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How "Omnipotent" Hackers Tied To NSA Hid For 14 Years and Were Found At Last

Posted by samzenpus on from the protect-ya-neck dept.

Advocatus Diaboli writes The money and time required to develop the Equation Group malware, the technological breakthroughs the operation accomplished, and the interdictions performed against targets leave little doubt that the operation was sponsored by a nation-state with nearly unlimited resources to dedicate to the project. The countries that were and weren't targeted, the ties to Stuxnet and Flame, and the Grok artifact found inside the Equation Group keylogger strongly support the theory the NSA or a related US agency is the responsible party, but so far Kaspersky has declined to name a culprit. NSA officials didn't respond to an e-mail seeking comment for this story. What is safe to say is that the unearthing of the Equation Group is a seminal finding in the fields of computer and national security, as important, or possibly more so, than the revelations about Stuxnet.

8 of 115 comments (clear)

  1. Us vs them by halivar · · Score: 5, Funny

    We hack Iran to prevent them from releasing a bomb.

    NK hacks us to prevent us from also releasing a bomb, IYKWIMAITYD.

    1. Re:Us vs them by MightyMartian · · Score: 4, Funny

      Let's face it. If you're a Michael Bay fan, The Interview probably would come off as high art.

      --
      The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
  2. Cover locations. by Kaenneth · · Score: 5, Interesting

    There is a building near Microsoft labeled "Affiliated Associations of America" which sounds shady as fuck.

    1. Re:Cover locations. by irrational_design · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Wow, I found an Affiliated Associations of America. If the following isn't the biggest piece of business jargon that doesn't say anything, I don't know what is.

      Welcome to the AAOA benefits website. Through a cooperative platform, we developed a benefit program to enhance the value of membership for your Membership Organization or Association. AAOA provides a turnkey member benefit solution that offers companies and their employees an opportunity to reduce the costs of doing business. Take advantage of our group purchasing power and receive full access to exclusive member discounts and pricing. Look around the site and let us know if you have any questions or would like to discuss membership. With AAOA, membership doesn't cost, it pays!

  3. How is this a good thing? by stevedog · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I'm not sure how I see that this is a good thing. I know it's fun to hate on the intelligence community (I've done it too), especially when we feel like our own rights have been infringed, but are we really saying that we are in favor of anything which hampers the West's ability to take clandestine actions against other states? After all the complaining we do about Congress and all the bureaucracy that comes along with anything usually related to government, we are then saying that absolutely every hostile action should be subject to the same oversight that produces exactly that molasses-like barrier to actual results?

    It is without question that, at times, the intelligence community must have overstepped its bounds, as any entity with that much power would on occasion. Maybe in their case that happens far more often than it should. But does that really mean they should have no real power at all?

    1. Re:How is this a good thing? by Kazoo+the+Clown · · Score: 4, Insightful

      So everyone should just leave their doors wide open so the cops never have to break a door down to nab a crook? Yeah, right. If the NSA can hack into our computers, the bad guys can too. The best way to improve cybersecurity is to fix all the exploitable holes they've been using. But instead of helping us to secure our systems they've left them vulnerable because they're too lazy to pound the pavement, get individual warrants and plant bugs. Having every computer system in the world remain vulnerable made their job easier, so they chose that route, which also made the bad guys efforts easier too. But hey, it's job security, eh?

    2. Re:How is this a good thing? by nbauman · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I think the intelligence community has done more harm than good more often than not.

      I think American foreign policy has done more harm than good to America more often than not.

      For example, look at the Iraq war. We destabilized that entire region of the middle east, and left it wide open for ISIS and other militant groups.

      We supported the other "color" revolutions which also deposed effective dictators who were finally out of power after we supported them for so long. In every case the hippie revolutionaries were quickly brushed aside and replaced by really tough guys.

      Same with Assad in Syria. When he loses control of a region, ISIS moves in. You notice that the U.S. has stopped calling for Assad to leave.

  4. The NSA hides surveillance software in hard drives by Advocatus+Diaboli · · Score: 5, Informative

    Ya.. another related post from engadget (http://www.engadget.com/2015/02/16/hard-drive-spyware/). "It's been known for a while that the NSA will intercept and bug equipment to spy on its soon-to-be owners, but the intellgency agency's techniques are apparently more clever than first thought. Security researchers at Kaspersky Lab have discovered apparently state-created spyware buried in the firmware of hard drives from big names like Seagate, Toshiba and Western Digital. When present, the code lets snoops collect data and map networks that would otherwise be inaccessible -- all they need to retrieve info is for an unwitting user to insert infected storage (such as a CD or USB drive) into an internet-connected PC. The malware also isn't sitting in regular storage, so you can't easily get rid of it or even detect it."