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Gangs Extort Companies With DDoS Attacks
Pcol writes "The Financial Times reports that gangs based in Eastern Europe have been launching attacks on corporate networks costing the companies millions of dollars in lost business and exposing them to blackmail. Sites have been asked to pay up to ensure they are free from Distributed Denial of Service attacks for a year. One detective reported, 'If the demand comes in for $40,000-50,000, compared to the losses they're suffering, there's an attraction for the companies to pay and hope it goes away. But there's nothing to say it will go away.'"
For /.?
So now there's an internet mafia.
So who's the god father? I vote Al Gore.
Oh wait, that isn't working so well right now, so they might have seen his example.
Nah, a new financing model for SCO.
It is not our abilities that show what we truly are... it is our choices.
One kid reported, 'If the demand comes in for $4-5, compared to the losses they're suffering, there's an attraction for the wimps to pay and hope it goes away. But there's nothing to say it will go away.'
when we could just hold kids for ransom?
The original generic sig.
I bet it's those damn Jets! They're always trying to stick it to the Sharks.
How are you going to keep them down on the farm once they've seen Karl Hungus?
...the Financial Times reported that it had received a DDoS attack from all those /. readers accessing their site. The Financial Times has responded by offering $50,000 protection money to /. ....
Surely this is a violation of their IP in regards to extorting money using online means!
Someone you trust is one of us.
Do they use paypal?
Secondly, How is this different from some company installing spyware/nagware that's not uninstallable and then sending you email asking you to pay 20 bucks for a utility that'll "remove" their piece of software.
Easy. Asking for money to not attack someone's servers is extortion. Your example is an "innovative business model".
-Todd
"The details of my life are quite inconsequential..."
... is patent DDoSs, then extort, er... I mean, charge licensing fees, to anyone invoking a DDoS against a site. I mean, isn't that what US patents are good for these days?
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Fifteen years ago all the cool kids would make fun of me and call me a computer geek and never pick me for the baseball team and stuff. Now all the cool geeks are going off forming gangs and taking down servers and I'm still left out! I can't figure this world out...
I am stupified... someone has finally found the ????? in the buisness plan. Amazing...
1. Buy computers
2. Blackmail companies for $40k or DDoS them
3. Profit!
Str8Dog
using System.Darkside; public
As an MS user I resent the implication that MS is a "gang" or that the Disk Operating System is software which "attacks" people from eastern europe.
mod parent 5 troll, you gotta hand it to him, he got in fast.
DDOS attacks are usually launched through Windows boxes that have been exploited, for example by worms such as SOBIG.
All's true that is mistrusted
So if blocking a big store is like hacking.. and hackers are terrorists... All those grocery store employees striking here in California are terrorists!?
:)
-matt
More than a dozen offshore gambling sites serving the US market were hit by the so-called Distributed Denial of Service attacks and extortion demands in September and the tactic is now spreading. Sites have been asked to pay up to $50,000 to ensure they are free from attacks for a year.
Offshore gambling sites? Almost as if one gang who run the casinos are being hit by other gangs. I wonder who the Cyber-Godfathers are?
Ruby on Rails Screencast
The solution is obvious; just patent "Extortion by the web!" Now the crooks will have to pay you!
One man's -1 Flamebait is another man's +5 Funny.
Assume that you're the maker of a popular brand of cars. You're very successful and there are millions of these cars all over the places. There are problems with it, and you have issued recalls. Many times. Most users are just happy with their cars and never bothered.
Now, your cars have a curious problem: if a jerk points a finger at someone's home and yells "Shazam!", all the parked cars around just start and bee-line to this home. Soon, they crash into the walls, splash into the pool, and make the home unlivable.
Granted, these jerks are criminals. And you, the car maker, issued several recalls. But it's really not that hard to point a finger and yell "Shazam!". Lots of bored kids do it. And a lot of car owners don't even know what a recall is. So this problem happens frequently.
Now, don't you think the owners of the devastated homes might want to drag you to court?
--
Mad science! Robots! Underwear! Cute girls! Full comic online! http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/