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Largest Hacking Scam in Canadian History

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the stole-all-the-maple-syrup dept.

vieux schnock writes "Police raided several homes across Quebec on Wednesday and arrested 16 people in their investigation, which they say uncovered the largest hacking scam in Canadian history. (...) The hackers collaborated online to attack and take control of as many as one million computers around the world that were not equipped with anti-virus software or firewalls."

8 of 211 comments (clear)

  1. Spot the key words by Silver+Sloth · · Score: 4, Insightful

    The hackers collaborated online to attack and take control of as many as one million computers around the world that were not equipped with anti-virus software or firewalls

    Police won't reveal what the information was used for but investigators estimate that the network profited by as much as $45 million. Hmm... as many as, as much as, or maybe they're inflating the figures to show what macho investigators they are.
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    1. Re:Spot the key words by powerlord · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Nah, nothing so covert. Its simply that, "as many as", sounds a lot better than, "three computers we know about, but we really have no clue" or "we found 5 million deposited in their bank accounts in the last month, but the accounts have been open for nine months, so who knows how much money they could have collected previously".

      Alternatively they probably have a pretty good idea of the ranges involved, but hey, high numbers make a better press release.

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  2. Re:So which is it? by Iphtashu+Fitz · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Both.

    16 people were arrested.

    14 of those 16 were arrested on Wednesday.

  3. That summary needs fixing. by Shados · · Score: 3, Insightful

    The hackers collaborated online to attack and take control of as many as one million computers around the world that were not up to date with patches and didn't have users with common sense.
    There, thats better.
    1. Re:That summary needs fixing. by zakeria · · Score: 3, Insightful

      slight correction: The hackers collaborated online to attack and take control of as many as one million MS Windows computers around the world that were not up to date with patches and didn't have users with common sense.

  4. Re:From TFA: by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I'd assume you're always authorized to use your own computer.

    Then again, in today's climate, maybe not...

  5. Re:Really? by GreatBunzinni · · Score: 3, Insightful

    It doesn't even really matter at this point. Let's be honest... the average computer user doesn't know the difference between U2-Somesong.mp3 and U2-SomeSong.exe.

    To make matters worse, some attacks may even occur if you are dealing with safe file types, like a PNG or even PDF. Some security problems exist due to the user's ignorance or idiocy but "some" isn't exactly the same thing as "all".

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  6. Re:Really? by Anne+Thwacks · · Score: 4, Insightful
    the average computer user doesn't know the difference between U2-Somesong.mp3 and U2-SomeSong.exe.

    The average user cannot tell there is a difference - because the Windows default is to hide the extension!

    It may be criminally insane, but its the default.

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