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Researchers Tie Regin Malware To NSA, Five Eyes Intel Agencies

Posted by timothy on from the which-wolves-and-which-sheep dept.

Trailrunner7 writes Researchers at Kaspersky Lab have discovered shared code and functionality between the Regin malware platform and a similar platform described in a newly disclosed set of Edward Snowden documents 10 days ago by Germany's Der Spiegel. The link, found in a keylogger called QWERTY allegedly used by the so-called Five Eyes, leads them to conclude that the developers of each platform are either the same, or work closely together. "Considering the extreme complexity of the Regin platform and little chance that it can be duplicated by somebody without having access to its source codes, we conclude the QWERTY malware developers and the Regin developers are the same or working together," wrote Kaspersky Lab researchers Costin Raiu and Igor Soumenkov today in a published report. (Here is the Spiegel article.)

9 of 95 comments (clear)

  1. Actual Conspiracy by Strangely+Familiar · · Score: 3, Insightful

    It would seem our governments are at minimum committing the crime of conspiracy to break into US (and UK, Aussie, etc) citizens computers, if they are helping out foreign governments. They may have made themeselves immune for their own actions, but I highly doubt that immunity extends to helping foreign governments break into your own citizens computers. I have not researched this though. Just thought some people with more knowledge might chime in. If it is not illegal, it really needs to be illegal.

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  2. The NSA is a spy agency by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    It's more likely they were spying on the Regin developers, stole their code, and modified it for their own purpose.

  3. Cyber terrorism ... by gstoddart · · Score: 5, Insightful

    If we did it, it's cyberterrorism. If they do it, it's law enforcement.

    Assholes.

    These clowns are entirely willing to undermine the security of every computer on the planet to get their grubby fingers into everything.

    We need products which keep these guys out, and these guys need a serious beat down in the courts to limit what they can do. A few of them probably should be hung for treason.

    Morally, every black hat should be targeting these agencies to cause as much damage to them as possible -- because the damage they're doing to our freedoms is immeasurable.

    Thanks, America, for leading the charge in fucking up the planet.

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    Lost at C:>. Found at C.
    1. Re:Cyber terrorism ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

      We won't be around for much longer.

      Politically, economically and socially deterioration is setting in. This must be like what it was in Rome's last days.

      I was hoping we'd go the way of Great Britain. When they stopped being the World power, the average UK citizen's standard of living went up.

      If we the US were to give up the Carter doctrine, pull out of the Middle East and every where else we have US troops guarding oil supplies, we'd have a much more peaceful planet - gas, OTOH, would go through the roof and our "way of life" of cheap gasoline and perpetual war would end. And unfortunately, too many Americans would rather be at perpetual war and terrorized than have more expensive gas for their pickup trucks and SUVs.

      tl;dr: we Americans are a very short sighted and stupid people.

  4. When will there be justice? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    How long is it going to take before the American people get fed up with this. The NSA is obviously an out of control agency and has been for years. The people in charge need to start spending LONG prison sentences for their crimes against humanity. And before people start screaming "Think about the terrorists" remember that those in charge (both the NSA, FBI and others) have deliberately chosen to ignore gathered intell about actual terrorist threats (such as 911 and the Boston Marathon bombers). This should prove to everyone that the government considers their own citizens as more of a threat than foreign terrorists.

    1. Re:When will there be justice? by kilfarsnar · · Score: 3, Insightful

      How long is it going to take before the American people get fed up with this. The NSA is obviously an out of control agency and has been for years. The people in charge need to start spending LONG prison sentences for their crimes against humanity. And before people start screaming "Think about the terrorists" remember that those in charge (both the NSA, FBI and others) have deliberately chosen to ignore gathered intell about actual terrorist threats (such as 911 and the Boston Marathon bombers). This should prove to everyone that the government considers their own citizens as more of a threat than foreign terrorists.

      Yeah, but most people don't see it that way. They may not like what the government is doing, but they still buy the terrorism angle. This type of thing isn't what gets people fed up enough to really do something. That comes with hunger or widespread violence, and we should all hope it doesn't get that bad.

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      "What the American public doesn't know is what makes them the American public." -Ray Zalinsky (Tommy Boy)
  5. Re:I wonder... by Immerman · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Revenge wouldn't be the point - the point would be to send a clear message to future patriots that might try a similar stunt. Revenge would just make it more satisfying to do so.

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    --- Most topics have many sides worth arguing, allow me to take one opposite you.
  6. Re: I wonder... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    A traitor to a corrupt, immoral, self-serving government, and a hero to the people for whom the Constitution still has some meaning.

    Your pal Hitler was big on medication. No wonder you recommend it.

  7. Re:I wonder... by Immerman · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Sure this horse is out of the barn, but there's lots of horses - that's why you want to make sure the others all hear the first one screaming as it's being eaten by cougars.

    I can think of only a few reasons why it hasn't been done:
    - To be truly effective it must be obvious that the US/NSA was behind it, and there may well be a fear that employing extra-legal methods to send that message would generate the public backlash that has thus far failed to manifest. A martyr can be far more powerful than a man.
    - Given that he is under Russian protection, any such action could be taken as a direct assault on Russia, and in the current international political climate that might be regarded as too great a risk to take. They seem to be positioning themselves as the spokesman of a new global power structure - no sense in ceding them any more moral high ground than they've already got.
    - The guilty parties still have some scruples (hey, nobody values their scruples like the man who doesn't have many)

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    --- Most topics have many sides worth arguing, allow me to take one opposite you.