Re: Russian Hacker story in today's news

[Tim Doty <tdoty () MST EDU>]

On 08/06/2014 12:22 PM, Brad Judy wrote:
> Brian Krebs has posted on the topic today:
>
> http://krebsonsecurity.com/2014/08/qa-on-the-reported-theft-of-1-2b-email-accounts/

Significantly, I think, Brian says that Mr. Holden didn't take most of
his advice...

> It is true that Mr. Holden asked me to advise him when he was setting
> up his business, but he hasn’t taken most of my advice. I have
> received and will receive no compensation for said advice.

So while Krebs puts him in a positive light in the article, this seems 
more like the typical "security entrepreneur" than news of a notable 
breach. More (scare) business as usual.

Tim Doty


> *From:*The EDUCAUSE Security Constituent Group Listserv
> [mailto:SECURITY () LISTSERV EDUCAUSE EDU] *On Behalf Of *Keller, Alex
> *Sent:* Wednesday, August 06, 2014 11:15 AM *To:*
> SECURITY () LISTSERV EDUCAUSE EDU *Subject:* Re: [SECURITY] Russian
> Hacker story in today's news
>
> Hi Folks,
>
> I read the NY Times article yesterday and it immediately triggered
> the BS meter. Article is exceedingly light on details.
>
> Hold Security website is rudimentary and vague:
>
> http://www.holdsecurity.com
>
> WordPress admin interface is running over HTTP (no SSL available):
>
> http://www.holdsecurity.com/wp-admin
>
> They list Brian Krebs (of Krebs on Security) as a “special advisor”:
>
> http://www.holdsecurity.com/about/advisory-board/
>
> But Brian has made no note of this story on his blog:
>
> http://krebsonsecurity.com
>
> None of this passes even the most basic sniff test.
>
> Best,
>
> alex
>
> *http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/06/technology/russian-gang-said-to-amass-more-than-a-billion-stolen-internet-credentials.html
>
>  Alex Keller Information Technology Stanford School of Engineering
> axkeller () stanford edu <mailto:axkeller () stanford edu> (650) 736-6421
>
> SoE_IT_Logo
>
> *From:* The EDUCAUSE Security Constituent Group Listserv
> [mailto:SECURITY () LISTSERV EDUCAUSE EDU] *On Behalf Of *Chuck Braden
> *Sent:* Wednesday, August 06, 2014 6:02 AM *To:*
> SECURITY () LISTSERV EDUCAUSE EDU
> <mailto:SECURITY () LISTSERV EDUCAUSE EDU> *Subject:* Re: [SECURITY]
> Russian Hacker story in today's news
>
> > As I read Hold Security’s release this seems to be more of a
> > marketing
> ploy to sell services combined with a credential collection scheme of
>  their own.
>
> A news resource I heard this morning said they would provide an
> ability for users to query to see if their ID or what websites had
> been compromised. No word when that would be available… Im not
> hearing a lot from the vendor either – other than crickets and a cash
> register bell ring. :-/
>
> Jimmy C Braden
>
> Information Security Officer
>
> AgriLife Information Technology
>
> 979-862-7254
>
> j-braden () tamu edu <mailto:j-braden () tamu edu>
>
> *From:*The EDUCAUSE Security Constituent Group Listserv
> [mailto:SECURITY () LISTSERV EDUCAUSE EDU] *On Behalf Of *Slocum, Stacy
> *Sent:* Wednesday, August 06, 2014 7:57 AM *To:*
> SECURITY () LISTSERV EDUCAUSE EDU
> <mailto:SECURITY () LISTSERV EDUCAUSE EDU> *Subject:* [SECURITY] Russian
> Hacker story in today's news
>
> Good morning,
>
> A news story caught my attention this morning regarding the 1+
> billion user accounts being collected by “Russian Hackers” over the
> last 18 months.
>
> The story is based on Hold Security’s news release dated yesterday
> (8/5/2014).  As I read Hold Security’s release this seems to be more
> of a marketing ploy to sell services combined with a credential
> collection scheme of their own.  Additionally their Terms of Service
> must be agreed to before registering for their “trial” service of
> matching your credentials with those from contained in the breach
> database and they offer to let you know if your password was also in
> the breached data… after you provide it to them…
>
> Does this seem odd to anyone else?
>
> Thanks, Stacy
>
> Stacy Slocum
>
> Chief Information Officer
>
> St. John Fisher College
>
> 3690 East Avenue
>
> Rochester, NY 14618
>
> (585) 385-8388

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