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CEO Indicted for DDOSing Competitors
ruland writes "It turns out there was a reason the hosting company CIT/Foonet was raided in February. SecurityFocus.com reports that the CEO of a web-based satellite T.V. retailer has been indicted for allegedly paying Foonet's administrator to arrange denial of service attacks against his competitors, causing outages as long as two weeks at a time, and $2 million in losses. Now he's skipped out on $750,000 bail, while the five packet monkeys who worked for him are left facing felony charges of their own."
what a bunch of retards.
Here's to hoping the term "packet monkeys" enters the lexicon as soon as possible. For some reason that made me laugh, imagining a NOC full of monkeys flinging poo at one another.
Actually, I guess that pretty much describes most NOCs nowadays...
El riesgo vive siempre!
If your boss tells you to do something illegal, they'll arrest him *and you*. When he skips bail, you'll be left holding the bag.
You were mistaken. Which is odd, since memory shouldn't be a problem for you
I seem to recall quite an uproar surrounding the seizure before. People yelling about the government raping the constituion, etc.
Glad I was one of the people that decided to wait and see what it was all about instead of taking it as a sign that our government was overextending itself. Not that they don't, but I'm guessing this isn't one of those times if everyone on staff got felony charges.
Whee signature.
According to the article, they think the CEO's skipped town to Morocco. Don't we have an extradition treaty w/them? If so, it shouldn't be that hard to get him back, assuming Morocco's police play along.
Dalnet's a Satellite TV retailer? Who knew?
"The dew has clearly fallen with a particularly sickening thud this morning"
At least the CEO had the class to not outsource the packet monkey work to Russia or India. ;)
Everyone knows the perfect crime when it comes to DDoS is to post your opponent's URL on slashdot...
My company was a direct target of these assholes. It is about time the FBI finally did something. They are the reason I am paying more for my servers than any other IRC shell provider.
AcmeShells.com The cheapest Eggdrop
RackSpace fought back, but the attackers proved determined and adaptive. In mid-October the simple SYN flood attacks were replaced with an HTTP flood, pulling large image files from WeaKnees.com in overwhelming numbers. At its peak the onslaught allegedly kept the company offline for a full two weeks.
Wouldn't it have made more sense to host these files from a tarpit? If you know you're under attack by zombie hordes that are going to repeatedly ask for a file, why not give it to them s--l--o--w--l--y? Although I suppose that since the attacks were being watched and changed frequently, the attackers probably would simply have switched tactics again.
Anyway, is it possible or practical to use the logs of the http flood to go back to the zombified PC owners and "fix" them? HTTP requires a real connection, which is traceable. Or should that list just be delivered to their ISPs and have the ISPs shut them down until they're virus free?
John
Now he's skipped out on $750,000 bail, while the five packet monkeys who worked for him are left facing felony charges of their own.
Executives pulled this stunt with stockholders quite heavily over the last 5 years. I imagine that he didn't actually pay out $750k but probably put up "collateral" with an appraised worth of $750k. It doesn't mean much if he's been cutting his own salary, stock options, and other investments at several million/year.
+++ATHZ 99:5:80
" it's a thief pure and simple"
No, its not. I hate to be pedantic, but this kind of imprecision allows the RIAA/MPAA to call copying CD's "theft".
If we use language that is neutral, it allows us to evaluate the best course of action to take. Using emotionally loaded terms forces us to make emotional decisions rather thanlogical decisions, and that is not a wise thing to do.
I wonder if these admins need to join DARE. DDOS Abuse Resistance Education
- I got my free iPod and a free Nintendo DS....why not
If a manager asks me to do something that is morally or legally questionable, I ask them to send me a signed memo with their request. That usually makes them go away and drop the subject.
Mea navis aericumbens anguillis abundat
I'd rather be unemployed and searching for a job for a good long while than being in federal PMITA prison for PACKETING someone. The packeters deserve whatever they get, because frankly, I know how much of a pain in the ass it is to get DDoSed. If you can't get the upper hand through legitimate tactics and methods, then you don't deserve to be in business. Go flip burgers or something.
No, no, no. Anytime something happens in technology, people start clamoring for new laws. Then the special interest groups get involved, and then we end up with a law that is worse than the crime it is intended to prevent. Like, say, I dunno, the DMCA. There were plenty of laws about copyright infringement already. It was already illegal to take a camcorder into movie theaters and make tapes to sell on the street corner. All they had to do was extend that to the Internet. But isntead we have the DMCA.
