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Phatbot Trojan Suspect Linked To Half-Life 2 Code Theft?

Posted by simoniker on from the uh-oh dept.

Thanks to Gamers With Jobs for its story claiming possible links between the theft of the Half-Life 2 code and the Phatbot trojan writer, following the arrest of the alleged Phatbot creator in Germany last week, as the site claims, regarding "Axel G., 21 years old and known under the nick 'Ago'", that "German IT news mag Heise.de did some investigation [German-language link] and according to their research Axel G. probably also was heavily involved in the Half-Life 2 code theft that happened more than 7 months ago", pointing particularly to an IRC log, available on a Half-Life 2 leak page since late last year, which has Ago allegedly saying "[Download speed] suxx, especially from valve to germany... i coded myself my own sourcesafe client to get it at full speed... i only used a simple null-session to a pc in valves net, that wasnt directly controlled by valve."

28 of 60 comments (clear)

  1. Hmm... by 0x0d0a · · Score: 3, Funny

    Let me guess, he also blew up the World Trade Center?

    --
    May we never see th
    1. Re:Hmm... by irokitt · · Score: 5, Funny

      Not only that, but authorities suspect that he may have killed Kenny. Gifs at eleven.

      --
      If my answers frighten you, stop asking scary questions.
    2. Re:Hmm... by cujo_1111 · · Score: 1

      That German Bratwurst can give you the worst gas...

      --
      If I point out that you are incorrect, making me a foe does not make you any more correct.
  2. Was the code actually stolen? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

    Did he actually steal the code? Or did he duplicate it in an authorized fashion, leaving all original copies intact? If it is the former, this is unusual. If it is the latter, there is no way that theft occured (it's just unwanted duplication).

    1. Re:Was the code actually stolen? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Give me a break, of course it was stolen. He was not authorized to copy the source code. And it's not akin to someone taking a picture of the Mona Lisa, it would be more like someone taking a picture of blueprints to an automobile. That would let them build the same product, even though it is clearly IP for the original owners.

    2. Re:Was the code actually stolen? by oskillator · · Score: 4, Funny

      Seriously. I'm really at a loss to why Valve blamed the delays on the code theft. Valve didn't actually lose anything -- even if the cracker had trashed their code repository, they could've just grabbed the code from Kazaa.

    3. Re:Was the code actually stolen? by Spleener12 · · Score: 2, Informative
      It's not that they lost the code, it's that the fact that the code is availible makes it really easy for people to make cheats for HL2 and any mods, so they now have to re-write an assload of protocols in order to prevent this.

      I have no doubt in my mind that they're also using this delay to add some new features/areas/nifty stuff, tho.

    4. Re:Was the code actually stolen? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Let me think. You find out that someone had access over weeks to your code. Remember that kernel exploit they tried to sneak in the other day by changing a == to a =? Do you have an idea what several weeks of source access can do?

      I agree that Valve used the code theft to cover up their broken releasedate promise, but even if the ocde would have done, it would have taken several month of serious code audits to enure things are is no trojan horse somewhere in the code

    5. Re:Was the code actually stolen? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

      Incorrect.

      If he isn't the original owner, then he is unauthorised to have a copy of it. Ergo, theft. This has been challenged with computer/IP laws before.

      Furthermore, since the company held off on the release of HL2, if they can, with any certifiable evidence, link this guy to the theft of the source, they can link damages to him. (Damages being cost to investigate mess, secure network, lost productivity as well as loss of profit for delayed release).

      Except him to pay lots of money and/or go to jail for a long time.

  3. People actually use SourceSafe? by Nasarius · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Incredible. Even CVS works better than that particular piece of MS garbage.

    --
    LOAD "SIG",8,1
    1. Re:People actually use SourceSafe? by bigbigbison · · Score: 3, Informative

      Well, the founders of valve did used to work at Microsoft, so they probably either felt loyalty to their old employer, or had used it at MS and were used to it.

      --
      http://www.popularculturegaming.com -- my blog about the culture of videogame players
    2. Re:People actually use SourceSafe? by HalfFlat · · Score: 4, Funny

      Even Microsoft don't use SourceSafe.

      It's that bad.

    3. Re:People actually use SourceSafe? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Informative

      Why was that modded funny? It's true! When I was there, any self-respecting group used SLM (Source Library Manager), aka "Slime". Only a few random groups in consumer division used VSS.

    4. Re:People actually use SourceSafe? by Kynde · · Score: 1

      Why was that modded funny? It's true! When I was there, any self-respecting group used SLM (Source Library Manager), aka "Slime". Only a few random groups in consumer division used VSS.

