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Submitted via IRC for TheMightyBuzzard
Police in Ukraine have seized the servers of one of the largest accounting software firms in the country, after it was suspected that a malware virus which hit dozens of global enterprises last week had spread via its malicious update.
As part of an investigation into one of the largest recent cyber attacks, the servers of Ukraine's most popular accounting software, M.E.Doc were seized by Ukrainian police Tuesday, Reuters reported, citing the head of Ukraine's Cyber Police, Sergey Demedyuk.
Cyber Police spokeswoman Yulia Kvitko confirmed an ongoing investigation into M.E.Doc's offices.
Ukrainian intelligence officials and security firms experts believe initial infections, which affected thousands of computers worldwide, might have been spread via the accounting firm's updates, Reuters reports.
While it is still unclear who inserted a vulnerability into the M.E.Doc program, the Kiev-based firm whose software is used by around 80 percent of companies in Ukraine is under investigation itself and will face criminal charges, AP reported citing Demedyuk.
M.E.Doc's employees had dismissed repeated warnings about the security of their information technology infrastructure, Demedyuk said in an interview with the news agency.
Source: https://www.rt.com/news/395305-ukrainian-firm-servers-seized-cyber-attack/
(Score: 3, Insightful) by r1348 on Wednesday July 05 2017, @01:43PM (4 children)
We were told it was Putin's fault!
...
OMG
...
WHO DO WE HATE NOW?!?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 05 2017, @02:14PM
Polskis are always telling people to watch out for the Ukies.
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Wednesday July 05 2017, @02:16PM
Still quite possible. It wouldn't be at all out of character for corrupt company officers to take money for something nefarious. I don't have a horse in the race though so my give a shit level is pretty well bottomed out.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 2) by kaszz on Wednesday July 05 2017, @02:25PM
Just because mainstream west media tries to assign all kinds of blame on Putin. Doesn't mean that Russian government would not do anything nefarious. But to trust mainstream media to inform on the matter is worthless.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by EvilSS on Wednesday July 05 2017, @03:54PM
(Score: 2) by Grishnakh on Wednesday July 05 2017, @02:57PM
Basically, this company's IT infrastructure was seized because it was an unwitting accomplice in spreading the malware: I'm pretty sure the company's officers did not intentionally get involved with this.
I think this is a good idea, but it should be done consistently, worldwide: anyone who's computer is found to be involved in this should have their computer seized by law enforcement until the infection is contained, and those computers should all have their drives completely wiped.
Maybe then companies will think twice before using Microsoft Windows for their IT infrastructure.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Wootery on Wednesday July 05 2017, @03:17PM (12 children)
Are you kidding me?! We're still allowing submissions which cite rt.com and nothing else?
Is the colour scheme more apropos than I realised?
(Score: 4, Insightful) by The Mighty Buzzard on Wednesday July 05 2017, @03:54PM (11 children)
Why not? They're a fuckload more reliable than CNN, FNC, or the BBC as long as you go into it realizing that everything involving Russia is going to have a pro-state spin.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by zocalo on Wednesday July 05 2017, @04:46PM (6 children)
UNIX? They're not even circumcised! Savages!
(Score: 4, Insightful) by bob_super on Wednesday July 05 2017, @05:30PM
The important question is whether the news reported is actually true: Did the Ukrainian authorities seize the servers of the company accused of spreading the virus?
Note that I didn't say "writing", nor other words implying their guilt beyond being hacked and used as a distributor.
The question is "dd the authorities seize servers?" which is factual and carries no slant, and the follow-up is: "did they indicate whether they are looking for proof of virus writing, or trying to safeguard log information on who injected the virus?" which is where slant and mutual accusations can start.
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Wednesday July 05 2017, @05:51PM (2 children)
In this instance, because I actually RTFA before submitting and there wasn't anything much said that could have been spin. Outright lies, possibly, but not spin.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 2) by zocalo on Wednesday July 05 2017, @07:04PM (1 child)
To that end, given that Soylent doesn't generally post "breaking news" as it's actually breaking, it might be worthwhile doing a quick search before posting and adding one or more alternative sources with differing points of view if the original submission only includes one that might be suspected being likely to exhibit bias with the topic at hand. In the specific case of RT that goes far beyond your earlier "everything involving Russia" - RT are quite consistent in portraying the US' global political maneouvering as "warmongering", regardless of whether it involves Russia and/or if it's justified, for instance. Of course, that means more work for the editors, so perhaps a better approach would be to suggest that submissions ideally include a couple of alternative sources to provide a counter point. That's actually a potential win-win regardless of whether the original submitter or an editor provides the additional links - not only might it remove some of the noise, but by providing differing points of view in TFS might also provoke additional on-topic debate.
