Topic 'Re: FBI might shutdown the Internet on March 8' in forum 'Security' - dslreports.com

Re: FBI might shutdown the Internet on March 8

Thu, 08 Mar 2012 18:29:35 EDT

AVD posted :

I wonder if there will be another extension after this. why not. they can keep spying on these people and don't have to worry about pesky warrants.

never thought about it like that, a honeypot for the victims. The only consolation is that if they really wanted to, they wouldn't,t need this as a pretext.
--
--Standard disclaimers apply.--
google this "(sqrt(cos(x))*cos(200*x)+sqrt(abs(x))-0.7)*(4-x*x)^0.01, sqrt(9-x^2), -sqrt(9-x^2)"

Re: FBI might shutdown the Internet on March 8

Thu, 08 Mar 2012 15:26:49 EDT

dauthiatull posted : I wonder if there will be another extension after this. why not. they can keep spying on these people and don't have to worry about pesky warrants.
--
a birth certificate is also proof of death, eventually

Re: FBI might shutdown the Internet on March 8

Thu, 08 Mar 2012 15:11:03 EDT

SlowFreddy posted : I did have a Flare-Up of Hemorrhoids this Morning. :),not really.

Re: FBI might shutdown the Internet on March 8

Thu, 08 Mar 2012 13:06:39 EDT

AVD posted :

said by Mele20:

Saved! ;)

"On March 5th, a US District Court (New York) signed an order to extend the March 8th deadline to July 9th.This extension will allow for all affected entities to continue to track-down and remediate agains hosts which are still compromised. Current data indicates that there are still several million infected/affected hosts world-wide dealing with this issue."

»thehackernews.com/2012/03/fbi-ge···ith.html

your tax dollars at work.
--
--Standard disclaimers apply.--
google this "(sqrt(cos(x))*cos(200*x)+sqrt(abs(x))-0.7)*(4-x*x)^0.01, sqrt(9-x^2), -sqrt(9-x^2)"

Re: FBI might shutdown the Internet on March 8

Thu, 08 Mar 2012 00:08:50 EDT

NetFixer posted :

said by Mele20:

Bummer. I was looking forward to all the extra bandwidth and less congestion that was going to happen in a few hours from now. :hmm:
--
We can never have enough of nature.
We need to witness our own limits transgressed, and some life pasturing freely where we never wander.

Re: FBI might shutdown the Internet on March 8

Wed, 07 Mar 2012 22:50:04 EDT

Mele20 posted : Saved! ;)

"On March 5th, a US District Court (New York) signed an order to extend the March 8th deadline to July 9th.This extension will allow for all affected entities to continue to track-down and remediate agains hosts which are still compromised. Current data indicates that there are still several million infected/affected hosts world-wide dealing with this issue."

»thehackernews.com/2012/03/fbi-ge···ith.html
--
When governments fear people, there is liberty. When the people fear the government, there is tyranny. Thomas Jefferson

Re: FBI might shutdown the Internet on March 8

Wed, 29 Feb 2012 11:53:40 EDT

AVD posted : 9 days to go

Re: FBI might shutdown the Internet on March 8

Wed, 29 Feb 2012 03:38:59 EDT

Raphion posted :

said by n00blet1 :

so any confirmations on wether this is really legit? they really plan to shut down communications, internet service providers?

and for what purpose exactly? to get rid of infected machines? why not contact the isp and notify them a machine if infected.

i believe there is much more to this whole story....

I believe so too. You should perchance read the article and the thread before blindly responding to the sensational (misleading) headline.

Re: FBI might shutdown the Internet on March 8

Wed, 29 Feb 2012 03:08:22 EDT

anon posted : so any confirmations on wether this is really legit? they really plan to shut down communications, internet service providers?

and for what purpose exactly? to get rid of infected machines? why not contact the isp and notify them a machine if infected.

i believe there is much more to this whole story....

