Intel Security Scares Ransomware Script Kiddie Out of Business

tdog17 writes: A criminal coder wrote a kit for ransomware that made it easy for others to encrypt victims' hard drives and then extort money from them in order to get the decryption keys. But when Intel Security wrote about the kit — called Tox — the author got cold feet. Now he or she is trying to sell the whole business. “Plan A was to stay quiet and hidden. It's been funny, I felt alive, more than ever, but I don't want to be a criminal. The situation is also getting too hot for me to handle, and (sorry to ruin your expectations) I'm not a team of hard core hackers. I’m just a teenager student,” the coder wrote on the Tox malware site.

Comments

Uhhh really?

[Anonymous Coward]

I'm just a student?

Re:Uhhh really?

[Anonymous Coward]

It wouldn't be surprising. A first year student could write a program to open all the files on a filesystem, encrypt them and write them out. Nothing about what the software does is particularly hard or technically complex, it's just a "good" idea that he made into a distributable form for money.

Re: Uhhh really?

[Anonymous Coward]

Hang the twerp with his entrails.

Re:Uhhh really?

[Anonymous Coward]

googling for Tox I discovered this website
https://tox.im
encripted IM and video calls

Re:Uhhh really?

[gweihir]

Well, a criminal one. And stupid. Sounds pretty much like a student, does it not?

Isnt' that beyond Script Kiddie?

[damn_registrars]

I thought Script Kiddies were defined as being people who ran scripts they downloaded off the internet that were already made for their purposes. The summary suggests this person wrote their own software. You could claim it is derived from other software, or perhaps even just a pipelined bundle of existing software, but it still sounds like it is a bit beyond just running a script.

Re:Isnt' that beyond Script Kiddie?

[rebelwarlock]

I guess you'd call this person a script kiddie enabler? Supplier, maybe?

Re:Isnt' that beyond Script Kiddie?

[JazzXP]

Dealer... psst, kid, wanna buy some scripts...

Re:Isnt' that beyond Script Kiddie?

[Aristos Mazer]

I think the term would be "script daddy", yes?

Re:Isnt' that beyond Script Kiddie?

[Anonymous Coward]

I thought Script Kiddies were defined as being people who ran scripts they downloaded off the internet that were already made for their purposes. The summary suggests this person wrote their own software. You could claim it is derived from other software, or perhaps even just a pipelined bundle of existing software, but it still sounds like it is a bit beyond just running a script.

Welcome to the new /.

Re:Isnt' that beyond Script Kiddie?

[Anonymous Coward]

In the "oh look, wroted a program!" sense, arguable if you can establish that he's done original work. In the "knows what he's doing" sense, not so much. Just look at what he's doing: A me-too (aol! aol! aol!) enterprise with plenty of juvenile self-entitlement. "I don't want to be a criminal" is a line he crossed well before McAfee^Wintel security wrote about it. He didn't have to write it and when he did anyway he didn't have to release it and demand ransom for other people's data, much less offer what he wrote up for other people to buy and recoup their investment by extortion. It's terribly immature and he's running himself off someone else's script--he didn't think up this racket.

I say "script kiddie" is a better term here than several others that usually get used. In fact you could argue he has been done a favour to be painted this way and not as a hardened "cyber" criminal. But moreover we are all better off for lack of abuse of the "hacker" term, which once was a merit badge for great technological achievement that was fundamentally creative and constructive, but these days usually gets abused, exactly by the security industry and like lackwits, for essentially destructive activities. Such as finding holes in other people's software, but also writing programs to hold other people's data for ransom.

So the "script kiddie" term fits pretty well really. Especially since "coding" these days is supposed to be getting ever simpler, to the point that it's supposed to be teachable to middle school children. This could have been done by a child, and by what he says, it was.

Re:Isnt' that beyond Script Kiddie?

[Anonymous Coward]

Should've use an Apple. Would've made him the Mac Daddy.

Re: Isnt' that beyond Script Kiddie?

[Anonymous Coward]

I agree. And I think there are actually plenty of tutorials for these kinds of things. No link posting for that obviously. But he really could have just repurposed a lot of existing code.

Re:Isnt' that beyond Script Kiddie?

