Submitted 1 day ago by Pro@programming.dev to technology@lemmy.world
cross-posted from: programming.dev/post/37934106
The laissez faire attitude most tech companies, non tech companies, and people, have towards cyber security is a ticking fucking time bomb.
This isn’t 1990. Everything relies on technology. I can’t help but feel that we are headed towards a clusterfuck the likes of which has never been seen before.
When I was a kid I wondered what would happen if someone set off an EMP in NYC, specifically about whether it would wipe out the data on Wall Street.
I decided they wouldn’t be dumb enough to not have backups in a safe location.
As an adult, I no longer trust that assumption.
Nothing would actually be wiped out.
It’s why that part in Dark Knight Returns is really fucking stupid.
The majority of finance institutions will have multiple live servers in two places. Eg. new Jersey and as far away as Virginia. Some have three.
The data itself will be in even more locations as backups, but might take a while to recover if multiple sites were attacked at once.
I remember there being a tiny earthquake in NYC and that fucked up the calls because everyone was just panic calling. The subway was nearby so it covered up the vibrations. My mother thought I messed up her phone somehow and blamed me for it lmfao. (“subway” was above ground so it wasn’t a reception problem)
Yeah, maybe the emergency services for New York fucking City shouldn’t be on cellular infrastructure. Seems like a recipe for disaster.
I’ve seen too many articles saying China/Russia is balls deep in our infrastructure to believe we’ll have any reliable communication if WW3 breaks out.
especially since DOGE gave everyone backdoor access, I would not rely on any critical infrastructure in the US
I’m told it’s not hard to get your ham operators license
My opinion is mixed. On one hand, cyber security is leagues ahead of the 90s. OTOH, while the common threats has been dialed in, the consequences of a major strike are far more dire. Didn’t state that well, know what I mean?
Anyway, as a sysadmin, this shit has kept me up a night. I mean that most literally. Falling asleep, “Shit! I don’t have that covered!”
You’re looking at it from a business perspective which is valid but the resources available to the average person to prevent and / or mitigate a realm threat are virtually nonexistent.
Up until now it’s made no sense to target Joe Schmoe or his neighbours what happens when a state sponsored threat actor decides to burn it all down, or someone decides to start targeting the average person rn Massé with malicious ai?
It’s not a big deal on a case by case basis but almost no cybersecurity company will help out an individual unless they’re rich, the police are brain dead.
Wired magazine wrote it up in more detail.
Russia? Russia.
Russia is inside the house lmao
While forensic examination of these devices is ongoing, early analysis indicates cellular communications between nation-state threat actors and individuals that are known to federal law enforcement.
I have read elsewhere that this is likely an older service, used for a long time, which was used in domestic crime. It was tracked down by the secret service because it was helping provide help in forgery of fake currency.
It makes sense why the secret service, which deals in counterfeiting, was involved.
But it was spun by the White House for other reasons
The U.S. Secret Service’s Advanced Threat Interdiction Unit, a new section of the agency dedicated to disrupting the most significant and imminent threats to our protectees
I wonder who those protectees are…
The secret service is pretty clear who their protectees are, not sure what you’re implying here
Seems like swatting attacks would be better served against the Geriatric Old Party. Send some to the SCRotUS
Why does one need so many virtual phones for swat threats?
The implication is that it’s operating as a general purpose mobile botnet of sorts, and there is likely someone out there selling services on it. It seems like someone was using it for swatting (which is how they found it), and others may have been using it for spam and forum bots. The narrative that it was specifically a tool for attacking cellular infrastructure is a bit misleading. It might have been useful for that but as far as well know it was never used that way.
This reminds the drug busts and how the police press statement mentions the total drug value in the streets or the total individual doses to inflate the operation achievements.
ChicoSuave@lemmy.world 1 day ago
They found a phone farm.
onslaught545@lemmy.zip 1 day ago
It’s pretty unlikely they were using actual cellphones for this setup.
jqubed@lemmy.world 1 day ago
They have images in the link. They sure don’t look like actual phones. I hope more information comes out about what was being used and where they were sourced. Were they devices that have a legitimate use as well or something more custom for nefarious purposes? They don’t look like they take a lot of room, so this might not be the last time we hear of something using this or similar equipment. Doesn’t seem like it would be hard to put these all over the world.
01189998819991197253@infosec.pub 16 hours ago
But a phone farm doesn’t necessarily use whole cellphones. All it really needs is the network chip and a sim unit for network authentication, and the hub would then power and control it all. The pictures in the article look like a phone farm of this sort, and I believe they’re correct in their assessment of its danger.
Warl0k3@lemmy.world 1 day ago
Why? Not disagreeing, just curious if there’s something to base this off of. It’s a whole lot of phones, but old phones are still perfectly functional and cheap as dirt in bulk.