Malware Attacks Give Criminals 1,425% Return On Investment

An anonymous reader writes: Trustwave released a new report which reveals the top cybercrime, data breach and security threat trends. According to their findings, attackers receive an estimated 1,425 percent return on investment for exploit kit and ransomware schemes ($84,100 net revenue for each $5,900 investment). Retail was the most compromised industry making up 43 percent of investigations followed by food and beverage (13 percent) and hospitality (12 percent).

Comments

Sliced and Diced

[Anonymous Coward]

I hope this is not true:

http://www.reddit.com/r/technology/comments/39x7w5/sourceforge_hijacks_firefox_project/

Re:Sliced and Diced

[Anonymous Coward]

Beware of the APK hosts file guy... He's just around the corner and he's about to pwn you with a wall of text and a massive hosts file!

Re:Sliced and Diced

[Anonymous Coward]

I ban domains on the DNS servers, because this way I get all subdomains as well. Beetlejuice, I mean APK, can kiss my ass.

Re:Sliced and Diced

[Anonymous Coward]

That's what I do too, but I still have nightmares about the APK hosts file guy. His divine intolerance against DNS alteration is unparallelled.

Re:Sliced and Diced

[Anonymous Coward]

Whoever modded that down: The complaint about Sourceforge is on topic, and not just a rehash of older complaints either.

Re:Sliced and Diced

[Anonymous Coward]

Haha, even uBlock seems to block SourceForge now!

Re: Sliced and Diced

[Anonymous Coward]

One
of SourceForge's mirrors is now considering if they should stop
serving files on behalf of SF.

Downmodding won't make the story go away...

Re:Sliced and Diced

[Anonymous Coward]

Don't you think you should also block a certain other site hosted by the same owner that that owns Sourceforge?

Re:Sliced and Diced

[Anonymous Coward]

I already filter some things around here, and I rarely load the home page anymore. If they start serving malware on Slashdot, then that's gone too, of course. The mobile site is already unusable. The point of the DNS ban isn't punishment: Dice surely doesn't give a fuck. The ban is meant to protect against links to Sourceforge which might not be immediately recognizable as such. If some site hosts their binaries on Sourceforge, I want those links to fail.

Don't use thousand separators internationally

[Anonymous Coward]

1,425% is ambiguous. It can be read as 1.425% by people who normally use commas as decimal separators. Thousand separators are meant to be used for clarity, but in an international forum they create confusion instead, so don't use them. Digit grouping is an alternative, but doing that in a typographically correct way requires non-breakable narrow spaces. Honestly, if you need help reading a four digit number, maybe reading isn't for you.

Re:Don't use thousand separators internationally

[Anonymous Coward]

Indeed. I don't mind points as a decimal separation, but commas to group thousands are highly confusing.

Re:Don't use thousand separators internationally

[Anonymous Coward]

And please, can we start using newspeak already. Doubleplusgood.

Re:Don't use thousand separators internationally

[meza]

Ah thank you. Coming from a country where we use comma as a decimal separator I actually did misread this and thought it was a pretty crappy return of investment (due to dissonance or something my brain decided not to interpret what was written within the parentheses).

Re:Don't use thousand separators internationally

[Intrepid imaginaut]

1,425% is ambiguous.

It's not ambiguous, it's very clear and perfectly acceptable anglophone denotation. If you want to use some other form of denotation or find this confusing, go to a non anglophone site or improve your language education, respectively.

Re:Don't use thousand separators internationally

[Anonymous Coward]

1,425% is ambiguous.

It's not ambiguous, it's very clear and perfectly acceptable anglophone denotation.

No it isn't.

You want an example? South Africa uses commas for decimals. And they're not the only ones.

Re:Don't use thousand separators internationally

[Anonymous Coward]

The typographically correct way to format numbers in English is to use commas. You're not asking for this to be done in a typographically correct way, you're asking it to be done in a typographically incorrect way that makes numbers harder to parse for everyone who speaks English so that it benefits a small proportion of people who aren't yet fluent. So get off your high horse, you neither know nor care about typographical correctness in English. And since you clearly are having trouble reading a four-digit number that's correctly formatted, maybe reading isn't for you either.

The answer is no, anyway.

Re:Don't use thousand separators internationally

[Anonymous Coward]

You want an example? South Africa uses commas for decimals. And they're not the only ones

And this matters to the Internet of Amerika, how, exactly? USA! USA! USA!

Re:Don't use thousand separators internationally

[Anonymous Coward]

Just mention anything related to politics or economics and you'll be flooded with all the DuckSpeak you can handle.

