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story category Comcast Website Hackers Indicted
For 2008 defacement of Comcast portal...
06:19PM Thursday Nov 19 2009 by Karl Bode
tags: business · bandwidth · cable · Comcast
If you recall, back in May of 2008 we told you how the Comcast web portal was hacked by a group calling itself "Kryogenics," posting the usually gramatically incoherent shout out to their own supposed awesomeness and fellow nerd homies. The hack disrupted user access to the portal and the official Comcast forums for several hours, before Comcast tracked down the problem and the fix was propagated across DNS servers. According to the Philadelphia Business Journal, the three young men responsible for the hack have been indicted for "conspiring to disrupt service." The indictment claims the hack cost Comcast "a little less than $129,000," though each defendant could receive a maximum sentence of five years in jail, three years of supervised release, a $250,000 fine and a $100 special assessment, on top of potential forced restitution to Comcast -- who certainly could use the money.

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Forums » Comcast Website Hackers Indicted
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jimboe

join:2000-08-14
New York
·Optimum Online


3 edits

How old

are the "defendants"?

OK I see.

19, 20 and 27 (minus a year ago when they commited the act).

Possible 5 years in jail. phew. Can't wait to hear the sentencing for this horrific event.

Rapists often get half that here in nyc.

Karl Bode
News Guy
join:2000-03-02

1 edit

Re: How old

19, 20, and 27. Keepin it REALZ. Hacking a boring cable portal. For great justice.

Chris 313
Come get some
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1 edit

Re: How old

said by Karl Bode See Profile :

19, 20, and 27. Keepin it REALZ. Hacking a boring cable portal. For great justice.
All your restitution are belong to us!

What were these idiots thinking? Doing that only for a few hours. Did they wanna see their names in the news or something?

If Comcast gets restitution for this, they'll be making extra bank to put in their pocket. Bet that hacker fools are facepalming now, eh?

With the skills they have, they could've found a legit job somewhere.

Keepin it realz indeed, Karl.

koitsu
Premium
join:2002-07-16
Mountain View, CA

Re: How old

said by Chris 313 See Profile :

What were these idiots thinking? Doing that only for a few hours. Did they wanna see their names in the news or something?
They weren't thinking. Instead, they were on IRC.
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OverModded
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said by jimboe See Profile :

are the "defendants"?

OK I see.

19, 20 and 27 (minus a year ago when they commited the act).

Possible 5 years in jail. phew. Can't wait to hear the sentencing for this horrific event.

Rapists often get half that here in nyc.
Tough. Send them to jail anyway and they can see what real penetration is like.
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CableGei
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1 edit

Re: How old

said by OverModded See Profile :

they can see what real penetration is like.
I agree! Hahaha!
Singular
Premium
join:2008-08-13
Shelbyville, KY

said by OverModded See Profile :

said by jimboe See Profile :

are the "defendants"?

OK I see.

19, 20 and 27 (minus a year ago when they commited the act).

Possible 5 years in jail. phew. Can't wait to hear the sentencing for this horrific event.

Rapists often get half that here in nyc.
Tough. Send them to jail anyway and they can see what real penetration is like.
I lol'ed

heat84

join:2004-03-11
Fort Lauderdale, FL
·Comcast
·AT&T Southeast

said by OverModded See Profile :

Tough. Send them to jail anyway and they can see what real penetration is like.
I thought hackers went to minimum security prisons like where Bernie Madoff is.
--
Bit Torrent is my DVR.
dagg

join:2001-03-25
Galt, CA
which just means that we need tougher standards for rapists... not lesser standards for this type of stuff....

KrK
Heavy Artillery For The Little Guy
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I can't help but feel it's really such a well, barely minimal crime. It reminds me of the level of criminality as petty vandalism like the people who write inside toliet stalls. I love when Corporations claim they "lose" massive amounts of money due to these defacement's.

Oh well. It's a sign of the times. Punishments don't hardly ever fit the crime anymore. Real crime has low punishments and non-crime has severe punishments.
--
"Fascism should more properly be called corporatism because it is the merger of state and corporate power." -- Benito Mussolini
averagedude

join:2002-01-30
Mesa, AZ
·Cox HSI

Re: How old

said by KrK See Profile :

I can't help but feel it's really such a well, barely minimal crime. It reminds me of the level of criminality as petty vandalism like the people who write inside toliet stalls. I love when Corporations claim they "lose" massive amounts of money due to these defacement's.

