Slashdot Mirror
After Links To Cybercrime, Latvian ISP Cut Off
alphadogg writes with this Network World story, excerpting "A Latvian ISP linked to online criminal activity has been cut off from the Internet, following complaints from Internet security researchers. Real Host, based in Riga, Latvia was thought to control command-and-control servers for infected botnet PCs, and had been linked to phishing sites, Web sites that launched attack code at visitors and were also home to malicious 'rogue' antivirus products, according to a researcher using the pseudonym Jart Armin, who works on the Hostexploit.com Web site. 'This is maybe one of the top European centers of crap,' he said in an e-mail interview. 'It was a cesspool of criminal activity,' said Paul Ferguson, a researcher with Trend Micro."
The questions that should be asked is "Are they closing in on the criminals who set up these sites?"
Surely with all the information they can get from this rogue ISP they can track down the wankers who run them.
It pays to be obvious, especially if you have a reputation for being subtle.
Perhaps the malice these researchers feel towards Latvia is similar in some way to the anger the RIAA feels towards filesharers?
Latvia? You're taking things out of context. This is not about Latvia in general, this is about a Latvian ISP responsible for a shitload of spam and botnets. You're free to replace Latvia for any country you wish and it wouldn't make a difference. Also I think it's fair to say that RIAA only serve their interests, whilst spam and botnets concern anybody who uses internet.
I am the lawn!
So you'd prefer to be subjected to DDoS attacks, have your E-mail account hacked and used to send spam, be phished for your credit card details all in the name of Net Neutrality?
These are harmful activities. Harmful to people, REAL PEOPLE. It is the definition, at least in my eyes, of what crime is: serious irreversable harm to a person or people.
Botnets sending out DDoS attacks make the Server Admin's job harder. Whatever site it is running becomes locked, likely losing the business revenue they can never get back.
Hacked Email accounts cause headaches for the person who's account was compromised, it causes headaches for those who recieve it, especially if it came from a white-listed friend, as it means wading through them and deleting them manually rather than have them caught by the filter. And again, most importantly, it makes the server admins job harder, as they have to devise work arounds and filters for Spam.
And the most serious of all? Phishing for card details. Serious Monetery loss from an individual - they may be able to get it back, but not without a serious fight (My card got skimmed at a shop once, they managed to spend £700 before the bank stopped the card. It was a week before a new card was sent out, and 2 months before I got the money back)
A whole industry has arisin around fighting these criminals. We're in a Broken Window situation and the only way to stop it is not to fix the window, but to remove the person throwing the stones.
It pays to be obvious, especially if you have a reputation for being subtle.
The "powers that be" didn't shut them down. Their upstream provider did.
Take this analogy:
--start-bad-analogy--
I let you watch TV at my house. But, most of the time you are there, you leave trash and shit everywhere, and fail to clean up after yourself.
So, after enough complaints from my other guests, I decide to kick your ass out.
--end-bad-analogy--
For large sets, this will be our guide even unto death, for the LORD will work for each type of data it is applied to...
...it's a cesspool of crap.
the other kinds are ok.
This space available.
I thought xenophobia was a fear of virtualised environments?
AT&ROFLMAO