SOOOO much easier than thinking for one's self.

Re:Don't use thousand separators internationally

[Anonymous Coward]

I read it as 1.425% as well, I thought that is not a very good investment, but still better than keeping the money in the bank.

Having percentages going above 1000 % does not happen often, so i see any kind of separator on a percentage as a decimal separator.

Re:Don't use thousand separators internationally

[BlackPignouf]

Exactly.
On a related note, could we please kill the developer(s) that wrote the CSV import for Excel?
Depending on your regional settings, importing a cell containing 3.14 could yield 3.14, 3140 or 14th of March.

Re:Don't use thousand separators internationally

[ArcadeMan]

Here's a set of coordinates. Have fun understanding where commas are meant to separate coordinates and where they're meant to separate thousands.

574,813,067,805.875,243,554,323,654,371.654,876,484,567,576,549.654,765.763,652,258,436,540.365,347,654.364

Re:Don't use thousand separators internationally

[Carewolf]

1,425% is ambiguous. It can be read as 1.425% by people who normally use commas as decimal separators. Thousand separators are meant to be used for clarity, but in an international forum they create confusion instead, so don't use them. Digit grouping is an alternative, but doing that in a typographically correct way requires non-breakable narrow spaces. Honestly, if you need help reading a four digit number, maybe reading isn't for you.

If anyone reads the number as 1.425% in relation to this story, then I would agree with you. Maybe reading isn't for you.

Then again, maybe this forum isn't for you either. Clearly there's a comprehension problem that has fuck-all to do with commas or decimals.

I read it as 1.425%. No one uses thousand separators for just 4 digits, so 1 point something was much more likely.

Re: Don't use thousand separators internationally

[Anonymous Coward]

You forgot the spaces

Re:Don't use thousand separators internationally

[Frederic54]

True, as a French guy I read this as 1.425%... at least they could have written 1'425% to remove confusion...

Re: Don't use thousand separators internationally

[Anonymous Coward]

You can't use spaces in code.

Re:Don't use thousand separators internationally

[Z00L00K]

If you use separator - use a space and a fixed-width font.

Re:Don't use thousand separators internationally

[Z00L00K]

Which most of Europe do.

Re:Don't use thousand separators internationally

[Z00L00K]

Not to mention the CSV export. The dynamic of that format is completely FUBAR for everyone working in a multinational company.

Re:Don't use thousand separators internationally

[Anonymous Coward]

That's even more confusing.
What is 1 minute 425%?

Re:Don't use thousand separators internationally

[Intrepid imaginaut]

The primary language of South Africa is Zulu. English trails in a poor fourth down the list.

Re: Don't use thousand separators internationally

[Intrepid imaginaut]

I wasn't aware the summary was written in code, or contained any lengthy co-ordinates either for that matter.

Re:Don't use thousand separators internationally

[stoned_ritual]

Using percent to describe something in the thousands is rather silly to begin with.

Re: Don't use thousand separators internationally

[Anonymous Coward]

Having numbers that need to vary depending on the context means the standards are fucked-up.

Re:Don't use thousand separators internationally

[Anonymous Coward]

I like that! Instructional.. with just a touch of arrogance, subtle enough to avoid the downmod. *golf clap*

Re:Don't use thousand separators internationally

[belthize]

Here's a map of usage by country, blue is comma, green is dot. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

By total population comma wins.
By total countries dot wins.
By total military comma wins.
By square mileage dot wins.
By website hosting locale comma wins.

By mindless inability to grok the obvious from the summary where they helpfully give $84,400 return on $5,900 investment which makes it clear that it's not 1% and that commas are being used nobody wins.

Re: Don't use thousand separators internationally

[Anonymous Coward]

Fucking nerds focus on punctuation instead of the message.

Re:Don't use thousand separators internationally

[munch117]

Even better, they could have written 14x. There is no way that 4 significant digits are meaningful, and factors are more easily understood than large percentages.

Re:Don't use thousand separators internationally

[TheCastro1689]

Clearly it's 1 foot 425%

Re:Don't use thousand separators internationally

[Anonymous Coward]

Then we would be arguing over whether it should be increased by a factor of 13x or 14x.

SUBJECT

[Anonymous Coward]

How nice of Slashdot to explain why SourceForge is fucked up as it is.

Stop devaluing labor!!!

[Anonymous Coward]

Surely the criminal's time and effort needs to be factored in to th ROI calculation? Yes, I know that we've been trying to automate away those pesky labor costs since the eighteenth century, if not earlier; but we haven't finished yet...