[Anonymous Coward]

Script Kiddie means (or used to mean) someone that runs scripts they cut and pasted from somewhere without an understanding of how they work or the underlying security mechanism they exploit. Someone else did ALL or most of the work for them, they are just using it for hacking, cracking, or for fun.

Tech people like to overuse the term script kiddie. Why? No idea. Maybe they are afraid to admit that a teenager in high school is capable of writing his/her own code that can take down a lot of systems so they down play the impact or imply anyone could have did it but the only the "script kiddie" actually did.

Re:Isnt' that beyond Script Kiddie?

[Anonymous Coward]

I think the term is often used more for the derogatory connotations than a strictly accurate categorization of a person's skills.

Since ransomware is rather obnoxious and anti-social it makes people feel better to attribute it to someone who lacks the skill/experience to get a real IT job, someone with limited skill. Often this might be someone who is still a kid, and a kid is probably more likely to do something anti-social simply because there are no apparent consequences or ignore those consequences until things spin out of control.

Re:Isnt' that beyond Script Kiddie?

[operagost]

He's a kiddie scripter.

Re:Isnt' that beyond Script Kiddie?

[Anonymous Coward]

Exactly... even if his work is derivative, or heavily dependent on other libraries, he is absolutely not a script kiddie.

No Sympathy

[Anonymous Coward]

Get rich quick scheme didn't work out and now that they've been caught, they don't want to face the consequences.

Re:No Sympathy

[Anonymous Coward]

And yet trying to sell the business, not abandon it.

Re:No Sympathy

[Billly Gates]

Get rich quick scheme didn't work out and now that they've been caught, they don't want to face the consequences.

Besides all the rants and angry cries about H1B1 Visas the market for any skilled coders IS HOT!

If you have any coding experience you can make $65,000 tomorrow! Sometimes without a college degree. Add 5 years and more buzzwords to your resume and a degree and you can start pulling close to 6 figures easily if your skills are up to the challenge.

So why take that risk? It is the argument that most drug dealers make less than minimum wage and live with their momma according to Freakeconomics. Seriously, it is the only hope to get ahead by taking that risk if that is all you know. But if you know how to break into systems, corporate security, coding, encryption, networking then you have the skills to get rich by working which is 0 risk.

I do not understand why someone would do this? Those that write these scare encyption malware are Russians who make much less than a western programmer.

Re: No Sympathy

[BlueTrin]

For some people 6 figures ain't enough ... With 6 figures you will still have to work 20 years for your mortgage ?

Re: No Sympathy

[Anonymous Coward]

lol, because 600k is the appropriate amount to spend on a house?

Re:No Sympathy

[azcoyote]

It's easy to think that poverty or other disadvantages are the only things that lead people to steal from others, but that simply is not the case. (After all, how many wealthy businessmen still embezzle and exploit others?) Human beings are easily enticed by the dream of getting rich quickly, not to mention the mystique of succeeding in something that is forbidden. Even if all of us are not tempted in exactly the same way, all of us are tempted. Poverty simply makes it even easier to give in to the temptation.

Re:No Sympathy

[TheCarp]

> So why take that risk? It is the argument that most drug dealers make less than minimum wage
> and live with their momma according to Freakeconomics.

This. also, most drug dealers I don't think see themselves as criminals. I mean when your supposed victim calls you up, drives over to you, and hands you money, its hard to call him a victim, especially when he is buying from you the same stuff you use yourself. Shit, drug dealers are probably some of the most honest salesmen out there, they actually believe in their product and personally use it!

People just look at bulk/retail price and think "dealers make bank", in fact, the dealer does the same calculation, but seldom factors in his own use and how much he is going to use while spending so much time with other users.

I was a pot dealer myself for a while, a "customer" coming over actually meant I spent an hour or two hanging out with someone I knew, and would smoke with, then they would leave, another would come, and I smoke with him.... my own use expanded to eat up a lot of the profits.

So I was meeting with people at a level that was downright disruptive to life, and to even come close to the money I was making at my legal day job I would have had to tripple or more the amount of business I was doing. It was very much NOT as lucrative as a decent office job.

But there is the.... fuck them. I smoke pot and I love it and I never, not even for a moment, considered myself a criminal any more than a jew in germany would have considered himself a "criminal". Have to act like one, but, never really been one.

