[AusNOG] Ransomware...

[Skeeve Stevens]

Robert,

Digging what hole? What an arrogant perspective Rob.

I don't do desktop support. I don't care in the slightest about that side
of IT... it isn't what I do.

But I do get called when things like this happen.

In the dozen events over the last 2 years or so where the user had no
choice (there was no backup), and they paid - they always got a working key.

My point here isn't shaming the users - which you obviously have a disdain
for - it is getting the business running again. Sometimes they can't afford
to pay, in which case they have to live with the situation.

Also, I've seen a couple of insurance companies for people who have hacking
insurance, they've paid the demand, because it was cheaper than
re-constructing the data. I'm not sure of their success rate.

No one is trying to validate their criminal business Rob. And in some
cases, even if the result was not a working key, just trying is worth the
effort.

But clearly you give little care to the business and would rather shame and
punish them for their lack of skill or wisdom than getting them back on
line.

Dogmatic people like you with no empathy and rigid rules are what have
given IT people a bad name. You service PEOPLE, not bloody computers. They
are your customers. Without them you would have nothing to manage. Just
because they don't have our level of experience - both staff, directors,
CEO, whatever - does not mean we just tell them to eat shit when they make
a mistake. We do the best we can to help them get back on their feet.

I don't have an employer... likely never will. But you do. And you've now
told the internet and its archives just how much you don't care for your
customers and that you wouldn't consider every option to help them.

What an asshole.


...Skeeve

*Skeeve Stevens - Founder & The Architect* - eintellego Networks Pty Ltd
Email: skeeve at eintellegonetworks.com ; Web: eintellegonetworks.com

Cell +61 (0)414 753 383 ; Skype: skeeve ; LinkedIn: /in/skeeve
<http://linkedin.com/in/skeeve> ; Expert360: Profile
<https://expert360.com/profile/d54a9> ; Keybase: https://keybase.io/skeeve

On Sat, Sep 24, 2016 at 7:17 AM, Robert Hudson <hudrob at gmail.com> wrote:

> Yes, you're right Skeeve. Other people being silly (or uneducated) enough
> to open documents or click links that deliver malware that no common
> anti-virus package can pick up (you're aware of course that these things
> mutate to stay one step ahead of such tools), that is a reflection of my
> skill.
>
> The fact that I have set up recovery systems to be able to retrieve files,
> and have been able to convince senior managers that the investment in
> appropriate tools (education to slow the incident rate, recovery tools for
> when it invariably does happen) for this purpose, that is no reflection on
> my capabilities at all.
>
> If, on the other hand, you think:
>
> * it is in the best interests of a client to pay money to a criminal
> enterprise with no reasonable expectation that they will deliver the
> decryption key as promised;
> * that paying won't simply mark the victim as one willing to pay again;
>
> When you:
>
> * have apparently failed to inform them of a well known threat;
> * failed to advise them to take simple and inexpensive steps to ensure
> that business-critical documents are adequately protected;
>
> Then what does this say about your skills or even who's interests you have
> at heart?
>
> Keep digging. That hole is getting bigger.
>
> On 23 Sep 2016 11:08 PM, "Skeeve Stevens" <skeeve+ausnog@
> eintellegonetworks.com> wrote:
>
>> Robert,
>>
>> Obviously if you can restore the file you would.
>>
>> But... You've been hit at work (where you are responsible), family
>> business (where you may or may not) and at home (where you are likely
>> responsible).
>>
>> This is not a fantastic testament to you skills is it.
>>
>> You always think you have a choice - until you don't. Of course, trust
>> the advice of people who aren't stake holders, clearly they have your best
>> interests at heart - because clearly you don't.
>>
>>
>> ...Skeeve
>>
>> *Skeeve Stevens - Founder & The Architect* - eintellego Networks Pty Ltd
>> Email: skeeve at eintellegonetworks.com ; Web: eintellegonetworks.com
>>
>> Cell +61 (0)414 753 383 ; Skype: skeeve ; LinkedIn: /in/skeeve
>> <http://linkedin.com/in/skeeve> ; Expert360: Profile
>> <https://expert360.com/profile/d54a9> ; Keybase: https://keybase.io/sk
>> eeve
>>
>> On Fri, Sep 23, 2016 at 2:11 PM, Robert Hudson <hudrob at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>> On 23 Sep 2016 8:25 AM, "Skeeve Stevens" <skeeve+ausnog at eintellegonetwo
>>> rks.com> wrote:
>>> >
>>> > This is from the perspective of someone who hasn't been held to ransom
>>>
>>> Wrong. I have been hit at work where I am responsible for the IT systems
>>> (to the point where I can lose my job, and thus ability to support my
>>> family.  We recovered files without paying the ransom
>>>
>>> > had their business at risk
>>>
>>> Wrong. A family business has also been hit. We got hit at home too, with
>>> documents encrypted that are worth way more to me than any company or
>>> business document.  Again, we recovered files without legitimising the
>>> business model of ransomware authors/attackers.
>>>
>>> > and had no other choice.
>>>
>>> Wrong.  Three strikes and you're out?  You're really not very good at
>>> this baseless assumption thing, are you...
>>>
>>> > The few here who say they wouldn't pay are the same... wait till it is
>>> your only choice.
>>>
>>> There is always another choice.  Being prepared is a major part of that
>>> choice.
>>>
>>> If you are storing business-critical documents without adequate
>>> protection from a well documented style of attack that has existed in the
>>> wild for years now, I would argue that you're not very good at this
>>> business thing, and your failing to plan is really planning to fail.
>>>
>>> A criminal has decided to attack your business, and upon breaching your
>>> initial defenses, found you to be vulnerable. Someone with the ethics to
>>> take that path is now holding your data to ransom, promising to release it
>>> if you pay them some money via a path that makes it virtually impossible to
>>> trace them. And never to bother you, someone who already proved that will
>>> give up money if threatened, again.
>>>
>>> Now, I don't pretend to understand the throught processes of such
>>> people. But a target, I choose to trust people who have acted in that
>>> particular fashion as far as I can throw them.
>>>
>>> All the advice I get from people who I trust in matters such as this is
>>> that I am doing the right thing.
>>>
>>>
>>> Regards,
>>>
>>>
>>> Robert
>>>
>>
>>
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