TCOC

[Anonymous Coward]

This is the return before legal fees, restitution and incarceration.
You have to look at the Total Cost Of Crime when you calculate the ROI.

Re: TCOC

[MenThal]

Not to mention whitewashing. What rates do Saul offer nowadays?

Re: TCOC

[MenThal]

Huh? Me is swooshed.

Re: TCOC

[Anonymous Coward]

Story submitted by AC, all comments by AC, and then you.

Re: TCOC

[MenThal]

Hehe, will try to post as AC/DC next time...

Simple!

[Anonymous Coward]

Just make is legal..

Re:Simple!

[Z00L00K]

Like making murder legal then?

Re:Simple!

[fustakrakich]

"Murder" is fungible.

One percent return on investment? That bad?

[Anonymous Coward]

So causing all that trouble, and they can't even keep their money? Who would have thought...

Crime Pays (sometimes)

[Etherwalk]

Yeah, a lot of people go into crime for money. Human Traffickers make a great return on investment in slaves, for example, and get much less risk of being caught than if you're trafficking guns. It's seriously messed up, but how fast do you think the police would shut down an AK-47 market on the corner as opposed to your neighborhood's center for prostitution?

Bank robbery also pays, but tends not to pay very well. (Not nearly as well as a good engineering job, IIRC, and more likelihood of your bugs getting detected).

Re:Crime Pays (sometimes)

[Anonymous Coward]

It's much more promising to run a bank than to rob one. Your bugs will also get detected but then you get bailed out.

Re:Crime Pays (sometimes)

[Anonymous Coward]

A good engineering job has no "bugs". Hint: if you write software you're a developer, not an engineer. Some people actually work for a living.

Re:Crime Pays (sometimes)

[JaredOfEuropa]

You're right: bridges never fall down, electronic devices never catch fire, cars are never recalled, walls never develop cracks, and buildings never leak. Oh wait, they do.

If you mount a light switch upside down, or you use door knobs from a different source than your design specifies, your building generally won't come crashing down. In the world of software, it very well might.

Re:Crime Pays (sometimes)

[fustakrakich]

It's much more promising to run a bank than to rob one.

The best way to rob a bank is to own it, am I right?

Re:Crime Pays (sometimes)

[Anonymous Coward]

I feel like you've never met an engineer. *Especially* an electrical engineer, because circuits have bugs that are very analogous to software bugs. Bugs in large structures are called "design flaws" as if that's different.

If you're an engineer and you don't sometimes write software (even if at a very basic level), you aren't really engineering in 2015.

Re:Crime Pays (sometimes)

[Anonymous Coward]

Yeah, a lot of people go into crime for money. Human Traffickers make a great return on investment in slaves, for example, and get much less risk of being caught than if you're trafficking guns. It's seriously messed up, but how fast do you think the police would shut down an AK-47 market on the corner as opposed to your neighborhood's center for prostitution?

Are you conflating the SLAVE TRADE with prostitution??? That's fucked up.

Not even 2%

[Anonymous Coward]

lol, they should buy stocks, I'm up 300%

Re:Not even 2%

[hercludes]

1425%. Not 1[,.]425%

Credit card track data?

[RobinH]

Data most targeted: In 31 percent of cases Trustwave investigators found attackers targeted payment card track data (up 12 percentage points over 2013). Track data is the information on the back of a payment card that’s needed for an in-person transaction. Twenty percent of the time attackers sought either financial credentials or proprietary information (compared to 45 percent in 2013) meaning attackers shifted their focus back to payment card data.

I assume this is mostly because the US still doesn't have chipped credit cards, or has that changed since a year or so ago when I was there? I thought the magstripe was going away.

Re:Credit card track data?

[Anonymous Coward]

You mean the chipped credit cards that can be read from 3 feet away, without needing to be removed from the owners pocket?

Re:Credit card track data?

[CrimsonAvenger]

I assume this is mostly because the US still doesn't have chipped credit cards, or has that changed since a year or so ago when I was there?

The new ones are chipped. But the replacement cycle on credit cards (mine are usually good for five years) is long enough that a lot of unchipped cards are still out there (about half of mine are chipped, the other half won't expire for a couple-three more years).

Note that chipped doesn't protect you from credit card fraud - just yesterday I got called by my CC company to verify that I'd really bought something in Arizona that morning (haven't been in AZ in the last five years) - the card in question was chipped....

Re:Credit card track data?

[wbr1]

Few vendors in the US have chip and pin readers. They are not required yet, and even when they are, not having one just shifts the burden of fraudulent transactions to the vendor. Things move glacially here.

