Slashdot Mirror
The Story of the tech.net.ru Crackers
tabdelgawad writes "The Washington Post is running a three-part story (Part 1,
Part 2, and Part 3) detailing the events of the arrest of the two Russian crackers, Vasiliy Gorshkov and Alexey Ivanov, from a couple of years ago (See also Previous Slashdot Story 1 and 2). The writeup is light on technical details, but includes fascinating information about the crackers' socioeconomic conditions and motivations, as well as the competence and effectiveness of the FBI in combatting cybercrime."
"Financial Damage" is a tough thing to define though. Some companies will claim millions of dollars lost to recover systems that have been hacked. How much actual financial damage did Kevin Mitnick cause?
I read the internet for the articles.
As one of the Russian authorities pointed out, it basically boils down to "commercial competition" between the two countries. The disparity in our economies is manifested in the lack of law enforcement in Russia. People who have no other options use what they've got, and countries with bigger problems than a couple of their citizens trying to make some money (albeit illegally) have their hands tied. I think the more interesting question is how to resolve the problem in a manner that would help both sides; is the answer simply stamping out these people's skills and livelihoods?
The sad thing is that you think that this is a troll, and that everything magically changed post-1989.
I want to delete my account but Slashdot doesn't allow it.
Some of us are. Realistically speaking, usage dictates meaning. If everyone else in the world is going to think of hackers as malicious intruders, then so be it. Languages change over time, and computer jargon should be no different.
I'm sure some people will fight for using the "correct terms." They are probably also zealots for their favorite text editor or Linux distro. I don't mind that they do it, but I won't do it myself.
Fight the battles worth fighting for. Leave the H/Cr battle for someone else.
--
"Extra Anus Kills Four-Legged Chick" -- Headline
2. The Soviet Union dissolved in 1989. After 1989 there was no USSR, no repressive govt, no torture chambers for subversives or whatever else you might be implying.
...
The repressive state they were 'a product of' ceased to exist when these boys were 13 and 8.
While the USSR no longer exists, it would be silly to think that everything that it had done was magically undone the day it ceased to be.
I suggest you take a trip to Berlin, stand at Checkpoint Charlie (or anywhere else along the wall), look left and look right.
I did this last Spring, on Spring Break. It's a very powerful experience. I was too young to understand the full implications of what was happening when the wall fell, but today I realize that the effects of the USSR live on and will for quite some time.
Whether or not the grandparent post was trolling, it's resonable to consider the USSR's effects on the people it controlled. It made a lasting impression on many societies.
Think about this one: How long did it take after abolition for the status of blacks in America to change? Where those born 20 years after abolition, able to live their lives blissfully unware that it had ever happened?
Maybe societies don't change instantly, even if you'd like to think so. If you want an example of this in relation to the topic at hand, I suggest you do a search on the word "propiska."
Here's a link from about a month ago.
Life is too short to proofread.
The Washington Post calls them hackers and their activities hacking, while /. rightfully used the word cracker?
I emailed them a slightly different version of RMS' letter you can find in the Jargon file (Appendix C). I've got no illusions about how effective it'll be, but I still feel it's something we should do more.
This is just plain stupid. Connecting hacking with economical situation in any country is going nowhere. There are some countries, where You have to know what's going on before You start a company. And a bunch of guys living in such conditions should know about it.
Just a rule of thumb: running a small family bussines in Eastern Europe means keeping it low. If You don't want to, just be sure You are big enough to face consequences.
terrorism spawns where political goals can't be met by other means (trying to get something into the public knoweledge or trying to force the majority into something else by terror, or by fighting the oppressing force using unconventional means that cause terror).
common criminals spawn of poverty and possibilities, much like in usa too.
however theres a very thin line between criminal and legal person russia.. chances are that to do ordinary business you will have to be at least partly criminal(bribe & etc).
world was created 5 seconds before this post as it is.
I hope these guys get the chair. Seriously. My wife and I are *very* careful online, and in all purchases - even so far as shredding all information before it goes into the trash.
The last two weeks we've had identity/credit theft again.. the second time within a year. Let me tell you first hand, this is NO fun. I spoke with our Credit Union representative about this - she stated that members are being hit with this almost nonstop, and it only shows signs of getting worse. Even better, now (she stated) they have perfected forging other things like money orders and the like, which is on the rise as well.
This hacking sounds "interesting" up to the point you've lived through it first hand. Now, I just want these guys caught and put away. However, the responsibility doesn't simply rest on their shoulders. Visa and other Banks should have the pants sued off them for giving the public such a laugh of security in the form of credit cards. Why lawsuits? Because once you hit their precious pocketbooks, they will finally take this stuff seriously. If the public truly understood the depth of how laughable the security is, I think they would experience mass account closures almost overnight.
The ease of use of these things is apalling. Heck, once they have a number, how hard is it to get the rest of the data like address and phone? What a laugh.
People - protect yourselves. I'm looking more into this: [Private Payments]
as a method of protecting my primary cards. If anyone else has suggestions, please let me know.
No one deserves to be raped. Shame on you for suggesting it.
What kind of a barberous place has America turned into, when people getting raped as part of their imprisonment is considered not only acceptable (a ha-ha-ha standing joke for Letterman and Leno) but desireable?
What other humiliating physical violence do we think criminals should be subjected to? Should the women get raped as well? Maybe this should be institutionalized, so we can be sure that all inmates get raped and violated in equal measure?