Re: FBI might shutdown the Internet on March 8

Fri, 24 Feb 2012 03:40:07 EDT

NetFixer posted : I just tested a test web site for the DNS Changer trojan. Unlike some other test sites I have seen, this one does not require JavaScript, Java, or ActiveX. I tested it by using several randomly selected bogus DNS servers from the FBI list, and it appeared to work OK.

The test site is »dns-ok.us/

If you are using one of the bogus DNS servers, you will see this:

[att=1]

If you are not using one of the bogus DNS servers, you will see this:

[att=2]
»www.fbi.gov/news/stories/2011/no···e_110911
If you are color blind, you may need to read the message instead of just looking for the red or green background. ;)

EDIT:
Well, when I did a "preview" of this post, I could see the images. Now that I have "posted", I just see a blank area on the page. Hopefully, justin will remember to feed the image server hamsters before they actually die. :huh:
--
We can never have enough of nature.
We need to witness our own limits transgressed, and some life pasturing freely where we never wander.

Re: FBI might shutdown the Internet on March 8

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 10:32:07 EDT

AVD posted : but then, many virtual servers need a URL to work.

Re: FBI might shutdown the Internet on March 8

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 10:30:56 EDT

AVD posted :

said by Packeteers:

does it pay to record the actual static ip's of sights you frequent
so if many dns servers go dark you'll still be able to surf the web?

It's a thought.
--
--Standard disclaimers apply.--
google this "(sqrt(cos(x))*cos(200*x)+sqrt(abs(x))-0.7)*(4-x*x)^0.01, sqrt(9-x^2), -sqrt(9-x^2)"

Re: FBI might shutdown the Internet on March 8

Tue, 21 Feb 2012 21:59:11 EDT

silentlooker posted :

said by Packeteers:

does it pay to record the actual static ip's of sights you frequent
so if many dns servers go dark you'll still be able to surf the web?

There are so many dns that it's unlikely they will block all. No real point.

Re: FBI might shutdown the Internet on March 8

Tue, 21 Feb 2012 21:48:15 EDT

Packeteers posted : does it pay to record the actual static ip's of sights you frequent
so if many dns servers go dark you'll still be able to surf the web?

Re: FBI might shutdown the Internet on March 8

Tue, 21 Feb 2012 13:29:53 EDT

silentlooker posted : Bring it on. I will just change DNS on my computer.

Re: FBI might shutdown the Internet on March 8

Mon, 20 Feb 2012 08:56:03 EDT

Harddrive posted :

said by Chuck sTruck :

This is out of the realm of the duties of the FBI. They're sticking their nose in the wrong places and i'm smelling a foul smell.

You are so very wrong.
»www.fbi.gov/news/stories/2011/ap···t_041411
--
"The level of sacrifice that you give is beyond my comprehension. If the rest of us in the Country showed the level sacrifice that you do on a daily basis, we wouldn't have any of the problems we have." � Comedian Lewis Black speaking to the US troops.

Re: FBI might shutdown the Internet on March 8

Thu, 16 Feb 2012 17:57:42 EDT

Pseudonym01 posted : Only if you share.

Re: FBI might shutdown the Internet on March 8

Thu, 16 Feb 2012 17:29:41 EDT

peterboro posted : Regardless of whether it is within their realm I'm heading down to bikeweek March 8th so could you Americans kindly put this off for a week until I get my fill of beer and broads. Pretty please.

Re: FBI might shutdown the Internet on March 8

Thu, 16 Feb 2012 17:26:18 EDT

Pseudonym01 posted :

said by Chuck sTruck :

This is out of the realm of the duties of the FBI. They're sticking their nose in the wrong places and i'm smelling a foul smell.

Not really.

The FBI was one part of the DNSChanger takedown operation, along with Estonian authorities, both with help from Trend-Micro.

An international fraud ring committing federal offenses against citizens is most definitely part of their duties.

