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I realize this will be of interest to a tiny fraction of FReepers, but thought it would be worth posting anyhow. So much is said about "hacking" yet few understand much about how it is actually done, so the write-up at the link by a successful hacker group may be educational.

The essence of it is this: This group targeted a company called Flexispy that provides what it considers to be "creepy stalkerware" that allows parents, spouses, employers, etc to eavesdrop on a computer, smartphone, or tablet. It does this by installing spyware that makes it possible to remotely intercept texts, emails, websites, phone calls, and even to turn on the microphone to listen-in on what is happening in a room without anyone knowing they are being monitored.

Whether this is moral or legal is a separate discussion - the hackers decided it was evil and thus targeted the company and it's IT resources, with devastating results as even a non-technical person can gather from this write-up. This includes not only trashing the company's website and servers but stealing and distributing the source code for their monitoring "spyware" products which of course is a violation of their intellectual property rights. And of course they have no regrets, in fact they conclude with a promise to to more.

Say what you will but these are smart and capable individuals - think of how they compare against those who are part of cyber espionage and exploitaton groups who are backed by governmental resources.

As the old saying goes, "invent a better lock and you will motivate a new breed of lock-picker".

1 posted on 04/26/2017 9:45:28 AM PDT by bigbob
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To: bigbob

It doesn’t interest me, and here’s why:
1. The Chinese hack and theft of federal OPM data. They got everything of mine, back to the day I graduated high school in 1970, including fingerprints.
2. The Yahoo hack and theft. There went the rest of it.

If the federal government could not protect it’s own sensitive information, and a private communications business of the day could not, the rest is a moot point.


2 posted on 04/26/2017 9:56:29 AM PDT by Terry L Smith
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To: bigbob

Ping 4 l8R


4 posted on 04/26/2017 10:33:34 AM PDT by dadgum (Overjoyed to be the Pariah.)
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