It’s commonplace for the prosecution in hacking cases to overstate the capabilities of the accused and exaggerate the damage they’ve caused. One is reminded of the assertion that Kevin Mitnick could launch nuclear missiles just by having access to a phone. Sometimes this inflation of the dangers is detestable. At other times it is merely risible. But it never reflects… Read more »
Our legal attitudes to hacking and cyber-attack are in a mess, frankly. Often (and yes, America, I’m looking at you) they are wildly disproportionate to the damage done. And even when they’re not, the judiciary and the mainstream press seem unable to come to any settled opinion about what should be done about the hacker ‘menace’. There is a clear,… Read more »
With law enforcement officials claiming that LulzSec has been decapitated, what does this mean for Anonymous? The web is awash with hydra metaphors, but the truth is that no-one can say exactly what the effects are likely to be. Not for a while, anyway. It’s always been clear that the number of Anonymous members with real hacking skills is a… Read more »
So, it turns out that the infamous ‘Sabu’, the somewhat cocky leader of LulzSec and one of the few members of Anonymous accredited with real hacking skills, has been an FBI informer for months. This is not news to someone who goes by the name ‘HuntJaeger’ on Twitter. Just over five months ago I witnessed a Twitter exchange between anonymouSabu… Read more »
The recent RSA Europe conference in London was unusual. Some of the high-profile security firms exhibiting and presenting have also been victims of serious breaches this year. RSA, rather notoriously, had its SecurID product compromised by what it insists were state-sponsored hackers. Raytheon admitted to a couple of breaches. And also present at the conference, both in the exhibition hall… Read more »