Feds hunt 30-year-old alleged to be lord of Gameover botnet The FBI has released a wanted notice for 30-year-old Russian national Evgeniy Mikhailovich Bogachev, whom they allege to be the mastermind behind both the Gameover ZeuS and the even more infamous CryptoLocker ransomware. A US indictment has been unsealed against the suspect following an FBI-led takedown operation that …
What's all this two weeks business? You've either got an infected machine, in which case you need to clean it up asap, or you haven't in which case you don't need to clean it up.
Nothing has changed in terms of the measures a sensible end user should be taking to protect themselves against these and other nasties. Run up to date software including anti-virus, don't open unknown attachments and the rest.
In fact, apart form shutting down a couple of command servers, which in the greater scheme of things is irrelevant, and convincing some idiot to headline their news with it, nothing at all has changed. There are nasty things out there and there always will be, so protect yourself.
I completely don't understand what this whole thing is about. What am I missing?
1) Feds have taken control of the botnet's C&C servers
2) The botnet is currently idle, as no instructions are being sent from C&C servers
3) It will only take approximately two weeks for the botnet owner to setup new C&C servers and 're-capture' the botnet.
4) Now the feds just have control of former C&C servers.
So you have 2 weeks of your computer not being abused to disinfect it, before it will once again become part of an active botnet.
What a wasted opportunity! All of the websites that purport to advise people what they should do, could be providiing DIRECT LINKS to providers of virus removal software.
Instead they seem to be too worried about who's product is getting promoted by the website instead of who's getting cleaned up by the software.
Folks this is NOT about money, this is about getting cleaned up and taking down thieves!
Time to put away foolishness!
And who are the real 'bots' in this case, why the human bots of course, the ones who click on each and every link, attachment or pop-up that makes itself present on their screens and in their emails. What more robotic mind-set analogy is there.
This is now must-have 'IT' news because otherwise 'Tech' news is sooo boring, full of server thingies and PCIe storage arrays and all that nonsense. No, we demand 'IT' news that alerts us to the fact that we must be alert to such 'IT' news so that we can carry on regardless, but wow what a story, did you read that, two weeks!
If anything pops-up or arrives in your mail box that is too good to be true, then, well you know what they say. And if you are worried that its an official email and you simply must respond to it, within seconds, or you might look like a dork and miss out on something, then think again. Think again for maybe 20 seconds or more; was I expecting this email?, why is it here if I wasn't expecting it?, if I'm not sure about it then would it matter if I deleted it? - go ahead and delete it!
The interwebs are full to bursting with tricks and traps, both malicious and generally harmless, that rely on good old human psychology to do the work for them. But if you suggest a computer/internet driving license, then it all makes it sound and seem so terrible and difficult a place to be and would scare folk away from all that merchandising and selling potential, and we can't have that can we.
There is a divide, between the human brain (with its complex responses/reactions) and the machine (electronic computer), which so unfalteringly passes current/data across intricate circuits whenever you instruct it to or click/press something. The two are not so very dissimilar, but one of them is utterly dispassionate and rational, the other gets all emotional – can you tell which is which dear reader.
The interweb is not an entirely difficult and terrible place to be, but it is populated and directed by humans (remember that), some of which are difficult and terrible people. In all likeylhood there are humans outside your office or house right now who would consider stealing your car or shoulder-surfing your pin number next time you use a dodgy ATM. Guess what - there are humans just like that behind machines called computers which are connected to the same fluffy-bunny internet as YOU!
I know, I know, I'm preaching to the converted here, but I just don't understand why the media can't just pump out a similar message, are they scared they will scare people.
It is all very well to criticise end users, but most of them have other things to do with their lives. They are no more interested in the computer than I am in clothing fashions or sport.
It is because there are millions of other users that they are so cheap for us to take an interest in.
@Primus Secundus Tertius - I'm sure they do indeed have other things to do with their lives, but if you use a device like a mobile/computer for on-line purchases or banking, or just about anything!, you need to be aware that: A) You leave behind a trail of digital information each time, and B) That there are folk out there with the means to access it and who will then wreak havoc with the time you would otherwise be spending doing those other things. The potential risks are too great, we can all fall foul at times, I am just saying we should all treat it all with a lot of caution - 'great servant, terrible master' and all that.
Expedite? Nah, we have drones, let's make the rest of the botmaster POSs out there think twice about creating these nasties. Boom. Done.
As for you user bashers, I know end users are mostly just above some forms of mold on the IQ scale, but remember guys, if it weren't for the fact they are so witless, we wouldn't have jobs. I tell my guys here all the time, be nice, don't ever condescend our users because they make the money that goes into our bank accounts. It's very rare that the IT team actually makes a business money (unless you're a break/fix house or a managed services provider). And remember, these click happy people are how you're able to get all that side work that pays for all your nice Newegg toys. Ew, that reminds me, time to disinfect a few PCs while I check the shell shocker! lol.
Seriously, though, gotta find a real way to punish these bastages so it's not worth the risk to get involved in this botnet crap. P2P controlled botnets are the scariest thing since Sasser and it freaks me out to think about what happens if we were to have a real wide-spread infection on my network. Thank God for Webroot.
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