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It really feels like we're starting to enter an era of internet privateers. "Sure you can shake down anywhere, as long as they're not on friendly terms with yo
by CoolGuySteve 5y ago
It really feels like we're starting to enter an era of internet privateers.
"Sure you can shake down anywhere, as long as they're not on friendly terms with your own sovereign territory."
- arminiusreturns 5y agoIt makes me wonder if official writs of marque will make a comeback in the future cyberpunk dystopia we all are building?
- edoceo 5y agoPirates License! Neat. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Letter_of_marque https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Letter_of_marque
- Laforet 5y agoI'd say this is a throwback to the 90s when cybercrime was more about satisfying personal curiosities and convictions (however misguided they might have been) rather than demanding ransom from hospitals and school districts.
- beloch 5y agoThat's an apt analogy. It makes one wonder how many of these ransomware organizations are connected to their respective local governments, ready to be put to work should an open conflict arise. It also makes one laugh at what we have been calling internet "piracy" to date. Individuals copying, cracking, and distributing software bears almost no resemblance to organized "crews" deploying professionally written malware ("ships") for monetary gain in ways that can harm hundreds or thousands of innocent bystanders in the process.
- azernik 5y agoThat is, to a certain extent, how the Russian hacking ecosystem works. From a wide pool of domestic criminals targeting domestic targets, some of them attack countries Russia is having problems with, in the knowledge that they won't be prosecuted for that.