Re: FBI might shutdown the Internet on March 8

Thu, 16 Feb 2012 15:23:38 EDT

jaykaykay posted : Ooops. Not really. I pulled a Biden!

Re: Security Slackers Risk Internet Blackout on March 8

Thu, 16 Feb 2012 15:20:27 EDT

EGeezer posted :

said by NetFixer
The FBI really set themselves up for taking the blame by not just shutting down the servers in the first place. If that had happened, the crooks would have rightly taken the blame for the outage (except for a few who would still have tried to blame an FBI/RIAA/MPAA consortium). ...
[/BQUOTE :

Spot on!

There are many who believe that once the government sets up something, it will be there forever. But then, I guess that does happen a lot. :D

Re: FBI might shutdown the Internet on March 8

Thu, 16 Feb 2012 15:12:31 EDT

anon posted : This is out of the realm of the duties of the FBI. They're sticking their nose in the wrong places and i'm smelling a foul smell.

Re: Security Slackers Risk Internet Blackout on March 8

Thu, 16 Feb 2012 12:29:58 EDT

mod_wastrel posted : No, but they all are slack when it comes to spell-checking. :)

Re: Security Slackers Risk Internet Blackout on March 8

Thu, 16 Feb 2012 12:28:48 EDT

FutureMon posted :

said by mod_wastrel:

Slackers untie!

I thought all slackers wore slip-on's...

Re: Security Slackers Risk Internet Blackout on March 8

Thu, 16 Feb 2012 12:27:52 EDT

NetFixer posted :

said by EGeezer:

I like this headline better.. :D

»theintelhub.com/2012/02/11/secur···march-8/

The FBI really set themselves up for taking the blame by not just shutting down the servers in the first place. If that had happened, the crooks would have rightly taken the blame for the outage (except for a few who would still have tried to blame an FBI/RIAA/MPAA consortium). Now that the FBI has coddled everyone involved by running surrogate servers for over three months, they are going to be perceived by many as the bad guys when the courts force then to relinquish control of the servers back to their owners.
--
History does not long entrust the care of freedom to the weak or the timid.
-- Dwight D. Eisenhower

Re: Security Slackers Risk Internet Blackout on March 8

Thu, 16 Feb 2012 12:26:38 EDT

mod_wastrel posted : Slackers untie!

Security Slackers Risk Internet Blackout on March 8

Thu, 16 Feb 2012 11:57:41 EDT

EGeezer posted : I like this headline better.. :D

»theintelhub.com/2012/02/11/secur···march-8/

Re: FBI might shutdown the Internet on March 8

Thu, 16 Feb 2012 11:28:53 EDT

Mr Fel posted :

said by AVD:

said by n00blet1 :

then we use wires and start our own private wireless networks....

wires? use meshes and start private networks.

Exactly.
--
Change the scheme, alter the mood! Electrify the boys and girls if you'd be so kind.

Re: FBI might shutdown the Internet on March 8

Thu, 16 Feb 2012 11:09:59 EDT

Pseudonym01 posted : I already explained multiple times what I objected to about the article, being the factual innaccuracy (already explained the technical 'why') and sensationalism. Not that I 'object to dry humor' which isn't there.

No offense intended, but you're extrapolating my conclusions way too far, making wild claims about what I have and have not done, and applying my points to things that really don't need to be applied to.

This appears to have gotten way off track and a bit too personal, so I guess we'll have to agree to disagree on the semantics of this one. :)

Re: FBI might shutdown the Internet on March 8

Thu, 16 Feb 2012 05:31:29 EDT

NetFixer posted :

said by Pseudonym01:

said by NetFixer:

You obviously have a problem understanding real world journalism.

I'm well aware of the realities of news, but that doesn't make yellow journalism a good thing. :P

I'm merely stating that, ideally, a purported news article's title and contents should be factual, or at least not outright false or misleading, and (possibly) informative regardless of whether the topic has been discussed before or not.

At any rate, we're discussing the article in the thread so I don't see much harm in debating its methods.