This kid however, actually hurting people for money.... I have trouble even relating. On a technical level I understand its amusing but, to actually do it to people? Then claim to not want to be a criminal....that I don't get. This isn't a product you believe in, this isn't something you think should be legal and you are pissed at how you are treated over it....these are naked extortion tools.

Re: No Sympathy

[Anonymous Coward]

Nobody said 600k. I make about 100k and have a 30 year loan on a 200k house. I dont see me paying it off even in 20 years. I have a family. I have taxes. I have other expenses. I don't save tons of money nor do I spend much money on things I don't need. If I made it my goal I could probably pay it off earlier than full term. I'm doing well and nowhere near poverty line, but your nuts if you think the average developer is able to buy a 600k house and pay it off in 20 years.

Re: No Sympathy

[ComputerGeek01]

For some people 6 figures ain't enough ... With 6 figures you will still have to work 20 years for your mortgage ?

Yes, this is why we call it a 20 year loan... Loans are not like credit card debt, there is no actual reason to pay them off before they are due. This idea of "living debt free" is just some idiot idea that gets spread around from people who A.) Don't understand the concept of liquid assets (which your credit most certainly is) or how to manage them or B.) are pathological fuck-ups and even though they appear to have things in hand at the moment, they know that eventually they are going to default on everything. Do you know why the debt in the average American household is $10K+? Because for normally functioning individuals this is not a problem to handle.

Re: No Sympathy

[Anonymous Coward]

Great post, +5

Re: No Sympathy

[Anonymous Coward]

I make less than that, have a 20 yr mortgage on a $300k house, two cars, have three kids, wife is a stay-at-home mom. Will have it all paid off in less than 15 years, all while putting money away for college and retirement. It's called financial discipline and living within my means.

Re:No Sympathy

[tnk1]

Many of the poor are some of the most honest people out there. Obviously, some have troubles that cause them to steal, but I'm just as afraid of some asshole in Washington stealing my money as I would be of a burglar. At least being burglarized has been a rare event in my life, I'm getting ripped off in taxes on every paycheck.

Re: No Sympathy

[Anonymous Coward]

The only difference between a loan and a credit card debt is the rate of interest, and the fact that you can't continue borrowing on a loan.

You can still pay them early and can still save a significant amount of interest if you do.

Re:No Sympathy

[Anonymous Coward]

And yet trying to sell the business, not abandon it.

That changes from get-rich-quick vs get-money-quick...

Not that different than someone who obtains something illegal and initially want to sell it themselves. When the heat turns up, they find themselves looking for a fence...

Experienced criminals plan their crimes so they don't need a fence. Rank amateurs don't think that far ahead.

Re: No Sympathy

[ChrisMaple]

A mortgage is secured by your house. Fail to pay, lose your house. Credit cards are unsecured, and it's much more difficult for the lender to get its money back.

Re:No Sympathy

[slew]

I do not understand why someone would do this? Those that write these scare encyption malware are Russians who make much less than a western programmer.

Apparently you do not understand the role that terrorists and anarchists play in the political equation. They generally don't do this for money, they do this to further their agenda. In the case of the typical teenage anarchist, their agenda is to prove they are smarter than the "man".

Not everything is done for money.

Re:No Sympathy

[TheDarkMaster]

Simply kill the piece of shit, no questions asked.

Re: No Sympathy

[ComputerGeek01]

...the fact that you can't continue borrowing on a loan.

That is the exact fact that I was referring to. It's a lot more significant than you seem to think.

Saturday Night Specials

[Anonymous Coward]

I used to build lots and lots of Saturday Night Specials and dozens of people died. It's been funny, I felt alive, more than ever, but I don't want to be a criminal. The situation is also getting too hot for me to "handle", as somebody from the police did notice all those dead people, and the way they were murdered. I'd like to sell my completely legitimate business plan now, ok?

Re:Saturday Night Specials

[Anonymous Coward]

Your analogy is flawed. There's nothing illegal about making so-called "Saturday Night Specials".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jimenez_Arms

Honestly, the entire concept of firearm price-discrimination is a little bit plutocratic don't you think?

Re:Saturday Night Specials

[AmiMoJo]

Incredibly a captured ISIS fighter was on the radio making pretty much that exact argument just yesterday (BBC Radio 4 PM programme IIRC).

