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> “We are apolitical, we do not participate in geopolitics, do not need to tie us with a defined government and look for other our motives [sic],” reads an upda

> “We are apolitical, we do not participate in geopolitics, do not need to tie us with a defined government and look for other our motives [sic],” reads an update to the DarkSide Leaks blog. “Our goal is to make money, and not creating problems for society. From today we introduce moderation and check each company that our partners want to encrypt to avoid social consequences in the future.”[1] [1] https://krebsonsecurity.com/2021/05/a-closer-look-at-the-darkside-ransomware-gang/ https://krebsonsecurity.com/2021/05/a-closer-look-at-the-dar... Yeah, just dirtbags making money.

Miner49er 5y ago
This is better then most rich businessman, actually. Many don't care if they create problems for society, if it means more money for them.
- colechristensen 5y ago
  They are, of course, lying. They don’t want the extra attention that comes from attacking public infrastructure or affecting large numbers of people. Nobody cares if you sabotage a random small business. Lots of people care when you attack a fuel pipeline. Attention is bad for this business.
at-fates-hands 5y ago
Sounds like they're about to get rolled up by law enforcement as well. As someone who's had the full force of a three letter agency come down on me, this is not something you want to deal with on any level. I was lucky. I was young and dumb and got a slap on the wrist. Times have changed and when govt agencies see this as an attack on critical infrastructure, you're looking at some serious jail time. I would say its only a matter of time until they're tracked down. When you're being hunted like that, the govt works 24/7 and never stops. People on the run don't have that luxury.
- johncessna 5y ago
  Thanks for sharing your experience. Not to dig too deep into details, but what would you say your primary motivation was in your 'young and dumb' days? Were you curious about it, was it a statement, was there an allure?
  - at-fates-hands 5y ago
    For me it was about making a statement. I had gotten into an argument with a professor on a discussion board. He used derogatory terms to refer to me, which pissed me off. I sent him a virus that was supposed to just damage files and delete some random files. It turns out it propagated onto their main network and crashed the entire universities network. Suddenly, you feel untouchable (even though the virus had gotten out of control, which I didn't mean it to do). You feel like you can do anything and are beyond the reach of law enforcement. I'd never done anything like that and you felt really powerful, in control. You now had this idea if someone slights you, you have something to shut them down and they can't reach you. Then the feds show up in your class, bring you to a windowless room on campus you didn't even know existed and start threatening you with jail time while they question you. This happened in the late 90's and the CFAA was still really new and DA's really didn't know how to apply it. I was pretty lucky for sure. The stuff they were threatening me with was like interference with interstate commerce, identity theft, stuff like that. They gave me the old, "You have a bright future kid, don't fuck it up." speech at the end. That was enough to scare me straight so to speak. I lost my campus network access for a year, which sucked, but the whole experience was enough for me to stop doing what I was doing. It was just in time too, because you saw during the early aughts, the feds really started going after hackers. They started using the broad powers of the CFAA to put some really high profile people in jail with some pretty hefty prison times. To this day, I still look back and feel like I dodged a bullet there.
    - shortstuffsushi 5y ago
      > It turns out it propagated onto their main network > the virus had gotten out of control, which I didn't mean it to do This isn't just a whoops, how do you "accidentally" create a virus that leaves the boundaries of the computer and traverses their network?

Miner49er 5y ago

This is better then most rich businessman, actually. Many don't care if they create problems for society, if it means more money for them.

colechristensen 5y ago
They are, of course, lying. They don’t want the extra attention that comes from attacking public infrastructure or affecting large numbers of people. Nobody cares if you sabotage a random small business. Lots of people care when you attack a fuel pipeline. Attention is bad for this business.

at-fates-hands 5y ago

Sounds like they're about to get rolled up by law enforcement as well. As someone who's had the full force of a three letter agency come down on me, this is not something you want to deal with on any level. I was lucky. I was young and dumb and got a slap on the wrist. Times have changed and when govt agencies see this as an attack on critical infrastructure, you're looking at some serious jail time. I would say its only a matter of time until they're tracked down. When you're being hunted like that, the govt works 24/7 and never stops. People on the run don't have that luxury.

johncessna 5y ago
Thanks for sharing your experience. Not to dig too deep into details, but what would you say your primary motivation was in your 'young and dumb' days? Were you curious about it, was it a statement, was there an allure?
- at-fates-hands 5y ago
  For me it was about making a statement. I had gotten into an argument with a professor on a discussion board. He used derogatory terms to refer to me, which pissed me off. I sent him a virus that was supposed to just damage files and delete some random files. It turns out it propagated onto their main network and crashed the entire universities network. Suddenly, you feel untouchable (even though the virus had gotten out of control, which I didn't mean it to do). You feel like you can do anything and are beyond the reach of law enforcement. I'd never done anything like that and you felt really powerful, in control. You now had this idea if someone slights you, you have something to shut them down and they can't reach you. Then the feds show up in your class, bring you to a windowless room on campus you didn't even know existed and start threatening you with jail time while they question you. This happened in the late 90's and the CFAA was still really new and DA's really didn't know how to apply it. I was pretty lucky for sure. The stuff they were threatening me with was like interference with interstate commerce, identity theft, stuff like that. They gave me the old, "You have a bright future kid, don't fuck it up." speech at the end. That was enough to scare me straight so to speak. I lost my campus network access for a year, which sucked, but the whole experience was enough for me to stop doing what I was doing. It was just in time too, because you saw during the early aughts, the feds really started going after hackers. They started using the broad powers of the CFAA to put some really high profile people in jail with some pretty hefty prison times. To this day, I still look back and feel like I dodged a bullet there.
  - shortstuffsushi 5y ago
    > It turns out it propagated onto their main network > the virus had gotten out of control, which I didn't mean it to do This isn't just a whoops, how do you "accidentally" create a virus that leaves the boundaries of the computer and traverses their network?