      "any self-respecting group" working for Microsoft? Oh please... any one of my hot chick slaves knows that's just hot air. ;-)

      --
      1 Earth is warming, 2 It's us, 3 it's royally bad, 4 we need to take action NOW
  4. Logs of private channels by 0x0d0a · · Score: 3, Insightful

    <Unknown__> hostmask of Ago on the 11th of october: frb9-d9bb4a51.pool.mediaWays.net
    <Unknown__> earlier this week
    <Unknown__> in a private channel....
    <Unknown__> the person having access to the beta, sources and other released stuff

    You know, it sounds as if they could have dug this up from IRC server logs. Now, obviously it's quite *possible* to log all channels on an IRC server (it still boggles the mind that IRC clients don't have encryption support as standard), but I wasn't actually aware that this was being actively done -- and it would have to be in order to snag this from a minor, private channel well in advance of anyone knowing who the responsible parties might be.

    That's a bit Orwellian.

    I've never actually looked up whether AOL's privacy policy says anything that would keep them from logging all ICQs/AIM messages, but that could be quite a valuable storehouse of information as well. The only mainstream IM protocol that I know of where clients support end-to-end encryption as standard is Jabber.

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    May we never see th
    1. Re:Logs of private channels by asdfman2000 · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Chances are he was IN the channel at the time. And many IRC clients will log EVERYTHING.

    2. Re:Logs of private channels by nexex · · Score: 2, Informative
      aim has supported encryption for about a year

      ignore the bit about the cost, its free...

      --
      Winter 2010: With Glowing Hearts
    3. Re:Logs of private channels by ffsnjb · · Score: 1

      The new version of mIRC has SSL support, according to my brief look at the changelog when I updated.

      --
      "Why do you consent to live in ignorance and fear?" - Bad Religion
    4. Re:Logs of private channels by 0x0d0a · · Score: 1

      SSL support to the server doesn't do you much good -- the server still gets to see things in plaintext. You need end-to-end encryption to help on this point.

      --
      May we never see th
  5. Hey! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    Hey you jerk! I was going to say the exact same thing! You stole my idea!

  6. Bash.org? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny
    <Ago> i only used a simple null-session to a pc in valves net, that wasnt directly controlled by valve
    <Ago> then I got caught by the german police, and here I am in this prison.
    <Ago> Crap guys, gotta go, they need me again in the shower-room.
    *Ago is now known as Ago|sodomy
  7. Re:Of course it wasn't stolen by Leffe · · Score: 3, Informative

    The code is of course copyrighted, meaning that he broke international copyright laws. That is kind of illegal.

  8. Re:Of course it wasn't stolen by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

    How about someone breaks into your house and photographs everything you have, photocopies every bit of paper, writes down all the phone numbers you have on your phone and takes a copy of everything on your computers. Nothing physical would be taken, only copies of information.

    Maybe not theft, but I bet you'd feel pretty lousy.

  9. Re:Of course it wasn't stolen by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    It has been my experience that the only people who spend a lot of time arguing "theft" vs. "copying" vs. "taking" are whiny little pedants who think that their astonishing wordplay will distract the world from the fact that they're a) just to cheap to pay for music or software, and b) too much of a pussy to say "I steal."

    Not that I'm talking about you or anything...

  10. Re:You are missing the obvious by cujo_1111 · · Score: 3, Funny

    Isn't murder the act of taking one's life and not returning it? That is theft in my book :)

    --
    If I point out that you are incorrect, making me a foe does not make you any more correct.
  11. Re:You are missing the obvious by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Isn't murder the act of taking one's life and not returning it?

    Yes, but it was only half of a life, not an entire one. Also, half life 2's official logo has the 2 written as a power. So, one could argue that it was only a quarter of a life that was taken.

  12. Re:It is not theft unless theft occurs by nacturation · · Score: 1

    Since it was not theft at all, the problem is those who are mis-using the word "theft", such as the RIAA, to make something seem worse than it is.

    Oh here we go, I could see this coming a mile away. SCO, the RIAA, and now Valve must be in bed together in a mass scheme to misappropriate the word theft! Damn you scoundrels! You've convinced people on the street, you've convinced the media... there's only several Anonymous Cowards left to convince that illegally copying something is considered theft these days.

    Make no changes to the English language! It shall not budge. Thou Anonymous Cowards henceforth shalt use the glorious language afforded by the King of Britain inasmuch as you commune with one another. Pray tell you oppose all such grievances as such besmirch our culture! Rollback the book of words, Webster, for it doth displease the simple minded!

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    Want to improve your Karma? Instead of "Post Anonymously", try the "Post Humously" option.
  13. Flaw in your math. by KDR_11k · · Score: 1

    .5^2==.25
    1!=.5

    --
    Justice is the sheep getting arrested while an impartial judge declares the vote void.