He claimed that he joined ISIS for the money as someone who planned and helped execute suicide bombings. He said he had been involved in 8 such bombings, but wasn't a murderer and would never kill anyone. It was the suicide bombers killing people. Therefore he shouldn't be punished too harshly. Seriously.

Re:Saturday Night Specials

[Anonymous Coward]

There's nothing illegal about making them, there's plenty illegal about selling them (or even giving them away) without doing the appropriate Federal paperwork first (at minimum a FFL).

Re:Saturday Night Specials

[140Mandak262Jamuna]

It is not a crime to help people build their own firearms or assist them in evading tracking by federal and local police. The current law is, every US citizen has the right to unlimited number of untrackable weapons, they have no obligation to assist or help any government agencies in any crime involving any fire arm.

If some regulation or a law or some enforcement of any law would help the agencies find lots of criminals and solve lots of crime, but for every thousand crime solved, one law abiding citizen's access to the unlimited number of untrackable weapons will be delayed by 30 seconds, that regulation/law/enforcement is the start of a slippery slope to police state, and an unacceptable loss of the liberty of the free citizens.

Re:Saturday Night Specials

[drinkypoo]

It is not a crime to help people build their own firearms or assist them in evading tracking by federal and local police.

So how much of the work does the eventual owner have to do on the firearm? If you want to register a kit car as a custom vehicle you have to have put a certain number of hours into it, as I recall, or maybe a percentage of the total hours.

Re:Saturday Night Specials

[FireFury03]

Incredibly a captured ISIS fighter was on the radio making pretty much that exact argument just yesterday (BBC Radio 4 PM programme IIRC).

He claimed that he joined ISIS for the money as someone who planned and helped execute suicide bombings. He said he had been involved in 8 such bombings, but wasn't a murderer and would never kill anyone. It was the suicide bombers killing people. Therefore he shouldn't be punished too harshly. Seriously.

That argument seems to work fine for government/military officials

Re:Saturday Night Specials

[Kilroy_here]

So how much of the work does the eventual owner have to do on the firearm? If you want to register a kit car as a custom vehicle you have to have put a certain number of hours into it, as I recall, or maybe a percentage of the total hours.

The part that gets the serial number from the manufacturer is considered the firearm. In the case of an AR style rifle this would be the lower receiver, For a 1911 handgun this would be the frame. As to how much work has to be done .. 20% or more. This is why many companies will sell 80% complete parts along with the jigs and drills / mills to complete them. So for an AR the upper receiver, stock, buffer tube, trigger group, bolt carrier group etc can all be purchased complete and as long as you do the 20% to finish the blank receiver you have a legal firearm with no manufacturer record and no serial number. As long as this weapon is intended for personal use this is entirely legal.

Ooops!

[Anonymous Coward]

"...but I don't want to be a criminal..." Too late!

Oh I didnt want to be a criminal

[Osgeld]

I just engaged in criminal conspiracy

what a twatwaffle

Re:Oh I didnt want to be a criminal

[penguinoid]

What, you think you aren't also a criminal?

Re:Oh I didnt want to be a criminal

[Anonymous Coward]

What's even stranger: The guy's trying to sell the business?

Doing that will probably increase his sentence by at least 10 years, unless he's doing it as part of sting that's part of his plea-bargain.

Re:Oh I didnt want to be a criminal

[Oligonicella]

There's certainly a moral and ethical difference in engaging in it purposefully as opposed to breaking some obscure laws.

Re:Oh I didnt want to be a criminal

[Anonymous Coward]

what a twatwaffle

Oh, now you think you're cool enough to make your own words?

Re:Oh I didnt want to be a criminal

[penguinoid]

Well he didn't say he didn't want to be immoral and unethical. Just that he didn't want to be a criminal. Like an investment banker.

Dear Pukeface

[fnj]

You don't want to be a criminal? Well, you ARE one, dearie. Should have thought of that. I hope you spend your entire life behind bars. It will give you time to think about your fail.

Re:Dear Pukeface

[Livius]

If they are a minor, they can be treated as such according to the criminal law of their jurisdiction -- after they identify themselves to law enforcement and provide proof of age. Until then I'm not buying it.

Re:Dear Pukeface

[Anonymous Coward]

You don't want to be a criminal? Well, you ARE one, dearie. Should have thought of that. I hope you spend your entire life behind bars. It will give you time to think about your fail.