If you truly want to discuss the article in question, and if we put aside your apparent inability to recognize the headline/title of the article in question for the dry humor that it is, exactly what did you find either objectionable or not factual in the actual content of the article?

The article appears to me to be a simple brief recap of events that occurred in October of last year, and also a reminder to those who have not yet taken action because they were depending on the FBI's temporary fix. Those events were widely reported by many media sources in early November of last year, so perhaps the writer just assumed that anyone reading the article was already familiar with the details of the subject matter. Is the brevity of the article what you find objectionable? Or was it just the writer's (or the editor's) inappropriate (to you) attempt at dry humor in the article headline/title?

By your journalism standards, is every follow up article for any given subject matter expected to be a novel length detailed retelling of everything related to the incident being reported?

Are brief recaps of what the writer assumes is common knowledge that nonetheless provide enough information to allow the reader to do further research (if they feel the need to do so) not enough by your standards of journalism?

Are all attempts to use dry or dark humor not to be tolerated?

Did you do any other research on your own to verify or disprove anything in the article?

Just out of curiosity, what are your thoughts on the headline below (from today's DSLR front page)?

AT&T May Try to Acquire Leap Wireless
Or MetroPCS, or McDonalds, or JC Penney, or the Mars Rover...
Just trying to ascertain if your humorectomy is irreversible, or if perhaps there is still a glimmer of hope for a recovery.
--
History does not long entrust the care of freedom to the weak or the timid.
-- Dwight D. Eisenhower

Re: FBI might shutdown the Internet on March 8

Thu, 16 Feb 2012 01:22:01 EDT

Pseudonym01 posted :

said by NetFixer:

You obviously have a problem understanding real world journalism.

Re: FBI might shutdown the Internet on March 8

Wed, 15 Feb 2012 20:34:38 EDT

Snakeoil posted : With cases of parents ignoring their babies, because they were playing an online game/web browsing. It wouldn't surprise me.

Re: FBI might shutdown the Internet on March 8

Wed, 15 Feb 2012 20:24:17 EDT

NetFixer posted :

said by Pseudonym01:

said by NetFixer:

did the reading consist of only seeing the headline? No one is actually claiming that the FBI is going to shut down the internet. :uhh:

If only it were a funny headline... >.> A headline or title is supposed to be a summary, so they're being disingenuous at best by using one like that.

The article could have refrained from using an intentionally provocative headline and been much more informative. Instead it stokes paranoia while doing the minimum it can to inform the readers, people who could possibly benefit from, say, being told how to clean up the infection.

Same with the OP's thread title. It's needless and hampers discussion, because obviously we're discussing that instead of the story (which is a non-story.)

You obviously have a problem understanding real world journalism. If nobody reads the article, there is no point in writing the article, and outrageous headlines sell newspapers and magazines, and draw readers to on-line publications. This particular headline only stokes paranoia in those with humorectomies.

As for informing users, this "news" is not new. Users were informed many months ago. The article referenced by this thread is basically just a recap, and a final reminder to those who have not yet taken corrective action.

I will refrain from describing what "we" are discussing. I have been discussing the facts in the case, and the dry humor in the headline (or in the thread title which merely reflects the article's headline) in no way hampers my ability to do that. But of course, I can only speak for myself.
--
History does not long entrust the care of freedom to the weak or the timid.
-- Dwight D. Eisenhower

Re: FBI might shutdown the Internet on March 8

Wed, 15 Feb 2012 20:11:17 EDT

Juggernaut posted :

said by FutureMon:

Watch. I'd be willing to bet, if there isn't one already in the works, some form of law that makes it illegal for on-line games to allow connections to their servers for more than 8 hours at a time.

