Russia’s Top Cyber Sleuth Foils US Spies, Helps Kremlin Pals

[santahog]

http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2012/07/ff_kaspersky/all/




It’s early February in Cancun, Mexico. A group of 60 or so financial analysts, reporters, diplomats, and cybersecurity specialists shake off the previous night’s tequila and file into a ballroom at the Ritz-Carlton hotel. At the front of the room, a giant screen shows a globe targeted by crosshairs. Cancun is in the center of the bull’s-eye.
2008 bug

A ruddy-faced, unshaven man bounds onstage. Wearing a wrinkled white polo shirt with a pair of red sunglasses perched on his head, he looks more like a beach bum who’s lost his way than a business executive. In fact, he’s one of Russia’s richest men—the CEO of what is arguably the most important Internet security company in the world. His name is Eugene Kaspersky, and he paid for almost everyone in the audience to come here. “Buenos dias,” he says in a throaty Russian accent, as he apologizes for missing the previous night’s boozy activities. Over the past 72 hours, Kaspersky explains, he flew from Mexico to Germany and back to take part in another conference. “Kissinger, McCain, presidents, government ministers” were all there, he says. “I have panel. Left of me, minister of defense of Italy. Right of me, former head of CIA. I’m like, ‘Whoa, colleagues.’”

He’s bragging to be sure, but Kaspersky may be selling himself short. The Italian defense minister isn’t going to determine whether criminals or governments get their hands on your data. Kaspersky and his company, Kaspersky Lab, very well might. Between 2009 and 2010, according to Forbes, retail sales of Kaspersky antivirus software increased 177 percent, reaching almost 4.5 million a year—nearly as much as its rivals Symantec and McAfee combined. Worldwide, 50 million people are now members of the Kaspersky Security Network, sending data to the company’s Moscow headquarters every time they download an application to their desktop. Microsoft, Cisco, and Juniper Networks all embed Kaspersky code in their products—effectively giving the company 300 million users. When it comes to keeping computers free from infection, Kaspersky Lab is on its way to becoming an industry leader.

But this still doesn’t fully capture Kaspersky’s influence. Back in 2010, a researcher now working for Kaspersky discovered Stuxnet, the US-Israeli worm that wrecked nearly a thousand Iranian centrifuges and became the world’s first openly acknowledged cyberweapon. In May of this year, Kaspersky’s elite antihackers exposed a second weaponized computer program, which they dubbed Flame. It was subsequently revealed to be another US-Israeli operation aimed at Iran. In other words, Kaspersky Lab isn’t just an antivirus company; it’s also a leader in uncovering cyber-espionage.   

snip..


*****

Way too long to post.. More at link..

[tombogan03884]

How he got out of the Russian Army, and what he did while he was there may baffle cyber geeks, but to geeks of other fields it's pretty obvious.
He started out in a KGB school, no matter where he went after that he was always KGB, He spied on his co workers, the fact that he happened to be good at what they thought he was there to do simply helped his cover.
When it came time to get out and move on he simply pitched his idea to his real bosses and they arranged what needed to be done.
Reading the article makes me think that this guy needs to get whacked.

[RTFM]

Tin foil hat time.... but that is one of the reasons I never purchase software like that from Russia, or eSet who are from Slovak Republic - they make top shelf stuff..... just not on my shelf.

Who's to say they are not returning my (laughable) info back to who knows where....
/tinfoil hat

[tombogan03884]

Russia is one of the leaders in cyber warfare, the KGB had hackers creating trojans and virus's out of Bulgaria as far back as the 80's.
A few years ago one of the Baltic countries, (Estonia I think ) the most connected in the world was in an argument with Russia over oil prices.
There was a DOS attack that shut down all phones and banking for 3 days, it was traced back to the city of Moscow but no direct connection to the govt could be proven.
During Russia's war with Georgia DOS attacks were again used to interfere with communications again there was no proof of direct govt involvement.
The philosophy is once KGB, and this guy was educated by them, you are ALWAYS KGB FOREVER.
Since the people are the same the philosophy continues with the successor services.
RTFM, no tin foil needed the truth is scary enough.
To make it even worse, this former KGB guy who has already screwed the CIA works for another KGB guy, Putin, who is very chummy with , guess who, George Soros.
And this bunch of dissident torturing economy crashing bastards has access to all those computer systems.
The whole world is in deep shit.

[tombogan03884]

He screwed us again. This guy needs to get whacked.
He is a hell of a lot more harmful to US interests than the Wiki Leaks guy and this one is doing it on purpose.

http://news.yahoo.com/gauss-stuxnet-linked-cyber-weapon-hits-lebanon-181202373--abc-news-topstories.html

 A new cyber weapon believed to be linked by code to the infamous Stuxnet worm has been discovered stealing banking information in Lebanon, according to Moscow-based cyber security firm Kaspersky Labs.

The new malware, dubbed Gauss for an in-code reference to a German mathematician, is designed to "steal and monitor data from clients of several Lebanese banks," among other nefarious abilities. The code also includes some kind of "special warhead" that is so well encrypted that Kaspersky has been unable to identify it.

Of the more than 2,500 instances of Gauss infections in the Middle East, more than 1,600 of them were discovered in Lebanon and nearly 500 in Israel, Kaspersky said in a blog post.

Kaspersky researchers said they discovered Gauss while investigating Flame, a massive espionage program revealed in May that was able to record nearly everything done on an infected computer, including real-world conversations that took place near it.

>>>>>>>>>>MORE AT LINK<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

[Sponsor]

[Solus]

Israel?  This guy is messing with Israel?  If there's some way to get him, I expect them to do it.

[santahog]

Israel?  This guy is messing with Israel?  If there's some way to get him, I expect them to do it.

Israel shows restraint that goes beyond human limits.. I hope they do, but they'll do such a nice job that it won't show in a way that makes it newsworthy, even if it's messy..

I still think we need to hire Israel to fix our various intel and security apparatuses. They don't have the affliction of Union political influences or the luxury of not having to take it seriously..

[tombogan03884]

Israel shows restraint that goes beyond human limits.. I hope they do, but they'll do such a nice job that it won't show in a way that makes it newsworthy, even if it's messy..

I still think we need to hire Israel to fix our various intel and security apparatuses. They don't have the affliction of Union political influences or the luxury of not having to take it seriously..

They have their own problems with corruption and factionalism.
Google Michael Harrari sometime.
Their biggest asset is that they can call on Jews in every country in the world for active support.