4 ms·

The Dukes: 7 years of Russian cyber-espionage

53 points by isido 11y ago

NickHaflinger 11y ago
No serious security researcher used 'cyber' in a sentence ..
- cxromos 11y ago
  no serious commenter would say that for f-secure.
  - toothbrush 11y ago
    No True Scotsman would, ... wait, what were we talking about?
- gozo 11y ago
  Counterargument: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_HXPm-PN1g&t=1h31m53s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_HXPm-PN1g&t=1h31m53s (Not about what the title says)
- EthanHeilman 11y ago
  Cyber is a poorly defined concept that we need to reform, but given its massive mindshare and the geopolitical reasons* around its use we are probably stuck with the word (but hopefully not the current definition). * There is a reason that the US military went from talking about information-warfare to cyber-warfare and it has much to do with Russian positions on information sovereignty.
- lehtior2 11y ago
  As the security researcher who wrote the sentence, I fully understand the apprehension for using 'cyber' but the sad truth is it seems to be the easiest way of conveying the message to the general audience. I also wholeheartedly agree that 'cyber' as of now is a dangerously poorly defined concept that gets thrown in front of pretty much any other word. Hopefully someone will step up and come up with a mutually agreeable definition for it soon. And then get everyone to use that definition, which is the real struggle ...
- jloughry 11y ago
  "Cyber" (with due respect to Norbert Wiener) is a useful search term right now because it means exactly one thing. Interestingly, "cybersecurity" (one word) and "cyber security" (two words) yield distinct sets of results, and one is more useful than the other.
djhn 11y ago
Where can one read more on government cyber-espionage on a level above popular journalism/non-fiction targeted at a lay-audience?
- kushti 11y ago
  Oh yeah, would be interesting. Also some comparison of different teams suspected in working for govs
- agopaul 11y ago
  I ordered this a few days ago after seeing plenty of good reviews: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18465875-countdown-to-zero-day https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18465875-countdown-to-ze... It covers the Stuxnet worm, which was allegedly built by the US and the Israeli government to target the Iranian nuclear program.
godgod 11y ago
The fact that they poisoned binaries from a tor exit node is impressive. I'd like to see how this was technically done.

53 points by isido 11y ago

NickHaflinger 11y ago

No serious security researcher used 'cyber' in a sentence ..

cxromos 11y ago
no serious commenter would say that for f-secure.
- toothbrush 11y ago
  No True Scotsman would, ... wait, what were we talking about?
gozo 11y ago
Counterargument: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_HXPm-PN1g&t=1h31m53s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_HXPm-PN1g&t=1h31m53s (Not about what the title says)
EthanHeilman 11y ago
Cyber is a poorly defined concept that we need to reform, but given its massive mindshare and the geopolitical reasons* around its use we are probably stuck with the word (but hopefully not the current definition). * There is a reason that the US military went from talking about information-warfare to cyber-warfare and it has much to do with Russian positions on information sovereignty.
lehtior2 11y ago
As the security researcher who wrote the sentence, I fully understand the apprehension for using 'cyber' but the sad truth is it seems to be the easiest way of conveying the message to the general audience. I also wholeheartedly agree that 'cyber' as of now is a dangerously poorly defined concept that gets thrown in front of pretty much any other word. Hopefully someone will step up and come up with a mutually agreeable definition for it soon. And then get everyone to use that definition, which is the real struggle ...
jloughry 11y ago
"Cyber" (with due respect to Norbert Wiener) is a useful search term right now because it means exactly one thing. Interestingly, "cybersecurity" (one word) and "cyber security" (two words) yield distinct sets of results, and one is more useful than the other.

djhn 11y ago

Where can one read more on government cyber-espionage on a level above popular journalism/non-fiction targeted at a lay-audience?

kushti 11y ago
Oh yeah, would be interesting. Also some comparison of different teams suspected in working for govs
agopaul 11y ago
I ordered this a few days ago after seeing plenty of good reviews: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18465875-countdown-to-zero-day https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18465875-countdown-to-ze... It covers the Stuxnet worm, which was allegedly built by the US and the Israeli government to target the Iranian nuclear program.

godgod 11y ago

The fact that they poisoned binaries from a tor exit node is impressive. I'd like to see how this was technically done.