as per the consulate, it is actively involved. FBI has realized that they did a big no-no and now the try to dig themselves out a pile of sh$t they got themselves in. acting merely out of unknown impulse, they have once again damaged their reputation. adobe is as well, trying to smooth the situation. believe me, in few days the whole thing will get resolved and the guy will get sent back home w/o facing a trial. no, im not a troll.. and yes, i am russian :)