Comments on: “Hacker Ring” busted by the SQ and the RCMP http://montrealtechwatch.com/2008/02/22/hacker-ring-busted-by-the-sq-and-the-rcmp/ Technology and Innovation news in Montreal Tue, 22 May 2012 17:16:00 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Montreal Tech Watch http://montrealtechwatch.com/2008/02/22/hacker-ring-busted-by-the-sq-and-the-rcmp/#comment-458590 Montreal Tech Watch Fri, 22 Feb 2008 22:54:26 +0000 http://montrealtechwatch.com/2008/02/22/hacker-ring-busted-by-the-sq-and-the-rcmp/#comment-458590 <span class="topsy_trackback_comment"><span class="topsy_twitter_username"><span class="topsy_trackback_content">“Hacker Ring” busted by the SQ and the RCMP http://tinyurl.com/ytb2gc</span></span> “Hacker Ring” busted by the SQ and the RCMP http://tinyurl.com/ytb2gc

]]> By: Heri http://montrealtechwatch.com/2008/02/22/hacker-ring-busted-by-the-sq-and-the-rcmp/#comment-17260 Heri Fri, 22 Feb 2008 22:41:04 +0000 http://montrealtechwatch.com/2008/02/22/hacker-ring-busted-by-the-sq-and-the-rcmp/#comment-17260 Louis-Eric, totally agree with you. It seems to me that the police had a number given by a security firm -- even though they specifically mentionned credit card number theft. I've yet to see a hacker group in Canada capable of writing their own tools. Louis-Eric, totally agree with you.

It seems to me that the police had a number given by a security firm — even though they specifically mentionned credit card number theft. I’ve yet to see a hacker group in Canada capable of writing their own tools.

]]> By: Louis-Eric Simard http://montrealtechwatch.com/2008/02/22/hacker-ring-busted-by-the-sq-and-the-rcmp/#comment-17254 Louis-Eric Simard Fri, 22 Feb 2008 20:00:06 +0000 http://montrealtechwatch.com/2008/02/22/hacker-ring-busted-by-the-sq-and-the-rcmp/#comment-17254 I haven't looked at the specific cases, but usually when law enforcement quotes an amount, they usually mean the estimated cost to secure and clean-up a previously infected system, as well as productivity and bandwidth costs. There is room here to argue that there would be no clean-up costs if people had taken the time to secure their own systems (using free or built-in firewalls for a start), and that securing their system is no more of an extraordinary cost than that of shelling a few bucks to put a lock on your front door. Some of these cost estimates are probably tacked on for legal bargaining purposes; they'll be charged with costing $X to the public, a good lawyer arguing the case will reduce that estimate if it has any impact on the sentencing. These guys are not hackers. "Hacker" is a noble term derived from early geographical exploration, where a globetrotter would use a machete to hack through vegetation in order to discover a new jungle. Hacker means curious people (Steve Wozniak proudly claims to be a hacker, for instance), not evil security-breakers. The term the media intends to use is "crackers". That being said, running a few publicly downloadable tools from home doesn't make one a cracker; at best, it suggests a rather superficial understanding of technology. I haven’t looked at the specific cases, but usually when law enforcement quotes an amount, they usually mean the estimated cost to secure and clean-up a previously infected system, as well as productivity and bandwidth costs.

There is room here to argue that there would be no clean-up costs if people had taken the time to secure their own systems (using free or built-in firewalls for a start), and that securing their system is no more of an extraordinary cost than that of shelling a few bucks to put a lock on your front door.

Some of these cost estimates are probably tacked on for legal bargaining purposes; they’ll be charged with costing $X to the public, a good lawyer arguing the case will reduce that estimate if it has any impact on the sentencing.

These guys are not hackers. “Hacker” is a noble term derived from early geographical exploration, where a globetrotter would use a machete to hack through vegetation in order to discover a new jungle. Hacker means curious people (Steve Wozniak proudly claims to be a hacker, for instance), not evil security-breakers. The term the media intends to use is “crackers”.

That being said, running a few publicly downloadable tools from home doesn’t make one a cracker; at best, it suggests a rather superficial understanding of technology.

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