I'm sure there are laws about interfering with commerce already. Just ammend them to include DDOS attacks. If we start writing new laws, they'll get more and more restrictive and before you know it, hitting Reload on a page more than twice in 5 minutes will land you in jail for cyber terrorism.
There is no sig, there is only Zuul.
I remember back when it was published ... all about how the FBI was just oppressing innocent geeks, it was all Bush and Ashcroft's fault, and the FBI were violating the 1st amendment etc.
Now maybe slashbots can realise that not every 'hacker' is a hero who's been oppressed by Da Man.
Mod parent up, that's exactly what I thought.
What kind of moron doesn't think a big DDOS like that is going to be traced? The reason everyone gets away with it with MS and SCO is because everyone hates them, so there are too many suspects...But when its your biggest competitor? You're going down.
And then to skip bail? "Noooooo please don't send me to white collar CEO prison for a week. Waaaaaaah."
This is almost too dumb to make a Dilbert strip.
ad logicam Claiming a proposition is false because it was presented as the conclusion of a fallacious argument.
The Infinite Monkey Protocol Suite (IMPS)
Status of this Memo
This memo provides information for the Internet community. It does not specify an Internet standard of any kind. Distribution of this memo is unlimited.
Copyright Notice
Copyright (C) The Internet Society (2000). All Rights Reserved.
Abstract
This memo describes a protocol suite which supports an infinite number of monkeys that sit at an infinite number of typewriters in order to determine when they have either produced the entire works of William Shakespeare or a good television show. The suite includes communications and control protocols for monkeys and the organizations that interact with them.
http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc2795.txt/
"What the hell is an aluminum falcon?"
It's like the soldier who's ordered to commit war crimes. What do you do? It's in no way you're fault - but you're in a lose - lose situation.
Yes, it sucks, but ultimately you AND your superiors are responsible. It is better to be punished for doing the right thing than to do the wrong thing and be rewarded. Cowardice and fear are no excuse for committing injustices or allowing them to be committed.
Oh, and regarding your sig: al Qaeda endorsed Bush.
The company's hosting provider, Lexiconn, responded by dropping WeaKnees.com as a client, sending the company to more expensive hosting at RackSpace.com.
Does this make any sense? I can see if your legitimate traffic is exceeding a bandwidth limit that you might get dropped/forced to pay more. But a denial of service attack? Wouldn't most service providers want to help their customer with this kind or problem?
Should they call it 'packeteering'?
You are in error. No-one is screaming. Thank you for your cooperation.
new laws? what the fuck for?
it's already illegal. it's already criminal to disrupt someone others communications knowingly.
you don't need new laws when you could just apply the old laws, stupid criminals think that an old law doesn't apply if they just use a new device in the crime - it's a stupid excuse that does not pull through.
it's not pure simple thief either, but there's been laws in civilised countries against disrupting someone elses telecommunications for quite some time(decades at least if not centuries in one sense or another, you think it was legal to steal mail ever?) and the same laws apply.
the lesson of the story is that if you take money for hitting someone you're just as responsible as the fucker who hired you to do it.
world was created 5 seconds before this post as it is.
Definitely stinky-cheese spammers too!
One line blog. I hear that they're called Twitters now.
I HAVE mod points. God I'm a fricking idiot. Gotta get more sweet sweet caffiene.
ad logicam Claiming a proposition is false because it was presented as the conclusion of a fallacious argument.
Someone please tell me why I should feel sorry for the poor "monkeys" that were helping him commit felonies? This isn't a digital rights issue, this isn't a case of big guy trampling little guy. They partook in organized crime and gave computer people a bad name, why should we care that they are left hanging?
- Short company Y.
- Initiate DDOS campaign intended to temporarily cripple company Y and drive its stock price down.
- Cover at the depressed price.
- Profit.
Certainly the SEC would look askance at short-sales before a coordinated DDOS attack, but if a nebulous entity in Eastern Europe is doing the dirty work while a nebulous entity in East-Asia is doing the shorting, it could be extremely difficult to prove a connection.No this isn't a recommendation or some novel idea. In fact, I'm certain that organized crime is well ahead of us in the nefarious schemes department.
I checked their "News" section: still no "Deadbeat thug CEO jumps bail, flees country" headline. Looks like their webmasters are slacking.
I actually was expecting to see some sort of "new interim CEO" announcement, but couldn't find anything like that either.
Just once I'd like someone to call me 'Sir' without adding 'You're making a scene.'
Right. This is pretty much the equivalent of nailing the competitor's doors shut and blocking his parking lot with dump trucks so the customers can't come in and buy. We already have laws to deal with such behavior, and they should be used.