Life in prison for facilitating ransomware. Damn, what do you do to your kids when they break curfew, cut off a foot?

Re:Dear Pukeface

[Anonymous Coward]

Writing ransomware is not "facilitating" it, it's writing it.

Oh yes, please tell me about all the other "legitimate uses" this software has.

"No, officer, I wasn't planning to burgle anyone, I always walk through this neighbourhood at 2am wearing a balaclava and carrying a crowbar and a large duffel bag."

Re:Dear Pukeface

[Anonymous Coward]

You don't want to be a criminal? Well, you ARE one, dearie. Should of thought of that. I hope you spend your entire life behind bars. It will give you time to think about your fail.

FTFY

Re:Dear Pukeface

[Anonymous Coward]

A criminal coder wrote a kit for ransomware

Re:Dear Pukeface

[Anonymous Coward]

At least it's not the death penalty.

Me, I'd suggest the same treatment I've seen suggested for spammers: drop them off in the middle of the subarctic tundra at the height of blackfly/mosquito season with no insect repellent and nothing but canned Spam to eat. If they can make it back to civilization, they go free. (Hey, one blackfly bite is no worse than a handful of spam emails -- or encrypted files -- right?)

Breaking curfew doesn't inconvenience anybody else, really. Spam and ransomware does nothing but inconvenience others.

Re:Dear Pukeface

[Anonymous Coward]

No, you broke it. "Should have" is correct, "should of" is fail.

Re: Dear Pukeface

[Anonymous Coward]

To each their own kinks.

Re:Dear Pukeface

[Anonymous Coward]

Are you the judge that sentenced the Silk Road guy?

Re:Dear Pukeface

[Toad-san]

Dear FBI:

1 - Buy.
2 - Identify
3 - Arrest
4 - Prosecute

Re:Dear Pukeface

[Anonymous Coward]

You don't want to be a criminal? Well, you ARE one, dearie. Should have thought of that. I hope you spend your entire life behind bars. It will give you time to think about your fail.

Life in prison for facilitating ransomware. Damn, what do you do to your kids when they break curfew, cut off a foot?

You have a point - why waste money on this asshole? Summary Execution would be much better.

As for breaking curfew, cutting off a foot is ridiculous, as you well know. A fractured tibia both keeps them grounded and provides a long-lasting, painful reminder that it is not a good idea to miss curfew.

Re:Dear Pukeface

[Anonymous Coward]

BIAP?

I don't understand the secret message.

Re:Dear Pukeface

[moeinvt]

You think he should get LIFE in prison for complicity in encrypting some data and demanding a fraction of the payment extorted for the encryption keys? Seriously? There are rapists and murderers who get off with lighter sentences than that. There are Wall St. executives who have done far more (like 10E8 times more) financial harm and have never even been investigated, let alone prosecuted.

Ridiculously disproportionate sentences are a contributing factor in the insanely large USA prison population. He shouldn't spend a single day in jail. If that's going to be the punishment, I hope he's never caught.

Re:Dear Pukeface

[bill_mcgonigle]

You don't want to be a criminal? Well, you ARE one, dearie. Should have thought of that. I hope you spend your entire life behind bars. It will give you time to think about your fail.

So are you. Assuming you're a non-hypocritical law-abiding citizen, please do the right thing and turn yourself in for Federal incarceration (and don't drop the soap).

If you need help identifying a felony for which you ought to confess, please respond here and we'll be happy to help.

Re:Dear Pukeface

[Anonymous Coward]

2 - hackers use coin mixers now

Re:Dear Pukeface

[ChrisMaple]

"Fail" is a verb. The word you need is "failure".

Why believe this?

[Antique Geekmeister]

Is there any reason to believe this criminal about anything, especially the claim that they're getting out of the business?

Re:Why believe this?

[sumdumass]

There is a way to find out. Have law enforcement purchase the business and use said purchase as rvidence for his prosecution. He'd be out of business pretty quickly.

Re:Why believe this?

[gweihir]

You mean like believing the government? Or the press? Or any corporate statement?

Just partner with Sourceforge

[penguinoid]

Partner with sourceforge, make it part of the EULA. "Not responsible for any damage caused by using this software, including possible loss of data."

