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I'm interested to understand the psychology of ransomware types who go after these enormous and important targets. That includes the pipeline, which obviously c

I'm interested to understand the psychology of ransomware types who go after these enormous and important targets. That includes the pipeline, which obviously claimed at least a few lives of its own via people not being able to drive to get medical care, etc. Are they armchair criminal masterminds who don't really have a visceral understanding of how much damage they're doing? Or just straight up psychopaths? I can't think of any other options.

Miner49er 5y ago
They've learned from this, from the article: "The REvil representative said its program was introducing new restrictions on the kinds of organizations that affiliates could hold for ransom, and that henceforth it would be forbidden to attack those in the “social sector” (defined as healthcare and educational institutions) and organizations in the “gov-sector” (state) of any country. Affiliates also will be required to get approval before infecting victims." They aren't trying to cause this kind of harm. Additionally: "DarkSide organizers also said they were releasing decryption tools for all of the companies that have been ransomed but which haven’t yet paid." This people have more morals then most rich businessman, IMO.
- normac2 5y ago
  Well, maybe they learned they did the wrong thing. Other reasons seem plausible: maybe they just thought it would make them look better if they're caught. Maybe they wanted to look better to their clients/allies who are currently like "whoa Nelly, these guys are basically Gus Fring. Maybe we'll work with someone a little less evil." I don't know nearly enough to guess, but it doesn't seem cut-and-dried to me that this is a case of them realizing what they did was wrong. In any case, the same question still applies for what happened before: why were they in a psychological state that made them try this in the first place? Even if we grant that they've changed their tune for moral reasons, that would rule out straight psychopaths, but would include people who had severe antisocial traits but still started to have some feelings about it once they saw the real-life consequences. We see this with repentant murderers. As far as rich businessmen who do evil stuff, there's a literature on that, and it seems to be a complicated mix. There's "just filling my role" (for those not at the very top of their organizations), thinking you'd be replaced by someone else doing the same thing, dissociation/denial about what you're doing, and -- yeah -- straight up antisocial/psychopath types. And more. It's a fascinating topic.
notsureaboutpg 5y ago
It is not obvious that this claimed any lives as fuel shortages weren't really there because of the quick payment of ransom. About 1% of gas stations in the Southeast ran out of fuel for like a day. By the standard you are applying almost everything can cost lives.

Miner49er 5y ago

They've learned from this, from the article: "The REvil representative said its program was introducing new restrictions on the kinds of organizations that affiliates could hold for ransom, and that henceforth it would be forbidden to attack those in the “social sector” (defined as healthcare and educational institutions) and organizations in the “gov-sector” (state) of any country. Affiliates also will be required to get approval before infecting victims." They aren't trying to cause this kind of harm. Additionally: "DarkSide organizers also said they were releasing decryption tools for all of the companies that have been ransomed but which haven’t yet paid." This people have more morals then most rich businessman, IMO.

normac2 5y ago
Well, maybe they learned they did the wrong thing. Other reasons seem plausible: maybe they just thought it would make them look better if they're caught. Maybe they wanted to look better to their clients/allies who are currently like "whoa Nelly, these guys are basically Gus Fring. Maybe we'll work with someone a little less evil." I don't know nearly enough to guess, but it doesn't seem cut-and-dried to me that this is a case of them realizing what they did was wrong. In any case, the same question still applies for what happened before: why were they in a psychological state that made them try this in the first place? Even if we grant that they've changed their tune for moral reasons, that would rule out straight psychopaths, but would include people who had severe antisocial traits but still started to have some feelings about it once they saw the real-life consequences. We see this with repentant murderers. As far as rich businessmen who do evil stuff, there's a literature on that, and it seems to be a complicated mix. There's "just filling my role" (for those not at the very top of their organizations), thinking you'd be replaced by someone else doing the same thing, dissociation/denial about what you're doing, and -- yeah -- straight up antisocial/psychopath types. And more. It's a fascinating topic.

notsureaboutpg 5y ago

It is not obvious that this claimed any lives as fuel shortages weren't really there because of the quick payment of ransom. About 1% of gas stations in the Southeast ran out of fuel for like a day. By the standard you are applying almost everything can cost lives.