Re:Credit card track data?

[Anonymous Coward]

You mean the chipped credit cards that can be read from 3 feet away, without needing to be removed from the owners pocket?

A regular chipped credit/bank card can only be read when physically inserted into a reader. That there are some trying to introduce contactless payment (in cards or mobiles) is an entirely different subject.

Re:Credit card track data?

[RobinH]

Presumably your card # and other information were stolen manually or via an online transaction. The article is specifically mentioning going after the data from the mag stripe. I have presumed, but don't know enough about it, that the chipped cards encrypt the verification between the card and the bank, so the vendor doesn't ever have that info, and thus any malware running on their POS terminal can't access it either. That doesn't stop your waiter from writing down your card details of course... it's just a matter of degree.

Re:Credit card track data?

[CrimsonAvenger]

Presumably your card # and other information were stolen manually or via an online transaction

Manually, I am guessing. I have a different credit card for online transactions. Or possibly directly from the CC company....

Re:Credit card track data?

[BVis]

Chip and PIN != RFID.

Re:Credit card track data?

[Steve Newall]

The liability shift for chip and PIN cards is scheduled for October this year in the US. Although the guestimates vary, probably around 20% of merchants will have an EMV (chip) reader by this time. When chip and PIN was introduced into Europe, there was a sharp increase in credit card fraud in non-chip regions (Canada for example), and when Canada introduced chip and PIN we noticed a sharp decrease in fraud, which we assume was moved into the US.

Re:Credit card track data?

[Anonymous Coward]

Things move glacially here.

That's ok, thanks global warming, it'll pick up speed.

Re:Credit card track data?

[tsqr]

The new ones are chipped. But the replacement cycle on credit cards (mine are usually good for five years) is long enough that a lot of unchipped cards are still out there (about half of mine are chipped, the other half won't expire for a couple-three more years).

I received chipped replacements for my credit card and ATM card (different banks) roughly 3 years before the old cards were due to expire. Apparently some institutions aren't waiting so long.

Re:Credit card track data?

[Anonymous Coward]

Problem is that in the US, CNP (card not present) fraud has yet to be addressed. Yes, someone can't clone a card, but still can jot down the details and make a purchase.

Ironic that even with the new cards and mandate to have EMV cards, a good old fashioned skimmer will still work to grab things just because the debit mechanism is still there, and one can still rack up purchases with the card number, CVV code, and expiration date.

Re:Credit card track data?

[mlts]

I'm actually surprised. The chip/PIN readers are gaining steam here in the US. Even Square has an EMV reader. The fact that vendors have to pay the cost is getting them to actually get off their buts and deploy these. Even ATMs are starting to have a mechanism for chips.

I just wonder how they are going to handle fraud via mail order or where the card isn't present. This will still be an issue.

Re:Credit card track data?

[tlhIngan]

I just wonder how they are going to handle fraud via mail order or where the card isn't present. This will still be an issue.

Same way they always have - CNP transactions cost more and are riskier.

It'll be a cost an internet merchant will have to pay, and there's no way around it. Either the merchant adds friction to the process (some merchants ask you to fax/email a copy of the card which if you look at the cardholder agreement is something you should never, ever, do), or they end up using something like Paypal, or disallow separate billing/shipping addresses or other things.

Just FYI - if a merchant asks you to email/fax them an image of your card, be aware that shifts the liability back onto you if the person at the other end decides to go wild with your card.

Then again, it may just simply be the cost of doing business. It's not like the threat is new or anything - I mean, I don't expect fraudulent e-commerce rates to rise because well, it's always been that way.

Just the normal expense of using Windows...

[Anonymous Coward]

An expense that is never included in the TCO numbers.

Career change

[Anonymous Coward]

Time for a career change :)

Physical card theft

[Anonymous Coward]

I have to wonder if the best return isn't on physically stealing cards. My wife's debit card was stolen at work this weekend. Since its a secure environment they know it was one of thirty people. She realized itcwhen b she got an alert when it was used on the other side of town about an hour after they got off work. After canceling the card she called the gas station manager who said he had the person on camera so to file a police report and he'd gladly supply the video. The police refused to take a report. They said they we ouldnt followup so there was no point. First they should always take a report but second you know you ggg Ave the person on video, my wife could probably I'd the guy, and you know where he works and my wife probably knows his schedule and you won't do anything?

Then they wonder why the teens here gave no respect for the law. Why would they when the police flat out tell them they can break the law and they won't do anything .

