Slashdot Mirror
Digital Thieves Use Ex-Employees Accounts
prostoalex writes "The New York Times is running an article about a new generation of digital thugs. Using unsecured wireless networks, free e-mail accounts, a wealth of security knowledge, and, most important - employee passwords, thieves are getting access to valuable company databases. Once they're in, they start extorting the companies to pay up for them to leave. Otherwise phony e-mails to customers and sensitive information published publicly will lead to an embarrassment."
This was going on in 1996 and has been ever since so how is this a "New Generation"; the only thing that has changed between now and then is now we have more insecure WIFI networks but really that doesn't change how the game is played at all.
it seems like mostly smaller and medium-sized businesses would be vulnerable to this, not larger corporations, or perhaps a small division of a larger corp, because access to big cash usually requires the blackmailee to go through some kind of board of directors who are going to refuse to yield, while a more tightly-knit mom and pop shop is going to have no one to turn to. A big company could have all sorts of resources immediately available for damage control (e.g. warning customers of fraudulent information, quick access to high-level law enforcement, à la FBI). Sigh, and all because of wireless networks. When is Cisco, D-Link, Netgear, going to learn to turn on encryption by default? Microsoft learned the hard way; users are too damn stupid to secure anything on their own, and that includes business. That's what it comes down to, stupidity.
Take off every sig. For great justice.
"D.D.O.S. attacks are still one of the primary ways of extorting a company, and we're seeing a lot of that," said Larry D. Johnson, special agent in charge of the United States Secret Service's criminal division. "
Heck, they talk like it is such a big deal to start a DOS attack. Just post an article like "Walla Walla school district to abandon FreeBSD and use Linux desktops" on slashdot, using your target's web site for the article location.
Have you Meta Moderated t
I think the main problem for the wannabe hacker is the getting paid bit. How the heck do they remain anonymous and get paid?
It's all very well to do that to a company, but you aren't exactly going to hand out your own bank details to the company in order to get paid.. heh.
- paul
http://pmp.deviantart.com/
Pmp @ DeviantArt
It was then that the stalker made a series of mistakes. Among them, he began to brag. In an e-mail message titled "Fire them all," he informed Mr. Videtto that he had found valuable MicroPatent documents by going "Dumpster diving to the Dumpster and recycle bins located in a parking lot on Shawnee Road" in Alexandria, Va., where the company maintained a branch office
From "The Incredibles":
Syndrome: Oh, ho ho! You sly dog! You caught me monologuing!
Ah yes, the evil cybervillain cannot resist the urge to pontificate about his supposed superior intellect and abilities to his victims. Of course, by doing so they reveal all kinds of details about their nefarious plans and give the victims time enough to escape or capture the idiot.
Monologuing trips up the bad guy everytime.It seems to me that the people telling us how "Many times, companies just pay the hackers off to avoid embarassment." have little or no real facts to back up those claims.
... where someone threatens a denial of service attack on an online gambling/betting or porn site that's already running "beneath the radar" of legislation in nations that would prefer to shut them down.
In other words, it's just sensationalist writing.
In any nation with reasonably well enforced laws protecting a company's I.P. - I would think it's pointless for an extortionist to even attempt this. Sure, you might have the technical means to steal the proprietary info (especially if the company has unsecured or poorly secured wi-fi networks), but then what?
Even the guy in this story got caught after unsuccessfully trying to scam money out of just one company. And today, it would seem to be much more difficult to get away with than it was even a few years ago. The government and law enforcement are getting more knowledgable about Internet-based crime all the time, and since 9-11, the U.S. at least has enacted more laws giving feds the ability to "spy" on net traffic and trace things back to their source.
I really don't believe any legitimate business would think it made sense to pay some hacker millions of dollars in extortion money. This is MUCH more effective in situations like the one discussed in a Slashdot story a while back
This is MUCH more effective... ...site that's already running "beneath the radar"
I don't know, I think there are plenty of companies that operate 'above the radar' that would be horrified at the thought of customers being able to see what's really going on in the back room. Getting the FBI involved can be thought of as riskier than just paying up. If they are detected while going to the authorities, the psycho that's threatening them can release all the secrets and just disappear. Screw the money, you're just plain going DOWN now. Just as kidnappers can threaten (and make good on that threat) that they will harm or kill their captive if you go to the cops. And, just because your business is legitimate on paper doesn't mean it's actually operating that way either.
Only a few months ago I read from a respectable psychiatric source (and I wish I could find you a link right now) that more than 10% of those in 'political' life likely suffer from a form of narcassistic psychopathic personality disorder. NPD is one of the most frightening disorders when you really understand it, you actually have no core personality and understand youself only in a power relation to others whose behaviour defines your own. What we commonly call charismatic and charming people are more likely to be NPD sufferers. Politicians and confidence tricksters are commonly sufferers, rather than being 'clever' (NPDs are often marked by above average intelligence) they are deeply damaged. Many of those we hold in high regard as leaders and 'action' people are actually mentally ill, normatively speaking.
If you have never heard of this I suggest you research it and you will be astonished how the symptom list fits the behaviour of so many public figures.