South Korea already has a variation on that.
»www.cnn.com/2011/11/22/world/asi···dex.html

Re: FBI might shutdown the Internet on March 8

Wed, 15 Feb 2012 20:05:58 EDT

Pseudonym01 posted :

said by NetFixer:

did the reading consist of only seeing the headline? No one is actually claiming that the FBI is going to shut down the internet. :uhh:

said by Snakeoil:

Then I would hope the government pays us for our pains of being disconnected from the net. I'm willing to bet someone will file a class action if the FBI does this.

Please tell me you're not serious. :)

The Zlob trojan changed DNS server settings on infected machines. The FBI helped to take the operation down, and transparently replaced the malicious servers with functioning DNS servers, or so I gather.

People will either figure out how to change the settings themselves, or pay someone to fix it. Not the end of the world by any means.

Re: FBI might shutdown the Internet on March 8

Wed, 15 Feb 2012 19:46:12 EDT

FutureMon posted : The internet has become a drug far, far worse than anything one could inhale. ;) People will sit in front of their computer for days on end, not even getting up to go to the bathroom, eat or sleep.

Wait...We ARE having a "War on the Internet" what with SOPA and all that mess that resembles it ;)

Watch. I'd be willing to bet, if there isn't one already in the works, some form of law that makes it illegal for on-line games to allow connections to their servers for more than 8 hours at a time. Sort of like truck driving laws. For every x hours of non-stop driving, you gotta take an x hour long break.

- FM
--
Q: How many theoretical physicists specializing in general relativity does it take to change a light bulb?
A: Two. One to hold the bulb and one to rotate the universe.

Re: FBI might shutdown the Internet on March 8

Wed, 15 Feb 2012 19:18:37 EDT

NetFixer posted :

said by Snakeoil:

Then I would hope the government pays us for our pains of being disconnected from the net.

I'm willing to bet someone will file a class action if the FBI does this.

And someone else would take legal action if the FBI continued their takeover of someone else's servers. It was actually pretty amazing that the FBI was able to get the international cooperation that allowed them to even temporarily take over servers in the Ukraine and Russia. Also the court orders which allowed them to take over the US servers involved is about to expire (and with it the FBI's authority to continue the operation).
--
History does not long entrust the care of freedom to the weak or the timid.
-- Dwight D. Eisenhower

Re: FBI might shutdown the Internet on March 8

Wed, 15 Feb 2012 19:01:51 EDT

Snakeoil posted : Then I would hope the government pays us for our pains of being disconnected from the net.

I'm willing to bet someone will file a class action if the FBI does this.
--
Is a person a failure for doing nothing? Or is he a failure for trying, and not succeeding at what he is attempting to do? What did you fail at today?.

Re: FBI might shutdown the Internet on March 8

Wed, 15 Feb 2012 17:49:41 EDT

NetFixer posted :

said by jaykaykay:

Just Joe Biden 'cause he invented it, eh! :D

Are you implying that my old neighbor Al Gore did not invent it?
--
History does not long entrust the care of freedom to the weak or the timid.
-- Dwight D. Eisenhower

Re: FBI might shutdown the Internet on March 8

Wed, 15 Feb 2012 17:16:38 EDT

jaykaykay posted : Just Joe Biden 'cause he invented it, eh! :D

Re: FBI might shutdown the Internet on March 8

Wed, 15 Feb 2012 16:55:02 EDT

NetFixer posted : I know that the moderator of this forum does not encourage the use of humor in posts here, but I can't believe the number of posters in this thread who have apparently gotten humorectomies in order to be PC in this forum.

Am I the only one to see the dry humor in the article's headline?

Did the naysayers actually read the article (or the articles from other IT industry publications on which that article is based, or the official FBI publication about the problem)? Or did the reading consist of only seeing the headline? No one is actually claiming that the FBI is going to shut down the internet. :uhh:
--
History does not long entrust the care of freedom to the weak or the timid.
-- Dwight D. Eisenhower

Re: FBI might shutdown the Internet on March 8

Wed, 15 Feb 2012 16:38:53 EDT

almex posted : Seriously, what a terrible article. The headline is worse.