Re: Physical card theft

[Anonymous Coward]

Don't call the police, call the bank and let the bank call the police.

Re: Physical card theft

[dj245]

Don't call the police, call the bank and let the bank call the police.

It's not worth their time. They either wrote off the loss or their insurance company paid or they backcharged the merchants. Spending any additional time on nailing the criminal wouldn't benefit them in any way. It would be purely for vengeance.

Re: Physical card theft

[Anonymous Coward]

If they did backcharge the merchant, then maybe she should ask again to see the tape.

Re:Physical card theft

[Anonymous Coward]

Your wife should put the video on youtube and on facebook. Then send an email to all of her co-workers with the video link warning them to be careful because they could also become victims of theft. Mention that she can't tell who it is that used her card fraudulently, but it is a good reminder for everyone to be diligent. Just make sure everything she says about the incident is true and contains no accusations.

Re:Physical card theft

[Anonymous Coward]

Can the police actually refuse to take a report?

anti-virus industry enticing more virus-makers?

[mix_left_and_right]

is this just the anti-virus industry trying to entice more virus-makers into making more viruses?

Re:anti-virus industry enticing more virus-makers?

[Anonymous Coward]

Maybe not on this one, but you're probably generally right about their behavior. One thing that repeatedly happens in the world is an industry is created to solve a problem and then the industry doesn't go away because they have a desire to keep making money, so they make sure the problem sticks around.

Philosophical musing

[Anonymous Coward]

We have crafted a culture that not only rewards, but idolises excessive accumulation of wealth. We have taught each other to seek profits, and that a large return on investment is a good thing. We have also crafted a technological world where poor quality software (designed sufficiently to get paid, but with effort and attention to detail spared so as to increase the profitability and return on investment) runs peoples lives, and where few understand this software. Is it any surprise that waves of such cybercrime are happening? Unfortunately too many humans are too greedy to make properly fixing this situation a serious possibility in the near future.

Scrip-tkiddies

[Anonymous Coward]

$84,100 net revenue for each $5,900 investment

Clearly, $5900 is the price of an exploit kit, so they calculate revenue of [successfull group of] script-kiddies. It would be interesting to see the revenue of malware authors.

New Investment Opportunity

[Virtucon]

So what the TFA is saying is that it's better for me to invest in Malware hackers than the S&P 500. Interesting. Now I'm wondering if there'll be an ETF or Mutual Fund available soon. Symbol: HX0R

Risk?

[jbmartin6]

Sure the returns are high, just like they are on cocaine smuggling. But what is the risk?

Re:Risk?

[fustakrakich]

About 10% chance you'll get caught, but the people you are likely dealing with are no better than the cops, so, caveat emptor, as the saying goes...

Re:black people

[Anonymous Coward]

welfare

The Real Cost

[Anonymous Coward]

One wonders if this cost includes the cost of loss of income and civil penalties when they are eventually caught.

Ten years in jail can be a substantial cost. But still I am for increasing penalties on all types of white collar crime.

Even though they typically don't physically harm people the money spent investigating, prosecuting, and punishing the criminal involved costs all of us.

Re:Superior protection vs. malware = hosts

[dave420]

* Can't be selectively disabled
* Defeated by being out of date
* Can disable some websites whose code relies on being able to read content on a blocked host
* Creator is famous for spamming the ever-loving shit out people in some strange belief people like his bizarre, rambling adverts, but not other, less-insane adverts

Re:BS Dave420... apk

[Anonymous Coward]

Hosts file can block single hosts.

DNS blackhole can block whole domains.

DNS > hosts. q.e.d.

Keep patching your hosts file for every new host while sane people just block the domain and are done with it. Fucking moron.

This article reminds me of something.

[stoned_ritual]

That I'm in the right line of work, but I'm on the wrong side.

Local DNS = more parts & power + resource hog

[Anonymous Coward]

See subject: More CPU use too (+ DNS has security issues + goes down, a lot).

Hosts cached into RAM locally also resolves FASTER than remote DNS, by FAR!

Hosts also compliment DNS & LIGHTEN dns servers loads - which admins of DNS should LOVE actually!

Having users avoid DNS by hardcoding their favorite sites @ the TOP of hosts yields the greatest possible speed of resolution locally vs. remotely (which is HOW my program structures that for the best speed. 30 of them or so equates to OR EXCEEDS 2-3 MILLION remote indexed DNS queries).

(... + it secures folks vs. Kaminsky redirect flaw ridden remote DNS servers, of which 99.999% of ISP DNS servers are NOT patched against, & gets users to those favorite sites where they SPEND MOST OF THEIR TIME ONLINE mind you, reliably & faster, vs. DOWNED dns (happens QUITE a lot)).