Re:Just partner with Sourceforge

[mwvdlee]

And what do you think SourceForge would do with the scripts?
Hijack the most popular projects and bundle them with malware?
Oh wait...

Re:Just partner with Sourceforge

[Anonymous Coward]

no, no. experience enhancing for your benifit, you'll get to see ads tailored to YOU!

Re:Just partner with Sourceforge

[Anonymous Coward]

If you're interested in helping to contact DHI Group Inc. for SF's potential violation of their Code of Ethics, gathering evidence, and sending the message to the greater mirroring community that wrapping FOSS projects in malware without the creator's consent is unacceptable, there is a board set up at 8chan.net (an open-source Freedom-respecting imageboard) to help coordinate efforts, evidence, and discussion. Though it is still in its infancy, we are in need of people who care about the public image of FOSS and want to see Sourceforge and other responsible parties held accountable beyond a temporary PR fiasco.

https://8ch.net/sourcefraud/

8chan's privacy policy can be found here:

https://8ch.net/privacy.pdf

If you have questions about 8chan in general, please read the FAQ.

https://8ch.net/faq.html

Disclosure: I am not financially invested in 8chan.net, nor am I making any money off of sharing this board. Please enable your Adblocker before visiting, by all means.

writing a kit

[CreamyG31337]

Is not a criminal act

Re:writing a kit

[The Rizz]

When it is done for the express purpose of facilitating a criminal act, with no realistic non-criminal applications, yes it is.

Re:writing a kit

[EEPROMS]

Knowingly assisting a person or persons in any way to commit a criminal act is illegal, his software has no legal function so he can't even plea his case when caught.

Re:writing a kit

[Anonymous Coward]

I can think of one non-criminal application:

US Border Control Person: Give us the password to login to your laptop.
You: It looks like my laptop has been taken over by ransomware.

Re:writing a kit

[Anonymous Coward]

No, it's like building a gun or manufacturing other kinds of weapons. If you do it with the government's blessing it's not a criminal act, it only becomes criminal if you do not wear a suit and tie and do it without brown-nosing the government.

Re: writing a kit

[Anonymous Coward]

+2 this

Re:writing a kit

[Anonymous Coward]

Well, a firearm or Mace can reasonably be used for self-defence. When you are building a short range ballistic rocket, however...

Re: writing a kit

[Anonymous Coward]

If tox claimed that he sold his code solely for other coders to learn from, he might get away with it. However, he explicitly programmed it to siphon 20% from every victim infected, so he won't be able to use that defense successfully.

Re:writing a kit

[ChrisMaple]

Non sequitur

The intent of building a road is that it be available for innocent use. Generally, for an act to be a crime requires criminal intent.

Re:writing a kit

[Anonymous Coward]

You missed the point entirely as usual. You can't claim intent of 100% nefarious use in one case without evidence and claim intent of 100% legitimate use in another when there is clear indication of nefarious use.

It is time for you to stop being ignorant. I suggest starting here.

Re:writing a kit

[Anonymous Coward]

so wheres the non-criminal part of this knob head?

Not a troll!

[Anonymous Coward]

she

lol

Re: Not a troll!

[Anonymous Coward]

They

Re:Not a troll!

[ChrisMaple]

If you think females can't be sophisticated thieves, you've never heard of divorce.

Find the fucker

[Anonymous Coward]

I sincerely hope the internet finds the true identity of this scumbag lowlife piece of dogshit, and post it so he can be physically found, detained, tortured, violated, and have the sordid video of the justice that has been meted out to his scumbag body posted for all of his innocent victims to have the pleasure of viewing.

Torture him? I dont give a flying fuck. Hope he rots in hell.
Sexually violated? boo hoo, hope he rots in hell.

Basically, I hope he suffers for his crimes and is scarred for life for being a lowlife scumbag.

ROT. IN. HELL. YOU. FUCKING. SCUM.

Re:Find the fucker

[TCM]

Let me guess: Good American Christian?

Re:Find the fucker

[gweihir]

Let me guess: Good American Christian?

From the amount of hate and violence, probably. Makes one wish Christians were actually right about how the world works, as this person would spend an eternity in hell.

Not much sympathy

[Anonymous Coward]

I almost had a bit of sympathy there. A kid realising he's done wrong, wanting to get out of the business. Except that if he actually realised he'd done wrong the appropriate course of action would just be to destroy the software, remove the online presence he uses to sell it and generally just grow the hell up. Instead he's just trying to sell it on so that other people can use it.

