3 ms·

It could very well be law enforcement doing this, just to encite a war between different groups. Didn't they do this with drug gangs in Colombia?

mrkramer 6y ago
They don't do it when they prosecute cyber criminals. You don't dump data and information you seize in investigation because you can use it in further operations or because you will need to use it in court.
- meowface 6y ago
  But this wouldn't be a typical law enforcement action. (If it is actually a government that's responsible, here. I think it's unlikely, but we can just assume it for the sake of argument.) The likely culprits would be FIVEEYES law enforcement and/or intelligence. But the main people of interest on these forums likely all reside in Russia and perhaps some neighboring countries. An indictment against any of them is purely symbolic; these people know never to travel to a Western country and risk arrest. So, if you're FBI/CIA/NSA or similar, and you want to mitigate and disrupt all this fraud and theft and malware and PII harvesting from semi-organized Eastern European cybercrime, you're going to have to use some unconventional tactics. If I were a US "cyber commander" I think I'd consider trying to breach and expose their infrastructure and account info, and perhaps also plant some false flags so they think a rival was responsible. All of that helps encourage confusion, infighting, and decreased trade and communication. Keep doing it over and over and soon enough certain types of activities might become less lucrative, since more things have to be pushed even deeper underground and are less able to depend on semi-public advertisements for vending illicit goods and services. I could also imagine the US government considering it "fair game" from a geopolitical perspective. The current administration probably would be more likely to feel that way compared to the previous one, at least. Especially since there's evidence the Russia security services do sometimes team up with cybercriminals for certain things and turn a blind eye to them as long as they aren't targeting other Russian citizens.
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mrkramer 6y ago

They don't do it when they prosecute cyber criminals. You don't dump data and information you seize in investigation because you can use it in further operations or because you will need to use it in court.

meowface 6y ago
But this wouldn't be a typical law enforcement action. (If it is actually a government that's responsible, here. I think it's unlikely, but we can just assume it for the sake of argument.) The likely culprits would be FIVEEYES law enforcement and/or intelligence. But the main people of interest on these forums likely all reside in Russia and perhaps some neighboring countries. An indictment against any of them is purely symbolic; these people know never to travel to a Western country and risk arrest. So, if you're FBI/CIA/NSA or similar, and you want to mitigate and disrupt all this fraud and theft and malware and PII harvesting from semi-organized Eastern European cybercrime, you're going to have to use some unconventional tactics. If I were a US "cyber commander" I think I'd consider trying to breach and expose their infrastructure and account info, and perhaps also plant some false flags so they think a rival was responsible. All of that helps encourage confusion, infighting, and decreased trade and communication. Keep doing it over and over and soon enough certain types of activities might become less lucrative, since more things have to be pushed even deeper underground and are less able to depend on semi-public advertisements for vending illicit goods and services. I could also imagine the US government considering it "fair game" from a geopolitical perspective. The current administration probably would be more likely to feel that way compared to the previous one, at least. Especially since there's evidence the Russia security services do sometimes team up with cybercriminals for certain things and turn a blind eye to them as long as they aren't targeting other Russian citizens.

deleted 6y ago

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