* You just can't beat hosts for a combination of speed, efficiency, security, & reliability!

APK

P.S.=> Let's see YOU do something better Dave420 - you can't & I know it, YOU KNOW IT, & by now? Everyone reading does... lol, you "ne'er-do-well" troll fool... apk

Actually 1325% ROI

[Anonymous Coward]

If I invest $100 and end up with $100 that isn't a 100% ROI. It's 0%.

You have to subtract the base investment from the final valuation to figure out profit. Can't believe I have to explain this.

Re:Actually 1325% ROI

[belthize]

You might want to ponder the meaning of 'net revenue'.

Re:Local DNS = more parts & power + resource h

[dave420]

I don't have to do better - better solutions than your's exist already. Give it up. I've already pointed out flaws in your solution which render it useless in many cases, and your anti-boner for DNS and competitors is clouding your already "unique" perspective. It's sad.

Superior protection vs. malware = hosts

[Anonymous Coward]

APK Hosts File Engine 9.0++ SR-2 32/64-bit http://start64.com/index.php?o...

FREE, creates the best possible hosts file, & adds speed, security, + reliability, doing more with less, more efficiently vs. browser addons & locally installed DNS servers @ home + fixes DNS' redirect security issues - obtaining its data vs. online threats & adbanner blocking from 10 reputable sites in the security community!

* :)

By "yours truly" - "The Lord of Hosts" so-to-speak:

PERTINENT QUOTE/EXCERPT:

"The image this title brings to mind is of a mighty military commander, one who can at a mere word summon rank upon rank of protective power" from https://answers.yahoo.com/ques... & in myself, via hosts/custom hosts files use.

(Accept NO substitutes!)

MalwareBytes' hpHosts Admin (MalwareBytes employee) hosts & recommends it -> http://hosts-file.net/?s=Downl... & MalwareBytes = BEST antivirus per this VERY recent testing of them all http://www.av-test.org/en/news...

&

It's GUARANTEED safe & clean per it being checked by 57 antivirus programs recently in BOTH its 64-bit model https://www.virustotal.com/en/...

+

In its 32-bit model also https://www.virustotal.com/en/...

APK

P.S.=> "The premise is quite simple: Take something designed by nature & reprogram it to make it work for the body rather than against it..." - Dr. Alice Krippen: "I am legend"

...apk

You can't do better, "ne'er-do-well"... apk

[Anonymous Coward]

See subject + I shot you down & you RAN http://yro.slashdot.org/commen... & even AGREED my points on hosts are SOLID + correct there (in that hosts do MORE than other "so-called 'competitors'" more efficiently by far as well).

* Grow up Dave420... seriously!

APK

P.S.=> Do yourself a favor - Do something with yourself that's worthwhile as I have -> http://start64.com/index.php?o... instead of being an off-topic "ne'er-do-well" (lol, it's the truth, you can't show you've done squat for others that benefit them in added speed, security, reliability, & anonymity as I have)... apk

Re:Local DNS = more parts & power + resource h

[belthize]

You're in the abyss now.

Not sure how many people remember James "Kibo" Parry but at this point I suspect APK doesn't really exist. It's just an interesting bit of amped up Eliza code that looks for references to APK, posts, and then responds to follow ups with canned text and inline name replacements.

Re:Local DNS = more parts & power + resource h

[Anonymous Coward]

You're off topic trolling like Dave420 and can't prove apk wrong here http://it.slashdot.org/comment...

Of course financial crimes pay

[davidwr]

If it didn't, people wouldn't do it.

Even a typical burglary of an upper-middle-class home with $5000 in jewelry pays several thousand percent if you don't factor in the thief's time* and if the thief is never caught**:

* Gross from sale of stolen jewelry on the black market: $500 (or more)
* Cost attributable to getaway car, fuel, and driving to/from the meetup with your fence: Under $30.

That's well over a 1650% return right there.

* Assume the thief doesn't value his time, which is likely a valid assumption on our part
** Assume the thief naively believes the risk of getting caught is negligible, which is likely a valid assumption on our part

A major difference between malware and burglary is the risk of serving jail time or paying heavy fines for malware really is close to zero, at least for now. Sigh.

Re:Of course financial crimes pay

[david_thornley]

Another major difference: to burgle my house, the burglar has to physically be here. To, say, encrypt my files and demand ransom, the criminal has to be connected to the Internet, and physically be somewhere on the planet.