The only trace of sympathy I have is if he's done this in America, which locks up a greater proportion of its citizens than pretty much any other nation on earth, often for excessively long periods, and with minimal realistic chance of rehabilitation.

Re:Not much sympathy

[Anonymous Coward]

I applaud his efforts to secure the employment of others in our premier and burgeoning prison industry.

Re:Not much sympathy

[Anonymous Coward]

Excellent point, I didn't even think of it that way. He's not a super schmuck, just a partial schmuck. He still wants to get something for the work he did.

"I built something for the explicit purpose of making money by taking advantage of people. I now realize I don't want to take advantage of people directly, but would still like some cash for the effort I put into it."

What an utter twat

[Anonymous Coward]

An utter, utter, complete and total ball sucking twat.

Worst analogy ever

[foreverdisillusioned]

+4 Insightful? Seriously, do you people even know what a Saturday Night Special is? It's a gun that poor people can afford. That's all. I'm not sure exactly what the AC was trying to imply, it's not some kind of bizarre black market chopper thing, nor have they ever been especially popular with criminals.

Re:Worst analogy ever

[operagost]

Well, you'll have to excuse anyone under 40 for having grown up in a world where it's settled that inexpensive handguns were outlawed because they were being used mostly by criminals, though in reality they were in the hands of poor urbanites. It made the ruling elite nervous that large numbers of their subjects were mad as hell and not going to take it anymore, so they created the narrative that gun dealers were cranking out cheap guns for murderers, robbers, and drug dealers. This allowed them to create a climate of fear and get their laws passed without objection-- even though the police have established that they have no obligation to defend these defenseless people.

Re:Worst analogy ever

[Anonymous Coward]

They were shit quality firearms that had a much higher than normal chance of misfiring or blowing up in your hand and were only accurate within a few yards. Now the guy mugging you has probably got a high quality Sig, Beretta, or Glock.

Re:Worst analogy ever

[Megol]

No they were outlawed because (for some models) it was almost as dangerous to be holding the cheap gun as being in front of it.
Seriously - some were made in poor quality zinc alloys for critical parts! Not that good quality control on the zinc alloy would have helped much...

Re:Worst analogy ever

[cwsumner]

No they were outlawed because (for some models) it was almost as dangerous to be holding the cheap gun as being in front of it.
Seriously - some were made in poor quality zinc alloys for critical parts! Not that good quality control on the zinc alloy would have helped much...

For "zip guns" made out of water pipe, maybe so.

But for inexpensive guns made for self-defense by low-income people? They work fine, as long as you don't try to fire them every day.

Some of those guns are still around. And are well known to gunsmiths. Some better than others, but they did their job.
The stories of dangerous designs was "propaganda" to justify banning them, using "a little bit of truth" from the actual water-pipe zip-guns.

metasploit

[Anonymous Coward]

so whats the diff between this guy and the guys at metasploit? $$$?

He'll release the keys...

[Viol8]

"If nobody's going to buy the database, in one month I'm releasing the keys, and victims will have their files automatically unlocked.â

Oh , how heart warmingly magnanimous of you! I can see how contrite and sorry you are about what you've done... well apart from still wanting some money for the DB.

Tell you what you sorry little turd, how about you release them anyway and give these poor people their data back? @rsehole.

Re:He'll release the keys...

[Anonymous Coward]

And their money.

Re:He'll release the keys...

[Registered Coward v2]

"If nobody's going to buy the database, in one month I'm releasing the keys, and victims will have their files automatically unlocked.â

Oh , how heart warmingly magnanimous of you! I can see how contrite and sorry you are about what you've done... well apart from still wanting some money for the DB.

Tell you what you sorry little turd, how about you release them anyway and give these poor people their data back? @rsehole.

In addition, he's said "I am part of a criminal conspiracy and am will to sell the tools I used as part of this conspiracy. Oh, BTW, I also probably violated money laundering and income tax laws as well. That part where I deleted files related to the conspiracy? That's not obstruction of justice is it? Also, please believe me I never infected any computers while testing it so I didn't violate and computer crime laws." When he sells it he'll probably ask the buyer to verify he or she is not in law enforcement beacsue a cop would never go undercover and lie about being a cop; or use an informant to get evidence.

