Shaming Russia Into Action On Cyber Crime

krebsatwpost writes "The Washington Post ran a piece earlier this week that confronts the myth that cyber criminal gangs in Russia and Eastern Europe avoid attacking their own, pointing to numerous examples of late that counter this common misconception. The story draws on data from Team Cyrmu about distributed denial-of-service attacks (DDoS) that target Russian and E. European organizations, intel from McAfee about Russian banks and federal agencies that appear to be under control over cyber gangs there, and tens of gigabytes of data stolen via keyloggers that disproportionately impact Russian systems, including that of a top Gazprom official. The piece begins: 'If you ask security experts why more cyber criminals aren't brought to justice, the answer you will probably hear is that US authorities simply aren't getting the cooperation they need from law enforcement officials in Russia and other Eastern European nations, where some of the world's most active cyber criminal gangs are thought to operate with impunity. But I wonder whether authorities in those countries would be any more willing to pursue cyber crooks in their own countries if they were forced to confront just how deeply those groups have penetrated key government and private computer networks in those regions?'"

Comments

I hate to say this.

[paganizer]

I really hate to say this. Because I'm a big hater of big government, I support Freenet 0.5, anonymity and privacy.
But things are a little TOO free in Belarus and some of the other Ex-soviet states when it comes to Child Pornography; when you have plain old unsecured websites with for-pay preteen sex shows that have been operating for years without problems, something is WRONG.

Just tell me...

[bitrex]

But I wonder whether authorities in those countries would be any more willing to pursue cyber crooks in their own countries if they were forced to confront just how deeply those groups have penetrated key government and private computer networks in those regions?

I don't come to Slashdot for these kind of thought-provoking rhetorical questions about ethical and legal gray areas! Just tell me who the goodies and the baddies are! Go USA hacker-hunters, wooo!

no update for Windows, or "bad" people in the East

[Max_W]

A lot of computers in Russia run cracked version of Windows. I do not know the exact figure, but I would think 99%. A CD with a cracked Windows, PhotoShop, AutoCad, etc. costs about USD 3.- at a street market. The same is for other countries of the FSU.

So what is installed from these CDs is anybody's guess. No need even to infect, a hidden program may come right from an installation CD. The groups that crack Windows sometimes even write their own copyright notice on CDs.

The disk with an authentic Windows is possible to buy only in large cities. Very few shops sell authentic Windows DVD, as they seem to be too expensive for majority of users. I could find out and buy there only a "gray" OEM Windows Vista Russian version for an equivalent of several hundred USD.

No need to say that these Windows installations do not update via Windows update. WTO makes Russian government to fight cracked software. So sometimes militiamen come to the places, where cracked software is sold and break DVDs and CDs. Then these markets just move into more obscure places.

So what have we got? Millions and millions of PCs, which run OS that cannot be patched or updated. So, guess what, these millions PCs neither patched, not updated.

Whose fault is this? When I try to use an alternative OS, like Linux, a lot of scanners, USB devices, video-cards, etc. just do not work, as drivers either non-existent or bad, made by rear-engineering. Because the hardware vendors provide drivers only for 1 and only OS.

Now we blame Russia for DDoS attacks. But what Russian government can do? Can it lower the price on the monopoly OS? Can it write drivers for peripheral devices so that people move away from the mono-OS culture?

It is easy to blame people in Eastern Europe for being of criminal persuasion, but for an average PC user in that parts there is absolutely no choice. Even if someone wants to buy the legal OS or software there are no shops which sell such, but the cracked soft is sold on every corner. Why is it so easy to crack by the way, if there is strong encryption around?

So someone imposed the worldwide OS monopoly of easily cracked software via convoluted drivers policies. The cracked versions of this software are easily infected as they do not update. Hundreds of millions of PCs run this s*** and the blame is on the Russian government and "bad" people of the East, of course.

Re:no update for Windows, or "bad" people in the E

[Archon-X]

I don't know anything about your background or travels, but I find the picture that you paint of russia contrasts strongly with that of what I've seen.

Bear in mind that Moscow has been the world's most expensive city to live in for multiple consecutive years now [ 1 2 ]

What you seem to be regurgitating in your post is rhetoric, which you've taken it upon yourself to extrapolate wildly.

There are multiple vectors for disassembling your post, but the most obvious ones are:

So what have we got? Millions and millions of PCs, which run OS that cannot be patched or updated. So, guess what, these millions PCs neither patched, not updated.

The last check of google reports over 194,000 hits for WGA cracks [3].

I'd love to see the data behind your bold claim, in which you plead ignorance, but continue to fabricate 'statistics'.

A lot of computers in Russia run cracked version of Windows. I do not know the exact figure, but I would think 99%.

On a closing note, I'm amazed noone else has yet flamed you for posting:

When I try to use an alternative OS, like Linux, a lot of scanners, USB devices, video-cards, etc. just do not work, as drivers either non-existent or bad, made by rear-engineering. Because the hardware vendors provide drivers only for 1 and only OS.

Maybe you should do some research in general, and pay a visit to distrowatch...