Re:black people

[Anonymous Coward]

Why is there no "racist shithead" mod? A "paranoid" mod would also be very useful here.

1,425% ROI, but 87.3% of statistics are made up

[EzFlier]

Of course, the relevant XKCD: https://xkcd.com/1295/

mney money money!

[Anonymous Coward]

Wow, these hackers are making tons of money and putting so many innocent people at risk. They are obviously very smart and talented individuals and its a shame they choose to use their assets to tear apart our nations, but money does drive all. And also, seeing how corrupt our political system seems to be, can we blame them?

Bs dave420: trying to hide this, again?

[Anonymous Coward]

U can disable hosts & entries in it too via my program + not "out-of-date" if you run it (auto-magically OR manually), & websites that *try* to force reading into your system are NOT WEBSITES WORTH GOING TO, & creator is famous, unlike you, who can't do *anything* remotely even as close... fact!

* :)

Let's see YOU develop something better!

(I'll be waiting until the clock strikes 13 (non-military time of course) & "the 12th of never" or February 31st for THAT to happen from "the trolling likes of you", lol, that's for sure!)

Plus - Lord knows "Almost ALL Ads Blocked" (AdBlock, AdBlock+), UBlock, Ghostery, & even DNS servers makers haven't & can't (for added speed, security, reliability, & even more anonymity as efficiently + with less moving parts & from slower modes of operations (usermode vs. kernelmode))...

Face facts Dave420 - you *WISH* you were me... & you KNOW it!

Lastly, per my subject above: Downmodding this same post I did last time to VAINLY & effetely *try* to "hide it" Dave420? LMAO @ U, proving my point for me (you're an imbecile that's easy to get the best of everytime) -> http://it.slashdot.org/comment...

APK

P.S.=> Try to do something useful with your life Dave420 - living your life as a "ne'er-do-well" troll online isn't much of a life, & as far as you are concerned, vs. myself? Heh - quoting Dirty Harry: "Dyin' ain't much of a livin' BOY!"... apk

Re:Superior protection vs. malware = hosts

[Anonymous Coward]

Eternally downvoted, never taken seriously.

Looks like a "ne'er-do-well" (in retard hillbilly Yank speak) to me.

Re:Local DNS = more parts & power + resource h

[Anonymous Coward]

Why do you stalk\harass apk? Your post history's evidence. No denying it. Anyone can verify it as I have. Are you so obsessed with him doing better than you have in computing that you feel compelled to stalk and harass him constantly like a psycho you're showing us you are by doing it? He's challenged you to do better. It's evident you can't. You can't even prove his lists of points favoring hosts files wrong, agreeing with him he is correct on them from recent replies of yours in exchanges with apk you've had. What's your problem? Jealousy? Care to show us proof of you ever getting the best of apk too? He's shown you agreeing with him in his replies here on hosts in fact.

Ublock does less & consumes more

[Anonymous Coward]

Can ublock do 16 things hosts do 4 speed, security, & reliability:

1.) Protect vs. malicious sites (beyond ads)
2.) Protect vs. fastflux botnets + stop C&C communique
3.) Protect vs. dyndns botnets + stop C&C communique
4.) Protect vs. DGA botnets + stop C&C communique
5.) Protect vs. downed DNS (adds reliability)
6.) Protect vs. DNS redirect poisoned dns
7.) Protect vs. trackers
8.) Protect vs. spam
9.) Protect vs. phish
10.) Protect vs. caps
11.) Get you past dnsbl
12.) Keep you off dns request logs
13.) Speed up surfing by adblocks & hardcoded fav. sites
14.) Works 4 ANYTHING webbound (ie email programs) multiplatform.
15.) Give you easily controlled data
16.) Do all that & block ads (better than addons) more efficiently in cpu + memory usage

* ANSWER ="NO" on UBlock doing it as well or at all!

APK

P.S.=> UBlock does less than hosts & less efficiently - hosts do MORE w/ less + Hosts start w/ IP stack before REDUNDANT inefficient addons BEGIN to operate (as 1st resolver queried):

Hosts @ 3mb-11mb w/ current data vs. threats + ads - test yourself using my program.

UBlock uses 63++ MB -> http://www.ghacks.net/2014/06/...

SCREENSHOT -> http://cdn.ghacks.net/wp-conte...

+

ClarityRay defeats it detecting it by dumping addons in use in a browser via native browser methods to do so!

+

UBlock adds complexity/room for breakdown/exploit + from a slower mode of operations (usermode = more messagepassing overheads vs. hosts in kernelmode).

BEST hosts file?