Re:He'll release the keys...

[Anonymous Coward]

I wonder how quickly he would release that database if it was discovered that one of the victims is a crime boss in some syndicate somewhere... Bet the tune would change very, very fast... They definitely don't care if you are a minor, doing it for a lark, or just trying to make a few bucks...

Re:He'll release the keys...

[Anonymous Coward]

Something should lock him in a hole somewhere and offer to sell the keys to someone. If no one buys the keys, let the kid out of his hole.

Sounds like a guy I knew back in school

[Anonymous Coward]

Insanely talented individual too which was a shame. All he got was a quiet visit from authorities, a small fine, and banned from using computers until he was 20 (which he blatantly ignored). Last I heard from him he became a sound technician for concerts/raves.

Re:Sounds like a guy I knew back in school

[Anonymous Coward]

Sounds like a guy I knew back in school, too. I think it could even be the same guy. I remember getting an angry call from his mom after he got busted. She called all of his computer nerd friends and blamed us for his getting caught up in his activities, which honestly none of us knew he was into. But yeah the guy I knew ended up being a sound tech. Curious.

Re:Sounds like a guy I knew back in school

[Anonymous Coward]

Na not the same one. His parents hated me because his 13yr old sister had a crush on me. Nothing nerd related.

Does anyone have his address?

[Anonymous Coward]

Not that I want to engage in any criminal activity - right now.

It's only illegal if you get caught.

[Anonymous Coward]

"It's been funny, I felt alive, more than ever, but I don't want to be a criminal."

Because extortion is only criminal if you are convicted. Until then, it's all love, luck, and lollipops.

Teenager?

[Anonymous Coward]

Right...

Probably some toolbox in his twenties thinking he can get off better this way after taking a bit of heat. As has been mentioned how sorry is the turdburgler when he's not releasing the keys immediately and still trying to profit from it.

3 words

[Anonymous Coward]

Global financial crisis...

Re:3 words

[Anonymous Coward]

The Global Financial Crisis has been pretty awesome, actually. Interest rates are rock bottom. I'm actually buying a new house that I'll be able to make a tidy profit on in a few years once it has been fixed up a little.

Oh, you mean the people who couldn't do math and let someone else tell them that they could afford something that simple math skills could have told them they could not afford? Yeah. Sucks to be them. Learn math and basic budgeting. Stop blaming the banks. Everyone always assumes the banks are run by assholes, except apparently when listening to them tell you that you can afford something that you know you can't actually afford.

I'm approved, even now, for a $700k loan. Do you think I am fucking stupid enough to do that? Hell no. I'm not buying a house for even close to that. Live within your means and you will invariably be all right unless you're at the very bottom of the pile.

Dear Criminal Coder:

[DiEx-15]

I hope this letter finds you getting cuffed and stuffed as I write this. I just wanted to let you know what is in store for you as you are being carted away.

1) Real life is way different than your mom's basement. You'll soon discover that when you are in a prison cell.
2) Getting your ass beat up and pummeled will be a daily norm. Only difference is that you will actually get beat and feel every last inch of pain while you really get tea bagged.
3) Saying "I was just trolling" or "LOL Internet" will not stop an ass beating. Saying "U Mad, Bro?" will make the beating worse.
4) You quickly learn that online bravery is far different from real life bravery. Especially if you drop the N Bomb to a group of your fellow black inmates.
5) If you are an anal virgin: You won't be for long.
6) Ass rape. Get use to it. Fast.
7) There is no such thing as respawn points or resurrrection spells in RL. It's permadeath and we hope it is an excruciating one you get.
8) See #7 if you think you can reload your life.
9) Dropping a bar of soap in a prison shower gets you #6. Probably another #2 if the first ass kicking didn't get you a #7 or if they just feel like it.
10) There are no sock puppets or proxies or anonymity in the real world. So snitching or saying the N word will just net you another #2. That and show you really are stupid and learned nothing from the first #2.
11) As you lay beat up and your anus damaged: Just remember that you can turn off your life like a computer: It's called Suicide. Only difference is you can't restart or turn your life back on.

Love,
Everybody. Even your mom.

cue the "slashvertisement" comments

[t_ban]

Okay, how much is the kiddie paying you???