Top hacker 'retires'; experts brace for his return

Top hacker 'retires'; experts brace for his return

www.msnbc.msn.com

WASHINGTON — The programmer who wrote ZeuS — malicious software used to steal an estimated $100 million so far this year from U.S. towns, companies and individuals — says he is retiring.

But security experts believe there is a good chance he will soon emerge with even more powerful ways to steal, a pattern of behavior seen after previous retirements in 2007 and 2008.

(visit the link for the full news article)

What do you guys think about this? I've never heard of Zeus but it's capabilities sound devious to say the least.

In my opinion, I believe he's actually been caught and recruited, thus the sudden retirement. Even the author states that experts believe his retirement is a sham, and that he'll be working for a private client.

What country do you think got him? U.S? Euro? Far East?

www.msnbc.msn.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

reply to post by Shikamaru


I would imagine whichever government gave him the biggest salary.
I bet several governments already know where he went whether they got him or not.

You know something that never occured to me... Stuxnet was launched a month or two ago, correct? Then suddenly this guy decides to retire?

Makes you wonder if he was paid to do it, and can afford to retire based on how much they paid him. I mean according to the new sources, there was no reason besides standard "i hate your ways" fear that made most people point the finger at Isreal right?

This guy could've easily been the culprit and now that the paycheck's been signed, that or he's dead in a ditch, he's retiring.

Experts do say they'll wait for software out there to replicate the ZueS code to see if he's actually gone.

reply to post by Shikamaru


Hadn't thought of the Stuxnet angle.
That would not surprise me at all. But if that was the case, I think they would keep him around to do more similar viruses, THEN put that bullet in the back of his head...

Originally posted by Shikamaru
You know something that never occured to me... Stuxnet was launched a month or two ago, correct? Then suddenly this guy decides to retire?

Makes you wonder if he was paid to do it, and can afford to retire based on how much they paid him. I mean according to the new sources, there was no reason besides standard "i hate your ways" fear that made most people point the finger at Isreal right?

This guy could've easily been the culprit and now that the paycheck's been signed, that or he's dead in a ditch, he's retiring.

Experts do say they'll wait for software out there to replicate the ZueS code to see if he's actually gone.

Here's the thing, either he already has made his money, or he has a job with a nation state, much like the one which commissioned the stuxnet worm.

Private industry wouldnt touch him.. but governments would...

I wouldn't go as far as to say the private industry. While the private industry may not be able to make money appear out of thin air, they definitely have enough to play along with them. I was under the impression that hackers were much like mercs. No real loyalty to anyone as longs the money comes and the job doesn't interfere with their personal ideologies.

Originally posted by Shikamaru
I wouldn't go as far as to say the private industry. While the private industry may not be able to make money appear out of thin air, they definitely have enough to play along with them. I was under the impression that hackers were much like mercs. No real loyalty to anyone as longs the money comes and the job doesn't interfere with their personal ideologies.

It depends greatly on their orientation. There are whitehat hackers and blackhat hackers... and there are many different reasons for being either orientation.

It suffices to say that hackers are actually quite loyal, just to whatever their philosophy is... at some point any hacker will say "that's just not cool dude". But everyone has a different point.

Some white hat hackers, like myself, get paid by organizations to hack into those same organizations in order to find the holes before the nefarious hackers do. The nice thing about this, is that I will never be a fugitive.

When I look at the number of computer infections, en.wikipedia.org...
China has 6 million, Iran approx. 62000, and
Germany has 5
And Stuxnet mostly infects the German company Seimans
Maybe Germany has the most to gain out of this.
Or it's co-Intel, to make it look that way.

Considering the line between corporation and Nation States is very blurry these days... Does it really matter which type of group is now paying him? I am a little disturbed at how many hackers seem to be getting scooped up into the fold of one group or another lately though.... Something is brewing when this much horsepower starts getting begged stolen or borrowed by undisclosed groups.

You know I would be so much less prepared for the moves the world makes if i hadn't read the shadowrun and cyberpunk type books as a teenager...

We now have megacorporations running a good portion of the CIA field Ops the NRO is 80% private contractors and etc etc...

I laugh every time someone tells me I'm wrong in calling our government corpgov fascists ... The dictionary is your friend guys... reference my above comments about how much of several ABSOLUTELY KEY STRATEGIC GOVERNMENT AGENCIES ARE NOW BASICALLY RAN BY CORPORATIONS and try to tell me I'm wrong!

Oh and then look at the University system and the way any intellectual property arising from research even if FULLY funded by the government is handled.... HINT: WE PAY FOR THE RESEARCH then the profs and design team spin off any successful development into a private company and ZERO dollars of any profit resulting comes back to US poor STUPID SUCKERS THAT KEEP PAYING OUR TAXES.

Originally posted by HunkaHunka

Originally posted by Shikamaru
I wouldn't go as far as to say the private industry. While the private industry may not be able to make money appear out of thin air, they definitely have enough to play along with them. I was under the impression that hackers were much like mercs. No real loyalty to anyone as longs the money comes and the job doesn't interfere with their personal ideologies.

It depends greatly on their orientation. There are whitehat hackers and blackhat hackers... and there are many different reasons for being either orientation.

It suffices to say that hackers are actually quite loyal, just to whatever their philosophy is... at some point any hacker will say "that's just not cool dude". But everyone has a different point.

Some white hat hackers, like myself, get paid by organizations to hack into those same organizations in order to find the holes before the nefarious hackers do. The nice thing about this, is that I will never be a fugitive.

Whitehat hackers and blackhat hackers lol. Makes it sound like magic.

How do you even get a job like that? Did you get caught hacking and they decided to use your skills rather than try to prosecute you like in films. Did someone pick up on your abilitys online through some secret network and offer you the oppotunity? I find the world of hacking very interesting. I would probably have been a whitehat hacker if i could get my head around algebra.

reply to post by Shikamaru


This guy has absolutely nothing on Kevin Mitnick and the hacking theories he's presented to the world. I consider him to be the Tesla of hacking. Most people are still oblivious to the hardware exploits he discovered that still exist to this day.