UNIX? They're not even circumcised! Savages!
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Wednesday July 05 2017, @10:57PM
The Eds actually do that quite often if they can find another credible source. RT, however, is not Breitbart or one of gewg_'s socialist rags. They are one of the best international news organizations out there as long as you know they're going to have a pro-Russia slant.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 3, Informative) by legont on Wednesday July 05 2017, @09:10PM (1 child)
Here are some Ukrainian sources for you
https://strana.ua/news/79672-policiya-arestovala-servery-ot-kotoryh-nachal-rasprostranenie-virus-petya-a.html [strana.ua]
http://podrobnosti.ua/2186649-hakerskaja-ataka-politsija-arestovala-servery-medoc.html [podrobnosti.ua]
The real question is why "free" "independent" "liberal" press does not report it. Perhaps it is because this press is at war with Trump using Russia as a weapon?
"Wealth is the relentless enemy of understanding" - John Kenneth Galbraith.
(Score: 2) by zocalo on Wednesday July 05 2017, @10:10PM
Some are - there are a few MSM outlets in the Google search results I linked in my OP (NBC, Reuters, MSN and Daily Mail are all in the first 3 pages of results) - and a lot of the western tech press has picked up on it in those results too. Presumably the rest didn't really think this phase of the investigation wasn't worth of news, and they may be right. Ultimately it boils down to Ukrainian law enforcement have seized a bunch of servers that might help them uncover those responsible, something that would happen pretty much anywhere in the world when a potential malware distribution vector or C&C server can be identified and the relevent authorities convinced to get involved. Issues between Russia and Ukraine aside, there's nothing particularly interesting to those not into the tech issues there - it's just a routine investigation they probably incorrectly assume happens with every single cybercrime.
UNIX? They're not even circumcised! Savages!
(Score: 2) by Refugee from beyond on Thursday July 06 2017, @12:48AM (3 children)
I have no idea in what state other letters are, but RT.com is absolutely not reliable. Whatever they say only benefits Russian government (I live here, btw). They can post someting that matches something truthful the same way a broken clock is right twice a day. If they have sources (which is not a given) just read those instead and maybe link that, if they make any sense. Although if you want to go lower on a scale of crazy lying bastards (or is that considered “higher”?) you can try Channel One. Those can speak about nuclear-bombing USA without blinking an eye.
Instantly better soylentnews: replace background on article and comment titles with #973131.
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Thursday July 06 2017, @01:48AM (2 children)
Which is saying nothing significantly different than what I've said myself, for stories that concern Russia. For science/technology/otherwise-non-Russian stories they are aces though.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 2) by Refugee from beyond on Thursday July 06 2017, @08:44AM (1 child)
If you think that non-Russian is not something that can be used for pro-Russian rhetoric…
Well, I guess SN was good while it lasted.
Instantly better soylentnews: replace background on article and comment titles with #973131.
(Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Thursday July 06 2017, @08:50AM
I think that because I've RTFA'd. Do the same and see what you think.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by realDonaldTrump on Wednesday July 05 2017, @04:42PM (2 children)
Folks, they were saying this cyber is ransomware. It's not ransomware. It's a wiper. Like Hillary uses. It wipes your disk, like with a cloth or something. Deletes your cyber. Crooked Hillary loves to delete her EMAILS so she's always wiping. But honest folks don't do that. This cyber will delete your EMAILS, you don't want that. If you're honest you don't want that. Somebody wants to delete the cyber in Russia and Ukraine. It could be Hillary, she hates Russia. And she's always wiping the EMAILS. Not saying it was Hillary, don't get me wrong. But it could be. #MAGA 🇺🇸
(Score: 3, Funny) by realDonaldTrump on Wednesday July 05 2017, @07:32PM (1 child)
Folks, I'm replying to my own tweet. To tell you I misspoke. I mistyped. I don't know how to delete my tweet. But one of my cyber guys tells me this NotPetya probably isn't supposed to be a wiper. He says maybe it's just badly built. The builders are just trying to make some money -- cyber money -- but they didn't do a good job. So I'm sorry for what I typed about Crooked Hillary. She's a crook and she uses wipers, but this probably isn't supposed to be a wiper. But it turned out to be, 'accidentally'. Kaspersky says it's a wiper, F-Secure says no! So complicated, give me good old Steam OS! Sorry, Crooked Hillary! Sorry, NotPetya guys! #MAGA 🇺🇸
(Score: 2) by Wootery on Thursday July 06 2017, @08:39AM
Bless you, Donald. You're really putting the work in here.