Oh well. It's a sign of the times. Punishments don't hardly ever fit the crime anymore. Real crime has low punishments and non-crime has severe punishments.
Too true.
beavercable

join:2008-05-11
Beaverton, OR
Murder crimes first, money crimes second, then everything else.
brianiscool

join:2000-08-16
Miami, FL

heh

I hope they enjoy their punishment for such a ridiculous act. They should of hacked a more worthy website that would get more positive feedback like PETA. lol

Anonymous_
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Re: heh

said by brianiscool See Profile :

I hope they enjoy their punishment for such a ridiculous act. They should of hacked a more worthy website that would get more positive feedback like PETA. lol
or Riaa or MPAA site that would have been more fun?
brianiscool

join:2000-08-16
Miami, FL

Re: heh

true

heat84

join:2004-03-11
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said by Anonymous_ See Profile :

or Riaa or MPAA site that would have been more fun?
I think that's been done to death already. What about NASA or the Pentagon.
--
Bit Torrent is my DVR.

fonzbear2000
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Saint Paul, MN

said by brianiscool See Profile :

I hope they enjoy their punishment for such a ridiculous act. They should of hacked a more worthy website that would get more positive feedback like PETA. lol
Or the RIAA/MPAA LOL.
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said by brianiscool See Profile :

I hope they enjoy their punishment for such a ridiculous act. They should of hacked a more worthy website that would get more positive feedback like PETA. lol
or myspace, facebook or MyYearbook
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brianiscool

join:2000-08-16
Miami, FL

Re: heh

Facebook down will drive some people insane ;p
bn1221

join:2009-04-29
Cortland, NY

Re: heh

People on Facebook are already insane...

Rob
In Deo speramus, God Bless the USA
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join:2001-08-25
Kendall, FL
·Comcast

Hack? Really?

If I recall correctly, these children used social engineering to gain access to the domain registrar where Comcast's domain is registered and changed the DNS servers.

What they did wasn't hacking. These are kiddies who couldn't hack their way through a paper bag. If anything, I'd call it domain hijacking.
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Tzale
Proud Libertarian Conservative
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join:2004-01-06
Sweden

Re: Hack? Really?

said by Rob See Profile :

If I recall correctly, these children used social engineering to gain access to the domain registrar where Comcast's domain is registered and changed the DNS servers.

What they did wasn't hacking. These are kiddies who couldn't hack their way through a paper bag. If anything, I'd call it domain hijacking.
How do you know what they could and couldn't do?

As far as I know, social engineering is the #1 method used to gain unauthorized access to information systems nowadays. And it's a pretty damn good one...

-Tzale

Rob
In Deo speramus, God Bless the USA
Premium
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Re: Hack? Really?

Because real hackers don't waste their time on petty stuff like this.

Karl Bode
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Re: Hack? Really?

I think actually most of the biggest hacks of all time were based around conning an idiot administrative assistant into giving up a password over the phone. I'm no hacker, but I know a few, and I'm pretty sure most hackers would agree that manipulation of dumb people is about 50% (or more) of the equation...

joako
Premium
join:2000-09-07
/dev/null

Re: Hack? Really?

Security is 50% illusion.
--
PRescott7-2097

Karl Bode
News Guy
join:2000-03-02

Re: Hack? Really?

Yep. Life is 50% illusion, if you want to get down to brass tacks.
jester121
Premium
join:2003-08-09
Lake Zurich, IL

Re: Hack? Really?

Brass tacks are 50% illusion, depending on how you hold them.

I have no idea what that means.
bullet087

join:2006-05-17

Re: Hack? Really?

Holding is 50% illusion, depending on how you feel.

spamd
Premium
join:2001-04-22
Rockford, IL

Re: Hack? Really?

Red pill or Blue pill.

bigunk
Gort, Klattu Birada Nikto

join:2001-02-10
Santa Clarita, CA

Re: Hack? Really?