Fear. Uncertainty. Doubt.
--
"Careful, we don't want to learn from this!" --Calvin & Hobbes

Re: FBI might shutdown the Internet on March 8

Wed, 15 Feb 2012 16:14:26 EDT

Pseudonym01 posted : Mmm, delicious FUD. Apparently actually doing something for internet security is a bad thing.

The FBI could probably give away lavender scented candles and bath salts and a certain crowd would claim it's an internet shutdown simply because some people won't be on the internet for a bit because they're taking a bath...

*Flips a table*

Re: FBI might shutdown the Internet on March 8

Wed, 15 Feb 2012 15:18:52 EDT

Krisnatharok posted : That's a whole lot of poorly written journalism.

Re: FBI might shutdown the Internet on March 8

Wed, 15 Feb 2012 15:11:58 EDT

AVD posted :

said by n00blet1 :

then we use wires and start our own private wireless networks....

wires? use meshes and start private networks.
--
--Standard disclaimers apply.--
google this "(sqrt(cos(x))*cos(200*x)+sqrt(abs(x))-0.7)*(4-x*x)^0.01, sqrt(9-x^2), -sqrt(9-x^2)"

Re: FBI might shutdown the Internet on March 8

Wed, 15 Feb 2012 14:58:04 EDT

NetFixer posted :

said by Kilroy:

That half of all Fortune 500 companies may just be that one machine from one of their IP address range may be showing infected.

I can't imagine a corporate IT department that would not have already mitigated the DNSChanger Trojan problem either (but you should never underestimate the effects of ignorance or laziness, and since the FBI takeover of the infected servers effectively mitigated the infection, some may have simply neglected to follow through).

I can think of a possibility wherein the IT folks at a corporation did a meticulous scan for the trojan (and removed it if found), but neglected to change the DNS server IP addresses back to the normal settings. I just changed the DNS server IP addresses on a workstation on my network to use DNSChanger Trojan IP addresses, and then did a full scan with Norton Business Suite, and the latest Microsoft Malicious Software Removal Tool. Neither of those programs detected that I was using the DNSChanger Trojan IP addresses for DNS resolution.

I do wonder what all the infected OS X users are going to do when the internet shuts down. The DNSChanger Trojan also had variants that infected that platform, and since many (if not most) OS X users simply refuse to even consider the possibility of an infection, you have to wonder how many are going to be webless on March 8.
--
History does not long entrust the care of freedom to the weak or the timid.
-- Dwight D. Eisenhower

Re: FBI might shutdown the Internet on March 8

Wed, 15 Feb 2012 14:34:53 EDT

Kilroy posted : That half of all Fortune 500 companies may just be that one machine from one of their IP address range may be showing infected. This may even be a "visiting" machine. In other words, most likely using numbers to make it seem a lot worse than it really is. They aren't giving an approximate computer count which would be more indicating of the issue. If it is too much more than that, then I guess they will have a lot of work coming up.
--
When will the people realize that with DRM they aren't purchasing anything?

Re: FBI might shutdown the Internet on March 8

Wed, 15 Feb 2012 14:16:40 EDT

anon posted : Gonna love it!

From your link...

Who, exactly, will be affected? Security company IID (Internet Identity) believes that half of all Fortune 500 companies and more than two dozen major government entities in the US are still currently infected with the worm as of early 2012. Unless they take the proper steps to eradicate the Trojan from their systems, millions of users worldwide will be left hog-tied, helplessly attempting to navigate to nonexistent servers and, in effect, without the Web.

“At this rate, a lot of users are going to see their Internet break on March 8,” Rod Rasmussen, president and chief technology officer at Internet Identity, cautions Krebs On Security.

Re: FBI might shutdown the Internet on March 8

Wed, 15 Feb 2012 13:33:33 EDT

dslcreature posted : Wouldn't be surprised if most end up adding fake routes so that DNS still works rather than dealing with customers.