Slashdot Mirror
Russian Snared By The FBI Sentenced To 3 Years
Mark Cantrell writes "Vasiliy Gorshkov, one of two Russian crackers who were arrested in November 2000 after the FBI broke into their computer systems were sentenced Friday. Taking pity on Gorshkov's family, they sentenced Gorshkov to 3 years in prison and a fine of nearly $700,000 USD. They also mention how a U.S. judge found that the FBI wasn't breaking any laws in breaking into a Russian computer system, despite the fact that they were breaking a Russian law doing so. So apparently, it's ok for Americans to break Russian law if they're in the U.S., but not ok for Russians to break U.S. law, even while in Russia."
The bureau created a fake company, called "Invita," and asked the Russians to come to Seattle for job interviews. The men were asked to prove their skills and given permission to scan an Invita computer network for vulnerabilities. The computers they used had software on them that logged every keystroke and FBI agents were able to later grab the men's passwords and download evidence off their computer network in Russia.
Interesting that they used human intelligence [HUMINT] to gain the passwords. Once they had the passwords, however, I wonder if they got [or needed] a warrant to search the Russian network.
If an agent were to lift a key, make a wax impression of it, return the key, and use the wax impression to make a duplicate of the key, it seems like he would still need a warrant before he could enter the door [and the premises behind it] that the key unlocked.
PS: For all you girlie-boyz with your panties tied up in knots, THESE RUSSKIES WERE STEALING CREDIT CARD NUMBERS!!! THEY ARE FELONS, NOT HEROES!!!
Have you read it? Please post a link if you have, I can't find it. What I can find are several articles with statements like these:
The men claim the FBI acted improperly by covertly stealing their passwords and using that information to gather evidence against them.
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From http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_312763.html
Their lawyers contend that all material obtained from the computers should be suppressed ahead of any trial.
Seattle District Judge John Coughenour rejected the motion on the grounds that "the (FBI) agents had good reason to fear that if they did not copy the data, (the) defendant's co-conspirators would destroy the evidence".
He also added privacy rights contained within the Fourth Amendment do not extend to individuals or property located outside the US.
From http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&ncid=
Russian's state security service, the FSB, lodged a complaint against the FBI earlier this year, alleging that the FBI didn't have authorization to break into a computer system in Russia and download files.
The FBI countered, and the judge agreed, that Russian law does not apply to the agents' actions.
Seems pretty clear the judge is saying that the FBI doesn't need to follow the laws of either our own country or those of any other nation in an international pursuit of 'justice'.
"Gold still represents the ultimate form of payment in the world." - Alan Greenspan, 1999
Man, there must be a lot of foreign /. viewers to get a 5 insightful.
This is the country which wants to bomb another one into the ground on the basis that it ignores UN resolution
No, it wants to enforce the UN sanctions that Iraq has agreed to. Iraq can very simply avoid being "bombed into the ground" if it simply let the weapon inspectors in. One doesn't need more than a half of brain to realize that they aren't going to let inspectors in because they are violating their agreement and are trying to build weapons of mass destruction. Too bad it's not the 1930's and you can comment on how it's ok for Germany to build up it's army again.
The vast majority of the rest of the world has already come to the conclusion not to take the US seriously, this is just icing on the cake.
Man, you are just spewing heretic now. The rest of world is joining the US in enforcing the UN sanctions against Iraq. Maybe China isn't donating a few billion troops to help, but they aren't opposed either since they are just staying out of it like they did in 1991. I'm not sure what country you are from, but when Iraq gets a nuke and the US unveils it's SDI system, I'm sure you'll be running over on your hands and knees to come under our umbrella of protection.
Oh how easily our "allies" forget...
Live web cams
For starters:
Get lots of people to write letters.
Get lots of people to write letters saying this one issue is so important to them that it will determine who they vote for next election.
Get lots of people to promise financial support if the representative supports your position.
Organize a political action committee around this issue. Find funding. Staff an office in Washington and lobby, lobby, lobby.
Hire lawyers. Tell the lawyers to prepare a draft bill reflecting your position. Convince your Congressperson to introduce it.
Start a PR campaign. Find people who have been adversely affected by the status quo re: this issue. Generate press releases about them, tied to the need for action on Capitol Hill. Coach the people to be effective on TV. Get them on TV.
At election time, make sure your people get out and vote the way they said they would.
Be prepared to stick with it for years.
-- Slashdot: When Public Access TV Says "No"
The US is preparing to invade a sovereign nation -- advertising the fact at the top of its lungs for months now -- in a war that will add significantly to the over 500,000 Iraqi civilians murdered by its bombing and sanctions over the past decade.
Currently the US is getting upset about the Iraqis attempting to defend their airspace. Wonder how many Americans will wind up dead too, especially if Iraq actually has the weapons Bush and Blair claim exist.
As for the oil issue by the time the war is finished all the Iraqi oil wells will look like those in Kuwait did at the end of the last gulf war. Blowing up an oil well does not require anything high tech.