APK Hosts File Engine 9.0++ SR-2 32/64-bit -> http://start64.com/index.php?o...

MalwareBytes' hpHosts Admin (MalwareBytes employee) hosts & recommends it -> http://hosts-file.net/?s=Downl... & MalwareBytes = BEST antivirus http://www.av-test.org/en/news...

It's GUARANTEED safe & clean per it being checked by 57 antivirus programs recently in BOTH its 64-bit model https://www.virustotal.com/en/...

+

In its 32-bit model also https://www.virustotal.com/en/...

... apk

What I post's nonsense dave420?

[Anonymous Coward]

"I just reply to you when I see you spamming Slashdot with your nonsense"- by dave420 (699308) on Friday June 19, 2015 @10:31AM (#49945047)

Why'd you agree w/ my points on hosts then? Quoting you:

"I'm not denying all those things" - by dave420 (699308) on Wednesday September 17, 2014 @11:39AM (#47927435) FROM -> http://yro.slashdot.org/commen...

Of course not: It's impossible to dispute HOSTS FILES superiority to other methods!

Since my points in favor of hosts SINGLE FILE native kernelmode faster part show hosts doing more w/ less vs. so-called 'competitors' many part messagepassing + cpu/ram use overheads laden slower usermode FAR MORE COMPLEX 'solutions' doing less than hosts do for more security, speed, reliability, + anonymity!

I make creating a superior more efficient solution EASIER!

(That's more than a mere trolling stalking harassing "ne'er-do-well" like yourself could *EVER* manage).

---

"I'm simply pointing out that it takes an AdBlocker to block your spamming"- by dave420 (699308) on Friday June 19, 2015 @10:31AM (#49945047)

I bother you? Then WHY DON'T YOU DO IT & use 'em? Answer that!

(You stalk/harass me instead!)

OBVIOUSLY you don't & you're a "ne'er-do-well" troll & you have "other motivations" (next):

---

* QUESTION:

DO YOU WORK FOR AN ADVERTISING FIRM, or ARE YOU A WEBMASTER/WEBCODER http://slashdot.org/comments.p... , or a MALWARE MAKER, or ARE YOU AFFILIATED WITH 1 OF MY COMPETITORS?

Answer it!

As per your usual you'll avoid every question, or lie & You've been EXPOSED in your "motives" in the last link just above, lol!

APK

P.S.=> See Dave420 the "pot puffing clown" SQUIRM - evasions galore will ensue (as well as effete downmods via sockpuppets to *try* vainly "hide it" -> http://slashdot.org/comments.p... )... apk

What I post's nonsense dave420?

[Anonymous Coward]

"I just reply to you when I see you spamming Slashdot with your nonsense"- by dave420 (699308) on Friday June 19, 2015 @10:31AM (#49945047)

Why'd you agree w/ my points on hosts then? Quoting you:

"I'm not denying all those things" - by dave420 (699308) on Wednesday September 17, 2014 @11:39AM (#47927435) FROM -> http://yro.slashdot.org/commen...

Of course not: It's impossible to dispute HOSTS FILES superiority to other methods!

Since my points in favor of hosts SINGLE FILE native kernelmode faster part show hosts doing more w/ less vs. so-called 'competitors' many part messagepassing + cpu/ram use overheads laden slower usermode FAR MORE COMPLEX 'solutions' doing less than hosts do for more security, speed, reliability, + anonymity!

I make creating a superior more efficient solution EASIER!

(That's more than a mere trolling stalking harassing "ne'er-do-well" like yourself could *EVER* manage).

---

"I'm simply pointing out that it takes an AdBlocker to block your spamming"- by dave420 (699308) on Friday June 19, 2015 @10:31AM (#49945047)

I bother you? Then WHY DON'T YOU DO IT & use 'em? Answer that!

(You stalk/harass me instead!)

OBVIOUSLY you don't & you're a "ne'er-do-well" troll & you have "other motivations" (next):

---

* QUESTION:

DO YOU WORK FOR AN ADVERTISING FIRM, or ARE YOU A WEBMASTER/WEBCODER http://slashdot.org/comments.p... , or a MALWARE MAKER, or ARE YOU AFFILIATED WITH 1 OF MY COMPETITORS?

Answer it!

As per your usual you'll avoid every question, or lie & You've been EXPOSED in your "motives" in the last link just above, lol!

APK

P.S.=> See Dave420 the "pot puffing clown" SQUIRM - evasions galore will ensue (as well as effete downmods via sockpuppets to *try* vainly "hide it" -> http://slashdot.org/comments.p... )... apk