Saying we need new laws just because a computer is involved is like saying we need separate laws against bank robbers who come in through the front door and bank robbers who come in through an open window.
I remember this story back in Feb with all the conspiricy people coming down on how the "FBI has overstepped their bounds again" and calling it another Ruby Ridge or Waco.
Click on the original story and even THAT makes it seem like they were just innocent people being unfairly picked on by the evil overlords known as the FBI.
If FBI agents showed up at your data center bearing a warrant, would you be able to provide them prompt access to customer data? BZZZZT! I'm sorry, but you've taken too long to answer. We'll be confiscating all the hardware you use, er, used to use, to run your business. But we'll get it back to you 'real soon now.' Thank you for playing.
Now it turns out the people raided were in fact "the bad guys" and the warrent (remember, the FBI HAD a warrent) was legit AND...er...warrented.
It's funny how everything changes when more facts are thrown in...and I'm sure not all the facts are even in yet!
"Music is everybody's possession. It's only publishers who think that people own it." - John Lennon.
The levels of bad feeling now are so much higher than they were before. It's foolish to move in and screw things up over there, especially when you have no concrete plan, and no concrete reason.
9/11 was planned by Bin Laden, and his grudge with us dates back to the '70s. Probably somethign to do with the fact that we used him against the soviets and then left him in a bombed out wasteland of a country.
They don't forgive and forget, but despite that we just romp around fucking with things, and pretend like the only consequences are the immediate ones. We're going to be paying for Bush's ego and Bush's oil cronies for decades to come.
ad logicam Claiming a proposition is false because it was presented as the conclusion of a fallacious argument.
How's my programming? Call 1-800-DEV-NULL
I actually got attacked by one of these guys' botnets (Krashed I believe) when a friend IRCing from my connection pissed him off. I traced him to Foonet thinking "great, I know the head admin from being an IRC junkie back in the day" and when I told him what was going on he acted like it was no problem. I thought he should have been a little more concerned about some punk kid attacking people from his net. Figures.
I remember how times have changed... all about how the 1st amendment was oppressing the innocent FBI, it was all geeks fault, and slashbots were violating Bush and Ashcroft etc. Now maybe Da Man can realize not every FBI hero has been oppressed by hackers.
On a more serious note, there is such a thing as innocent until proven guilty, and people shouldn't say that the end justifies the means. We have to protect everyone's rights, even the rights of criminals. I know it sucks, and it would be great if we knew right away if someone was guilty, but in real life this is the only thing that approaches justice.
I submitted this story last night, and it didn't get posted.
So, what's that make them, 1 for 20?
There's a valid point of view that says one step forward does not make up for two steps back.
Before going to that retailer link in the article, make sure that your browser is locked up tight. They try to run an awful lot of VBscript and copy/paste to your clipboard. (Not sure what it all does, but I wouldn't trust them.)
One line blog. I hear that they're called Twitters now.
...he's a CEO that knows *something* about technology. That's an improvement.
LilMikey.com... I'll stop doing it when you sto
Here is a log of EMP just a few minutes ago. http://www.xbox-irc.net/log.txt
AcmeShells.com The cheapest Eggdrop
Or maybe you might remember Ruby Ridge or Waco. Or maybe you might remember some of the excesses since 9/11. Was this a good bust or bad one? It looks more like a good one. Don't automatically think that they are the evil jackbooted minions of the evil overlord. Nor should you automatically presume that they are the good guys.
From the Court's factual findings: "Henry Kluepfel, Director of Network Security Technology (an affiliate Bell Company), was advised a sensitive, proprietary computer document of Bell South relating to Bell's "911 program" had been made available to the public on [a BBS in Illinois]... Around February 6, 1990, Kluepfel learned that the 911 document was available on a computer billboard entitled "Phoenix" which was operated by Loyd Blankenship in Austin, Texas... Prior to February 26, 1990, Kluepfel learned that Blankenship not only operated the Phoenix bulletin board, but he was a user of the Illinois bulletin board wherein the 911 document was first disclosed, was an employee of Steve Jackson Games, Inc., and a user of the Steve Jackson Games, Inc.'s bulletin board "Illuminati." Kluepfel's investigation also determined that Blankenship was a "co-sysop" of the Illuminati bulletin board, which means that he had the ability to review anything on the Illuminati bulletin board and, importantly, maybe able to delete anything on the system. Blankenship's bulletin board Phoenix had published "hacker" information and had solicited "hacker" information relating to passwords, ostensibly to be analyzed in some type of decryption scheme."
