Slashdot Mirror
Russian Police Know Who Wrote Gpcode Virus
rifles only writes "Russian police
almost certainly know the identity of the programmer responsible for the frightening 'ransomware' crypto virus, Gpcode, which has hit the Internet several times since 2006, says a story at Techworld, which has tapped a Kaspersky Lab researcher. Gpcode used 1024-bit RSA/128-bit RC4 to lock up victims' data, an uncrackable combination that left the world with only one solution: find the virus author to get the master key. So why don't the cops do anything? Good question, but this is Russia we're talking about."
. . . virus encrypts you!
Why is this thus? What is the reason for this thusness?
I'm not sure it's relevant who at Techworld is tapping who at Kaspersky Labs
Give me Classic Slashdot or give me death!
Theres a world of difference between knowing who did something, and having enough proof to be able to arrest them, charge them and convict them.
That's a good point someone brought up. In the situation of ransom, how
will it ever work?
If large amount of funds are transferred by bank, they can
find and freeze the bank account.
If large amount of funds are transferred in cash,
the money can be traced so you would be caught if you use it.
So What is the the point in ransoming in the current era? There must be
something I am missing.
Ransomware crypto is not that effective: Backups are good, and the problem is payment is traceable.
And RC4 isn't good for ransomware crypto, it IS broken, badly so.
Test your net with Netalyzr
The implication is that the Russian government is explicitly corrupt and does not put on any pretense of enforcing the law but instead protects those with money or ties to money.
See also: Russian Mafia.
Wait, isn't this the modern Russia which has imprisoned and shut down all free media, poisoned the Ukranian head of state, also brazenly poisoning people in other countries. Holds Europe hostage with its petroleum, and Putin is now head of state for life.
When the NYT's has a regime change by Bush after printing something unflattering to him, then come tell me that there is no difference.
I'll take a stab at that one: the decryption key! <grin>
Who is to say that Russian authorities are not using this coder as a cover for much more malicious activities? All we know is that there is a virus that encrypts your data. What is it that we don't know yet?
I've read the RTFA, if you thought "Russian KGB are letting mysterious virus author do as he wishes" was too bizarre to be true you're right.
This is how it breaks down:
Implying that the KGB are the master-mind hackers of an intricate spiders web of zombie-PCs may be a little premature based on this techworld.com article..
I wish there were sites which reported computer security news like it is, without the bullshit
// MD_Update(&m,buf,j);
B e s u r e t o d r i n k y o u r O v a l t i n e.
Ovaltine? A crummy commercial? Son of a bitch!
It is not xenophobia, it is simply stereotyping other cultures. Not that this is the best behavior, but it is common. Here are a few others that are often seen bandied about:
Now that I've evenly offended pretty much everyone, please read the following before modding me into oblivion:
Stereotyping is what happens when somenoe only sees what little they see in the news or what little they see from video games or movies.
People from France are people (some nice, some not). People from Germany are people (some nice, some not). Etc., etc...
Point being - People are just people, but often, for convenience, people latch onto the stereotypes and just repeat those.
To be honest, for many Americans, their understanding of Russia is likely as follows:
AllOfMP3.com, Russian Mafia from movies, and the Cold War in the history books.
It's sad, I know.
Before commenting on the Bible, please read it first
MI6 knows who he is. They used to have pictures, but they lost them.
I prefer rogues to imbeciles because they sometimes take a rest.
> Now that I've evenly offended pretty much everyone
I was going to complain about how my country isn't on the list, but then I realized its very omission was offending me, implying it is small and insignificant. Sir, I must congratulate you on finding such an extremely concise way of offending the dutch.
I don't know very much about the actual causes of this issue, however I do find it really annoying that someone must invariably turn the discussion into an "it's the Democrats' fault! No, it's the Republicans' fault!" waste of time. You cited only Democratic presidents (and president hopefuls) in your post. I find it VERY hard to believe that there isn't blame to be place on just about every politician out there, regardless of party. So why do you feel the need to try to make this issue partisan? It's attitudes like yours that turn intelligent discussion into useless time sinks, which is the root cause of the USA's political environment being so dysfunctional.
In short: if voters use their brains, then they will elect politicians who use their brains. You are encouraging voters not to use their brains with arguments like yours. So you and people like you are the real root of the problem.