It's a 50/50 chance
PapaMidnight

join:2009-01-13
Baltimore, MD

said by spamd See Profile :

Red pill or Blue pill.
I don't know, life was kinda crappy with a red pill but my body can be used and I killed in the process or my mind overwritten if I remain a blue pill. I think Red Pill is the way to go.

KrK
Heavy Artillery For The Little Guy
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Tulsa, OK
Social engineering they call it. It's the path of least resistance/most success, and is exploited often.

EGeezer
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Re: Hack? Really?

said by KrK See Profile :

Social engineering they call it. It's the path of least resistance/most success, and is exploited often.
Definitely true. all the antiviruses, secure operating systems, firewalls, complex passwords etc fail in the face of a good social engineer and a willing dupe. It requires little hacking skill once the target has handed over the keys. The skill is in the preparation, research of the target and convincing the victim to cooperate.

Those engineers will steal your beer.
--
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chronoss2009
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Re: Hack? Really?

said by EGeezer See Profile :

said by KrK See Profile :

Social engineering they call it. It's the path of least resistance/most success, and is exploited often.
Definitely true. all the antiviruses, secure operating systems, firewalls, complex passwords etc fail in the face of a good social engineer and a willing dupe. It requires little hacking skill once the target has handed over the keys. The skill is in the preparation, research of the target and convincing the victim to cooperate.

Those engineers will steal your beer.
people that need to feel smart call it social engineering , ya see criminals call it CONJOB
and thats what it is , has been and a smart person doesn't need a 2 word multiple syllable set a words to describe "CON"

differentiate ( your word of the day !! ) between script kiddies and hackers.....anyone moron can run a script except bill gates that is....
PapaMidnight

join:2009-01-13
Baltimore, MD

said by Karl Bode See Profile :

I think actually most of the biggest hacks of all time were based around conning an idiot administrative assistant into giving up a password over the phone. I'm no hacker, but I know a few, and I'm pretty sure most hackers would agree that manipulation of dumb people is about 50% (or more) of the equation...
As I'm sure you know, Karl Bode, the human element is always the biggest flaw in ANY security environment.

cork1958
Cork

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Fruitport, MI
·Verizon Online DSL
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said by Rob See Profile :

Because real hackers don't waste their time on petty stuff like this.
Quite right
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Kearnstd
Elf Wizard
Premium
join:2002-01-22
Mullica Hill, NJ

a big mistake these kids made was they thought they where cool redirecting comcast.net and then they melted every host they tried for their message. they should have researched the volume comcast.net handles each hour before trying to redirect it lol. Rumor is the portal is one of the higher traffic sites.
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NOCTech75

join:2009-06-29
Marietta, GA

Court paperwork

On the verdict paperwork instead of guilty does it say "pwn3d"?

aaronwt
Premium
join:2004-11-07
Woodbridge, VA

Throw then in jail for the maxmium sentence

And also impose the maxmimum fine plus restitution.

Then maybe people will think twice about doing crap like that.

Van
Premium
join:2009-07-08
Washington, DC

Doing that would not deter a single

person from such a thing.

These kids (as said above) were novices who hadn't a clue what they were getting themselves into

Send them to jail for a short while, slap probation, and move on.....

Ioweyou

@comcast.net

The $100

That's just a fee tacked on to the sentence. You know like having to pay a fee for an extra bag at the airport ticket counter.

There ya go.... A way to make more money for prisons! Tack on a "sentencing fee"!
PapaMidnight

join:2009-01-13
Baltimore, MD


1 edit

Proof of cost?

I'd like to know how a little downtime and restoration of a backup cost Comcast about "$129,000". There's no possible way they actually can convince a judge or jury that they lost that much in such a period due to lost advertising based on CPM. It's not possible.

Not to say I condone what was done. I personally know how much of a pain in the ass it can be restoring a site or portal from a defacement, but I also know it doesn't cost $129,000 to restore a back up (which frankly should be done weekly at bare minimal).

I'm sorry, but the punishment does not fit the crime. I've seen murderer's walk with less time than that. Digital crimes seem to carry ridiculously large punishments which are entirely disproportionate to crimes not performed in the digital world. You'd have less of a punishment for stealing a cd from a store than from going onto The Pirate Bay and snagging a torrent, and subsequently being caught and prosecuted.
Forums » Comcast Website Hackers Indicted


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