Kluepfel reported this to the Secret Service. Kluepfel had a positive history with the Secret Service, in that he had assisted them in prior investigations. The Secret Service agent handling the investigation, Agent Foley, contacted the local U.S. Attorney's Office and had the local U.S. Attorney file for a warrant to search and seize SJG's hardware in order to get evidence about Bell South's 911 file. "The only information Agent Foley had regarding Steve Jackson Games, Inc. and Steve Jackson was that he thought this was a company that put out games, but he also reviewed a printout of Illuminati on February 25, 1990, which read, "Greetings, Mortal! You have entered the secret computer system of the Illuminati, the on-line home of the world's oldest and largest secret conspiracy. 5124474449300/1200/2400BAUD fronted by Steve Jackson Games, Incorporated. Fnord." The evidence in this case strongly suggests Agent Foley, without any further investigation, misconstrued this information to believe the Illuminati bulletin board was similar in purpose to Blankenship's Phoenix bulletin board, which provided information to and was used by "hackers." Agent Foley believed, in good faith, at the time of the execution of his affidavit on February 28, 1990, there was probable cause to believe Blankenship had the 911 Bell South document [**12] and information relating to the decryption scheme stored in his computer at home or perhaps in computers, disks, or in the Illuminati bulletin board at his place of employment at Steve Jackson Games, Inc.; that these materials were involved in criminal activities; and that Blankenship had the ability to delete any information stored on any of these computers and/or disks."
"The only information Agent Foley had regarding Steve Jackson Games, Inc. and Steve Jackson was that he thought this was a company that put out games, but he also reviewed a printout of Illuminati on February 25, 1990, which read, "Greetings, Mortal! You have entered the secret computer system of the Illuminati, the on-line home of the world's oldest and largest secret conspiracy. 5124474449300/1200/2400BAUD fronted by Steve Jackson Games, Incorporated. Fnord." The evidence in this case strongly suggests Agent Foley, without any further investigation, misconstrued this information to believe the Illuminati bulletin board was similar in purpose to Blankenship's Phoenix bulletin board, which provided information to and was used by "hackers.""
That last bit is where the court found fault with the government's case. The Secret Service basically acted on Foley's mis
RapidSatellite.com, which sells satellite TV receivers, was hit at the same time and with similar results. The company responded by quickly moving their electronic storefront to the distributed content delivery services of Speedera, only to be crippled three days later by an attack on that provider's DNS servers, which for an hour also blocked access to other Speedera-hosted sites, including Amazon.com and the Department of Homeland Security, according to the FBI affidavit. RapidSatellite then moved to Akamai, but were out again within a week when the attackers switched to an HTTP flood attack, running massive numbers of queries through RapidSatellite.com's search engine.
I'm not being cynical, but realistic. How much you want to bet the FBI didn't really get involved until either Amazon.com or the Department of Homeland Security's resources got peripherally hit?
Every day there are thousands of DDOS attacks going on, usually against small providers or companies that don't have enough political clout to get the authorities to care much. The perps biggest mistake was probably targetting a provider that had some more substantive clients.
You just know it's a bad idea to DDoS the Department of Homeland Security servers :-). I suspect this investigation would never have gotten off the ground if they hadn't taken out an important government site in the collateral damage when they hit the name servers at one of the ISPs.
:-) and then hit the name servers. I hope they throw away the key on these scumbags.
This was a concerted and persistent attack on several sites, they didn't just SYN flood, they pulled masses of HTML data (slashdot attack
However, when has this kind of case *ever* been investigated in the past? We've had any number of similar attacks but the DOJ sat on their lazy ass and did nothing about it. Let's hope this opens their eyes to this type of crime and they start chasing the perpetrators.
steve jackson games were raided by the Secret Service, a completely different organization than the FBI.
I know this because I know the admin of the place through a friend, and he also had his personal server taken by the FBI as part of the raid. It was later returned to him, but at the time we were all angry because we thought it was unjustified.
What caused you to change your mind?
Have you examined the original information used to obtain the warrant?
The fact was we didnt have all the information(which later it was told to me they were investigating DDoS attacks, which turned out to be true).
What they were investigation in and of itself doesn't justify a seizure. Only the information (reasonable grounds) they were acting on can justify it.
And you don't know what that is without looking at the original affidavits.
And if you have never examined the affidavits, then your current believe is more of a matter of faith rather than an objective conclusion.
With that said.. I'll say it again. I'm not saying anything wrong was done.
No one has a right to their *own* opinion. They have a right to the TRUTH.
He should have just used us to slashdot them by posting a how to tutorial on installer a linux server in your skull! With color pictures!
$> man woman
$> Segmentation fault (core dumped)